Friday Night SmackDown Review - June 18, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Universal Champion Roman Reigns Interrupted Rey Mysterio

Mysterio has been doing some of the best mic work of his career during his rushed rivalry with Reigns. That's why it's such a shame this storyline will be short-lived before they move in a different direction. This was a quality verbal exchange between the two that effectively built toward their Hell in a Cell match later in the night. If they were always going to do the match on SmackDown (and obviously plans changed in the last few days to move it from the pay-per-view to the Friday before), then the Hell in a Cell stipulation is vastly unnecessary. It always unnecessary considering they've been feuding for all of two weeks, but especially on SmackDown.

Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez def. Kevin Owens and Big E

They're clearly making Azeez out to be a big deal the same way Raw is heavily protecting Omos, so him getting the pinfall win for his team here wasn't surprising. The match itself was decent for the time it was given. Sami Zayn distracted Owens from ringside, which is why Owens' team lost. They'll be facing off again at Hell in a Cell. Unfortunately, we still have no idea what's next for either Crews or Big E, unless the idea is for them to continue their feud over the Intercontinental Championship, which I wouldn't do.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. King Corbin in a Battle for the Crown

How anyone could bring themselves to care about this corny feud is beyond me. Every match they've had has been mediocre and neither of them have benefited whatsoever. Yes, Nakamura has been back on television in a regular role, but I doubt he'll gain much from winning the crown. The best thing I can about this is that it didn't overstay its welcome and that hopefully Corbin can finally stop doing the dumb king crap now.

Bayley Attacked SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair

Belair officially challenged Bayley to a Hell in a Cell match here. They were already scheduled to meet for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the pay-per-view, and I don't have a problem with it happening inside Hell in a Cell because they've been feuding on and off since late last year, but they should have established this weeks ago instead of announcing Reigns vs. Mysterio as a Hell in a Cell matchup last week. This was a solid segment designed to put some heat on Bayley before Sunday and it did a good job of that.

Angelo Dawkins vs. Otis Went to a No Contest

The new Otis look is going to take some getting used to, but I honestly don't hate this edge he's developed in recent weeks. He's definitely a natural babyface (and there was zero reason to break up Heavy Machinery when WWE did), but this pairing with Gable is growing on me. I didn't have much interest in Otis vs. Dawkins one-on-one, so I liked that they went with an angle instead with Otis and Gable attacking Dawkins.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. Rey Mysterio in a Hell in a Cell Match

This was the first Hell in a Cell match to ever take place on SmackDown and you could tell based on how it went under 20 minutes and was filled with commercial breaks. That said, this was great stuff and I'm disappointed it was given away two days before the pay-per-view. It won't go down as one of the greatest Hell in a Cell matches of all-time or anything like that, but it was a lot of fun for as long as it lasted. Jimmy Uso seemed to officially align with Reigns afterward, but I still think there's a chance he'll turn on him in the next week or two to set up a match for Money in the Bank.

Overall Show

Although this was a one-match show with Hell in a Cell coming two days early, it ended up being a well-done go-home show on the whole with pretty much everything serving a purpose. Okay, so Corbin vs. Nakamura was more of the same, but fingers crossed that's the end of the feud. The main event was a blast even though it shouldn't have happened here. The two hours flew by per usual. With Reigns vs. Mysterio apparently off Hell in a Cell completely, we're down to a six-match card with the additions of Owens vs. Zayn and Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro on this show.

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