Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 10, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and Cody Rhodes Agreed to Face off at SummerSlam

Although this was a fairly standard segment that played out predictably, it was exactly what it needed to be to set up the marquee match of Punk vs. Rhodes for SummerSlam. They kept it simple with their mic work. I can see some people being disappointed they didn't do or say more, but there's plenty of time between now and SummerSlam for them to reach that mnext level.

Finn Balor def. Tama Tonga

It's funny hearing Balor and Tonga (as well as the commentators) play off their history from Japan without directly mentioning Bullet Club (maybe they did and I missed it). Either way, this is a fine mini-feud for Balor now that he's on SmackDown. It's been a slow start for him on Friday nights, so fingers crossed he can start building some momentum. This was an entertaining outing from these two.

Royce Keys Confronted The Bloodline; Jimmy Uso def. Keys

The Bloodline's melodrama is a mess and not doing anyone any favors. Crowds clearly don't know who to cheer for because these characters aren't being properly defined. Keys cut a great promo, but the crowd fell silent for his subsequent singles match with Uso. It was whatever. Worse yet, Keys got pinned by Uso. I know Solo Solo and Jacob Fatu brawling at ringside factored into the finish, but that certainly wasn't the ideal outcome.

Jade Cargill def. Alexa Bliss

We already saw this match a month or so ago, but it worked even better here with Cargill and Charlotte Flair now feuding. It was a basic bout, but it was effective in putting more heat on Cargill with the way she attacked Bliss afterward. Most fans are aware that Bliss is double-jointed at this point (they've done this before but not in a long time), but it was still a sick visual for her to be selling her "broken" arm like that.

United States Champion Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes Ended in a No Contest (Non-Title)

It was established last week that Hayes would've earned a shot at the United States Championship had he won here. I'm actually glad he didn't because him finally beating Williams should be saved for a bigger stage. The match was solid prior to Baron Corbin emerging to attack both men, which was a cool moment. It was previously reported that Corbin was returning to the company, but I didn't think it'd be on this show in this role. Hopefully he's utilized better this time around than he was the last time he was brought back to the main roster.

Gunther Attacked Nick Aldis

Aldis announced Punk and Rhodes vs. Gunther and Sami Zayn at Saturday Night's Main Event, but that wasn't good enough for Gunther, who proceeded to lock Aldis in a chokehold multiple times. The angle definitely had to be rushed because Rhodes ran out to make the save, but the show got cut off while he was making his entrance. Otherwise, this was really well done and left me looking forward to Gunther vs. Aldis at SummerSlam (assuming that's where this is going because Aldis could still have Gunther face a surrogate instead).

Overall Show

As I said last week, SmackDown is so much more bearable at two hours long compared to three. I'm sure it will be back to three hours at the beginning of 2027, so I'll enjoy it for the next six months. At any rate, this was an above-average show thanks to the SummerSlam developments, show-closing angle and Corbin's surprise return. It was nicely paced, leading to the two hours flying by for me, personally.

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