Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 23, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Paul Heyman Interrupted John Cena

Cena controls a crowd like no other. He's a master of the mic when it comes to that type of stuff and had them every step of the way while cutting his promo. He called out Roman Reigns but got Heyman instead, creating a cliffhanger for the rest of the show as to whether Reigns would confront him. Heyman was great in the role and this was a strong segment to kick off the show. SmackDown's going to get a big boost in star power with Cena around for the next month.

Finn Balor def. Sami Zayn

Balor is a perfect fit on SmackDown, so although I'm happy they got that right (as opposed to putting him on the mess of a show that is Raw), I'm worried he's going to be the same happy-go-lucky, smiley Finn Balor he was before returning to NXT two years ago. That would be a real shame if so because he did the best work of his entire WWE career doing that heelish character while in NXT. I'll give it some more time. Unsurprisingly, this was a very fun match and a quality first win for Balor back on the blue brand.

Big E, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura Attacked Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews, Commander Azeez, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode

Big E's Money in the Bank victory was so monumental last Sunday night that I was looking forward to hearing him cut a meaningful promo here. Unfortunately, Crews and the rest of the SmackDown midcard interrupted him and he was never able to speak. It was a completely pointless segment from what we saw, unless it led to a multi-man tag team match in the arena while the show cut to the Rolling Loud festival in Miami. If not, it's possible we'll get it next week on the show.

Angelo Dawkins def. Chad Gable

I'm glad The Street Profits are back, but booking an Angelo Dawkins vs. Chad Gable match for a music festival that clearly didn't have any fans in attendance. Neither of them are notable names and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about their encounter. The best thing I can say about it is that it was kept on the shorter side and was relatively harmless. Putting Cena out there would have robbed the SmackDown crowd of his appearance, but I guarantee they would have reacted louder to him than they would have these guys.

SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. Carmella

I was wondering why on Talking Smack last week they set up this rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship on this week's show after Belair already beat Carmella clean, but I guess they needed an attraction in their minds for the festival. Unfortunately, much like Dawkins vs. Gable, the crowd couldn't have cared less. I'd say they sat on their hands on the whole time, but they were actually standing. They had another well-wrestled affair, but the lack of reaction from the crowd did them no favors. I thought this would be the week where Sasha Banks returned to challenge Banks to a rematch at SummerSlam, but obviously not.

Edge Attacked Seth Rollins

I've been waiting for this face-to-face for a long time, and I loved how they acknowledged their memorable altercation from 2014 when Rollins threatened to break Edge's neck. Much like Cena earlier in the evening, Edge had the people invested in his promo from start to finish. Rollins is a fantastic foil for him and, personally, I've been digging this latest smarmy character of his. This was an excellent back-and-forth that set the stage for their SummerSlam collision.

Toni Storm def. Zelina Vega

For those keeping track, no, Vega hasn't won a single match since returning to WWE recently. Then again, I can't say I'm too surprised or bothered by that because she's right where she should be on the card. She's a good hand to have in the ring, but as I've always said, her greatest strengths are on the mic and as a manager. She was the perfect person to put over Storm in her SmackDown debut. This was a solid showcase for Storm, who has plenty of potential, especially since she's back to being a babyface.

SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso def. Dominik Mysterio

It was comical that it was Jimmy in there fighting one of the Mysterios and not Jey considering all the attention that's been on Jimmy lately. It's evident WWE isn't going to punish the guy. If anything, they're going to continue to reward him by prominently featuring him on TV and giving him the tag titles. This was fine while it lasted and kept The Usos' momentum rolling with another win. I'm looking forward to the eventual rematch between these two teams because they worked so well together at Money in the Bank.

Finn Balor Confronted Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Man, Reigns is just a tremendous talker at this point. I recently re-watched his contract signing with Cena from 2017 and he's so much more comfortable and natural now, probably because he's a heel. That missionary line nearly killed me. Balor coming out instead of Cena was a pleasant surprise and it looks like we have Reigns vs. Balor on the horizon, probably on next week's SmackDown. While I'm excited for that encounter, I'd rather see it saved for down the road at a pay-per-view and not given away immediately. Reigns needs more opponents to work with after SummerSlam and Balor can be one of those people. Nonetheless, that was a hell of a hook to end the evening with.

Overall Show

There weren't any surprises on this show compared to Monday's Raw, but there didn't need to be. Rather, it featured simple storytelling and I was engaged. Granted, the Rolling Loud concept was cool in theory but poor in execution, but that's more because the people there didn't care. They shouldn't have shot the crowd as much as they did. Nonetheless, I applaud WWE's effort for trying something different. The rest of the show was enjoyable. We got Balor vs. Reigns coming up at some point, Storm has arrived in the women's division, The Street Profits are back, and Edge vs. Rollins is all but confirmed for SummerSlam. The midcard needs more attention and fresh feuds, but that's about it.

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