Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 19, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Attacked A-Town Down Under

Rhodes' promo was pretty pedestrian stuff as he addressed Solo Sikoa and said Sikoa's not ready ahead of their Undisputed WWE Championship clash at SummerSlam. A-Town Down Under played their roles well, but this was a basic segment to set up the tag team main event with the hook being that Rhodes needed to find a partner. And no, his partner wasn't pro boxer Terence Crawford, who Rhodes was standing with at ringside at one point.

Andrade def. Carmelo Hayes

Both guys need wins right now, but I'm glad they had the chance to go out there and have the fun match they're capable of. I'm sure it could've been even better with more time (or if this was an NXT TakeOver five years ago), but it ended up being very enjoyable for what it was. With Andrade racking up some wins lately, is WWE planning to finally do something meaningful with him for the first time since he returned to the company earlier this year?

WWE Women's Champion Bayley and Nia Jax Exchanged Words

Taking the split-screen interview approach with these two was really effective in hyping up their match for SummerSlam, and I thought both of them made some strong points. Bayley wasn't wrong when she pointed out that Jax was reckless years ago, but I don't think it's accurate to say that she's still that way today. Regardless, this was well done, and I appreciate that they're tapping into their history from SummerSlam season seven years ago.

Bianca Belair def. Chelsea Green

This was so short that I'm not even sure why it existed. The entrances lasted longer than the match did, so it was essentially a squash. I'm happy Green's been getting consistent television time lately as she's an entertaining character, but it doesn't do her any favors to be beaten so quickly and decisively. Post-match, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn popped up on the Titantron to address Belair and Jade Cargill about an eventual rematch for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Fyre and Dawn have done nothing with the titles since winning them, so it's hard to care.

United States Champion Logan Paul and LA Knight Made Their Match Official for SummerSlam

This was the verbal exchange I've been waiting for. As Knight alluded to in his promo, they first crossed paths during a segment on Raw before Money in the Bank last year, and I wanted them to feud because the promos would be the best part. This lived up to the hype for me as both guys had great mic work. I remain skeptical that Knight will win at SummerSlam, though. He'll be United States Champion at some point no doubt, but I get the feeling WWE is going to hold off a little longer (they really should pull the trigger on the title change at SummerSlam, though).

Michin def. Tiffany Stratton

There was nothing out of the ordinary about this as it was a fairly average outing. The focus was on Bayley doing damage to Stratton's Money in the Bank briefcase at ringside and that distraction leading to Michin picking up what I'd call an upset win. Stratton will be fine, but WWE shouldn't make a habit of her losing just because she's Ms. Money in the Bank. Maybe Stratton will get a customized briefcase out of this. Bayley and Michin will take on Stratton and Jax in a tag team match next week.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens def. A-Town Down Under

Owens stepping up as Rhodes' tag partner was no surprise. He tweeted this week that his mother pulled through her recent health scare (which is amazing news), so you had to know he'd be back on TV as soon as this episode. The main event itself was well wrestled and the crowd was behind the babyfaces, but there was zero uncertainty surrounding the outcome. Much like last week, the show ended in carnage with The Bloodline laying out Owens and Rhodes, so it looks like Rhodes is officially out of friends.

Overall Show

I'd say this was a run-of-the-mill edition of SmackDown all things considered where if you missed it, you didn't miss much. The segment with Knight vs. Paul was the highlight of the night for me and Hayes vs. Andrade was a treat, but that's about it. At least there was sufficient hype for SummerSlam and progression with all of the key feuds. Next week's episode will be taped in advance due to WWE's upcoming tour of Japan, so that's why so much stuff was announced in advance.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews