Friday Night SmackDown Review - July 8, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman Addressed Brock Lesnar

We haven't seen Reigns on SmackDown since Lesnar returned to confront him three weeks ago. Thus, it was great to have him back (his absence is certainly felt on SmackDown), but this segment was all about Heyman and his gem of a promo. There really isn't much left to say about the rivalry between Reigns and Lesnar, but I thought Heyman did an excellent job of hyping up the Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam the best he could. I'm not sure what more they can do to top this in the weeks head.

The Viking Raiders def. Jinder Mahal and Shanky

Viking Raiders attacked Shanky two weeks ago, so that was the reasoning behind this bout. Thankfully, it was kept short and sweet with it being booked as total squashed for the newly-turned Viking Raiders. The New Day attempted to one-up them afterward, but Viking Raiders left them laying, too. Viking Raiders are off to a good start as heels, but I can't shake the feeling that their renewed push will eb short-lived.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Ludwig Kaiser

Gunther issued an open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, but when Nakamura emerged, he changed his mind and had Kaiser wrestle him instead. I was surprised by how competitive it was, but it was solid while it lasted. Gunther proceeded to chop the hell out of Kaiser's chest afterward, but I saw that more as a form of punishment than I did a sign that they're splitting up. I have no desire to see Nakamura regain the Intercontinental title, but Nakamura vs. Gunther could be great if given time.

Natalya and Ronda Rousey Confronted SmackDown Women's Champion Liv Morgan; Rousey def. Natalya

I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I actually like Morgan's promos. They're not the most polished, but you can tell she cares about being champion and we don't get that same genuine enthusiasm from a majority of the roster. The mic work in this segment wasn't the best, but Rousey vs. Natalya was exactly what it needed to be. Rousey was limping from a storyline injury and wasn't dressed to compete, but her squashing Natalya was necessary coming off her loss of the SmackDown Women's Championship.

The Maximum Male Models Served Up Their 2022 Tennis Collection

This was more of the same crap we saw from Mace and Mansoor last week. Again, they're giving it a commendable effort and Max Dupri in particular is making the most of what they're giving him to do, but I don't honestly see this gimmick getting over in the long run. This was way too long and I imagine the live crowd sat on their hands for most of it (it was hard to hear them over the music and Dupri talking the entire time). This trash has Vince McMahon's influence written all over it.

Lacey Evans Attacked Aliyah

Evans was supposed to team with Aliyah against Shotzi and Shayna Baszler, but Evans made her entrance three times and complained about being booed. She then pretty much went full-fledged heel, turned on the audience and laid out Aliyah. I couldn't care less that the tag team match didn't come to fruition, but I'm no fan of Evans already going back to being a heel after she told her (true) sob story for so many weeks. Evans as a heel has been done to death and the face run would be something new, but WWE didn't give it much of a chance. Maybe this will be better than I think it will be, but I don't have high hopes because it feels lazy.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos def. Los Lotharios in a Championship Contender's Match

I was excited when I saw the graphic for this match before the commercial break because I don't think we've seen it before and it could have been a blast with an ample amount of time. Did Los Lotharios have a chance of winning considering Usos vs. The Street Profits was already announced for SummerSlam? Not really, but that predictability wouldn't have mattered if this was longer. Unfortunately, this was barely two minutes. The tease from Kayla Braxton that there will be a special guest referee for Usos vs. Street Profits was intriguing, though.

Drew McIntyre def. Butch

McIntyre vs. Sheamus was being advertised all day on social media and throughout this show. Normally, I wouldn't care too much that the match got changed since we've seen it so many damn times, but it was supposed to be for an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship opportunity at Clash of the Castle, so taking away those stakes was disappointing. Even more disappointing is that the former Pete Dunne was squashed in roughly 90 seconds. What a lame way to end the evening.

Overall Show

Call me crazy, but I was slightly optimistic for this episode after Reigns and Heyman opened it on a high note with their segment. Some of the stuff after that held my interest, but it was all downhill in the second hour. It didn't help that there were three matches either teased or flat-out announced that didn't happen and the matches that had potential were short on time. On top of all that, the Maximum Male Models garbage is a massive waste of television time. There were some SummerSlam developments, but SmackDown largely remains in a rut as we head into what should be one of the hottest periods of the year for the company.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews