{"id":20959,"date":"2018-08-01T11:47:07","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T16:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=20959"},"modified":"2018-08-06T11:28:23","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T16:28:23","slug":"wwe-smackdown-review-7-21-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/08\/01\/wwe-smackdown-review-7-21-18\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Smackdown Review: 7\/31\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0WWE was live in Tampa, Florida for SmackDown Live. SummerSlam is quickly approaching. Who will be carrying the most momentum towards the biggest event of the summer?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0SmackDown kicks off with the #1 contender for the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship Becky Lynch. She states that she has not held the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship since December 2016 and has not had an opportunity for the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship since WrestleMania 33, a year in a half ago. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Carmella comes out and almost seems emotional about her road to get to this point. How she was an afterthought since the brand split. Becky was the first women to be drafted to SmackDown and Carmella was the last person on either roster to be drafted. Carmella seems turned by the WWE Universe by their response since winning the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship. However, James Ellsworth music hits leading to Carmella hitting her from behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0She set up to DDT Becky on a steel chair. However, Becky\u2019s best friend Charlotte Flair returned for the save. Charlotte cleared Carmella out of the ring and stood tall next to Becky.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) v. The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro)<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In the second of the tag team tournament, The Usos and The Bar clash to see who faces The New Day next week. The winner of that matchup will go on to SummerSlam to face the Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In an excellent back and forth tag team match, The Bar picked up a massive victory as Sheamus was able to counter the splash and roll up Jey Uso for the win. The Bar will face The New Day next week for a shot at the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samoa Joe Sends a Message to AJ Styles<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Since signing the contract to become #1 Contender for the WWE Championship, Samoa Joe has his eyes set on one thing. Joe will stop at nothing to become WWE Champion at SummerSlam. He admires what prestige AJ Styles has brought to the WWE Championships. However, at SummerSlam, he declares that he will tear down the house that AJ Styles built and will show AJ\u2019s family that AJ is nothing compared to Samoa Joe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This is my most anticipated match going into SummerSlam. AJ has been a great champion, but Joe has run through the roster and now has his shot with destiny at SummerSlam.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Jeff Hardy Returns to Respond to Randy Orton<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Jeff Hardy starts out by telling the crowd what the United States Championship means to him and reflects on his reign with it. Wasting no time, he then calls out Randy Orton, who attacked him a couple weeks ago. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Orton doesn’t hesitate and comes down to the ring. However, before Orton can enter the ring, U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura entered the ring and attacked Jeff Hardy hitting him with a Kinshasa. Shinsuke and Randy stared each other down before Nakamura left the ring.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Randy would go on to beat down Jeff Hardy, reminiscent of what he did a few weeks ago. Randy would go on to rip the signature Hardy necklace and he would wipe the face paint off of Hardy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lana v. Zelina Vega<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Zelina Vega makes her WWE debut against the Ravishing Russian Lana. In a little bit of deja vu from last week, Aiden English came down to help Lana after Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas attempted to interfere. However, Aiden\u2019s attack on Andrade helped Zelina roll up Lana for the win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Backstage, Aiden attempts to apologize to Lana. Rusev tries to confront Aiden to no avail. However, there is dissension between Lana and Rusev. \u00a0Rusev Day and Lana Day are in disarray. Could this be the end?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Daniel Bryan Calls Out The Miz<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Daniel is tired of the taunting The Miz has done for over two years. With Daniel being retired, Miz knew Daniel would not fight back. Daniel is now cleared and wants a fight.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0However, The Miz is on location for his show Miz & Mrs. The Miz and Daniel, however, exchange heated words towards each other. Daniel calling The Miz a failed attempt to be The Rock and John Cena. Miz telling Daniel to let his contract expire and do what Daniel loves. Daniel challenges The Miz for a match at SummerSlam. However, The Miz declines. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0If the two face each other, which I believe they will, this could possibly steal the show. The Miz and Daniel Bryan have a long rivalry that has been stewing for over two years. The Miz and Daniel have also shown what makes a good rivalry. Adding realism and even personal tension to make this rivalry must see.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlotte Flair v. Carmella<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The cards are yet again stacked against the SmackDown Women\u2019s Champion because if Charlotte wins, then she will be added to the Women\u2019s Championship match at SummerSlam. This also affects Becky Lynch who is already facing Carmella at SummerSlam because if Charlotte wins, Becky\u2019s odds shrink significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Charlotte was able to apply the Figure 8 on Carmella and make her tap. The Women\u2019s Championship match at SummerSlam is now a triple threat match.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0 \u00a0The build to SummerSlam continues to be excellent on the SmackDown side. However, with Charlotte being put into the Women\u2019s Championship match after Becky has spent a year and a half to climb to get this opportunity it is sad to see her overshadowed by Charlotte stealing her spotlight and being gifted a shot at the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship. Other than that one part, SummerSlam is set to be must-see.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0 \u00a0WWE was live in Tampa, Florida for SmackDown Live. SummerSlam is quickly approaching. Who will be carrying the most momentum towards the biggest event of the summer? \u00a0 \u00a0SmackDown kicks off with the #1 contender for the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship Becky Lynch. She states that she has not held the SmackDown Women\u2019s Championship since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":20961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2104,2109,3,2138],"tags":[2617,2141,1384,109,2619,772,2173],"class_list":["post-20959","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_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-5s3","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Screen-Shot-2018-08-01-at-11.56.07-AM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20959","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=20959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20978,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20959\/revisions\/20978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}