WWE Friday Night SmackDown Review: 17/07
Gunther Starts the Show, Finn Balor VS Talla Tonga
This week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with Gunther coming down to the ring to address his attack on Nick Aldis last week! Gunther said that whilst he’s always prided himself on being a true professional, the treatment that he has received from the SmackDown General Manager has been simply unacceptable! This brought out Adam Pearce, who was in charge for the night, to confirm that Nick Aldis has been adamant that Gunther should remain under contract, and that he should also be informed that if he and Sami Zayn beat CM Punk and Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event, they will be added to the Undisputed WWE Championship clash at Summerslam! This brought out Cody Rhodes to start a brawl with The Ring General, with Cody later saying that he can’t wait for Saturday Night’s Main Event, with Pearce agreeing to book a match between the two for this show’s Main Event! Cody questioning how Gunther keeps getting these kinds of opportunities is very rich (coming from him)!
Grade: C+
Adam Pearce finally announced that Rhea Ripley won’t be able to compete at Summerslam, meaning that we’re going to get a 5-Woman Ladder Match at that event to determine the new “interim” WWE Women’s Champion! Why interim?! Anyway, we’ll get back to that later as Finn Balor took on Talla Tonga in the opening match of the night! This match followed on from last week, where Finn defeated Tama Tonga, and I’m still completely baffled at what WWE is doing with the Tongans! They were in a storyline with Solo Sikoa until they decided just to leave the group, and now they’ve got basically zero credibility! Tama and Talla need to be winning a lot more than they actually do, but the problem is is Finn Balor cannot afford to lose these types of matches! Thankfully, he didn’t, as a pair of Coup de Grace’s was enough for The Prince to score the win, but seriously, what is going on with Tama and Talla?!
Grade: C+
WWE Women’s Championship Summerslam Ladder Match Qualifying Matches: Tiffany Stratton VS Jacy Jayne, Jade Cargill VS Nia Jax, The War Raiders VS FRAXIOM
CM Punk wasn’t happy with the decision for Gunther and Sami Zayn to potentially be added to the Undisputed WWE Championship match at Summerslam, whilst we then got an interesting interaction between Punk and Damian Priest! After video promos for the four competitors set to compete in matches to try and earn their way to Summerslam, the first of those two matches saw reigning Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton take on Fatal Influence’s Jacy Jayne! Whilst Minnesota gives Tiffany homefield advantage at Summerslam, the logical decision would’ve been to have Jacy win this match, mostly because she deserves a spot on one of the biggest shows of the year! On top of that, I’m a believer in every Championship being defended on a major show and given that Summerslam is a two-night affair, that is totally doable! However, WWE often shows that they are incapable of making logical decisions, as Stratton just won this match with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever! I’m not even surprised, I’m just disappointed!
Grade: D
After Baron Corbin said he’s coming back to WWE to take it all, Trick Williams labelled Corbin as “bald”, whilst Carmelo Hayes is impressed at how Trick continues to avoid defending his United States Championship against him! Melo knows that he’s better than Trick, but Williams finds that hilarious given how much more he’s been able to achieve in a much shorter period! They’d better do Trick-Melo at Summerslam! Anyway, Nia Jax returned to in-ring action next as she went one-on-one with Jade Cargill! Given that Jade’s been feuding with Charlotte Flair over recent weeks, it feels like it’s been building to those two facing off in a star-studded collision at Summerslam! However, once again, WWE failed to use any sort of logic, as Charlotte just showed up and attacked Cargill, meaning Jade advances to Summerslam as Nia Jax got disqualified! This was absolutely stupid; it made everyone look dumb, and no wonder Jax was so cross! Complete booking incompetence!
Grade: F
Gunther’s backstage promo got interrupted by Candice LeRae, as Candice isn’t happy with Gunther’s disrespect towards Sami Zayn! Blake Monroe then attacked LeRae from behind as The Glamour continues to cause havoc backstage! Nia Jax then got her way as Adam Pearce gave her another qualifying match against Charlotte Flair next week (although that’s still stupid as Flair shouldn’t be rewarded), before FRAXIOM took on The War Raiders in non-Title action! This was a pretty good match, with the crowd getting more and more into it as the contest went on! FRAXIOM continue to be the best Tag Team in all of WWE, despite the fact that they rarely get used, whilst The War Raiders are actually a lot better than people give them credit for! Despite this match being pretty competitive, there could only be one winner, as Erik and Ivar put away Axiom and Nathan Frazer via Ragnarok!
Grade: B
Cody Rhodes VS Gunther
After a tense interaction backstage between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes, and Danhausen carried around a cat, it was Main Event time as Cody Rhodes and Gunther faced off just 24 hours before they’re set to stand opposite each other at Saturday Night’s Main Event! Before the match could even begin, Cody made his feelings known with an attack during Gunther’s entrance, before CM Punk would come down to watch from ringside! Whilst the action was decent, it didn’t really matter as it would all be for naught when Sami Zayn arrived to attack both of the Babyfaces, forcing the referee to call for the bell! We then got a little preview of tonight’s Tag match with a brawl to close the show, and whilst I’d love to see a Fatal 4-Way at Summerslam, it’s pretty safe to say that that’s not going to happen!
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