Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 3, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

King Corbin Interrupted Michael Cole's Interview with Matt Riddle; Riddle def. John Morrison

Riddle's pre-match interview with Michael Cole was decent, but I really hope Riddle's explanation for why he doesn't wear shoes doesn't lead to him eventually wearing boots. Then again, I've basically accepted it as an inevitability by this point. On the bright side, this was a hell of an opener between Riddle and Morrison. It's a shame Morrison and The Miz don't mean more at the moment coming off their string of losses dating back to April, but at least he can always be counted on for a quality contest. I assumed King Corbin would be Riddle's first foe on the main roster and that was made official here.

Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles def. Drew Gulak

This match was originally advertised for last week but ended up being saved for this show instead. I assume Daniel Bryan opted to stay home because of the current conditions, but it was cool they were able to include his comments on Gulak and Styles via Zoom throughout the bout. As expected, this was a very well-wrestled, enjoyable affair that received a ton of time. Gulak scored enough offense that he looked credible in defeat. This is exactly what I want to see from Styles as Intercontinental Champion, not whatever the hell his reign as United States Champion was last year.

SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley def. Alexa Bliss by Disqualification (Non-Title)

Bayley and Sasha Banks aired a tribute video to themselves that was interrupted by Bliss and Nikki Cross. Obviously, Cross will challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Extreme Rules, so this was a logical way of furthering the feud and their verbal exchange was solid. Bayley vs. Bliss was fine while it lasted (and Bayley should be commended for wrestling as long as she did in street clothes), but Cross getting Bliss disqualified by going after Bayley left me wondering if a split between Bliss and Cross is on the horizon.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. SmackDown Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston

It's hard to believe that Nakamura once won the Royal Rumble and Kingston was once the WWE Champion based on how both men have been relegated to the tag team division this year. Despite that, this was a good match. Unlike with Riddle vs. Morrison and Styles vs. Gulak, I didn't have much interest in seeing this go long, just because there isn't a ton of juice to this feud and it virtually didn't matter who won. Nakamura's victory made sense as it allowed the heels to maintain momentum before they vie for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship next week. Cesaro teasing tables afterward makes me think it will end in controversy and lead to a rematch with that stipulation at Extreme Rules.

Sheamus Threw a Toast to Jeff Hardy

I haven't had a major issue with this rivalry on the whole, but Sheamus focusing on Hardy's dark past has become a little much. This was more of the same and you could tell from the beginning exactly how it was going to end. It was a weak way of going off the air, so it felt like an odd choice to put in the main event segment. It's interesting that Sheamus wasn't there in person, so I'm curious if he'll be back in time for the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in a few weeks.

Overall Show

The history package that played for Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman was well done, but I can understand not everyone being on board with the upcoming Swamp Fight. I appreciated the emphasis on the in-ring action for the first half of the show and I loved Riddle vs. Morrison as well as Styles vs. Gulak, but the second hour was total throwaway. All in all, it was a mixed bag. I was happy they announced a few different things in advance for next week, though I can tell you right now that I'll be skipping over the replay of Wyatt vs. Strowman from Money in the Bank.