Friday Night SmackDownfrom Oklahoma City, OK was a very in-ring heavy episode of theWWEshow. In significant matches,Bayley defeated Naomi to earn a shot at Nia Jax’s WWE Women’s Championship. “This is awesome” chants were deafening as Carmelo Hayes picked up a victory over Andrade to tie their series of matches at 3-3, with both men getting on the wrong side of US Champion, LA Knight. Michin also scored a win over Piper Niven ahead of her Dumpster Match with Chelsea Green next week.
Followinglast week’s revelation that Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns will tag together at Bad Blood, Randy Orton questioned Cody’s motives and Kevin Owens refused Cody’s offer of a six-man tag match due to “Cody already having another tag team partner”. Owens and Orton would team against Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in the night’s main event, with Cody Rhodes being thrown into the referee to stop Kevin Owens from scoring the win over Solo Sikoa. Seconds later, Owens would be pinned astensions between KO and Cody Rhodes reached an all-time high going into Bad Bloodweek.
Winners
Bayley
It’s been something of a strange year for Bayley creatively. Victorious at WrestleMania, it doesn’t feel like there has been much investment from the audience in her matches and stories since. Her victory over Naomi gives her a shot at regaining the Women’s Championship at Bad Blood, a title she lost at SummerSlam to Nia Jax. It feels like a long shot that Bayley walks out with the title, but she has to be in it to win it.
Nia Jax continues to provoke Money In The Bank briefcase holder, Tiffany Stratton. Livid at losing the opportunity to get rid of Bayley or Naomi from SmackDown for good last week, she grabbed Stratton by the throatand informed her that any more mishaps would be costly. It’s a brave strategy from the champion. The looming threat of Tiffany becoming World Champion grows by the week. Next Saturday’s Women’s Championship match is one to keep a very close eye on.
Carmelo Hayes
Melo did not miss on this episode of SmackDown
It’s been a summer for Carmelo Hayes. Hayes and Andrade are tied at 3-3 in a series of matches that have been one of the highlights of WWE’s summer after Melo claimed victory on this week’s show. Not only that,he flattened United States Champions LA Knight in a backstage attack toobefore the match to further cement his current rise.
Game 7 between the pair of former NXT Champions feels vital. The build has been immaculate. It feels like a series that could go either way. Whoever wins that final match has to be the favorite for a shot at the US title.
Chelsea Green’s Dumpster
This is not a euphemism
As announced on last week’s SmackDown,Michin vs Chelsea Green will be WWE’s first-ever Women’s Dumpster Matchon next week’s show. It may be an old-school stipulation, but it has added intrigue and a sense of fun to the program between Michin and the dastardly duo of Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.
If Green’s promo last week helped build interest in the match,Chelsea’s over-the-top mannerisms while carrying a trashcan to ringside for Piper Niven’s defeat to Michin was solid gold. There are certain to be more important matches over the course of Bad Blood week but Chelsea Green has proved once again that she can leave her mark on any storyline or segment, no matter how brief or ridiculous.
Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline
The Tribal Chief returns to make life a misery for everyone
Nothing but wins for Solo Sikoa and his Bloodline this week.Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns have decided to face The Bloodline at Bad Blood, but at what cost?This has caused the iron friendship of Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes, and Randy Orton to start to disintegrate. Rhodes and Reigns have already told each other that it’s back to enemies as soon as the match is over. Is that lack of teamwork going to be enough to defeat a team that is bonded by blood?
This upcoming PLE is an enormous moment for Sikoa and his posse. They’re facing arguably the strongest two members of the male roster, but these guys are built to be dismantled by a well-oiled machine.If they can’t win under these circumstances, how could we believe in them as the new big villainous stable, especially ahead of the upcoming Survivor Series: War Games? A victory over Orton and Owens on SmackDown is a good start. They have to finish the job next week at Bad Blood.
Cody Rhodes
You can’t keep everybody in WWE happy
The current WWE ChampionCody Rhodes has been loved and accepted since crossing the invisible line and rejoining WWEfrom AEW. However,the return of Roman Reigns as an ultra-popular babyfaceputs a shadow over Rhodes' role as the top good guy in the company. Randy Orton opened SmackDown to hear what Cody Rhodes had to say following his decision to tag with Roman Reigns against The Bloodline at Bad Blood.Cody is about to have his loyalty questioned.Randy Orton seems relatively on board with his decision. Kevin Owens is not.
It is an interesting moral dilemma for the babyface squad on SmackDown. The audience welcomed Roman with open arms, and Kevin Owens remains one of the most popular stars on the roster. Tensions with Cody had been teased already for their match at Bash in Berlin, but they went nowhere. Could this be the beginning ofthe much-discussed heel turn for Cody?
Kevin Owens
Another defeat to The Bloodline as KO begins to reach boiling point
Kevin Owens has been subjected to violence and persecution by The Bloodline for nearly four years.His grievances and hatred run deeper for Roman Reigns and the members of his family than anyone else on the roster. When Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes buried the hatchet on an empty football field in Georgia, the world cheered. The Prize Fighter has had an entirely different perspective.
Kevin Owens has the respect of every sub-section of wrestling fans. From a storyline perspective, Owens' morality can’t really be questioned.Roman is yet to do a single thing to atone for the years of torture he put these people through. As Cody Rhodes cost KO his first pinfall victory over a member of The Bloodline, Owens would then eat the pin in the night’s Main Event and lose to his sworn enemies yet again. The aftermath in the ring was messy among Owens, Rhodes, and Orton. Next week could get a whole lot messier.
