Friday Night SmackDown Review - October 4, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Carmelo Hayes and United States Champion LA Knight Interrupted AJ Styles; Hayes def. Styles by Referee Stoppage

I thought Styles might turn on the crowd after acting like a babyface to start the segment, but evidently not. I'm happy he's back to being a babyface, but surely that means one of SmackDown's other top babyfaces will be turning heel soon to balance things out (I'm looking at you, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens). He and Hayes had an enjoyable exchange on the mic and I liked the match that followed up until the abrupt finish. Props to Styles for selling that injury like it was legitimate because I thought it was. Maybe it is, but they way they talked about it throughout the show made me think it was always part of the plan. I'm bummed we're not getting Knight vs. Hayes vs. Andrade for the United States Championship at Bad Blood, by the way. That Triple Threat belongs on a pay-per-view.

Michin def. Chelsea Green in a Dumpster Match

Although this feud hasn't been particularly interesting over the last month, it's been nice to have a secondary storyline for the women that isn't over a championship. Plus, this was the perfect stipulation for them because it's been over seven years since the last Dumpster match in WWE (in other words, it was refreshing to not have a Street Fight for a change). This was a lot of fun and both women put forth a hell of an effort, especially at the end with that powerbomb through the table into the dumpster. That was a sweet spot.

Bayley Attacked WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax

Bayley and Jax saved the best for last ahead of their WWE Women's Championship clash at Bad Blood. They've both cut good promos since rekindling their rivalry over the summer, but this was their strongest segment together yet. Stratton also played her role well. Stratton again subtly teased cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase after Bayley laid out Jax, which could be a sign of things to come at Bad Blood. Personally, I don't think so, but you can't rule out the possibility.

Naomi def. Tiffany Stratton

It was clever how Stratton lingering in the ring during the previous segment segued into this match, which was really good stuff from her and Naomi. I wasn't sure they'd get that much time considering we already had the Dumpster match earlier (two women's matches on one edition of SmackDown, gasp!), but this went around 10 minutes (including the commercial break, of course). I thought Stratton would win, so Naomi winning instead was slightly surprising. Again, we'll see if that's supposed to indicate a potential Money in the Bank cash-in on Saturday night.

WWE Tag Team Champions The Bloodline (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa) def. #DIY and The Street Profits in a Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match

Why this needed to be a Ladder match, I have no idea, but I'm not complaining. This was a blast and the crowd ate up all the action. We've seen crazier Ladder matches (even in WWE this year alone), but it had its fair share of memorable moments and the closing minutes were especially entertaining. I thought the titles might change hands because The Bloodline wouldn't have to be pinned, but no such luck. At this point, keep those straps on them until it comes time for them to be dethroned by a certain team that's reportedly on their way in.

Overall Show

WWE has done an excellent job with the "less is more" formula (my favorite) in recent weeks and this was another above-average episode. Styles' return was newsworthy, there was more focus on the women than usual, the main event was awesome, and we even got a quick teaser for Motor City Machine Guns (it wasn't explicitly said it was for them, but that's the current belief per reports). The lack of last-minute build for the Bad Blood tag team match was shocking, but I'm excited for the event as it is, so it didn't end up making much of a difference.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews