5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (3 July - Results & Review)

Cody Rhodes could restore (his) order and bring Sami Zayn's shock WWE Title reign crashing down on Monday's episode of Raw. Lining up that tasty showdown was SmackDown's main goal on Friday, but the show was actually pre-taped rather than live. Thankfully, the production truck didn't go crazy with those canned cheers or too much crowd sweetening.

They didn't need to anyway.

SmackDown has returned to a zippier 2-hour format, and that means some of the matches will be shorter and there will be less droning in-ring talking head segments generally. Good, because some of the pre-amble used to set up midcard matches in particular was painful on the 3-hour shows. Things move at a better clip when dropping that unnecessary third hour.

AAA got another showcase, Fatal Influence could be champions elect, and Jade Cargill is coming for Charlotte Flair. Those, along with Cody snagging himself another title shot vs. Sami on Monday, were the biggest positive takeaways from the night. On the downside? Trick Williams feels flat as a pancake, Jey Uso's involvement widdled all over King Of The Ring, there's some bizarre unseen WWE lore, and Finn Bálor's blue brand jump seems totally fruitless thus far.

Overall, SmackDown will be a much easier weekly to digest at 2 hours long though. Some of the matches here hit the heights without entering 5-star territory or anything, and the biggest story beats in the main event and women's scenes definitely landed the way Triple H wanted them to.

Here's all the good and bad as WWE powers towards Saturday Night's Main Event then SummerSlam beyond that.

Downs... 

4. The Downside Of The Opening Segment

SmackDown's open had some good and bad to it.

Sami Zayn was fine, and more on that later, but Cody Rhodes wanting an immediate rematch for the WWE Title is problem number one when he realistically has nothing to bitch or moan about. The second issue? Jey Uso even being there to demand title shots when he lost that King Of The Ring final to Oba Femi. WWE has kinda fudged that entire tournament’s prestige by having Oba willingly give up his SummerSlam title shot to face Brock Lesnar and by putting defeated finalist Jey in the title frame at all.

No, none of this could be considered the worst thing in the world, but it's definitely annoying. Also, as an aside to that, SmackDown’s top title being defended on Raw will irk some watching. WWE flits between wanting you to care about wrestlers working on a certain brand and ignoring their own rules completely. This is something they've been doing for decades, but hopes were high that Triple H would change a baffling Vince McMahon trope. Apparently he has no interest in tidying the brand stuff up.

So, to recap, Zayn's celebratory 'I'm a good guy, honest' promo was fab and he has plenty of chemistry with Cody, but Uso being sent by Roman Reigns to reclaim a belt Jey has never held is odd storytelling. Don't worry, there's a positive take on all of this coming in the 'Ups' section, which really goes to show how deep one can dig into all of the little nuances to skits like this.

3. Why This Falls Flat

Royce Keys approached Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu backstage to say he’s been Jacob's “day one for 14 years”. Basically, they've been best friends even when Keys was over in AEW. Firing back and squashing that narrative, Jimmy said that wasn’t the case anymore, because they’re here to handle Bloodline family business. OK then.  

This won’t resonate with fans because there’s been no visible history between Royce and Jacob. It was a surprise when Fatu said they were close friends a few months ago, and nothing much has happened between them since then. It’s all rather clumsy and unconvincing. WWE seems intent on using either real-life friendship without much context or plot points from elsewhere (Tama Tonga's fixation on his New Japan past, for example) as fuel for ongoing angles.

Fair enough, but at least dive into the lore properly and flesh things out if you expect anyone to care.

Keys and Fatu have shared screen time in a few short nothing promos, and that's it. They're the most peripheral of buddies on camera, so there's no reason for fans to invest in their relationship or view Jacob rejoining The Bloodline under Roman as some grand betrayal of Royce's trust. The writers are expecting very little to do a lot of heavy lifting here, and it isn't working.

Plus, as if that wasn't bad enough, Fatu is assuming the same largely mute role in these skits that Solo Sikoa once did. He's going backwards as a character, not forwards. Sort it out, please.

2. Something Felt Off In The US Title Hunt

Trips need to be real careful with Trick - let's talk about it.

Carmelo Hayes interrupted Williams and Lil Yachty to say he wants a United States Title shot. Then, Yachty gave him a match next week, but not for the belt. To close out the segment, Trick backhanded Melo before Hayes took both out with a dive spot, but something was missing big time here; Carmelo’s promo was fine, but Yachty brought things to a screeching halt then Trick sort of came across like the heel he was a few months ago.

