Posted on 7/18/126 by Bob Magee
Gunther kicks off SmackDown
The self-professed “Ring General” opened the show to address
his actions from last week. As Gunther got into the ring,
the crowd loudly booed him before he addressed everyone.
Gunther said that his career prided himself on being an
outstanding professional, but he felt that he’s been
mistreated since joining SmackDown. He didn’t know what it
as with Nick Aldis, but the truth was that Gunther should be
the WWE Champion now. Gunther blamed Aldis for making this
personal by forcing him to team with Sami Zayn tomorrow
night at Saturday Night’s Main Event against CM Punk & Cody
Rhodes. Gunther said that Zayn was beneath him until interim
GM Adam Pearce interrupted.
Pearce said that on the subject of Nick Aldis, Gunther
should be thanking him for saving his job. Pearce pointed
out what Gunther did to Cody Rhodes and Mr. Aldis in the
past few weeks. And if it was to Pearce, he would’ve fired
Gunther… but someone high up made a decision that was above
both Pearce and Gunther. We then found out the stakes for
the tag match tomorrow: if Gunther and Zayn win, they get
added to the Undisputed WWE Title match at SummerSlam.
This announcement brought out Cody Rhodes, who walked down
the ramp with pomp, circumstance, and a fight. He ran right
into the ring to fight Gunther as he drove him out of the
ring. Rhodes shouted “ENOUGH!” as he talked about the
stipulation and how the road to Saturday Night’s Main Event
runs through Albany. He challenged Gunther to a one-on-one
match tonight, with Adam Pearce making the match official.
The stakes for the SNME tag match tomorrow does add some
interesting implications if Gunther and Zayn win, but it’s
clear that they ain’t winning, unfortunately.
***********
– A video from Adam Pearce talked about how Rhea Ripley’s
injury has left her unable to compete at SummerSlam, which
meant that beginning tonight, qualifying matches will
determine the five women who will compete in a ladder match
in Minneapolis to crown a new interim WWE Women’s
Championship while Ripley is injured. Tonight, we’ll see
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jacy Jayne & Nia Jax vs.Jade Cargill in
two such matches.
Finn Balor vs. Talla Tonga
Balor sized up Talla to begin the match as he found himself
cornered. Balor avoided Talla and tried to get on the
offensive. Balor chopped Talla, who withstood it, so Balor
went after the legs. Talla took Balor down with a
clothesline as he then gained momentum. The throw to the
corner put Balor on the ground as Talla grabbed his head
from behind afterwards. Balor attempted to strike back in
the centre of the ring as he avoided a slam from Talla.
Balor sent him out of the ring, then attempting to push
Talla to the ground. Talla blocked the offense and sent
Balor into the turnbuckle, which sent us to the commercial
break.
Back to SmackDown as Talla dropped him with a running
powerslam that only got a two-count. Talla swung and missed
on the running splash as Balor dodged, which allowed the
Balor Club leader to fight back with a big drop. Instantly,
however, Talla hit a Samoan Drop on Balor, which sent him to
the apron. Balor recovered and drove his shoulder into
Talla’s rib and knocked him down with a kick. Balor looked
for the Coup-de-Grace, but Talla had him for the T-Bomb.
Balor reversed that into a DDT as Tama Tonga ran
interference. This gave Talla the opportunity to hit Balor
with a big boot.
Talla found himself trapped on the top rope as Balor shook
the ropes to give him a most painful ride. Tama was taken
care of with a Slingblade at ringside. Balor then put an end
to this with a double-double of Coup de Graces for the pin
and win.
Finn Balor def. Talla Tonga
i can’t say this match was anything to write home about, but
Balor picking up the win here was the right call, especially
if the play is to make him a key player on SmackDown. For
years, fans have asked for Balor to be booked with
importance, so this is a step in the right direction at
least.
************
– After CM Punk chatted with Adam Pearce regarding tonight’s
Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes main event match, he was met by
Damian Priest, who called his shot for Punk’s Undisputed WWE
Title if he got past Rhodes at SummerSlam. Punk teased that
maybe he and Rhodes might go after Priest and R-Truth’s WWE
Tag Titles when the time was right.
– We got an excerpt from WWE Unreal where Cody Rhodes was
shown visiting the WWE Warehouse.
Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match Qualifier:
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jacy Jayne
Fatal Influence unleashed a three-on-one attack on Stratton
before the bell could even ring as Paige and Brie Bella ran
in to even the odds. Paige and Brie fought with Fallon
Henley and Lainey Reid all the way up the ramp to keep
Stratton vs. Jayne an even match.
As the bell finally rang, Stratton went on the attack
against Jayne in the corner with a chop to the chest. Jayne
hit Stratton with a kick to the face, but that only got her
a hip attack from Stratton. The shotgun dropkick by Stratton
took us to the commercial break.
We returned from commercial as Stratton kicked out of a slam
by Jayne. Stratton’s back was clubbed by Jayne, but she
avoided the running senton. The double down between the two
women came after a criss-cross double crossbody. Stratton
and Jayne recovered as the two exchanged strikes. Superkick
by Jayne was followed by a nice enzuigiri. Stratton
responded with a pair of clotheslines, the spinning elbow,
and the floatover Alabama Slam. Stratton to the top rope,
but Jayne intercepted her at the pass, which left Stratton
at the mercy of an elevated swinging DDT for the near-fall.
Jayne went for Rolling Encore, but Stratton dodged it and
connected with the springboard Stunner. Rolling senton by
Stratton was followed by the PME and the three, which
qualified Tiffy for the Interim WWE Women’s Championship
Ladder Match.
Tiffany Stratton def. Jacy Jayne via pinfall (Qualifies for
Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match)
This was an okay match. Not sure if I’m feeling Stratton in
the World Title scene, but I guess it’s fine.
****************
– We got remarks from Baron Corbin, who had some words for
Trick Williams, as he stated that he was coming for it all.
After Corbin’s comments, we heard from Williams, who called
Corbin a “big, bald-headed bitch”. Williams’ rant was
interrupted by Carmelo Hayes. Williams was once again told
by Hayes that he was better than him. The two talked trash
to one another, as per usual.
– Filling time here was a recap of the latest in the Brock
Lesnar vs. Oba Femi feud from this past Monday’s Raw.
Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: Nia
Jax vs. Jade Cargill
Cargill missed with the pump kick, as Jax then got her with
the Samoan Drop. Leg drop by Jax only got a two-count. Jax
missed with the Annihilator, which gave Cargill the opening
to hit the Spinebuster. At ringside, a vengeful Charlotte
Flair attacked The Baddies before she turned her attention
to Cargill in the ring to cause the DQ.
After the match, Flair went to stomp Cargill’s arm while
wrapped around the chair, but B-Fab and Michin pulled her
out. An angry Jax took out Flair, which opened up the
Baddies to pick up the pieces with a Jaded from Cargill.
Jade Cargill def. Nia Jax via disqualification (Qualifies
for the Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match)
I can’t even assess this as an actual match. I can, however,
assess this as an angle and I can succintly say that this is
not grabbing my attention in the slightest. It’s hard to get
invested when much of this Flair/Cargill feud has been
mostly the Baddies standing tall and generally looking
strong most of the time. Charlotte honestly comes across as
stupid most of the time.
****************
– After Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano “confronted”
Gunther, Blake Monroe launched an attack on LeRae as she
introduced herself.
– Adam Pearce told Nia Jax that she’d face Charlotte Flair
in a ladder qualifier next week.
Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) vs. The War Raiders (Erik &
Ivar)
Frazer had to deal with Erik to start the match, but he used
his speed to avoid the attacks initially. Erik took him down
with a hard elbow as Ivar tagged in and splashed right into
Frazer. Big elbow by Erik kept Frazer grounded as he was
left isolated by the War Raiders.
Frazer tried to fight back against legal man Erik as he hit
a high-flying kick. The tag to Axiom allowed for Fraxiom to
stun Erik with their speedy offense. Attempted suicide dive
by Frazer was blocked by Erik and Ivar, but Axiom took off
with the moonsault to take out the Raiders as we took a
commercial break.
Back from the break as Axiom got slammed by Ivar after an
attempt at a running crossbody. Ivar took both Frazer and
Axiom and stacked them on top of one another as he looked
for a mammoth moonsault. Fraxiom dodged at the last second,
which gave them a needed opening. Frazer connected with the
springboard 450 for the near-fall. Meanwhile, Axiom’s splash
was caught by Ivar, who then took his masked foe down. The
tag to Erik, who threw Ivar onto a prone Axiom. Big slam by
Erik on Axiom, but Frazer broke the pin up with a splash.
