Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 1, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Happy Corbin Won a 10-Man Battle Royal

The show started with one of those summit-type things WWE does every now and again with the men's Money in the Bank combatants. Nothing of note was said before it was quickly interrupted by Happy Corbin, The Miz, Madcap Moss and Ezekiel. It was a bit better than the Battle Royal from Monday's Raw because it featured more star power, but it was hard to care since there were no stakes and we found out afterward there would be a Money in the Bank qualifier in the main event. In the end, it was a giant waste of time.

The Viking Raiders Attack The New Day

I wasn't a fan when I saw that this match was being advertised ahead of time because Viking Raiders just returned and attacked New Day last week. Why not build to this a bit more? Thankfully, the match didn't come to fruition as Viking Raiders laid out New Day before the bell, even though false advertising is never ideal. Aside from the silly face paint, I'm digging the new heel Viking Raiders, including their entrance music. Calling them War Raiders again would be the ultimate transformation, but I know that's not happening.

Liv Morgan, Asuka and Alexa Bliss def. Shotzi, Lacey Evans and Raquel Rodriguez

This was billed as the "Battle of the Brands" as it pit the SmackDown Superstars against the Raw Superstars from the women's Money in the Bank Ladder match. It was a perfectly serviceable six-woman tag team match, but I must admit that Becky Lynch was incredibly distracting on commentary and the in-ring action felt like an afterthought as a result. If nothing else, I was happy to see Morgan score another momentum boost before she likely loses on Saturday.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos and The Street Profits Exchanged Words

Credit to Kayla Braxton for playing her role as well as she could, but the "Ask Them Anything" aspect of this segment was stupid (though not as bad as the short-lived "Electric Chair" talk show from three years ago if you remember that) and I hope they ditch that in the future. Otherwise, this was a great verbal exchange. Braxton bringing up that Street Profits haven't been getting along lately was random because they haven't teased any tension whatsoever, but I liked that they acknowledged all of their shortcomings in the last year and how they haven't held gold since late 2020. This definitely got me more excited for their tag title match than I was previously.

Max Dupri Introduced ma.cé and mån.sôör as His Maximum Male Models

I'm honestly shocked WWE finally decided to have Dupri introduce his clients instead of dragging this out any further. I'm glad they didn't, but then why not debut them as advertised a few weeks ago? The shtick, as expected, was very dumb and his clients being Mace and Mansoor was hardly a surprise for anyone who heard about the act from the SmackDown dark matches. This segment lasted longer than it should have, and although it generated good heat, I honestly don't see this working out long-term. I'd rather see the former LA Knight on his own since SmackDown needs stars right now.

Madcap Moss def. Ezekiel, The Miz and Happy Corbin in a Fatal 4-Way Match to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Corbin probably should have automatically qualified for Money in the Bank after winning the Battle Royal that featured everyone already in the men's Money in the Bank Ladder match, but hey, they have to kill television time somehow, right? This was a pretty unremarkable Fatal 4-Way. I mean, I didn't have a burning desire to see anyone in particular win. That said, Moss makes sense given all the wins he's racked up lately.

Overall Show

I can't get over how pointless that Battle Royal was at the start of the show if Corbin wasn't going to be involved in Money in the Bank, but then again, I guess we should expect nothing less from this company creatively. The rest of the show was fairly formulaic and par for the course as far as what we've been getting on the blue brand all year round. In other words, it was an inconsequential episode on the whole and the effort to leave viewers looking forward to Money in the Bank on Saturday was weak in my opinion. Hopefully the event delivers despite the uninspired build.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews