(Segment 1) Randy Orton Kicks Off Smackdown Live: Randy talked about not getting respect and how he helped this business. Orton then goes on about everything he’s done and goes after the crowd being ‘legend killers’. It was a very good promo by him and it helped him turn heel very well. I like heel Orton better than him as a face.
(Segment 2) Rusev vs Andrades ‘Cien’ Almas: WWE announced this match earlier on Tuesday and I was looking forward to it. I had high hopes for this match and want to see more out of these two. I do think we see a mixed tag match at Summerslam, adding Lana to Rusev and Vega to Almas. Almas ended up getting a cheap win because Rusev was distracted. After Rusev turned around Almas hit him with the Hammerlock DDT for the pin.
(Segment 3) Samoa Joe vs R-Truth: This match was to showcase Samoa Joe and didn’t last long. Samoa Joe beat him in 2 minutes after making Truth pass out with the Coquina Clutch. Joe gets more momentum as he goes after the WWE Title.
(Segment 4) Asuka vs Billie Kay: I didn’t see much coming out of this match so I didn’t have high expectations. This match was slower paced and the action wasn’t that great, it did move us into the swcond hour though. Asuka pinned Kay in a quick match.
(Segment 5) Paige’s Summerslam Announcement: Paige was set to announce AJ Styles’ Summerslam opponent here but was interrupted by James Ellsworth. He wasn’t so nice to Paige so she old him that he was fired. Samoa Joe attacked Styles while Paige was escorting Ellsworth out of the building. Joe put Styles to sleep with the Coquina Clutch then signed the contract for the match at Summerslam. It’ll be Styles vs Joe at Summerslam for the WWE Title.
(Segment 6) Carmella vs Becky Lynch: If Becky wins this match then she’ll face Carmella at Summerslam for the Smackdown Women’s Title. I knew Lynch would win because they wouldn’t announce this stipulation for no reason. Becky makes Carmella tap after a pretty decent match to the DisarmHer. It’ll be Carmella vs Becky Lynch at Summerslam for the Smackdown Women’s Title.
(Segment 7) Sanity vs New Day: The winner of this match will face the winner of The Bar vs The Usos, which happens next week. They’ll face the winner of that match in two weeks. I expected this match to be good because these are two very good teams and they work well together. New Day won with Woods pinning Wolfe after the Up Up Down Down, they will face the winners of The Usos and The Bar in two weeks.
(Segment 8) Miz and Mrs Celebration: This segment was to build the heat between Bryan and Miz, which is a great feud. Miz boosted his new show and kept going on about it. Daniel Bryan came out and beat up the bouncers for Miz’s celebration. He then went into the ring but was hit by Miz with a fake doll. Smackdown ended with Miz boasting about his new show and to watch it after this.
Overall Smackdown Live Grade: B-
