WWE Friday Night SmackDown Review: 14/08

Chelsea Green Starts the Show, Gunther VS Matt Cardona

This week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with Nick Aldis asking Chelsea Green to please come down to the ring after it was confirmed that Chelsea had suffered a broken orbital bone! Nick said that whilst he hates this part of his job, he has to do his job, which is why he asked Chelsea to relinquish the WWE Women’s Championship! A heartbroken Green went on about how this has always been her story, that she does everything for everyone else, and yet she never truly gets her moment, with SummerSlam being the prime example of this! Green would then hand over her Title to Aldis, only for the SmackDown General Manager to give Chelsea a lifeline: 30 days to get medically cleared! This produced a wonderful reaction from the WWE Universe, whilst Gunther would then make a surprise appearance as he wanted to talk to Nick about how he got screwed again at SummerSlam! This resulted in a great interaction between Chelsea and Gunther, with The Ring General mocking the fact that Green is only Champion because she climbed up a ladder (which fits perfectly with his character), whilst Chelsea fired back about how she’s the only one standing in the ring as a Champion! Matt Cardona would eventually run down to square up to Gunther, leading to the opening match of the night, which the big Austrian won convincingly! I really don’t have much to say about this match; it was kind of nothing, but the segment beforehand with both Chelsea and Nick Aldis, and then Green and Gunther, was great! Also, after the Gunther-Cardona match was over, The Irresistible Forces arrived, with Tiffany Stratton eventually getting beaten up after trying to help her friend!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B+ for Chelsea Green, C for the Match

United States Championship: Baron Corbin VS Carmelo Hayes, CM Punk and Kevin Owens Come Face-to-Face

Credit: WWE

Charlotte Flair seems reluctant to get to know Tatum Paxley, whilst Alexa Bliss likes her because Tatum reminds her of her old self! Paxley was then found sitting in a closet, before Sami Zayn got annoyed at Nick Aldis for once again doing everything he can to help Cody Rhodes! Cody followed this up by challenging Sami to a match tonight, which Zayn said he couldn’t do because of his injury, with Aldis adding a stipulation that a win for Sami tonight would put him next in line for the Undisputed WWE Championship (after next week’s match between CM Punk and Kevin Owens)! Carmelo Hayes was then looking to use home-field advantage to good use when he challenged Baron Corbin for the United States Championship! This match was fine; it was better than Baron’s matches with Trick Williams, but let’s be honest: this match was only happening because it was in Carmelo’s hometown! Whenever Hayes is looking good, WWE tends to hold him back a bit, and right now he feels completely stuck in the midcard scene! Eventually, an End of Days would be enough for Corbin to retain his US Title over Melo, before Trick Williams would run down and deliver the Trick Shot to the Champion after a distraction by Lil Yachty! What happened to Ilja Dragunov? He and Melo used to be by far the best thing that SmackDown had to offer!

Grade: C+

Tiffany Stratton told Chelsea Green that she’s more than healthy enough to still defend her Women’s United States Championship tonight, whilst CM Punk and Kevin Owens were then in the ring to have a face-to-face confrontation! Kevin explained all the reasons why he despises CM Punk so much; their history dates back 20 years, and Owens is relishing the fact that he can finally shut Punk up next week in Toronto! Punk’s problem with Kevin is simply that he doesn’t put enough work in, and I’ll be honest, I have nothing else to say about this segment as it wasn’t that engaging! The large majority of this promo felt like a repeat of what we got 7 days prior, and the fact that KO is going to lose when he shouldn’t doesn’t help matters! Whilst I feel like this match should be saved for a bigger show (or at least Sunday Night’s Main Event), I wouldn’t be against just moving past this whole feud after the conclusion of next week’s bout!

Grade: C

WWE Tag Team Championships: Damian Priest and R-Truth VS The War Raiders VS MFT, Tiffany Stratton VS Jacy Jayne: Women’s United States Championship

Credit: WWE

Finn Balor was in the middle of talking to Nick Aldis when Gunther barged in to once again find out how Aldis was going to fix the mess that was SummerSlam! All this did was annoy Finn, setting up a potential show-stealer for down the line, whilst the WWE Tag Team Championships were next on the line as Damian Priest and R-Truth looked to retain their Titles in a Triple Threat match that included The War Raiders and MFT! Firstly, why are Tama and Talla Tonga still going by the name “MFT”? That name was given to them by Solo Sikoa, and the fact that they’re still wearing face paint is honestly stupid! On the flip side, they did actually win this match, which is great because they should! I haven’t enjoyed watching Priest and Truth as Tag Team Champions, with my hope now that we can eventually get a Damian Heel turn! The War Raiders didn’t need to win here, given the fact that they’re the reigning AAA World Tag Team Champions, whilst The Tongans having the Gold could bring some much-needed new life to what’s been a dreadful division!

Grade: C

Credit: WWE

We then went straight into the next match as Tiffany Stratton went one-on-one with Jacy Jayne with the Women’s United States Championship up for grabs! I felt like this was a decent contest for what it was, but it was always going to struggle to be something more because the crowd simply didn’t care! When Fatal Influence first debuted on the Main Roster, the crowd was all over them, mostly because they were presented as a big deal! That is exactly how an NXT act should be made to feel, especially when you consider the 12 months that Jacy Jayne had in both NXT and TNA! However, their push completely stalled when Jade Cargill returned, and it feels like they’ve never been able to get that “heat” back! The positive, however, is that they’re all Champions, with a Rolling Encore allowing Jacy to get the win after Tiffany got distracted trying to save Chelsea Green (again)! This did a good job of planting the seeds for an eventual Stratton Heel turn (which she desperately needs), whilst Jacy Jayne deserves a Main Roster Championship after the work that she did in NXT!

Credit: WWE

Grade: C+

Cody Rhodes VS Sami Zayn

After a Jade Cargill promo, it was Main Event time as Cody Rhodes was aiming to teach Sami Zayn a lesson! A lesson that will have to wait for another day as Randy Orton attacked Cody from behind, dragging The American Nightmare through the crowd as the referee wouldn’t start the match (which would’ve obviously benefited Sami massively)! Instead, WWE officials and referees ran down, but they actually stopped Rhodes from smashing Orton with a steel chair, after Cody had already delivered a low blow to The Viper! So, the Main Event wasn’t even a Main Event, and this entire show was clearly rushed given the fact that 5, yes, 5 segments weren’t even able to fit into the 2-hour broadcast!

Grade: C