Posted on 7/26/125 by Bob Magee
Following the WWE signature open, we went inside to the
Rocket Arena to see the entire SmackDown locker room stood
on the stage, with a memorial graphic for Hulk Hogan. Paul
“Triple H ” Levesque talked about Hogan’s legacy as he then
asked for a ten-bell salute in Hogan’s memory. We then got a
video tribute for Hogan’s career.
– Once we got back from the break, Joe Tessitore and Wade
Barrett briefly talked about Hogan some more before being
interrupted by Logan Paul.
Logan Paul hosts live edition of Impaulsive TV
The so-called “Maverick” opened things with his Impaulsive
TV set inside the ring. He asked why the Cleveland fans
weren’t chanting for their hometown hero. Paul said that
Cleveland did raise him, but it didn’t make him. In fact, he
supposedly “made” Cleveland. Paul said that he and the crowd
inside the Rocket Arena had nothing in common, because while
he made it out, he didn’t. Paul talked about how tonight was
about giving back to the community, by way of holding a
special live edition of his Impaulsive TV show. Paul
disparaged Jelly Roll for a bit before the man himself
interrupted him.
Jelly said that the only thing Paul inspired was “little
asshole kids filming themselves to be assholes”. He noted
that Cleveland did not like Paul at all, as the Impaulsive
TV host got him to shut up. Paul put himself and Drew
McIntyre over as two of the most impressive stars in WWE
right now. He asked Jelly Roll just who the hell he thinks
he is. Jelly responded that he was the guy that was going to
put Paul in a bodybag and ship him back to West Lake.
Jelly called Paul a “silver spoon kid” as he said that he
was getting in the ring not just for himself, but for those
who had been ever picked on by high school jocks. Jelly
talked about how he was a WWE fan for his entire life, and
how the company represented him and “every single one of
us”. Jelly discussed how his story has inspired millions of
millions of people as he called Paul “soft as Charmin” and a
“Prime-peddling punk-ass bitch.”
Drew McIntyre entered the ring as he and Paul outnumbered
Jelly Roll. At this point, Jelly said that he didn’t come
alone as Randy Orton walked down the ramp to even the odds.
Once Orton entered the ring, we got a fight right off the
bat. McIntyre got the upper hand on Orton with a rake to the
eye as he went after Jelly Roll. In the ring, McIntyre asked
Paul to go after Jelly. Orton pulled McIntyre out of the
ring, which allowed Jelly to fight back with elbows and a
shoulder block.
Paul kicked Jelly in the midsection as he loaded up his fist
for his signature punch. Jelly recovered and delivered a
Black Hole Slam, which sent Paul scurrying.
I’ve been clear in the past about how how this feud wasn’t
working for me at all, but I have to give some credit to
Jelly Roll, as his work at the Performance Center has
seemingly paid off. Other than that, the tag match at
SummerSlam is still something I’m not looking forward to
very much.
**********
– We got a video from Andrade & Rey Fenix discussing their
chances against The Wyatt Sicks in their WWE Tag Team
Championship match tonight.
Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair) vs. Roxanne Perez (w/
Raquel Rodriguez)
Bliss went for consecutive early roll-ups on Perez,, to no
avail. Perez slammed Bliss’s head down on the mat to gain a
momentary advantage as she then slapped Bliss in the face.
That seemed to anger Bliss, who threw Perez in the corner as
the action spilled outside. Bliss dove onto Perez on the
outside, as Charlotte Flair and Raquel Rodriguez stared one
another down to take us to the break.
We returned with Bliss mounting a comeback on Perez as she
unleashed her flurry of offense, topped off by a dropkick on
the button. She blasted Perez with her flipping neckbreaker
and lined up for the Sister Abigail DDT. Perez raked Bliss
in the eye, which allowed Rodriguez to interfere with a
strike to Bliss. Perez headed up top for the moonsault and
connected. The cover, but Bliss kicked out as Flair threw
Rodriguez over the timekeepers’ area.
Rodriguez recovered and kicked Flair in the face outside the
ring. Bliss had Perez dead to rights with the Twisted Bliss,
but she leapt outside to take out Rodriguez instead. As
Bliss tried to enter the ring, Perez rolled her up and did
the classic heel trick of holding the ropes for leverage to
pick up the sneaky win.
