Winfree’s WWE Smackdown Review 7.08.22

Hello everyone, it’s another Friday evening and here we are for WWE Smackdown. Tonight Undisputed WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns will be on hand, so we should get at least one quality segment out of this episode, as it’s time to start building to his umpteenth match with Brock Lesnar when Lesnar challenges for the uWu title at SummerSlam in a Last Man standing match. At Money in the Bank Liv Morgan continued the rich tradition of women cashing in the briefcase in less than 48 hours when she took the title from Ronda Rousey after Ronda bested Natalya, Morgan is now back on Smackdown and her reign will attempt to get underway. There’s a decent chance the Street Profits show up to harass the Usos as that feud hardly seems done after their MITB match, Theory might show up and talk about his briefcase, Intercontinental champion Gunther is looking for his next challenger, and Maximum Male Models is set for another segment. Let’s hope this one goes off better than last weeks, because the debut of MMM was less than inspiring. Anyway that’s the preamble, let’s get to the action.

Naturally there’s a video recap of MITB to start the broadcast. When we get to the live feed commentary welcomes us to the show, Pat McAfee isn’t here and instead we’ve got Corey Graves joining Michael Cole. This is the most insipid commentary team WWE can assemble and we’re cursed with it. To open the show properly, here comes the Tribal Chief, Head of the Table, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. They’ve added the Usos as big CGI effects alongside Roman in his intro now. Here comes Roman and the rest of the Bloodline. Eventually they all make their way to the ring, and Theory is on the entrance ramp trying to look menacing as we head to break.

When we come back Paul Heyman hands Roman a mic. Roman tells Fort Worth, Texas to acknowledge him and they oblige. Roman moves on to playing a bit with the crowd, acknowledging both the boos and cheers he’s getting but tells us that him in the building means business picks up. Life is so good when he’s around, and as long as God wakes him up he can handle anything. He runs us through his day, then says it’s great to see his family, but then he sees his wise man and Heyman doesn’t look happy. He wants to know what everyone did to Heyman. Roman asks why Heyman is worried, he’s the greatest and there’s no reason for Heyman to be worried. He gets Heyman to put his hand out, Heyman does so with trepidation, then Roman hands him the mic and tells him to tell everyone what’s wrong. Heyman says he loves Roman, Roman knows, and he loves the Usos, they care much less, but we have a problem in the form of Brock Lesnar. He puts over Roman and his current run and predicts Roman will become the longest reigning champion of the last 35 years, but Brock doesn’t respect that. Brock has just one last chance against Roman. Heyman brings up Brock’s history, and notes that Brock now has his back against the wall, and when pushed into this kind of desperate territory Brock isn’t just dangerous, he’s going to bring out the most savage part of Roman Reigns. Pinning Brock is one thing, but putting Brock down for a 10 count in his last title match will require the greatest performance, the most violent, of what Roman can bring to the ring. It’s almost not fair how good Heyman is at this, and Roman’s response to everything Heyman was saying was pretty great in terms of physical and facial acting. Here comes Theory though, now with music, and he jogs around the ring then heads to the back again. Roman asks Heyman who that is.

Up next is a video recap of the new presentation of the Viking Raiders and how they beat the crap out of New Day. After that here come the Raiders to the ring. After this break we’ll get the Viking Raiders against Jinder Mahal and Shanky.

Post break Jinder and Shanky head to the ring, less dancing from Shanky this week.

Match #1 – Tag Team Match: Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) vs. Jinder Mahal and Shanky

Ivar and Shanky get us going, Shanky looks to dance so Jinder tags in. They tie up, Ivar pushes Jinder into the corner and unloads strikes then tags in Erik. Both of them just lay in blows to Jinder then Erik grabs an arm. Jinder lands a kick but Shanky is on the floor dancing and not in position. Ivar tags in and runs over Jinder, takes out Shanky then they kill Jinder with the double powerbomb and pin to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Viking Raiders won

Rating: Spaghetti. . . SQUASH

Delicious squash.

Post match Erik and Ivar abuse Jinder, then beat down Shanky when Shanky tries to help Jinder. This brings out the New Day, they’ve got mics and talk on the entrance stage. Kofi Kingston says they got their butts kicked by the Raiders last week. Xavier Woods chimes in with poor jokes, but the upshot is they’re still here and the Raiders haven’t done the job well enough. Moreover those beatings weren’t sanctioned ergo they didn’t count. Woods and Kofi have officially sanctioned ass beating tickets, and will be whipping the Raiders right now. We get a brawl in the ring, Kofi eats a uranage from Erik and then Woods jumps at Erik but eats a knee strike. Ivar with a seated senton to Woods, then he heads to the second rope, Ivar hands Kofi to him and we get the second rope Worlds Strongest Slam to Kofi and once again the Raiders stand tall.

We get the kayfabe explanation for why McAfee isn’t here, after the MITB event went off the air Happy Corbin jumped him, beat him down, hit an End of Days on the floor, and accepted McAfee’s challenge for a match at SummerSlam. Happy Corbin has now joined commentary, God help us all. Graves verbally puts over Corbin, and here comes Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. After this match Gunther will have an open challenge.

Post break Ludwig Kaiser has a mic, and says there’s no one worthy of standing in the ring with Gunther. It is their opinion that none of the fans are worthy of even watching Gunther work. However it is customary of lesser IC champions to defend the belt in an open challenge. Gunther takes the mic and says any champion who defends his title against an unknown opponent is a fool. Anyone expecting him to wrestle tonight is foolish, you have to deserve the opportunity to compete with him. The crowd is giving them the “What” treatment. Kaiser gets the mic back, but here comes Shinsuke Nakamura as Corbin makes my ears bleed yelling. Nakamura gets to the ring and even Cole calls Corbin God awful and I’m forced to agree with Cole about something. Nakamura has a mic, and says Gunther doesn’t want to accept the challenge so Gunther can keep his title for now, but what about Ludwig Kaiser? He challenges Kaiser who accepts.

Match #2: Ludwig Kaiser w/ Gunther vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Quick kicks from Nakamura then the sliding German suplex, Nakamura gets in the face of Gunther but that distraction allows Kaiser to knee him then hit a hanging drop kick to send Nakamura out of the ring and send us to break.

We come back to Nakamura fighting out of a neck crank. Running kick from Nakamura connects. Striking combination from Nakamura, then he starts laying in kicks but Kaiser catches one only to eat an enziguri. Nakamura sets Kaiser on the top rope and hits a knee to the body. Kaiser catches a kick and hits a kick of his own then a butterfly suplex. Corbin and Graves are absolutely insulting to the workers in the ring. Kick from Nakamura then then Kinshasa and he pins Kaiser.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Shinsuke Nakamura won

Rating: 2 stars

It’s a damn shame they cut the middle out of this match and it was even worse given what commentary was doing. That said if they actually let Gunther and Nakamura work it could be great given how good they both are.

Post match Gunther berates Kaiser, then chops him as punishment for losing the match. The crowd want another, Gunther agrees and chops him again. A third chop from Gunther floors Kaiser and he berates Kaiser some more as Kaiser cowers in fear.

Thankfully Corbin leaves commentary as we get a video recap of Liv Morgan winning the MITB match then cashing in 2 hours later to win the Smackdown women’s title. After that Morgan heads to the ring, she’ll address the fans after this break.

