Friday Night SmackDown Review - August 6, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

SmackDown Woemn's Champion Bianca Belair Accepted Challenges From Sasha Banks and Zelina Vega

I thought everyone played their roles well here, making for a solid segment overall. Banks is absolutely in her element as a heel and I loved her explanation for turning on Belair last week. Belair held her own on the mic as well when she emerged, and we all know Vega is a terrific talker. Belair agreed to give Vega the match she promised her last week on this show in addition to confirming her title defense against Banks at SummerSlam. This was a good way to kick off the evening.

SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jey Uso def. Dominik Mysterio

This was the third straight week that a member of The Usos faced a member of the Mysterios. I don't mind it personally, especially since the matches have been decent, but I can understand people getting bored by it already. It was the usual quality contest from them with Jey picking up the win this time. They're trading victories ahead of their now-official rematch for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam.

King Nakamura def. Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews by Disqualification in a Championship Contenders Match

I hate the idea of these "Championship Contenders" matches because it means that the challenger will have to beat the champion in a non-title match (thus making the champion look weak) before getting a title shot. Whatever happened to doing number one contender's matches instead? This had potential, but it was way too short thanks to the interference from Commander Azeez. Nakamura will most definitely be getting a title shot, but at least he didn't have to pin Crews to get it.

Tegan Nox def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Tamina

Natalya underwent surgery for the injury she suffered last week on Raw, which tells me that she won't be back any time soon. Will Tamina hold the titles for them both until she gets back, or will she lose them in a Handicap match to a team such as Shotzi and Nox? Either way, I can't say I'm thrilled with Nox getting called up only to have a lifeless two-minute match with Tamina, but at least she won, albeit with a roll-up. This women's tag team division on the main roster is completely dead.

Seth Rollins Agreed to Face Edge at SummerSlam

Personally, I loved everything about this segment. The mic work from both men was tremendous and all the callbacks to their 2014 angle and even Edge throwing Rollins out of the Royal Rumble in 2020 and 2021 were really nice touches. Hell, Edge calling Rollins "Edge-lite" was spot-on because people have been making those comparisons for years. I know Rollins' current character isn't for everyone, but I've been digging it and I think they've nailed the build to their bout at SummerSlam so far. This was the highlight of the night for me.

The Street Profits def. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode

This was Street Profits' first match back in front of fans. They technically reunited a few weeks ago, but it was for a singles match that Dawkins had at the Rolling Loud festival and we all know how that went. These teams feuded for what felt like a century late last year and earlier this year, but they always worked well together and this was another enjoyable encounter from them. Has the Profits vs. Alpha Academy feud officially been dropped? Because I don't remember that ever getting a proper payoff other than Dawkins beating Otis one-on-one.

SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. Zelina Vega (Non-Title)

I don't think this was referred to as a Championship Contenders match, but I could be wrong. What's the difference between a Championship Contenders match and a non-title match, you ask? Nothing at all! In all seriousness, this was a pretty good bout between these two. In all honestly, it might have one of the better singles matches I've seen Vega have in WWE, though I realize that's not saying a ton. I maintain that she'd be better off in a managerial role where she can wrestle occasionally, but I know SmackDown needs active women right now with Bayley being out. Banks not getting involved was also a pleasant surprise.

Finn Balor def. Baron Corbin

That contract signing last week was so ridiculous that I feared Balor would come away from it looking like a loser. Thankfully, he sold the frustration on this show during his promos and in this match. Corbin actually apologized before the bout started, but to no avail. This was wisely kept short and sweet with Balor on offense for a majority of it. The post-match angle with Balor channeling his badass NXT persona and calling out Roman Reigns was excellent, followed by Reigns and The Usos laying him out. I hope Reigns vs. Balor is saved for the pay-per-view after SummerSlam and isn't booked for an episode of SmackDown in the coming weeks, but I'm almost positive it will be the latter.

Overall Show

It was hard to pay attention toward the end of the show due to the breaking news that WWE released another 12 talents from NXT, which I'll be talking about elsewhere in the coming days. Imagine firing people while one of your most-watched show is on. Ridiculous. Putting that aside, this was a thumbs-up show. I enjoyed what they did with Balor and Reigns, Edge and Rollins, and the SmackDown Women's Championship picture. Even Street Profits vs. Ziggler and Roode was wrestled. The other matches didn't light the world on fire, but the good outweighed the bad in my opinion.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews