{"id":20933,"date":"2018-07-25T10:10:36","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=20933"},"modified":"2018-07-25T10:10:36","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:10:36","slug":"wwe-smackdown-review-7-24-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/07\/25\/wwe-smackdown-review-7-24-18\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Smackdown Review: 7\/24\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0WWE was live in Evansville, IN for SmackDown Live. There were many questions going into this show. Who will face AJ Styles at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship? Why does Randy Orton continue to attack Jeff Hardy? Will Becky Lynch earn her opportunity for a title shot at SummerSlam? Let’s find out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0SmackDown kicks off with Randy Orton to hopefully explain his actions from last week\u2019s hellacious attack on Jeff Hardy. Randy blames the WWE Universe. He wants respect because he has been here for 16 years and he is the only one still around. He is the only one here every week and not a part-timer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He isn\u2019t an \u201cindy darling\u201d who did flips and hand gestures in bingo halls. He calls the WWE Universe the true legend killer. He vows to write the last chapter of Jeff Hardy. Randy shot from the hip and cut an amazing promo. This is what we need more of.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Rusev v. Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Rusev is accompanied by Lana and not Aiden English to take on Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas after a backstage confrontation before the show. In a good contest by two superstars with bright futures, Almas picked up the victory after chaos outside cost him the win. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Zelina Vega and Lana got into a skirmish outside. Aiden English came down to try to break up the situation but with a push from Zelina, bumped into Lana distracting Rusev. Almas capitalized hitting the hammerlock DDT for the win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Backstage, Rusev feels neither Lana or Aiden is good enough for Rusev Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

R-Truth v. Samoa Joe<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Samoa Joe quickly takes care of R-Truth with the Coquina Clutch. Samoa Joe making a statement for the SmackDown roster. On a side note, R-Truth is 46 and looks like he can still compete on a high level. He does not look like he has aged at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asuka v. Billie Kay<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I know it has been less than a year since she has debuted on the main roster, but is it almost time to feel bad for what has happened to Asuka? In NXT, she was NXT Women\u2019s Champion for over 500 days and was undefeated her entire time in NXT. However, since the loss at WrestleMania she has lost the dominance and felt like everyone else on the main roster. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0She was built into one of the most dominant women in WWE but now since she has been shown as human, it feels like she is not going anywhere anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Asuka won convincingly but with no meaning behind the match, it is a meaningless win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Paige Announces the Challenger for AJ Styles at SummerSlam<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Paige announces who will challenge AJ Styles at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship. As Paige was getting ready to announce AJ Styles\u2019 opponent, out came James Ellsworth. Ellsworth claims he deserves a shot because he has beaten him before.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Ellsworth continues to mock Paige which leads Paige to make a huge announcement, James Ellsworth is fired.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0After Paige throws out James Ellsworth, back in the ring, AJ Styles is ambushed by Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe signs the contract and will face Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship. This is now the match I most look forward to seeing at SummerSlam.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carmella v. Becky Lynch<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This is an opportunity Becky has been waiting for. If Becky Lynch beats Carmella, she faces Carmella at SummerSlam for the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship. Now with James Ellsworth not in the picture, the pieces are playing perfectly for Becky.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In a highly competitive contest, Carmella tired every way possible to steal the win away from Becky. However, Carmella\u2019s desperation cost her as Becky was able to make Carmella tap out with the Dis-arm-her. Becky Lynch finally gets her chance at the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship at SummerSlam.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"New Day (Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dane) v. Sanity<\/b> (Big E & Xavier Woods)<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0General Manager Paige has created a four-team tournament to determine who faces the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. In the first match, The New Day try to settle the score against Sanity and strive to get back the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In a competitive match up, The New Day picks up a massive victory. The New Day advances to face either The Usos or The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) in the finals. Intriguing dynamic with the returning Sheamus and Cesaro.<\/span><\/p>\n

Miz & Mrs. Premiere Party <\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In honor of the debuting “Miz & Mrs”. reality show, The Miz, Maryse and their daughter Monroe Sky promote their new show right before it airs after SmackDown. After sabotaging the sneak peek, Daniel Bryan comes out and makes his own way into the party by taking out the security guards. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Miz had us all fooled. He brought a baby actor and a baby doll to the ring. He throws the baby doll at Daniel and attacks Daniel leaving him laying, while still making it backstage in enough time for Miz and Mrs’ premiere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Conclusion<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0What an episode of SmackDown. This show got some intriguing plots started heading into SummerSlam. After a really stale Raw, SmackDown knocked it out of the park. What an episode. We got number one contenders we actually want to see, and the progression or beginnings of rivalries that we have waited to see. SmackDown by a landslide has the best road to SummerSlam.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Jacobus<\/strong>
\nIntern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0WWE was live in Evansville, IN for SmackDown Live. There were many questions going into this show. Who will face AJ Styles at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship? Why does Randy Orton continue to attack Jeff Hardy? Will Becky Lynch earn her opportunity for a title shot at SummerSlam? Let’s find out. \u00a0 \u00a0SmackDown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":20936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2104,2109,3,2138],"tags":[2617,2141,1384,109,2619,772,2173],"class_list":["post-20933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-opinion","category-tartan-news","category-wrestling","tag-david-jacobus","tag-online-exclusive","tag-opinion","tag-review","tag-smackdown","tag-wrestling","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Becky-Lynch.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-5rD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20945,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933\/revisions\/20945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}