After posting a “new faction” earlier this week prior to Raw, WWE delivered on the promise in a big way with Retribution tearing SmackDown apart to close the show. When the show ended on Friday night, a group of men and women with black hoodies and masks stormed the arena, holding baseball bats and pipes, chasing production interviews and taking the talent from the Performance Center who took the show. attended as “fans.”
At the end of the show, the set was spray-painted, bodies licked the floor and Retribution used a chainsaw to cut through the ring cables. It was a much more significant debut for the group than the small tease on Monday where they were shown molotov cocktails smashed on a power generator in the Performance Center, but nothing more.
Mention could be a big force in the coming months of WWE programming, but the identities of those involved will determine the legs that the storyline will have.
Read on for a full review, along with grades, for this week’s edition of SmackDown.
WWE SmackDown again, degrees
Matt Riddle def. Sheamus disqualified after interfering with Shorty G: Riedel frustrated Sheamus early on with some grappling, including briefly locking himself in a backpack back-node choke. Sheamus used rough physical to take over the game, but Riddle was able to counter almost everything from the Irish before Sheamus finally hit a big powerbomb to take over on offense. Riddle came back with a flurry of strikes, a big kiss to Sheamus’ face and a few running sentons. Riddle missed a moonsault of top cables and ran into Sheamus’ White Noise for a huge fall. After Sheamus placed himself, the two began to knit around the side when Shorty G ran in and attacked Riddle from behind to sign the disqualification. Riddle turned the tables on Shorty G, tossed him round to the side before throwing him into the ring steps and landed a large kiss to his chest. A frustrated Sheamus delivered a Brogue Kick to Shorty G before writing about having a profit stolen from him by a man who tried to collect King Corbin’s castle and deliver a second Brogue Kick.
Later, Sheamus and Corbin claimed backstage, with Sheamus frustrated that Corbin’s problems with Riddle interfered with his chances of a major victory. I’m all-in on more Riddle vs. Sheamus matches in the future to see more of the hard, on and back offense – hopefully with a clean finish in the future. Quality: B
Cesaro def. Lince Dorado fia pinfall: Two different types of incredible athletes in this race, with Cesaro’s power against Dorado’s speed. Cesaro’s power was too early at first, but Dorado hit a springboard stunner before hitting two of the three moonsaults for the trio before a slight distraction from Nakamura Cesaro could prevent the third, but almost pinned with a rana- counter to a Razor’s Edge. A little later, Cesaro hit the Gotch Neutralizer for the victory. This match still needed five minutes to get anywhere near what it could have been. Instead, it was just another loss of Lucha House Party in a short but competitive match. Quality: C +
Braun Strowman told The Fiend that he would encounter “The Monster” at SummerSlam: Bray Wyatt opened the show with a Firefly Fun House where he blamed Strowman for The Fiend who attacked Alexa Bliss last week on SmackDown. He then promised that De Fiend would be in the ring with “someone special” later that night.
Later in the show, The Fiend entered the ring with Alexa Bliss, placing another mandible claw, only for her to stop him before Strowman interrupted on the Throne. Strowman said Wyatt made a mistake by trying to play on his emotions because he did nothing about Bliss. Strowman added that he emerged from the Wyatt Swamp Fight as the most evil man in the world, declaring himself “The Monster” and saying that Wyatt should face his fears in the SummerSlam. Strowman’s delivery here was poor, and I’m not sure what advantage there is to declaring your face champion that he does not care about the woman who was his longtime friend. But this was ultimately a step back from the progress made with The Fiend attacking Bliss last week. Class: C-
Jeff Hardy def. King Corbin disqualification: Hardy started off a very quick start, but Corbin turned a Twist of Fate into a great clothing line. Corbin took Hardy to the outside of the ring and released him with a series of punches, while Hardy half ran across the announcement table. Corbin then took over until he tried to slip out and back into the ring with a clothing line, but was cut short by Hardy, who soon found himself back on the mat after a Deep Six by Corbin for an almost fall. Corbin then knocked Hardy out of the ring and Sheamus ran in to hit Hardy with a Brogue Kick, winning revenge on Corbin for being previously disqualified by Corbin. This was a nice enough small game, but the end was very predictable. It’s also a bit crazy that WWE really only announces disqualifications in these situations when it’s going to play out right in a story. Generally, there is a clock without notice after a run-in. Quality: C +
Sheamus def. King Corbin fia pinfall: The disqualifications of the duels led to an impromptu height vs height battle – although the “fans” were behind Sheamus. Corbin and Sheamus gave each other the company by severely abusing both ways. Matt Riddle eventually ran in and jumped over Corbin, not touching him and leading Corbin to turn into a Sheamus Brogue Kick for the finish. Class: B-
Stephanie McMahon explained SummerSlam plans for Bayley and Sasha Banks: Banks and Bayley spoke backstage when they were told they had to go to the ring for a video conference with Stephanie McMahon. McMahon took issue with the duo and took advantage of their own chosen stipulation to allow Banks to win the Raw women’s title from Asuka by counting, calling it a ‘shifter’. McMahon announced that next week a triple-brand Battle would take place, with the winner challenging Bayley for the SmackDown title at SummerSlam. She also added that Banks would defend the Raw title at SummerSlam, possibly against Asuka, should Asuka defeat Bayley at Raw next week. It’s a bit sad that McMahon drafted stipulations that only served to put Asuka at a disadvantage and then clashed with Banks and Bayley for exploiting the situation. But, that’s classic wrestling logic when playing. The real crime in the segment was not letting Bayley and Banks do more work on the mic. Quality: C +
The Miz and John Morrison vs. Heavy Machinery finished in a no-match: This match came about when Heavy Machinery attacked Miz and Morrison when they hosted a segment “Dirt Sheet” that interviewed Sonya Deville. When the match began, a fired Otis ran through Miz’s misconduct before tagging in Tucker for a bit of double teaming and a flipping road from the ring choir. Tucker quickly lost control of the game, with Miz and Morrison cutting him off from Otis. Tucker was able to provide an forearm and hit Morrison from the front and sit on Miz’s chest to open up the space needed for a hot tag to Otis, who was shoved by Miz and Morrison before hitting the Caterpillar for a very fall. Tucker smashed into the shed and tried to take Miz and Morrison out, but Mandy Rose ran in and attacked Sonya Deville, causing everything to break. Class: B-
Report SmackDown: After the definitive commercial break, Miz, Morrison, Rose, Deville and Heavy Machinery rode backstage when the lights flickered and Retribution – a collection of men and women dressed in black hoodies and masks – stormed the ring holding bats and pipes, chasing off it announce team and members of the production crew before attacking the audience. After clearing the area, the group began using spray paint on the Plexiglas around the ring before cutting the ring cables with a chainsaw before the show went off the air. This was performed better than expected, with the COVID-related limitations making it feel like a complete takeover of construction. It will be interesting to see what WWE goes with, because it has the potential to be very interesting as well as spectacularly bad. Quality: B +
