Last Sunday it became very clear as Extreme Rules and Wyatt Swamp Fight concluded that The Fiend would be the next universal champion Braun Strowman, SummerSlam will likely arrive next month. On Friday night on SmackDown, Strowman’s future was confirmed to be in the dark.
During an episode of “Firefly Fun House”, Bray Wyatt made it known to everyone that The Fiend is about to break loose after being away for the past few months. After losing the world championship to Goldberg earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, it appears Wyatt is determined to regain his place at the top of the food chain in his darkest form of The Fiend. In addition to Wyatt’s chilling message on Friday night, the No. 1 contenders for the SmackDown Women’s and Intercontinental Championships emerged, while a savage bar fight between two bitter rivals closed the show in a unique setting.
Below you can see everything that happened in the SmackDown issue on Friday night, complete with ratings, analysis and highlights.
WWE SmackDown summary, ratings
Bayley and Sasha Banks went out to open SmackDown: The women’s team champions began by showing everyone the definition of “greatness,” which was an image of them on Titantron with all four titles at Extreme Rules last Sunday. Banks said the evolution of women is over because it started with her and Bayley and now ends with them. They were then interrupted by Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss. Cross expressed her frustrations at what happened at Extreme Rules before demanding a shot at the SmackDown women’s title tonight. Bayley told Cross that she would be willing to give her another shot at the title, provided she could beat her best friend Alexa Bliss; the winner will face Bayley next week on SmackDown. Bliss seemed reluctant, but Cross is so obsessed with having another title shot that she pushed Bliss to the ground before attacking the ring.
Nikki Cross def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall: Cross faked an injury near the end of the game, leading Bliss to a small package so that victory would get another shot at the SmackDown women’s title next week. A good setup and post game here, and the finale really highlighted how Cross was willing to do whatever it took to win another shot at Bayley. In the backstage after the commercial, Bliss ran into Cross, where he admits one happened to him. Bliss congratulated Cross and told him to now focus on becoming the new champion. Grade b
Bray Wyatt ready to unleash The Fiend: This week’s “Firefly Fun House” started with a review of the Swamp Fight highlights at Extreme Rules last Sunday. Bray Wyatt appeared in the “Firefly Fun House” segment alongside his severed head flashlight. The head, symbolizing the previous version of Wyatt, who began to hear whispers in his head from the flashlight. The current iteration of angry Wyatt told his old form that he would never let him out again and that he had his chance. Wyatt ended by saying that it is now “his” turn, clearly referring to The Fiend, whom we saw emerge from the swamp at the end of Extreme Rules, setting his sights on Braun Strowman and the universal title. Grade B-
Matt Riddle def. Tony Nese via pinfall: Party pretty fast with Riddle picking up the win after brother Derek. After the match, Riddle called King Corbin, who said that Riddle cannot be in his kingdom. Corbin said he is so sure Riddle doesn’t belong that he’s putting a “king ransom” on him. Riddle then informed Corbin that he is the next guest on the “Bro Show”. Nese immediately tried to collect that ransom, but was kicked in the head for his efforts. Riddle held to close the segment. Grade: C
Naomi appeared as a guest on “Miz TV”: After #NaomiDeservesBetter started trending on Twitter last week in support of Naomi after her loss to Lacey Evans, WWE decided to intertwine real life on television. Naomi started thanking people for the support because they are what keeps her going. The Miz and John Morrison noted that it doesn’t make sense that she has captured all the attention for losing, but Naomi said they must wonder why Lacey Evans attacked her. Miz and Morrison, the antagonists they are, brought Evans out as a surprise “guest”. Evans was able to verbally talk about Naomi making no progress despite being around for a decade before Naomi forced her out of the ring and danced with her hat on. Grade: C-
Big E singles push time?: Backstage, just after the loss of his label title at Extreme Rules, Kofi Kingston informed Big E that he would likely be gone for six weeks with an injury. Big E was unaware of the news, but with a smile on his face, Kingston told Big E that now is the time to shine like a singles star with him and Xavier Woods on the shelf. Reluctant at first, Big E ended the segment by hugging Kingston for the gesture and the opportunity. It doesn’t normally rate behind-the-scenes segments, but if it’s time for Big E to run alone, I’ll make an exception here. Grade: A +
Great Metalik def. Shorty G (via pinfall), Drew Gulak and Lince Dorado to become the No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship: The great talent of Gran Metalik picked up the surprise victory here after nailing Shorty G with a fall of the elbow after walking the top rope. After the match, intercontinental champion AJ Styles, who was commenting while waiting for his next opponent, entered the ring. He offered Metalik a handshake, but when contestant number 1 didn’t accept, he slapped him. When Styles set out to attack Dorado, Metalik brought down the champion with a Tornado DDT. Congratulations on WWE and think outside the box here. Next week, Styles vs. Metalik will surely steal the show. Grade A-
New SmackDown label champions cut an off-stage promotion: Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro met Kayla Braxton in the backstage, where they bumped into New Day for the loss at Extreme Rules while teasing Kofi Kingston’s injury. Cesaro said that it is not time for Big E to shine, while Nakamura concluded the interview saying that all tag teams will be “crushed”.
Jeff Hardy def. Sheamus in a bar fight via pinfall: Sheamus and Hardy met at the Irish Shannon pub in Orlando and chatted a bit at the bar before hand-to-hand combat broke out after Hardy threw a beer in Sheamus’ face. After fighting through the entire establishment with Sheamus in control for most of the fight, Hardy emerged victorious after hitting Sheamus with a Swanton on a ladder. The end came after Sheamus believed he pushed Hardy away forever with a shot in the chair back and placing his hat on Hardy’s face before walking behind the bar for a drink. However, when he came back and took off his hat, Hardy’s face was painted and the fight came to an end soon after.
This show has received a fair amount of criticism in the past few weeks, and while this was mostly cheesy, it was actually a pretty fun fight for television. Hopefully, though, they’ve finally put all of this to bed and the two of them can move in different directions. Grade B-