Post break Michael Cole interviews Liv Morgan in the ring. A weak “You deserve it” chant draws this out, and Cole recaps Morgan winning the title and cashing in, as though we didn’t either see the PPV or the video package just aired. Cole hints that Morgan might have to defend against Ronda at SummerSlam. Morgan ways to bring it, because this title is the culmination of a lifetime of sweat, tears, and viscous fluid. She claims no one wants the title more than her. Cole brings up Morgan’s 10 year journey to this point, and asks what it means to be champion. She says this means everything to her, she’s dreamed about this for her entire life and she felt like maybe she’d never get here, but here she is now. As Cena would say, never give up. This brings out Natalya with a mic of her own. Natalya claims she can dream too, mostly about Morgan finally shutting up. The only reason Morgan is the champion is because of Natalya, and a SummerSlam all this will end. Morgan only won because Natalya injured Ronda, and she loved hurting Ronda. This brings out Ronda, because nothing sells the middle of a show like a revolving door promo segment. No mic for Ronda until she gets to the ring. Ronda congratulates Morgan, but does warn her that challenging is easier than defending it before moving on to Natalya. She asks the crowd if they want to see a fight, Natalya jumps Ronda, Morgan makes the save and poses as we head to break again. That wasn’t great, Morgan doesn’t have much of a character right now and if they’re not careful she’s going to become an afterthought even as champion.

We come back to Natalya and Ronda starting a match.

Match #3: Ronda Rousey vs. Natalya

Ronda lays in knees and kicks right away, then goes after the leg of Natalya. Natalya rolls out of the ring, Ronda follows her and slams her leg into the ring apron. More evasive moves from Natalya, she heads up the ramp and Ronda follows her, laying in leg kicks and body blows. Ronda grabs the Ankle Lock on the apron then sends Natalya back into the ring. Another Ankle Lock from Ronda, Natalya stands but takes a modified exploder suplex. Ronda back to the Ankle Lock and grapevines the leg to force Natalya to tap.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Ronda Rousey won

Rating: Tschermak. . . SQUASH

Well that was decisive.

In the back Megan talks with Drew McIntyre. In the main event Drew will battle Sheamus for a title shot at Clash at the Castle, and he puts over the event and he’ll be coming for whoever the champion is after SummerSlam. He’s focused on the match tonight, and doesn’t care about the backup of Sheamus, he’s got the deadliest three count in the WWE.

We’re getting set up for the Maximum Male Models segment as we head to break.

As we come back Max Dupri is in the ring to host the showcase of his tennis themed collection. He called the debut last week a viral sensation, but now he’s presenting his tennis collection. First up is Mace in short tennis shorts. Dupri drops some stats on Mace and talks about the outfit. Mansoor is out next, likewise in short shorts but with long socks and lacking the slight crop top aspect of Mace’s outfit, though he’s got a headband. The crowd is pretty dead for this. Dupri pimps his website and asks for full body shots from anyone who thinks they have the qualities to be part of his agency. Mace and Mansoor pose together to close.

In the back Kayla talks with Theory, Theory says he’s always watching and plans on cashing in on whoever wins at SummerSlam. He knows people don’t like him, but the loves that and knows people are waiting on someone to dethrone Roman and it might just be him. At SummerSlam Brock and Roman will destroy each other all over the arena, and Roman is screwed because either Brock beats Roman, or Theory does and the same goes for Brock. Theory walks off, Madcap Moss walks in and says he thinks he can shove all of that briefcase into Theory’s mouth.

To the ring and here comes Aliyah, she’ll team with Lacey Evans after this break.

Post break Lacey Evans heads to the ring, she pauses on the ramp and returns to the back to get her music to start over. Apparently Evans wants a bigger ovation. Again she’s not quite satisfied and heads to the back and restarts her entrance. This time she’s able to get to the ringside area but gets a mic before heading into the ring. Evans wants to take a minute and say how disgusted with the crowd. She feels she deserved a better reaction. The crowd starts “What-ing” her as Evans says she poured out her life story on TV all for that weak reaction. It bothers the crowd that a woman like her can succeed and everyone out there is too weak to overcome even half of that. When Evans comes to the ring she gets a standing ovation. A few fat remarks at the fans follow, we get a “you suck” chant which is a slight step up from “What” at least. Until Evans gets the respect she deserves everyone in the crowd can go to hell, she goes to leave but Aliyah stops her asking about the match, and Evans lays her out with a Women’s Right then leaves. I’m not sure Smackdown needed another heel female wrestler, but Evans did alright on the mic.

