LECLAIR’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7/24: Alt perspective, detailed coverage of Sheamus vs. Hardy Bar Fight, Naomi on MizTV, Extreme Rules fallout, more

LECLAIR’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
JULY 24, 2020
ORLANDO, FL AT WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED ON FOX NETWORK

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

-The show opened with another promo montage, beginning with Jeff Hardy. He said he plans to beat the “holy hell” out of Sheamus. Cut to Sheamus, who claimed Hardy would find himself in a familiar place – struggling to stand in the bar. He promised Jeff a headache via Brogue Kick. JBL chimed in from home, saying he’d save his prediction for later.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves teased the match briefly, then welcomed the audience to the show over a wide shot of the WWE Performance Center.

-Sasha Banks’ music played and she stepped onto the stage, followed by Bayley. Sasha was still carrying the Raw Women’s Championship. Cole and Graves recapped both Banks’ and Bayley’s matches at Extreme Rules.

Sasha defined greatness, according to the dictionary. Bayley said it’s the old division of greatness, but the new definition is just an image of the two of them. Banks said she said they’d get all the gold, and they meant it. “From this point on, the women’s evolution is over,” Sasha proclaimed, “it started with us, and it ends with us.” Bayley said it’s now their era.

Banks sent a message to all the young boys and girls idolizing them at home – if you work hard, one day, your dreams can come true. “But you can never be as great as us,” Bayley added. Nikki Cross’ music cut them off. She and Alexa Bliss walked onto the stage.

Nikki Cross declared their era “over.” Bliss told her it’s not advisable to get physical tonight. Cross revealed she has a cracked rib, but said she wants a rematch for the Smackdown Women’s title. Bayley shrugged her off, saying she won fair and square. Bayley offered Nikki a rematch if she can beat Alexa Bliss. Bayley said the winner can face her for the title next week.

Nikki and Bliss talked it over, but Cross shoved Bliss to the ground. “We have to do this!” she said. Bliss looked confused. The show went to commercial.

(LeClair’s Analysis: Here we go with wrestlers making their own matches again. As much as I enjoy the antics of Sasha and Bayley, this angle with Bliss and Cross is getting old. There’s only so many versions of this story they can tell, and it feels like this is more or less scraping the bottom of that barrel. I also dislike any suggestion of dissent among Bliss and Cross, considering they’ve been such an effective babyface pairing. As an aside, why is it being treated as though neither Banks nor Asuka is Raw Women’s champion? The match had no legal conclusion. Asuka is still Women’s champion, and insinuating anything else is ridiculous. They should be making that far more clearer than they have been to date.)

-Michael Cole and Corey Graves welcomed Sasha Banks and Bayley to the commentary table when the show returned from break.

(1) NIKKI CROSS vs. ALEXA BLISS

Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss locked up as the bell rang, then quickly broke and returned to the center of the ring. Bliss worked Cross’ arm over and then rolled Nikki up for a quick one count. Cross shot to her feet and tried the same roll up on Bliss with identical results.

The two locked up again, wrestling each other through multiple headlock takedowns and leg scissors. Bliss caught Cross with a shoulder takedown, leapfrogged her on the rebound and got caught with a pair of arm drags from Cross. Bliss and Cross traded elbows out of the corner, leading to Cross attempting a tornado DDT from the corner. Bliss blocked it and set up for a DDT of her own, blocked by Cross.

Cross dropped Bliss repeatedly with running clotheslines, then a running bulldog out of the corner for a near fall. Cross went for a swinging neckbreaker but Bliss spun out of it and took Cross down with a basement dropkick. Cross rolled to the outside. Bliss tried to follow, but wound up getting caught up in the ropes. Bliss freed herself and the two turned their attention to Banks and Bayley, screaming at them both from the announcers desk. Cross and Bliss dropped the tag champions as Cole sent the show to commercial.