Roxanne Perez def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall
A fine match and the cheating victory by Roxanne does make
the “series” even between the SummerSlam opponents in
singles action ahead of next week’s Women’s Tag Team
Championship match.
**********
– After Cathy Kelley interviewed Jade Cargill, Chelsea Green
appeared and talked trash about Cargill. Unbeknownst to
Green, Cargill was behind her and attacked her as she
dragged her to the ring and we got an impromptu match.
Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green
The match began before the break with Cargill hitting her
pump kick on Green. As we resumed SmackDown, Cargill
continued her dominance with splashes in the corner,
followed by a one-handed chokeslam. On the apron, Alba Fyre
provided a momentary distraction, which allowed Green to hit
a jumping neckbreaker for a near-fall.
Green tried to deliver the Un-Pretty-Her, but Cargill
reversed and finished this short match off with Jaded.
After the match, the Secret Her-vice pounced with the attack
on Cargill until WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton ran
in to make the save. The two SummerSlam opponents cleared
the ring of Alba Fyre and Piper Niven in short order. We
then got a tense staredown between Cargill and Stratton, as
the latter held the WWE Women’s Title in her hands
momentarily.
A short one, and likely meant to set up a tag match for
Cargill and Stratton versus the Secret Her-vice next week on
the go-home-to-SummerSlam edition of SmackDown.
Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green via pinfall
**********
– Backstage, Charlotte Flair attempted to give words of
encouragement to Alexa Bliss after her match. She stated
that they could become true friends if they won the WWE
Women’s Tag Titles at SummerSlam.
Cody Rhodes addresses SummerSlam and John Cena
With a new track jacket and the crowd’s cheers, Cody Rhodes
walked down to the ring. He started by talking about how
Hulk Hogan’s death elicited complicated emotions, but that
his contributions to WWE and sports entertainment could not
be ignored.
Rhodes shifted gears by discussing the violence that was to
come at the Street Fight at SummerSlam. He said that doing
the right thing sometimes don’t look like the right think
and that what he did to John Cena last week was just a taste
of what’s to come. Rhodes said that he didn’t want to the
John Cena who is counting the days before he left, but he
wanted to fight the “real” John Cena. That’s because Rhodes
wanted to fight the very best to prove that he can be the
very best. He dared Cena to come to his last SummerSlam like
it is his first. Rhodes wanted all the “hustle, loyalty, and
respect” so he and Cena could beat it out of each other.
The reason Rhodes wanted to fight against the “real” John
Cena was because he wanted to know if that story that he was
on was real, and that the only person who had the answer to
that question was Cena himself. “I’ll see you next week,”
said Rhodes to conclude his promo.
Just your standard Cody Rhodes promo to sell the SummerSlam
match against John Cena, but he at least delivers these
promos well and it helps build excitement ahead of next
week.
**********
– Jacob Fatu addressed last week’s events that involved Solo
Sikoa’s attempted frame-up of him. Fatu warned Sikoa that he
was going to dogwalk his ass at SummerSlam inside the steel
cage. The Miz walked up behind Fatu and claimed that he was
the “main character” and he got himself a match against Fatu
cleared tonight. Miz brazenly slapped Fatu across the face
before he walked off.
– Aleister Black and Damian Priest traded barbs about one
another in a video promo ahead of their showdown on next
week’s SmackDown.
The Miz vs. Jacob Fatu
Fatu rocked Miz with his running spinning elbow as he lived
up to his boast prior to this match and began to indeed
“dogwalk” Miz early on. Miz avoided a running hip charge
from Fatu, but couldn’t avoid a strike that left him stunned
in the corner. Before Fatu could continue his charge, Solo
Sikoa and his M.F.T.s walked down in unison, which allowed
Miz to take charge with a blow to Fatu’s knees. Miz then
jettisoned Fatu into the ring post, which sent him outside
the ring. The M.F.T.s looked on at their fallen rival as we
headed to a break in the action.
SmackDown returned from the break with Fatu fighting back
against Miz, flooring him with a clothesline followed by the
running senton. In the corner, Fatu teed off on Miz with
repeated headbutts. Fatu knocked Miz out with the hip attack
as the M.F.T.s pulled Miz out of the ring. This prompted
Fatu to respond with a dive to the outside, which took out
nearly the entire group.
