Friday Night SmackDown Review - June 24, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Adam Pearce Removed Drew McIntyre and Sheamus From the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

McIntyre and Sheamus fought to a double disqualification in a Money in the Bank qualifier two weeks ago, so I thought it was weird Pearce put them both in the match without having them fight in a rematch. Pearce reversed the decision and said they'd have to beat The Usos in the main event to earn their way back in. The whole thing was convoluted, but I suppose they had to kill time before the pay-per-view somehow and play into the idea that Roman Reigns is ducking McIntyre.

Sami Zayn def. Shinsuke Nakamura to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Zayn and Nakamura have had a handful of matches on the main roster this year and all of them have been enjoyable. To no one's surprise, this was more of the same for the time given. I know Nakamura said he had unfinished business with The Bloodline a month or so ago, but Zayn makes way more sense to be in Money in the Bank. I don't know if he'll win, but the storyline possibilities with him as Mr. Money in the Bank would be very interesting, even if he doesn't cash in successfully.

The Viking Raiders Attacked The New Day and Shanky

New Day were originally scheduled to have a rematch with Jinder Mahal and Shanky from last week, but New Day said they didn't want to subject the audience to yet another rematch. What's funny is that they had what felt like a million matches with The Brawling Brutes, but I guess we're just supposed to forget about that. The dancing nonsense with New Day and Shanky was going nowhere until Viking Raiders showed up and laid them out, cementing their heel turn. They debuted a new look as well. They honestly resemble The Ascension at this point and that's not a positive, but a heel turn won't hurt since they were completely directionless previously.

Lacey Evans and Raquel Rodriguez def. Sonya Deville in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Pearce booked this bout backstage. It made sense given their history as co-authority figures, but putting two babyfaces against one heel in a handicap scenario is never ideal. Deville had Shayna Baszler and Xia Li at ringside with her, and although they attempted to interfere, the babyfaces won in the end. This was whatever, though it did give Evans and Rodriguez a minor boost before they take part in Money in the Bank.

SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and Natalya Brawled

Although I really couldn't care less about this program, I'll give both women their props in that they're really trying to get fans invested with their exchanges on Twitter and again here. Natalya did well with the cosplay and Rousey had some great lines (despite her delivery being as monotone as always). The two fighting over the stroller at the end was dumb, but the rest of this segment was shockingly better than expected.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. Ricochet

WWE got rid of the automatic rematch clause for former champions years ago and they've largely stuck to that, but no explanation was given for why Ricochet got a rematch here despite doing nothing to deserve it and losing clean to Gunther the first time. Their original encounter was a ton of fun for as long as it lasted, but I was fine with this being more of a straightforward squash to further establish Gunther's dominance. If I were Ricochet, I wouldn't pick up my phone in the next few weeks.

Shotzi def. Tamina to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

The last time I checked, Tamina was a member of the Raw roster, but it's hard to give a shit about the rules of the Brand Split when the company itself doesn't pretend to give a sit. Aliyah was originally advertised to face Shotzi, but she must be injured or something. This was not very good at all, but the important thing is that Shotzi qualified. What's sad is that this marked her first televised win in almost a year, but hey, at least she's in Money in the Bank.

Pat McAfee Challenged Happy Corbin to a Match at SummerSlam

Some said that McAfee humiliating Corbin last week would only be a one-off, but I'm glad they're headed in the direction of having a match at SummerSlam as I hoped they would. McAfee has proved to be an absolute treat to watch in the ring and has the crowd behind him, so that feels like an attraction for SummerSlam. It's also the perfect use of Corbin because either guy could win and it wouldn't matter.

Drew McIntyre and Sheamus def. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Non-Title)

McIntyre and Sheamus always have strong chemistry regardless of whether they're opponents or partners, so it should have come as no surprise that this main event was entertaining. Of course, it's never ideal to have your tag team champions lose (especially when they're normally kept strong and them losing should mean more than it did here), but it accomplished what it needed to with McIntyre and Sheamus qualifying for the Ladder match (which they were already a part of prior to this episode, but I digress).

Overall Show

Between the pointless Mr. McMahon promo and the setup for Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, last week's show was arguably one of the worst of the year, so this edition was an obvious improvement. It was far from a great show, mind you, but at least we got more Money in the Bank developments. The two hours weren't awful and that's honestly all you can ask for from the blue brand nowadays. Reigns and Lesnar were nowhere to be found and yet it was still a solid show on the whole.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews