 Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes def. Solo Sikoa in a Steel Cage MatchHaving this open the show was a smart call. The fact the first 30 minutes were commercial-free gave this a pay-per-view feel. What's funny is that this was significantly better than the match they did have on pay-per-view at SummerSlam (which I actually didn't mind too much myself). They made great use of the cage and I appreciated that there was no interference from The Bloodline. The crowd was hot for the post-match angle with Roman Reigns returning to save Rhodes from The Bloodline. Tag team match at Bad Blood incoming? Michin def. Piper NivenMichin failed to beat Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Championship two weeks ago and lost to Chelsea Green last week, so she definitely needed the win here. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to the match because it was so brief and it didn't sound like the crowd cared. Niven and Green attacked Michin afterward, so clearly the feud isn't over. I just wish WWE put more effort into undercard stories for the women. Randy Orton and Kevin Owens def. A-Town Down UnderI don't know what the point was of Owens introducing that "Ricky" dude as his partner other than it being good for a laugh. Orton stepping up was extremely obvious given the alliance he's had with Owens this year as well as how many matches they've had against A-Town Down Under. It's a feud I'm so sick of seeing and am hoping they can finally move on from it after this. The match was well wrestled yet nothing we haven't seen before. Hey, at least the crowd was hot for the action. Bayley and Naomi Confronted WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax and Tiffany StrattonWhen Jax said she had to defend her WWE Women's Championship at Bad Blood, my first thought was that Charlotte Flair would come out to challenge her. I knew Bayley was still in the mix as she hasn't gotten her rematch since losing the title at SummerSlam, but that Flair feud is inevitable, you can bet on that. At any rate, it was a solid segment and I like that next week's tag team match has stakes. I'd be shocked if we get any other outcome than Bayley picking up the win and going on to face Jax at Bad Blood. Andrade def. Carmelo HayesThis wasn't officially billed a number contender's match for the United States Championship, but that was the implication. It was also the fifth (and potentially final) match in the series between these two. It was on par with their other encounters in that it was very fun. I thought it might end in a non-finish to set up a Triple Threat for the title, so Andrade winning decisively surprised me. LA Knight vs. Andrade for the title goes down next week. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns Fended Off The BloodlineWith the way this was built up throughout the show, I genuinely thought The Rock would be showing up to be Reigns' partner at Bad Blood, especially after Rhodes said earlier in the episode that he was done with The Bloodline. Well, he changed his mind because it will indeed be Reigns and Rhodes vs. Sikoa and Jacob Fatu at The Bloodline. That's a hell of an attraction for an event that was already looking stacked on paper. They set it up nicely with this segment. Overall ShowTo coincide with the show's return to USA Network, SmackDown now has a new logo and a new theme song. I'm not a big fan of the new logo, and I'm even less of a fan of the new song. It just doesn't fit the vibe of a wrestling show whatsoever, at least in my opinion. Call me old-fashioned. At any rate, this was an enjoyable edition of SmackDown. It started strong and ended strong. Everything in the middle was largely paint-by-numbers stuff, but the build for Bad Blood was well done. It was refreshing to get an overrun on SmackDown for a change, too.
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