The whole thing could be considered a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. Again, WWE needs to be real careful with Williams. They’ve obviously got something with him, but he’s stalling lately, and coming across as an arrogant heel in face-to-face moments like this won't do him any good. If anything, Hayes looked like the bigger star as the live crowd serenaded him, and that's something creative must look out for.

If you didn't know any better, you'd be forgiven for thinking this skit was the company's way of slowly turning Trick back towards the character he played when he first bounced onto the main roster. There's no way he's going heel again so quickly, but that only makes his presentation here extra worrying. Also, Yachty's voice is super irritating and doesn't really fly next to a babyface, so it might be time to wrap this tandem up.

Yep, something just felt a little wonky in this confrontation. Hopefully, the title match next week pulls the nose back up.

1. Finn’s Jump Looks More And More Pointless

Cody welcomed Finn Bálor to SmackDown, as if being designated to a specific brand actually matters in this company. Then, Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga jumped Finn. Tama said he’s “closing the book on everything from [his] past”, and that Bálor is next. Tama’s previous New Japan-inspired storyline with Shinsuke Nakamura went nowhere, and there’s no reason to suspect this one will be any different. Also, is this honestly why WWE moved Finn from Raw to SmackDown?!

He could barely get on the show when it was 3 hours, and now he’s slumming it with the ex-MFT guys.

Things do not look promising for Bálor on Friday nights. He was moved over to SmackDown so he wouldn't need to collide with his old Judgment Day cohorts over on Raw, but all the Irishman has done since jumping is interact with more former JD members (Damian Priest and R-Truth), then this stuff with Tama and Talla. It's hardly inspiring a ton of confidence in the way he's going to be used for the rest of the year.

Sure, there's time for things to change, and everyone knows Finn will knock it out of the park with anything he's handed inside the ring, but character is key. There's limited juice to this story with the Tongas already. Part of the problem is that WWE consistently fails to add proper context to anything these dudes are talking about. Why should viewers have to dive into New Japan lore when the product they're watching could explain it?

What is this, AEW?!

Ups...

5. The Upside Of The Opening Segment

Now to focus on the good, and there's a healthy serving of it.

Sami Zayn was in top form on the mic during SmackDown's opening promo. His ‘Last Real Good Guy’ character has really been a hit for him, and the way he cut through the insincerity of both Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso wishing him well as WWE Champion was realistic and the right call. That led to Adam Pearce setting up a number one contendership match between Cody and Uso for later in the night.

For reference, Pearce is temporarily calling the shots on Smackers due to Nick Aldis having a little falling out with Gunther after Night Of Champions. WWE might well be readying the blue GM for his first match in the company. Wouldn't that be something unique for SummerSlam? Gunther vs. Aldis sounds like it'd be a hell of a lot of fun.  

As the intro stated, Sami and Cody have a lot of chemistry with one another on the mic. Both know how to bridge logic gaps by leaning into their characters, and they always come across as real human beings having a conversation rather than 2 pro wrestlers running through some catchphrases. That's why Jey Uso's portion of the opening promo train received a 'Down' - he held things back.

Zayn's WWE Title reign could be a real 'blink and you'll miss it' situation, and that'd be a crying shame. It's clear he has so much more to offer on top of SmackDown, so hopefully he won't be in the hot seat for a week at most before Hunter reverts to Cody.

4. Rey Fenix Gets Another Tidy Showcase

Cards on the table: This writer doesn't like when other companies are slapdashed all over a bigger product willy nilly. He didn't like it when AEW focused on too much CMLL or bled ROH through the core product just because Tony Khan owns it, and he isn't a massive fan of WWE's AAA experimentation as a general rule.

However, Rey Fenix beating El Hijo del Vikingo to retain his AAA Cruiserweight Title did break things up nicely on this week's episode of SmackDown. Also, whilst this guy would be lying through his teeth if he said he's big on Vikingo's style of match, the high-flyer did look good and worked some nice spots before taking the loss. Overall, this was another smart showcase for AAA as a brand and Fenix as a champion.

Of course, these bouts will play before diminishing returns on 2-hour episodes if WWE gets careless, but the definite positive is that Rey is featured and doing what he does best. He could use a bit more spotlight as a character (stick a manager with him if you don't think he can promo - there's no harm in someone else running those plays for him whilst he shines between the ropes), but that doesn't seem to be how the creative team views him right now.

