WWE SmackDown live results: CM Punk, Cody Rhodes & the road to SummerSlam
Tonight’s live WWE SmackDown from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, will feature the fallout from last weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and Cody Rhodes were successful in picking up a win against Gunther and Sami Zayn on SNME, but Punk somewhat accidentally whacked Rhodes in the face with his title belt. Their issues boiled over the next day at Fanatics Fest and both men will be on the show tonight to react.
After Nick Aldis hit Gunther in the face with a title belt in that match, Gunther will be on hand to talk about his SummerSlam match with Aldis after their brawl at Fanatics Fest.
In qualifiers for the WWE SummerSlam ladder match to determine the interim WWE Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair goes one-on-one with Nia Jax while Chelsea Green takes on Kiana James.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 pm Eastern.
************
– After the signature intro, we got the requisite wrestler arrivals to kick off the show. We then saw that Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce were in the ring with a table setup as we got a recap of the simmering Aldis/Gunther situation that led to a match between the two to be made at SummerSlam.
Nick Aldis vs. Gunther Contract Signing
Pearce welcomed everyone to the show before he discussed the terms and stipulations that need to be adhered to ahead of this match. With that in mind, Pearce introduced Gunther to the ring for this contract signing to be started.
As Gunther got into the ring, Pearce mentioned that there are certain stipulations to be made. For instance, once Aldis signs on to this match, he will no longer serve as the SmackDown GM. Pearce stated that there is an agreement that Aldis will not hold WWE responsible for what happens in the ring.
Aldis responded by stating that he was ready to accept the consequences of his actions, even if it meant temporarily relinquishing his responsibilities as SmackDown GM. Gunther spoke, but his microphone kept cutting out. Gunther said that this would be the greatest match and moment in Aldis’s career, but he’s wasting his time with this instead of chasing the title because he believed that Aldis didn’t know how to do his job.
Gunther said that Aldis was jealous, even though he was a former NWA Champion. He noted how Aldis was dreaming of something bigger in WWE, but instead he had to watch as Gunther walked in and win all the titles, earn all the records, and make all the money. Gunther talked about how he was about to fulfill his dream by signing the SummerSlam contract, by making him join a list of legends that were stupid enough to step into the ring with the Ring General by chasing one more moment.
After Gunther threw his mic at Aldis, the now-former SmackDown GM said that the reason Gunther kept saying all of this to him was that Gunther thought it would all come easy to him. Aldis declared that Gunther didn’t want any of this, because he was the one who put his career in jeopardy. Aldis said that he had nothing to lose and that at SummerSlam, Gunther would end up becoming the man who got made to look like a bitch by his boss.
Cue the brawl between the two as Gunther got the advantage with a lowblow and a powerbomb through the table. Again, the elite team of referees and road agents were very much late in stopping the chaos as this segment ended.
This was admittedly a solid segment. And much can be made about how Gunther is wasting his time fighting non-wrestlers again, but they did a good job establishing thus far that Aldis is a serious threat, which should make this a lot better than the Pat McAfee feud from last year.
************
– Cathy Kelley’s live hit was interrupted by an incensed Sami Zayn. He ranted about how he won the Undisputed WWE Championship, but got screwed in his eyes immediately because he was forced to defend the championship on a show he wasn’t even on. Zayn was enraged that he was going to ride the bench at SummerSlam as he confronted Adam Pearce to make things right. Zayn whined that he got screwed out of a WWE Championship Match and that he demanded to be added to the Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk match as a Triple Threat.
Pearce told him to shut up as he was told that tonight, there’d be a fatal fatal-four way match: Damian Priest, Royce Keys, Finn Balor, and Trick Williams, with the winner facing Zayn at SummerSlam for the contendership. Zayn reluctantly agreed.
Brie Bella (w/ Paige) vs. Lainey Reid (w/ Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley)
Before the match started, we heard from the Fatal Influence trio, who stated that they had just gotten here and took out two legends. Jayne lamented how it could’ve been all perfect if she had a chance to be WWE Women’s Champion, if Paige and Brie hadn’t meddled in their match last week. Jayne then called her shot for Tiffany Stratton’s Women’s U.S. Championship. As for tonight, Lainey was going to put Brie out of her misery once and for all.
Before the bell could even ring, Brie and Lainey brawled outside the ring as the match officially got underway with both women now inside.
Brie cracked Lainey with a knee to the face as she got thrown to the turnbuckle in response. Lainey took advantage by slamming Brie’s face on the turnbuckle, followed by the leaping cutter as we took a strangely-timed commercial break not even a minute after the opening bell.
Back from commercial as Brie just wrapped with hitting the Bryan Danielson kicks on Lainey, followed by the running Brie Mode knees to the jaw of her foe for the near-fall. Lainey tried to get back into the groove, but a bulldog from Brie put her to the ground. Fallon Henley tried to get involved as Brie headed up top, but she got kicked down. That, however, gave Lainey enough time to get Brie in position for a superplex. Jacy Jayne attempted to get involved, but Paige pushed her aside. Lainey tried to get the rope-assisted pin, but the referee stopped the count. Brie turned that into a pinning combination for the win.
After the match, Fatal Influence tried to attack Brie and Paige, but Nikki Bella made her return from injury to even the odds. Nikki then took the mic and said that she, Brie, and Paige would take on Fatal Influence in a six-woman tag match at SummerSlam.
Brie Bella def. Lainey Reid via pinfall
This was okay. A lot of the match seemed to be fought during the commercial break, so it made it seem like it was a lot shorter than it appeared to be. The six-woman tag match at SummerSlam was an alright addition, though it’s clear that Fatal Influence should get the win there.
************
– Finn Balor addressed the fatal four-way match later tonight, but Gunther interrupted and talked trash to his face, stating that he’d be next in line for the WWE Championship.
– We got a Panda Express-sponsored recap of the Bloodline-adjacent shenanigans during Raw’s main event this past Monday. Following that diversion, we went backstage, as Keys was being hyped up by Solo Sikoa about their six-man tag match at SummerSlam. Keys talked about how he was locked in tonight to become the new #1 Contender with his friends and family watching tonight. LA Knight stepped in that Keys needed to worry about the Bloodline, always. Keys pointed out that he could handle himself. Sikoa humorously tried to hype himself and his teammates up and stated that he had their backs.
– Elsewhere, Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton were chatting, as the former was getting ready for her qualifying match. After Green left, Stratton was met by Blake Monroe. The newly-debuted star talked about how Stratton should worry about her Women’s U.S. Title and less about Chelsea Green. That’s because, according to Blake, the higher she climbs, the more people will be gunning for her.
Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: Chelsea Green vs. Kiana James
We got underway with James missing on the clothesline into the corner. Green responded with a slap to the face, before she threw her over the top rope. A dropkick by Green sent James to the ground, but her attempted suicide dive was stopped by a punch to the face. James delivered a hard knee to the gut of Green, followed by a superkick while Green was draped over the timekeeper’s barrier. As the action got back into the ring, Green tried to fight back with some strikes and avoided an elbow drop from James. Green slammed James down to the ground, as she followed that with a pair of armdrags and a Russian legsweep.
Rough Ryder by Green on James nearly had the match won. Un-Pretty-Her attempted by Green, but James escaped and hit her with a superkick. Falcon Arrow from James wasn’t enough as Green kicked out at two. James missed with the big boot, but she got all of the codebreaker. Green escaped James’ grasp and connected with the Un-Pretty-Her for the three and the big win.
Chelsea Green def. Kiana James via pinfall (Qualifies for Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match at SummerSlam)
This was a decent match, but it was nice to see Chelsea get the clean win and the entry into the SummerSlam ladder match. We should be in for some fun high spots from Chelsea next week with her involvement in this match.
************
– R-Truth and Damian Priest were having a chat as Cody Rhodes entered the scene. Priest pointed out bluntly that “the boys” were sick of seeing the same people being the face of the brand, and that he’d beat whoever came out on top between Rhodes and CM Punk. Rhodes responded and said that he liked that attitude from Priest.
Cody Rhodes addresses CM Punk
CM Punk’s SummerSlam opponent made his way down to the ring, ready to talk about the events of the past week, like being “accidentally” hit with Punk’s Undisputed WWE Championship on Saturday Night’s Main Event last week.
Rhodes entered the ring to a very mixed reaction from the Oakland crowd. “What do you want to talk about,” started Rhodes. He got right to it and introduced CM Punk to the ring. In contrast to Rhodes, Punk made his way to a more positive reception from the fans.
Punk removed his jacket and Undisputed WWE Title belt and got into Rhodes’ face after a dropped mic. Punk took another microphone said that it’s sad that this is where it’s at between him and Rhodes because it feels like his friend was acting paranoid. Punk talked about how he didn’t want the Undisputed WWE Title to come between him & Rhodes as he asked him what reason it was he wanted this title.
Rhodes said that it can be true that he respected Punk, it can be also true that he didn’t like Punk. He talked about Punk’s 2011 Pipebomb, something that Rhodes himself followed to a “Tee”, declaring that he dropped a nuke on the business. He said that the fans were wishing that it was Punk up there instead of Rhodes.
Rhodes said that he went from the one that knocks, to the one they knock for, and it was a list of one. He talked about how he stood in the ring with the best of the roster, and that he didn’t sweat any of them except from Punk. Rhodes talked about that for this story to have the proper ending, he had to beat Punk at SummerSlam.
“You don’t like me, or is it that you don’t like that I’m the champion,” Punk asked Rhodes. Punk talked about how Rhodes was smart enough to pay attention about the things he did, but the question of whether Rhodes did it better than Punk was for the fans and history book to decide. In 2022, Punk was on the outside looking in, but Rhodes showed him a way to go back.
Punk said Rhodes was lying to himself by saying that he didn’t like it. Punk said that Rhodes couldn’t handle the pressure of taking the title from someone he loved as a friend, and that he had to constantly make himself the victim because of it. Punk told Rhodes he was going to stab him in the front at SummerSlam as his friend. Punk declared that he was going to break Rhodes’ heart in Minneapolis.
Rhodes discussed how he and Punk were going to be teaming up on the house show loop up until Thursday, and that he was going to give him a gift then. Punk responded that he was going to give him his own gift at SummerSlam, the disappointment of a loss, which was fitting for “Dusty’s Kid”. Just as Punk was leaving, Rhodes stopped him and had his theme play as that’s what we’d hear next week when he beat Punk.
I’m sure the match at SummerSlam will be good, but this segment felt like a whole lot of nothing being said between the two. Bless their heart for trying to add some heat to this face vs. face feud, though. I just found it a bit on the “meh” side. Rhodes’ big closer comeback to the “Dusty’s Kid” remark being “play my song” seemed a bit silly.
************
Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax
Collar-and-elbow tieup broken up by a kick to the gut of Flair by Jax. In the corner, Jax drove her shoulder to pin Flair into the corner. Flair recovered and hit the hurricanarana from the top rope as she delivered some shoulder strikes to her own on Jax. Hard chop by Flair as she headed up top for the crossbody. Sitout powerbomb by Jax only got a two-count as we took a weirdly placed ad-break.
Back from commercial as Flair stepped over Jax and looked for a high-risk move. Jax recovered and pulled her down. She then headed up top for the big leg drop, but Flair kicked out at two. Jax looked for the Annihilator, but Flair got up and countered to deliver a powerful powerbomb. One, two…. NO! Flair got up and looked for the big moonsault again, but Jade Cargill and The Baddies ran in to interfere. Flair was thrown out of the ring by Jax as she got into an argument with Cargill. Meanwhile, Flair took out B-Fab and Michin at ringside as she hit Cargill with a punch. That got her a punch in the face as Cargill struck her to cause a DQ.
After the match, like a bad rerun, we got another Baddies beat down of Flair as the ring announcer said that Flair had won the match.
Charlotte Flair def Nia Jax via disqualification (Qualifies for Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match at SummerSlam)
This match was whatever, but the post-match stuff of Cargill and her crew beating up Charlotte feels like a microcosm of the core problem with WWE’s booking as a whole right now: it just feels like the same song, different verse every week. And like hearing the same song on the radio one hour after you heard it before, it just gets boring.
************
Damian Priest vs. Trick Williams vs. Royce Keys vs. Finn Balor
Keys hit Balor and Priest with a clothesline to start off as he went off with back suplexes and fallaway slams a-plenty for the other three men as we took another commercial break that was timed awkwardly during the first thirty seconds of the match.
Back to our main event as Balor countered Keys into a final cut neckbreaker. Priest stepped into the ring and hit Balor with the big boot, as he then dropped Williams with the Flatliner. Big splash by Priest into the corner to Keys. Williams got up and hit a huge flapjack on Balor, but not before a jumping neckbreaker on Priest. Williams put his lemon-peppa steppas to good use with stomps to the prone Balor and Keys, but Priest interrupted. Everyonebut Balor deposited over the top rope as Balor jumped onto all of them with a big over-the-top rope splash. Solo Sikoa made his way down to the ring as, you guessed it, we took another commercial break.
Back to our main event as Williams hit his Book End on Keys. The cover, but Sikoa put Keys’ foot on the rope. This prompted The Usos to show up and brawl it out with Sikoa. LA Knight ran in and snuck up on Jimmy and Jey as Sikoa joined the brawl. Back in the ring, Priest scaled the ropes and hit a big crossbody on the brawling Usos, Knight, and Sikoa. Williams threw him out as Balor got him with the dropkick. Balor missed the Coup de Grace, with Williams hitting him with the kick. Trick Shot knee intercepted by Priest as he lifted Williams up for South of Heaven. Priest’s cover was interrupted by Keys who slammed him down for the Ultimate Spinebuster. The cover, but Jacob Fatu pulled him out of the ring and assaulted him. Keys was crushed by a running hip attack from Fatu.
Meanwhile in the ring, Balor got Priest with the Shotgun Dropkick and the Coup de Grace. The pin, and it’s a win for Finn in our main event.
Finn Balor def. Damian Priest, Trick Williams, and Jacob Fatu via pinfall (will face Sami Zayn at SummerSlam)
************
That was a good main event to an otherwise dreadful edition of SmackDown that started out kind of promising with the Aldis/Gunther segment. What followed that was kind of a sad excuse of a wrestling show, and I don’t mean that lightly.
The pacing felt weirdly off, and the volume of commercial breaks that were placed within the start of matches on tonight’s show gave it the feeling of one long commercial break that just happened to be interrupted by wrestling matches.
SummerSlam is in eight days, but aside from a couple of matches, it doesn’t feel like the excitement is there, and the weak demand for tickets to next week’s show highlights the bind that WWE finds itself in now with its creative direction. It’s a bind that’s apparently gotten the notice of JP Morgan analysts, who noted the sagging interest in WWE at the moment to be a bit of a risk ahead of parent company TKO’s earnings report on August 3rd.
Point is, tonight’s episode of SmackDown really drives home the fact that this is not a good show to watch from start to finish, especially with the slippery pacing we saw tonight. And the reality is that there’s probably no hurry to improve the product on the TKO side of things, not as long as the company is making money hand over fist.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.