Axiom valiantly fought out of the War Raiders corner, as
Frazer unintentionally missed with a suicide dive on Ivar,
but Axiom got all of his attempt. Superkick by Ivar stunned
Axiom, but not for long. Axiom got on the top rope before
Frazer joined in for the double superplex. Phoenix Splash by
Frazer, but Erik made the save to break the count just
before the three. Aximo and Erik were the legal men after
tags as the two men exchanged their best offense. Blind tag
by Ivar allowed for the big man to take out both Frazer and
Axiom with the Ragnarok double chokeslam for the pin and
win.
War Raiders def. Fraxiom via pinfall
This was probably the best match of the night so far. War
Raiders & Fraxiom gelled together really well and it gave us
a nice contrasts of styles. Not bad. Not bad at all.
***************
– We got remarks from LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, and Royce Keys
at Fanatics Fest New York earlier today, ahead of the
inexplicable trio’s six-man tag match vs. The Usos and Jacob
Fatu. After that, more Fanatics Fest footage was shown. Cody
Rhodes’ failed attempt at a field goal was omitted.
– CM Punk told Cody Rhodes that he’d watch his back in our
main event match.
– Because more time needs to be filled, we had a recap of
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns’ contract signing from Raw.
Saturday Night’s Main Event Card:
Roman Reigns & Jalen Brunson scheduled to appear
Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Brie Bella & Paige (c)
vs. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and/or
Lainey Reid)
Cody Rhodes & CM Punk vs. Gunther & Sami Zayn (if
Gunther/Zayn win, they’re added to the SummerSlam Undisputed
WWE Championship match)
No Disqualifications: Danhausen vs. J.D. McDonagh
– Danhausen was messsing around in his laboratory as Jackie
Redmond interviewed him. Danhausen said that he had a
“secret weapon” for the McDonagh match tomorrow: a stuffed
cat. He pointed out that the cat would be a good weapon as
you’d be cursed if you crossed paths.
Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther
A fast and furious start as Rhodes went after Gunther right
away with a flurry of offense. That ended the moment when
his springboard attack was blocked by Gunther pushing him
out of the ring, as we took a break.
We returned to the main event as Gunther maintained his
control over Rhodes with a chop to the chest, fuollowed by
consecutive knees to the gut. Gunther then felled Rhodes
with a standing chop to the chest. Rhodes avoided a
clothesline from Gunther and leapt off the ropes for the
Cody Cutter. Rhodes rallied with the scoop powerslam,
followed by the Disaster Kick. Rhodes went for one more Cody
Cutter that shelled Gunther. The Cross Rhodes attempt was
blocked by Gunther, who then kicked at the back of Rhodes’
leg. Gunther dragged Rhodes to the corner and smashed
Rhodes’ hurt leg against the ringpost, which brought CM Punk
out to the ring.
Gunther mocked Punk and looked like he was going to go for
the GTS, but Rhodes took him down with a lariat as we took
one final commercial break.
Back to our match as Gunther applied a single-leg crab that
would make Lance Storm proud. Rhodes struggled to pull
himself towards the ropes, but to no avail. Rhodes, however,
did kick Gunther away to create some needed separataion.
Gunther missed with a running big boot as Rhodes targeted
the right leg of the big man. Dragon screw by Rhodes was
followed by the figure-four leg-lock from Rhodes. Sami Zayn
appeared at ringside and attacked Punk. Sleeper by Gunther
was countered as Rhodes hit Zayn with a suicide dive. Zayn
attacked Rhodes to cause the DQ and the fight escalated
further.
Things broke down as all four men brawled at ringside before
the usual motley crew of referees and road agents streamed
in to stop this. And that’s how we end things on the night.
Cody Rhodes def. Gunther via disqualification
***************
I will say things did pick up there at the end and the
Punk/Gunther/Zayn/Rhodes stuff was a wildly chaotic way to
end the show. The outcome does seem like.a foregone
conclusion tomorrow with Cody/Punk winning and Gunther’s
beef with Nick Aldis building towards a match between those
two at SummerSlam.
Other than that, it was just an average episode of SmackDown
with nothing overly bad or exciting sticking out whatsoever.
While that doesn’t sound bad on the surface, when it comes
to building towards SummerSlam, it’s not a positive sign at
all. Beyond the Lesnar vs. Femi match, a lot of the card
feels a bit underwhelming, moreso on the SmackDown side of
things, where the Cody vs. Punk match is the only one that’s
set. That, of course could change with Aldis vs. Gunther
happening and the interim women’s championship ladder match,
but it’s honestly clear that the road to SummerSlam seems a
bit dull at this point with a couple of weeks to go.