Rey is in that 'US Title Open Challenge' role of working cool matches and nothing else. Fair. It's better than nothing, and the quality of his matches vs. Nathan Frazer and now Vikingo show that Fenix can excel. Wrestling shows need variety, and there's defo no harm in splicing in some Cruiser action like this every now and then.

3. Fatal Influence = Tag Champs To Be?

WWE will surely cease this 50/50 style with Fatal Influence shortly. Last week, the group looked like chumps because they didn't use a clear numbers advantage during Jacy Jayne's match with Paige. This time, Influence cleaned up that oversight by having Jayne and Fallon Henley help Lainey Reid beat Brie Bella in a short but punchy match that got the job done.

There's nothing wrong with a 3-minute match/5-minute segment that fulfils its purpose on the broadcast and pushes a story forwards. Nothing wrong at all. Reid vs. Bella did precisely that, and Michael Cole even found time to note that this was Brie's first singles match on SmackDown in 10 years. Who knows if that's true or if Cole was fed some wrong information, but it sounds like it could be legit.

Now, following Lainey's win, it's time to get the Women's Tag-Team straps off Brie and Page. Winning gold when they did was a nice WrestleMania moment for the latter, but the bloom’s off the rose for their title reign and it's time to move on. Fatal Influence as champs would be an improvement, and maybe even a vast one. The veteran babyfaces are already spinning their wheels and offering a grand sum of sod all to the division as a whole.

Lainey and Fallon as tag champs should work nicely, especially if Jayne is interspersed into the equation as part of some kind of 'Freebird Rule' booking. New Day used that to great effect a decade and change ago, and there's no reason why Influence can't follow in their footsteps.

2. A Zippy 6-Woman Tag

Speaking of spinning wheels. That's exactly what the entire SmackDown's women's division is doing whilst Rhea Ripley remains on the sidelines nursing an injury. WWE elected not to strip her of the Women's Title, which means the biggest singles match story for the blue brand ladies heading into SummerSlam next month looks like Charlotte Flair tangling with Jade Cargill.

Here, Flair, Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green vs. Cargill, Michin and B-FAB was a solid 8-9 minute trip through some dominance for Charlotte, some spirited worked from Green, and then Cargill standing tall to get some heat back following events at Night Of Champions. Personally, no arguments with anything here, and that includes Jade picking up the win by pinning Chelsea.

Green was really only out there to take the fall for the babyfaces. If she didn't do it, then Charlotte was likely getting the best of either Michin or FAB. The writers went with the best possible outcome, not least because Cargill needed to regain some lustre following her loss to Stratton over in Saudi Arabia last weekend.

As a side note, Alexa Bliss seemed peeved that Flair didn't clue her in on events at NOC beforehand, and there was some frost between them during a backstage skit. It looks like those firm friends are about to go their separate ways so that Charlotte can redouble her efforts on the singles side. It's probably high time that happened, to be fair.

This 6-woman scrap was never less than watchable. Having to shave some time from it due to SmackDown losing an hour likely helped matters too.

1. Main Event Delivers

It would've been real easy for this to play before audience apathy, but it's a real credit to the star power of Cody and how well he meshes with Jey that fans got hooked early. Rhodes vs. Uso to determine who challenges Sami Zayn on Raw was a good watch. There was just enough reason to believe that Jey could win given all of his history with Sami.

No, this guy doesn't particularly like that he was shoved back in the title picture after losing to Oba in the KOTR final, but this match vs. Rhodes was definitely one of the best things about SmackDown and Jey looked to have some of his old fire back. It's important to call individual matches and segments as they happen. Yes, reviews like this need to keep the broader picture in mind, but wrestling telly is supposed to be fun and it's easy to lose sight of that when hyper-analysing.

This main event was certainly fun.

It didn't pretend it was going to be some exhausting, PLE headlining masterpiece, and was better for it. Cody and Jey simply went out there with a mission statement: Successfully trick the live crowd into thinking that Uso could score an upset, then have Rhodes rebound to march onto Monday and a tantalising clash with Zayn.

One gets the feeling this pair could work excellent matches with their eyes shut. Chemistry counts, but so does telling a story mid-match rather than just burning through endless looping spots. On SmackDown, Cody and Jey favoured story over anything else. Good job, lads.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 Wrestling Jobbers So BIZARRE They Feel Made Up and 10 New Directions For WWE After Night Of Champions 2026!

All Future PLC brands are supported by its audience. When you purchase through the links on this article, Future PLC may earn an affiliate commission.