WWE SmackDown Live – July 2, 2019 (Review)

The Best of SmackDown Live

Singles Path to Tag Team Gold

Big E and Daniel Bryan put on a decent match to start. Big E in particular could arguably be considered an underrated singles performer, and he once again showed his value in this match. The singles encounter was designed to build excitement ahead of the recently announced tag team title match at Extreme Rules, pitting Big E & Xavier Woods against Bryan & Rowan. And on that front it certainly succeeded, with Big E relying on his ungodly power and Bryan trying to counter with speed and guile.

Nope. #SDLive @WWEBigE @WWEDanielBryan pic.twitter.com/O3FbAxCXF1

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 3, 2019

Daniel Bryan ultimately emerged victorious curtesy of some interference from Rowan. All in all, an entertaining contest. And a promising harbinger of things to come at Extreme Rules.

A Rebranded Moment of Bliss

So it turns out that the worst component of the Moment of Bliss segments has been Alexa Bliss herself. With the exception of last week’s instalment, these talk shows have almost invariably been agonising to sit through. But with Alexa keen to “let her little bird fly”, she offered up hosting duties to her protégé, Nikki Cross. Like so many aspects of this Bliss / Cross affair, I have no idea why Alexa so eagerly offered up her talk show. But – you know – gift horse, mouth, all that.

Is Nikki ready for her close-up? She better be because she's hosting a #AMomentOfBliss with special guest #SDLive #WomensChampion @itsBayleyWWE… NEXT! @NikkiCrossWWE @AlexaBliss_WWE pic.twitter.com/BHkyCZAKvA

— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2019

So, a genuinely likeable Cross, determined to make her best friend proud, carefully – and incredibly professionally – was left to introduce this week’s guest, Bayley. After a fiery conversation, in which Cross vowed to ask all the “tough questions” and Bayley tried to expose the true duplicitous nature of Bliss, an in-ring encounter was all but unavoidable.

A short match then ended with a straightforward win for the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Just 24 hours earlier, Cross had been teased as a potential challenger for Bayley come Extreme Rules. This result presumably puts that to bed. Then again, Carmella beat Alexa Bliss in four seconds on Monday night, so at the minute no one looks strong.

"You're doing great, Nikki!"

We agree. 😊 #SDLive #MomentOfBliss @NikkiCrossWWE pic.twitter.com/4CY5eezy9E

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 3, 2019

If I keep pulling on this logical thread, chances are that the entire tapestry will unravel, forcing me to turn this segment into a negative. So instead I’ll just leave it with an endorsement of Nikki Cross’ new chat show. The obvious name being, of course, “Playtime with Nikki“.

A Championship Confrontation

Kofi Kingston and Samoa Joe came face-to-face in the ring, for a confrontation that remained entertaining throughout yet lacked the kind of fire you’d expect of a WWE Championship feud.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzb4Ku5BPAS/

Samoa Joe charged that Kofi was no more than a short-lived comedy gimmick, who exists only to sell merchandise and is destined to return to his mid-card roots. Kofi responded by criticising Joe’s modus operandi of attacking The New Day from behind, suggesting that those were the actions of a coward rather than a terrifying bulldozer.

The challenger, understanding the insinuation, offered his hand to the champion. Joe promised that if Kofi looked him in the eye and shook his hand, in the process acknowledging the inevitability of Joe’s title victory, Joe would no longer attack Kofi’s friends or family. Instead though, Kofi gave Joe the finger and delivered the Trouble in Paradise. Or at least that’s what I think he did, because my feed cut out temporarily right as Kingston made the obscene gesture. He might have just given Joe a hearty thumbs up for all I know.

Shake @SamoaJoe's hand? @TrueKofi had another hand gesture in mind… #SDLive #ExtremeRules pic.twitter.com/squ52E9F41

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 3, 2019

A National Treasure Walks Among Us

Heavy Machinery were interviewed by Sarah Schreiber backstage ahead of their match against KO & Dolph Ziggler set for later in the night. I’m sure that Tucker had some very insightful things to say, but it was Otis who per usual stole the limelight.

The man who looks like several different-sized medicine balls glued together gyrated  and pumped his fists throughout, before letting out a primal yell of “We’re Comin’ ah!” He’s too beautiful for this world.

The End of an Era of Tyranny

Just two weeks after it started, WWE’s obsession with two-out-of-three falls matches appears to be at an end. Mercifully, we got none on SmackDown last night, with matches instead allowed to run through commercial breaks. I never thought I’d be so relieved to not see parts of matches.

A Two-Way Becomes a Three-Way

The main event of SmackDown pitted KO & Ziggler against Heavy Machinery, with a place in the Extreme Rules tag team title match on the line.

The match started with all of Bryan & Rowan, Big E & Xavier Woods and several mountains of pancakes at ringside. Even by Vince’s standards, that was a lot of beef… and far too many carbs while we’re on the topic.

Chaos has BROKEN OUT at ringside! #SDLive @ERICKROWAN @WWEDanielBryan pic.twitter.com/Wfa9bPe7vh

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 3, 2019

It wasn’t long though before tensions between the two teams boiled over on the outside and a full-on brawl broke out, with Bryan delivering the running knee to Big E and Rowan slamming Woods through their custom-built commentary desk.

Once order was restored post-break, the main event resumed. And it was a fun match too, with noticeably few tags as all men just laid into one another. Eventually though, a miscommunication between the makeshift pairing led to Dolph delivering an inadvertent superkick to Owens, followed by a Compactor from Heavy Machinery for the win.

"This is MY SHOW!" @FightOwensFight sends a message to @HEELZiggler in STUNNING fashion! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/dCCE2iOu3o

— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2019

After the match, a furious Owens delivered a Stunner to Dolph, possibly setting up an encounter between the two at Extreme Rules. Which Ziggler will probably win, because that’s just how the world works.

• review
• Extreme Rules
• Smackdown
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