By Mark Armstrong@MarkArmstrong
Earlier this week, rumours spread that SmackDown would move to Fox next year in a deal that could be worth an astonishing $1 billion. Though WWE has to confirm this, it made this week’s SmackDown a little more intriguing, especially with an announced main event of Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy
Miz TV w/ The New Day
After revealing that Miz & Mrs would debut on July 24, Miz began needling the three New Day members about which of them would be in the Money In The Bank Ladder match. All three unsurprisingly nominated themselves, before then taking turns to nominate another member. After further prodding by Miz, New Day finally agreed on Big E, but not for MITB; for a match with Miz right here, right now. Miz wanted no part of that, only to be informed by Paige that the match would indeed be taking place.
Big E vs. The Miz
The tone was largely comedy here, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; at one point, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston provided Big E with a boxing-style trainer recovery ahead of “Round 2”, which was the highlight of the bout. But the match didn’t go the way of The New Day: after interference from The Bar, which saw Kofi somehow leap from the steel stairs onto Cesaro’s shoulders and down onto Sheamus, a distracted Big E fell to Miz’s Skull Crushing Finale. We’ll have to wait to find out who from New Day will be in the MITB Ladder match, possibly until the night of the PPV (also, a six-man tag involving everyone in this match was later announced for next week).
Money In The Bank Qualifier
Billie Kay vs. Lana
With Rusev not in attendance, Aiden English declared it to be Lana Day for this match. Following a cringeworthy IIconics promo, the match began, and ended almost as quickly: a distraction by Aiden allowed Lana to drill Billie with a high kick for the surprise win. Looks like the push for Billie and Peyton Royce has already ended.
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. ?
Andrade’s opponent in his second SmackDown match was never even named, which should tell you what his chances of winning were here. Sure enough, Almas won fairly quickly with a Hammerlock DDT. Not much to see here in another brief encounter, so let’s move on.
Backstage, Carmella stated that she wasn’t afraid of Asuka, and vowed to defeat her at Money In The Bank.
AJ Styles-Shinsuke Nakamura Confrontation
Renee Young introduced both AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura as Shin was set to name the stipulation for their encounter at Money In The Bank. After showing clips of his victory over AJ last week, Nakamura randomly joked that they would meet in a pillow fight. Back-and-forth talk led to a brawl at ringside and through the crowd, with Nakamura eventually getting the upper hand and hitting the Kinshasa. He then counted AJ down for ten, which was followed by Shin officially confirming that they would meet in a Last Man Standing match at MITB.
#1 Contender’s Tag Team Match
The Usos vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Before this match, Gallows and Anderson described The Usos as the Blew-It Brothers. Jimmy and Jay took exception and, after Gallows called their opponents “NERRRDS!”, a brawl initiated the beginning of the match. The high spots came thick and fast in the early going, in particular an Uso dive to the floor. Two high kicks by Anderson swing things in favour of The Club, but stereo Uso kicks led to a splash by Jey for a near-fall. A huge kick by Gallows to Jimmy led to the Magic Killer for the win, setting up The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Club at MITB.
Money In The Bank Qualifier
Naomi vs. Sonya Deville
Though it started slow, this soon built into a fun match, with SmackDown’s final spot in the women’s MITB bout at stake. The high points were a big Spear from Deville and an exchange of duelling kicks from both ladies. Naomi sealed the win with a reverse roll-up. Fans didn’t seem to react well initially (the response to Naomi’s entrance was strangely sub-par), but they were drawn into the action by the end, and there was a decent pop for Naomi’s victory. Also, Mandy Rose was in Sonya’s corner here, which suggests that the two former Absolution members will remain a combo for the time being.
Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy
Originally, Samoa Joe and Big Cass were set to fight for a MITB spot. But an injury to Cass (which may or may not be legitimate) changed plans, meaning that the winner of this match would face Samoa Joe (who was on commentary for the main event) next week for that last elusive spot. Hopefully that wasn’t too confusing.
This first ever meeting of two very popular babyfaces began with both men trading the offence, though Hardy slowed Bryan down with his sit-down dropkick that sent Daniel to the floor. After a commercial, a double crossbody put both men down. Yes Kicks and a standing enzuiguri by Bryan led to a baseball slide and an attempted running knee off the apron, which Hardy avoided and recovered from by successfully launching a running clothesline off the apron.
Hardy’s attempted Swanton was cut off as Bryan put Jeff in the Tree Of Woe for Yes Kicks and a low dropkick. His attempted top rope back suplex was blocked, and Jeff hit a Whisper In The Wind for two. A low dropkick by Bryan targeted Jeff’s weakened left knee, but Hardy rebounded from Yes Kicks with a Twist Of Fate. But Bryan blocked the Swanton with his knees and hit a hard kick for a near-fall. Bryan motioned for the Running Knee, but Hardy swatted him away and went for a roll-up in a slightly botched sequence. Further reversals culminated in Bryan locking on a heel hook, which surprisingly submitted Jeff for the Bryan victory. Immediately afterwards, Samoa Joe reminded Bryan of their potentially superb contest next week.
Though far from a classic episode, SmackDown was superior to last night’s Raw with more productive and entertaining content, and with a fine main event to boot. It may not be must-see TV right now to fully warrant a billion-dollar deal based on all of the creative juices flowing, but the pieces are slowly forming which could lead to an eventful summer on the blue brand.
