Nia Jax Starts the Show, Austin Theory VS Tommaso Ciampa
Nick Aldis was in the ring as he welcomed down Nia Jax to start the show. The new Queen of the Ring spoke down on everyone else before she asked Bayley to make her presence in the ring. However, the WWE Women’s Champion was attacked on the ramp by Chelsea Green and Piper Niven before Chelsea told Nia that she’ll be facing Piper for the Championship at Summerslam, not The Role Model. This didn’t do much for anyone, but at least Niven looked strong again!
Grade: C
After Nick Aldis granted AJ Styles some time in the ring, Naomi asked Bayley if she was up for a Tag Team match against Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. We then headed into the first match of the night as Austin Theory took on Tommaso Ciampa. This was actually good fun, this was a proper physical contest with a couple of stiff shots and nasty bumps. I think this might have been the best SmackDown match I’ve seen in a while, and that’s down to two guys really wanting to show out. Also, there’s a lot of history between these four men (Grayson Waller and Johnny Gargano included) which helps the story, and it got interesting near the end as Waller basically dissed Gargano, but also took credit for Theory’s success in the process. This distracted Austin and allowed Ciampa to steal the win via roll-up.
Grade: B
Andrade VS Apollo Crews, Kevin Owens Speaks, The Bloodline VS The Street Profits, Bayley and Naomi VS Chelsea Green and Piper Niven
Blair Davenport was speaking to Nick Aldis in his office before Naomi just barged in and disrespected Blair. What on earth was this?! LA Knight then walked in (at least he was polite) and sat down to have a chat with the SmackDown General Manager before we came back from the commercial break to see Knight interacting with Carmelo Hayes. What on earth is going on?! Anyway, it then got even weirder as Andrade was about to go one-on-one with none other than Apollo Crews! This was very random, but what makes me laugh more is the fact that we’ve already seen this match earlier this year! Anyway, Angel arrived midway through to sort of support but also distracted Andrade, so this honestly felt like we’d gone back to 2020! In the end, Andrade scored the win with The Message before he walked past Legado Del Fantasma to the disgust of Santos Escobar.
Grade: C
Paul Heyman was very anxious when he was around Solo Sikoa and the rest of The Bloodline backstage before Apollo Crews just attacked Angel backstage because why not!? Kevin Owens was then in the ring to talk about having Randy Orton’s back last week before Paul Heyman interrupted and pleaded with Kevin to stay away from The Bloodline to protect himself. Owens then fired back with a great response saying he’s going to make sure that they go back to where they came from before Heyman went absolutely ballistic because he clearly isn’t coping well. This then led into a Tag Team match between The Bloodline and The Street Profits, and I’ve got to be honest, this was very random. The Profits were in the middle of the WWE Tag Team Championships feud, so why they were put in this spot is beyond me. Still, the action was decent, it was cool to see Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa team up, and in the end, Tama Tonga was able to score the win after a nice finishing sequence.
Grade: B for the Promos, C+ for the Match
Indi Hartwell got annoyed at Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for injuring Candice LeRae before Cargill threatened to put Indi on the shelf too. That’s not a very good guy thing to do! Michin and Nia Jax then had a confrontation backstage before Bayley and Naomi teamed up to take on Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. I’ll be honest, I think WWE’s booked Bayley poorly in 2024 even though she’s won two massive matches! What I mean by this is it just feels like she never gets presented as the star that she is! That showed here the WWE Women’s Champion got beat up for a while, tagged in Naomi for the hot tag, and then got back in the ring only to be thrown into the steel steps by Piper Niven before Niven delivered a massive senton onto both Naomi and Chelsea before she put Green on top of Naomi to score the win! I’m really pleased to see Piper Niven being positioned as a genuine threat, but that doesn’t mean Bayley has to look bad!
Grade: C
AJ Styles Ends the Show
After lots of rumblings and rumours throughout the night, AJ Styles came down to the ring to talk about his career and how it might be time for him to stay at home and be a “Phenomenal Dad”. AJ then asked Cody Rhodes to come down to thank him for having a great match at Backlash before Rhodes raised Styles' hand to end the show. However, that’s not what happened as Styles floored The American Nightmare to the delight of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson before AJ dropped Cody with a Styles Clash onto the floor to close the show! All I have to say about this is well done to AJ for out-smarting everyone else!
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