The Usos head to the ring, they’ll be in action soon, and we get a recap of their title defense vs. the Street Profits. After this break the Usos will wrestle Los Lotharios.

Match #4 – Tag Team Match: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) vs. Los Lotharios (Angel and Humberto)

We join the match in progress, Angel tags in and sends Jimmy to the floor then Humberto tags in as Jey is on the apron and they hit a tandem kick attack. Both teams fake dives and Angel removes his pants. Humberto hits an arm drag in the ring and lays into Jimmy, Jey with a blind tag and Humberto takes a pop up Samoan drop. Jimmy with a super kick to Angel, Angel returns it then goes for a dive but flies into a super kick from Jimmy. Jey super kicks Humberto, tags in Jimmy and Humberto takes the 1D and we’re done.

OFFICIAL RESULT: The Usos won

Rating: 2.5 stars

Totally neutered by the layout and only catching the last bit of the match, but the action was crisp for what we saw.

Post match Kayla interviews the Usos, she brings up the disputed finish to their match at MITB when Ford had a shoulder off of the mat but the ref missed it. She asks if the Usos got away with cheating. Jey objects, they don’t need to cheat. Jimmy says they just pinned the Profits, that’s on the ref not the Usos. She brings up a special guest ref for SummerSlam and their rematch, the Usos don’t care as long as the ref can count to three they’ll beat the Profits again.

Drew McIntyre heads to the ring, our main event is up after this break.

Post break Drew waits, and Sheamus heads to the ring with his lackeys. Sheamus grabs a mic, and reminds us of the stakes for this match. But he starts struggling with his words and coughing, he hopes he doesn’t have Covid but he can’t wrestle until he gets tested if he’s feeling poorly. But don’t worry, he’s got a backup plan and it’s Butch vs. Drew McIntyre.

Match #5 – Winner gets a shot at the UWU Title at Clash at the Castle: Drew McIntyre vs. Butch w/ Ridge Holland and Sheamus

Drew no sells some Butch offense then tosses him around. Kick from Butch then a diving knee. Butch jumps for a kimura, Drew has had enough of this and headbutts Butch then hits another belly to belly suplex. Ridge eats a punch, the distraction allows Butch to land a kick. Butch misses a flying nothing, eats a neckbreaker, and Drew goes for the Claymore which connects and we’re done.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Drew McIntyre won

Rating: Zucchini. . . SQUASH

I’m not entirely sure what the point of this was.

Post match Ridge attacks Drew, and he eats a Future Shock DDT for his troubles. Sheamus thinks about getting in the ring, but Drew has his sword and takes a swing at Sheamus which cuts the top rope and visibly bends his sword. Drew stands tall to end the episode.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

What a weird show this week. Things started pretty strong with the Roman and Heyman promo, which is to be expected considering the chemistry those two have as well as how strong their overall work is these days, but the show fell off a cliff very quickly. The Viking Raiders getting another win is a good thing, and if they ever actually wrestle New Day I think the match will be good, and I like pairing Gunther with Nakamura. Heck, I actually like Gunther as an abusive bully, but the entire presentation of Kaiser vs. Nakamura was dismissive and borderline insulting to the wrestlers. The revolving door promo featuring Liv Morgan, Natalya, and Ronda Rousey was pretty weak and Ronda squashing Natalya was certainly a choice. I guess Vince finally saw Zoolander which gave us the Maximum Male Models thing, and if that whole presentation tickles your funny bone then God speed and party on but it's a giant drag for me. Lacey Evans turning heel was an odd choice, I know Evans works better as a heel but the Smackdown women's side of things is very heel heavy and she's destined to get lost in the shuffle in a couple of weeks. The Usos and Los Lotharios was done a disservice but being cut in half, and the main event was a baffling bait and switch.