Friday Night SmackDown Review - June 26, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ricky Saints Confronted and Attacked United States Champion Trick Williams and Lil Yatchy

I was skeptical of the Williams and Yatchy pairing a few months ago (especially if the reported plan to turn Williams babyface), but they've turned into a fun act that crowds are into. I thought everyone played their roles well in this segment, and it was smart to have Saints stand tall to make it seem like he has a chance of beating Williams for the United States championship at Night of Champions. Also, congrats to Williams and Lash Legend for getting married last week.

B-Fab and Michin def. Women's United States Champion Tiffany Stratton and Alexa Bliss

It was established beforehand that Stratton and Bliss only joined forces because they have common enemies in Jade Cargill and her crew, not because they like each other. The match was decent and I was pleasantly surprised the heel duo went over, especially with B-Fab pinning Stratton (albeit with an assist from Cargill). Chelsea Green made the save for Stratton and Bliss afterward, so the story is that Stratton is finally coming around to accepting her help.

AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix def. Nathan Frazer

Fenix beat Axiom to retain the AAA Cruiserweight Championship two weeks ago, so it's cool that his tag team partner Frazer got a shot as well in his home country of England. I actually enjoyed this way more than that match. Sure, the London crowd made a major difference, but the action was also more entertaining in my opinion. Having AAA titles defended on WWE TV still doesn't do much for me, but I'm just glad Fenix is getting more television time (and winning).

LA Knight Denied Solo Sikoa

As tired as this whole Bloodline saga has become, I appreciate that Knight has remained consistent in his hatred of the group, including Sikoa (who has a renewed issue with them as well). Both guys' deliveries were great here and it made sense for Knight to turn down Sikoa despite Sikoa helping him get a victory over Jimmy Uso on Monday's Raw. I still have no idea where any of this is going, but the stuff with Knight at least has some of my interest.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Paige def. Jacy Jane

Paige retained the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Brie Bella on Monday's Raw in England, so I would have been okay with her losing here (even though I believe it marked her first singles match on WWE TV in almost a decade). Her winning was a good moment, but I'm not a fan of cooling off whatever momentum Fatal Influence had. Jane and the rest of the group will be fine, but the booking is certainly questionable. Otherwise, it was a nice match aside from a few slightly awkward spots.

Matt Cardona Saved Danhausen from Los Garza; Danhausen and Cardona def. Los Garza

This whole storyline with Danhausen, Cardona and Loa Garza has been playing out backstage on SmackDown for weeks, and I can't say it's been overly amusing. I don't completely hate the nonsense they're going for, but it's by no means hilarious, either. This felt like it existed simply to kill time, and hey, the crowd got a kick out of it, so there was that. If nothing else, this is the most relevant Cardona has felt since he returned, and I'm well aware that's a low bar.

Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green

Part of me thought they might have Green upset Cargill with Stratton getting involved as payback for Cargill costing her the win against B-Fab and Michin, but that would have been the wrong call. Green was the plucky underdog who lost in a matter of minutes (as she should have) and Cargill came across as dominant before she challenges for the Women's United States Championship this weekend. Stratton and Bliss made the save afterward. Basically, this was an extension of what we got earlier.

Giulia def. Kiana James

Turning Giulia babyface is probably WWE's last-ditch effort to salvage her main roster run. This was an encouraging sign as the match was well worked and Giulia went over. WWE has clearly been higher on James this entire time, so I don't think she's doomed just because she lost here. Post-match, Blake Monroe made her formal debut by attacking Giulia. Having her first appearance in front of the crowd be in her native England was wise.

Chaos Ensued Between Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Gunther, Jey Uso and Oba Femi

Rhodes and Zayn were having such an excellent exchange that I was worried Gunther would get lost in the shuffle, but he cut a quality promo as well when he showed up. Uso was his usual obnoxious self, which would be logical if the idea is for him to go heel. Time will tell if they go in that direction. I loved how the four of them brawled while Femi watched from the apron. That made him looks like a massive star. They teased Femi vs. Rhodes as the show went off the air, but I'm not convinced that's the match we're getting at SummerSlam (not yet, anyway).

Overall Show

It's confirmed that SmackDown will be returning to its two-hour format next week. Praise the lord! The three hours were still a slog to sit through this week, but I did think the final hype for Night of Champions was well done. The closing segment was easily the strongest thing on the show, but everything else was adequate and/or served a purpose (okay, maybe not the tag team match with Danhausen, so I understand anyone skipping through that).

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews