Smackdown July 26th 2016

Smackdown

Like Raw, Smackdown had a new logo, theme song, and more. What did Smackdown do to try and top Monday Night Raw?

The Number One Contender

The whole roster surrounded that ring that had Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon in it. They announced that starting September 11th there will Smackdown exclusive Pay Per Views, the first being titled; Backlash. But that's in September and they need a number one contender for Dean Ambrose's WWE World Championship. The number one contender would be decided in a Six Pack Challenge that included John Cena, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler.

They then announced that the sixth superstar would be the winner of a Battle Royale that is on next.

Battle Royale

When this Battle Royale started I kind of thought that the only one that I really wanted to win was Alberto Del Rio. However the final two ended up being Kane and Apollo Crews as Del Rio was eliminated earlier. At this point I was thinking that Kane was going to win but no Apollo Crews ended up eliminating Kane to win. I didn't really see Apollo winning the match and facing Ambrose for the World Title so it didn't really affect me, but I think Apollo is kind of boring.

Shelton Benjamin

It was announced that coming soon to Smackdown Live would be Shelton freaking Benjamin! This is awesome to look forward and although I do think it would've been better as a surprise, it's cool that Shelton Benjamin is coming back.

Becky Lynch defeated Natalya

In a Battleground rematch that I'm confident no one wanted to see we had a different outcome with Becky Lynch making Natalya tap out to the Disarmer. I like a lot that Becky came out on top in the end but what happened after the match was kind of weird. Alexa Bliss came out, then Naomi, then Carmella, and then finally Eva Marie. The segment just kind of ended with no explanation as to why it happened, I guess they just wanted to show their womens roster? Not going to lie it was kind of stupid, and Eva Marie got booed a lot hehe.

Miz TV with The Miz

So...The Miz decided to interview himself. After some banter between Miz, Maryse and of course himself, Randy Orton interrupted. Randy noted that Miz is clearly an expert at playing with himself...Randy is actually a savage now like what happened. Anyways Randy told Miz he wants his first match back to be tonight against the Intercontinental Champion. After Miz declined and then Randy insulted both Miz and Maryse, Maryse accepted the match for Miz, despite him clearly shitting his pants.

Randy Orton defeated The Miz

It was kind of a short match and after Miz threw Orton in the ring and got in himself, Randy hit an RKO out of nowhere! But he didn't cover him, he just sat there for what felt like forever which I thought was dumb as it made Miz look weaker than he should especially as the Intercontinental Champion. After Miz got back up Orton hit him with another RKO and this time covered him for the win. Again, I thought this was dumb and was definitely a down side of the night for me. 

Heath Slater

Heath Slater came out of nowhere and beat up a jobber and went on to cut an amazing promo about how he wasn't drafted, and the crowd was getting behind every word! Shane McMahon came out and told him he was in fact looking at the number one free agent in sports entertainment. However Rhyno was standing behind Heath Slater who then gave Heath a Ghore. I don't like Rhyno. He's boring, overrated, and I'd much rather see Heath Slater than Rhyno. 

Six Pack Challenge

A lot of things happened during this match, there were a lot of finishers, especially Attitude Adjustments. But after Cena gave one to Baron Corbin, Cena turned right in to a Phenomenal Forearm from AJ Styles. AJ then took a Super Kick from Dolph who pinned AJ Styles for the win! 

I'm really happy Dolph won as he hasn't gotten a chance in a while but why'd he have to pin AJ? There was Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews but he had to pin AJ Styles. Anyways after that Dean Ambrose came out and the two had a stare down as they would meet at Summerslam for the WWE World Championship

Star Of The Night: Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler being the number one contender is awesome. It'd be even better if he was heel but there's still a possibility. Nonetheless Dolph deserved this and I know he'll make the most of his time in the main event scene.

Overall I think Raw was better Smackdown this week but it was still very cool to see Dolph winning that Six Pack Challenge.

Until next time,

Devon Wizard