In the ring, Fatu finished Miz off with the pop-up Samoan
Drop. However, the Samoan Werewolf did not have any time for
a celebration, as he got immediately ambushed by the
M.F.T.s. Jimmy Uso evened the odds as he emerged with a
steel chair. He cleared past Tama Tonga and J.C. Mateo with
the chair. However, Tala Tonga withstood Uso’s attack and
took him down. Fatu recovered and managed to fend off the
M.F.T.s one by one, which left Sikoa alone in the ring and
prone in the corner.
Fatu trapped Sikoa with a chair wrapped around his neck and
looked to deliver a vicious hip attack, but Tala Tonga
entered the fray and floored Fatu with a clothesline.
Chokeslam by Tonga, was soon followed by Sikoa delivering
the Samoan Spike to Fatu. The M.F.T.s stood tall in the ring
as the United States Champion trashtalked his SummerSlam
foe.
It was nice to see the Miz back in action for this match,
and I think it was imperative for Sikoa and the M.F.T.s. to
get their heat back since last week, they were the ones on
the receiving end of the humiliation from Fatu and Jimmy
Uso.
Jacob Fatu def. The Miz
**********
– The Street Profits and #DIY had a disagreement backstage,
as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa said they had a plan
for the Wyatt Sicks later on in our main event.
– Backstage, Zelina Vega confronted Giulia until Kiana James
appeared as the Women’s United States Champion’s “official
representation”. We learned that Giulia would be defending
her U.S. Championship next week against Vega.
SummerSlam Saturday Card
Gunther vs. CM Punk (World Heavyweight Championship)
Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa
Bliss (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill (WWE Women’s Championship)
Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross
SummerSlam Sunday Card
Street Fight: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE
Champipnship)
Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (Intercontinental
Championship)
Steel Cage Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu (United States
Championship)
No DQ, No Countout: Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria (Women’s
Intercontinental Championship)
Triple Threat: Naomi vs. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s
World Heavyweight Championship)
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy &
Dexter Lumis) vs. Andrade & Rey Fenix
Fenix started off on the offense against Gacy as he and
Andrade looked to be in chemistry early on. The two had Gacy
and Lumis draped across the middle rope as they hit the
double team kick barrage on the champs.
Andrade went right away for the Three Amigos, as things
picked up immensely with Lumis pulling Fenix off the top
rope. This allowed Gacy to hit his signature handspring-
into-lariat against Fenix, which took us to the final
commercial break of the evening.
We returned to our main event with Fenix connecting on a
superkick against Lumis, who was the legal man for the Wyatt
Sicks. Andrade got the hot tag as he was a house of fire
against both Lumis and Gacy. He nailed Gacy in the corner
with the running Meteora, but that only got the two. Andrade
looked for The Message, but Gacy reversed, as Lumis tagged
in and got his helping of a double team attack on Andrade.
Fenix tried to interject, but he got thrown aside.
Andrade countered the assisted powerbomb of the Wyatt Sicks
with double knees. Fenix leapt to the outside to eliminate
Lumis at ringside. This allowed Andrade to deliver The
Message on Gacy. One, two…. Nikki Cross pulled the referee
out of the ring to cause the disqualification.
Erick Rowan entered the ring and began to lay waste to
Andrade. Fraxiom and The Motor City Machine Guns tried to
interject, but also got waylaid by the massive Rowan. The
two teams recovered as the fight continued to break down,.
The Street Profits joined the fray and took out Rowan. #DIY
walked down the ramp with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis in tow.
In the ring, the Street Profits took turns in taking flight
to eliminate everyone outside the ring.
Nick Aldis addressed the situation as he declared that at
SummerSlam, the entire SmackDown tag team division will
compete in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. We ended the
night in total bedlam with everyone brawling in and out of
the ring as referees and security officials failed to
contain the chaos caused by SmackDown’s tag division.
Rey Fenix & Andrade def. The Wyatt Sicks via
Disqualification
**********
A wild, wild ending to our main event for the night, with an
equally-chaotic match being set up for SummerSlam in the
process. The SmackDown tag division shined with their TLC
match on an episode of SmackDown a few months back, so them
getting PLE time to run it back (with the added element of
the Wyatt Sicks thrown in) should make for an entertaining
bout.
Overall, a strange SmackDown that seemed to be more about
setting the stage for the go-home show next week than
anything else, on top of the Hulk Hogan tribute at the
beginning that made for an unusual night of wrestling
action.