Hello everyone, this is Prince Osborne welcoming you to my live review of this week’s WWE SmackDown live from Minneapolis.
John Cena Kicks Off The Show
Cena makes his way to the ring and we literally cut to a video package recap of last week’s Reigns/Cena/Bálor segments, because apparently all their 421 announcers are that useless. Cena says Reigns sucks for accepting Bálor’s challenge for SummerSlam instead of his. He makes some jokes about Reigns claiming Cena didn’t change anything, comparing it to The Rock coming back to the WWE as ‘Dwayne Too Small Johnson’ just because. He says he doesn’t change because, unlike Reigns, people don’t stop caring about him every two years. Ouch. He goes on to say Reigns is afraid of facing him at SummerSlam because of how he’ll make him look. But wait, homeless Corbin interrupts.
Corbin wants to talk to Cena because things aren’t going his way and he’s desperate. And to make matters worse, Corbin suffered an injury in a very sensible place of his body last week and his wife even left him because he can’t perform anymore. Oh lord. And to think this is the guy that retired Kurt Angle. Corbin wants some help from Cena on that, which doesn’t sound like a good idea at all judging by his romantic life. Cena gives him some money, but that’s not good enough for Corbin, who wants to be in his next movie. Cena responds with an AA! This was an amazing promo done by Cena so well until Corbin came to steal the spotlight. I was afraid, but he elevated it to a new level. Grade: A
Another recap, this time of Usos beating the Mysterios for the tag belts, and backstage Rey asks Dominik to keep an eye on them while he’s wrestling next.
Commercial
Rey Mysterio(w/ Dominik Mysterio) vs. Jimmy Uso(w/ Jey Uso)
Michael Cole gets in a rare funny comment to start, saying the Usos are ‘flying high’ on top of the tag team division. I love shoot comments that aren’t supposed to be shoot comments. Rey runs wild to start and even gets a few nearfalls, but Jimmy quickly cuts him off with a necksnap onto the buckle that turns things around. Rey gets back on top but walks into a superkick and we take another break.
Commercial
We come back with Rey blocking an Uso sunset flip and getting a stiff kick right in the mouth, but Uso sends him into the apron and knocks him down with an enziguiri. Rey blocks a superplex with a couple of headbutts and a senton followed by a crossbody gets two. Uso gets a kick but gets caught in 619 position, only for Jey to save him, but Rey follows with a dive and takes them both down. Rey turns an Uso samoan drop into a crucifix pin, and Rey adds some leverage to help Rey steal the win. That was a page straight out of Dom’s dad’s book. His dad being Eddie Guerrero, obviously! Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars
Commercial
Bianca Belair’s 100 Days Celebration
Bianca is about to be interviewed about her reign as the women’s champion but Carmella and Zelina Vega came out to put their cases on challenging her. This led to an assault by both women who was saved by the returning Sasha Banks. This was a good segment that had Banks back to the scene and possibly to title contention. Grade: B+
Up next, Reginald defends his 24/7 Championship against an unanimous opponent. Who is it?
We’re back from the commercial break and Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable accepts the challenge.
Singles Match for the 24/7 Championship: Reginald (C) vs Chad Gable w/Otis
Reginald def. Chad Gable by disqualification @0:57 after Otis interfered mid-match. Welp! This happened.
Backstage, Sonya Deville conveys to WWE Official Adam Pearce that she made a tag match between Belair and Banks facing Carmella and Zelina. Sweet!
We were cut to commercials, informing that the Universal Championship contract signing is next!
Roman Reigns vs Finn Balor – Universal Championship Contract Signing
Both men make their entrances to the ring as there is instant animosity even though the build is getting started. Roman warns Finn that if he dares to sign the contract, he would smash him and send him back to NXT. Finn replied that he would be happy to go back to NXT as the new Universal Champion. As he is about to sign, Baron Corbin attacks from behind and tries to sign the contract. Then, John Cena makes the save, takes a blue marker out of his pocket and signs the contract! He made it official! Cena vs Reigns at SummerSlam! A good segment but I felt that this should’ve happened straight away but they took a spinning route. Unless this turns out to a triple threat or something, I’m pretty much disappointed in Finn’s role here. Grade: B
Back from commercial, Paul Heyman is pissed to see the segment unfold. But, Pearce made Cena vs Reigns official! Coming up next, we have a six man tag team match!
Six Man Tag Team Match: Big E, Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura vs Apollo Crews w/Commander Azeez & The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode)
Team E won @3:17 after Nakamura pinned Crews by hitting the Kinshasa knee strike. A fun match that went so short. Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
Last week, Edge and Seth Rollins had a tense confrontation which led to Edge standing tall after a brawl. Now, Edge is out here to respond as we are in for a break.
Edge vs Seth Rollins: The Saga Continues
We’re back from commercial to see Seth Rollins circle the ring with fury as he attacked Edge with a camera during the break. Now, Seth addresses on why he targeted Edge. Seth said that he deserved to be in the spot at MITB but Edge had a shot. So, if he didn’t get it, then Edge won’t get it too. The MITB footage was shown and Rollins stated that he wasn’t ashamed of doing it. A solid segment for a match that might be a sleeper at SummerSlam. Grade: B+
Back from commercials, and we’ve shown a replay of the contract signing and the first official announcement of Reigns vs Cena. Plus, we have our first match for next week’s SmackDown as Finn Balor faces Baron Corbin in singles action!
Now, it’s time for the main event!
Tag Team Match: Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks vs Carmella & Zelina Vega
Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks def. Carmella & Zelina Vega @5:18 after Sasha made Carmella tap to the Bank Statement. A decent tag to close the wrestling side of the show.
Post-match, both the women were celebrating until Sasha hit Bianca with a backstabber stating her need for the return! She wants the title back! Now, she locks in the Bank Statement twice even though Bianca is tapping the life out of her! The statement has been made!
Overall Match Rating – 1.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Show Rating – 7 out of 10 points
In overall, this was another solid episode of SmackDown with all the angles heading to SummerSlam being improvised a lot. The Universal Championship picture looks frenzy even after SummerSlam and Banks vs Belair II is happening! From a wrestling quality perspective, this won’t be the “must watch” show as everything did what it had to do.