 Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus in a Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match Qualifying Match Ended in a Double DisqualificationMcIntyre and Sheamus never disappoint whenever they face off and this was yet another entertaining encounter from them. They beat the hell out of each other and the crowd was into the action. The double disqualification finish was lame, though. Does that mean neither man has qualified and that we'll get a No Disqualification rematch next week? Either way, neither of these men need the briefcase, especially since McIntyre has already has called his shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle. Lacey Evans def. Xia Li to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder MatchThis marked Evans' first televised match since early 2021. She went from having several vignettes air on SmackDown to being moved to Raw (reportedly as a heel) to being moved back to SmackDown, seemingly as a babyface (for now, anyway). She has to be considered the frontrunner to win the briefcase, right? There wasn't much to the match due to it only being two minutes long, but it was fine while it lasted. At least we finally got Li in action as well. SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey def. Shotzi in a Championship Contender's MatchRousey's pre-match promo was about as good as her makeup, and that's not a compliment. I'm glad to see Shotzi making more appearances recently, but she's firmly established as an enhancement talent by this point, so the outcome was never in doubt. Their original encounter in the Beat the Clock Challenge a month or so ago was around 90 seconds, so I was surprised how competitive this was. On a side note, it was announced that Rousey will defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Natalya at Money in the Bank. Gunther def. Ricochet to Win the Intercontinental ChampionshipI've been looking forward to this match for a while and it didn't disappoint. Despite losing so much of his size, Gunther is still incredibly impressive to watch work in the ring and can work well with just about anyone. Ricochet was at his best here and sold for Gunther's offense like a champ. This was a ton of fun and I wish they got more time. Gunther taking the title was absolutely the right call and I hope his dominant push continues. Riddle def. Sami ZaynIf Zayn won, Riddle would've been barred from SmackDown, but if Riddle won, he would have earned a shot at Reigns' Undisputed title next week on the show. I loved that they added those stipulations to make the match more meaningful. My only question is, why wasn't this advertised in advance? On the bright side, this was a wonderful main event. Zayn has been one of the best parts of WWE programming this year and looked great in defeat here. I'm looking forward to Reigns vs. Riddle next week, but it's strange it's not being saved for the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Is Reigns busy that day or something? Overall ShowI appreciated that they took the "less is more" approach with this show, though I wish they would cut down on the filler. I mean, it was 20 minutes between when Zayn made his entrance and when the bell rang in the main event. They need to stop pulling that crap. All in all, this was one of the strongest editions of SmackDown in some time. The show has largely been abysmal since the Draft in October, but for one week anyway, it was worthwhile and noteworthy stuff actually happened. I'd love to say that I hope they can keep it going, but I'm not holding my breath considering Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss in a "Last Laugh" match is advertised for next week. That said, Reigns vs. Riddle for the top title feels like a genuine attraction.
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