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From The New Day's main event tag team titles match against Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura to a women's karaoke contest hosted by Jey Uso, this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.
This episode of SmackDown felt like a filler stop on the Road to Extreme Rules, and that is unusual because the Blue brand's roster is stacked from the top-to-bottom. I have often praised this show for its newsworthy approach in recent times, but that effect will wear off if they keep putting on episodes like this on a weekly basis.
Which show did you like better this week, RAW or SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown (July 10, 2020).
#5: Bayley & Sasha Banks continued their path to complete domination by defeating Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
The bigger story here is always going to be Sasha Banks and Bayley's uncanny friendship, which hasn't broken down like any standard WWE tag team you can think of.
So even though Nikki Cross and Bayley's current WWE feud hasn't been relegated to the sidelines at all, we know that it has an obvious outcome at the end of the day.
Sasha & Bayley may have defeated Bliss & Cross on SmackDown, but appearing on all three brands has ensured that The Role Models have enemies everywhere. The Kabuki Warriors will be looking to dethrone Sasha & Bayley from the top of the Women's Tag Team Division, as both teams are set to face on next week's RAW with the Women's Tag Team Titles at stake.
The Role Models may have a separate storyline on WWE RAW as well, but there is only one overarching plot thread here, and that deals with the idea of Sasha & Bayley splitting up sometime down the road.
#4: Jey Uso hosted a karaoke contest between the women of SmackDown
What's bizarre is that WWE SmackDown feels like it sometimes exists in a completely different universe from RAW, AEW, and NXT.
Whenever WWE's creative staff comes up with weird or wonky ideas, most of it is executed on the Blue brand.
Jey Uso hosted a women's karaoke contest between Lacey Evans, Dana Brooke, Tamina, and Naomi. So you can guess who won in the end.
The only star who slightly benefited from this segment, as well as the match that followed, is Lacey Evans. Lacey's WWE character is completely different from her real-life personality, and she still manages to put on a legitimate performance as The Sassy Southern Belle.
Her rendition of Jeff Jarrett's "With My Baby Tonight" didn't feel out of place, but Naomi's karaoke tribute to Dusty Rhodes was declared the winner. Evans didn't take her loss lightly, and this led to a match between herself and Naomi.
The karaoke competition was a setup for Lacey Evans' eventual heel turn, which makes her a legitimate candidate to challenge Asuka for the RAW Women's Title.
But WWE fans had to sit through two cringeworthy performances from Dana Brooke and Tamina, and even though it was intentionally framed that way for entertainment purposes, you could feel how this episode was turning out to be a filler stop ahead of Extreme Rules.
#3: AJ Styles will face Matt Riddle with the Intercontinental Title at stake next week
Several big stars were missing from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown. By "big", I am referring to their current worth and relevancy when it comes to storylines.
Otis is the current MITB briefcase holder, with Mandy Rose by his side, and as a writer for this website, I can confirm that Otis and Mandy's pairing surely attracts a lot of attention from WWE fans.
Just like last week, both of them were not scheduled for this week's WWE SmackDown as well. Yes, AJ Styles was featured in this particular episode, but it wasn't in a big capacity at all.
With Drew Gulak and Daniel Bryan out of The Phenomenal One's way, for the time being, it was revealed that Matt Riddle would be his next challenger, which makes sense because The Original Bro already has a legitimate victory over AJ Styles.
But The Phenomenal One could have been given more screentime in a show where WWE replayed Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman's match from Money in the Bank.
#2: Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura set up a potential gimmick match against The New Day at Extreme Rules
Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura have finally stood out on their own as a legitimate tag team unit in WWE. They took on The New Day during this week's edition of WWE SmackDown. Kofi & Big E's SmackDown Tag Team Titles were on the line as well.
What may have bugged several WWE fans is that the match ended in a no-contest when things got out of hand. Both teams have great chemistry against each other, but this finish didn't make things better for last night's SmackDown episode.
The way it all ended, however, clearly indicated that Cesaro & Nakamura will face The New Day again, and it certainly might be a stipulation match at Extreme Rules. After all, the former team did put Kofi & Big E through a table to display dominance.
Cesaro & Nakamura could become strong champions, but a part of me always wants The Miz & John Morrison to be the face of this division. After all, The Dirt Sheet duo is the most entertaining male tag team act on WWE SmackDown.
#1: Jeff Hardy accepted to face Sheamus in a Bar Fight at Extreme Rules
Sheamus and Jeff Hardy's controversial feud won't end anytime soon, as it seems like the two will collide in a Bar Fight at WWE's upcoming Pay-Per-View.
This challenge was relayed by The Miz to The Charismatic Enigma during a Miz TV segment to kick-off this week's WWE SmackDown.
It's obvious why a "Bar Fight" stipulation seemed appropriate for their next encounter, but we all know that both men are better suited for new and different WWE feuds at the moment. The Miz TV segment led to a match between Hardy and Miz, but that didn't coalesce as well as one might have expected it to.
Sheamus tried to distract his rival via satellite this week, but clearly it didn't work as The Charismatic Enigma picked up the victory.
Extreme Rules is already shaping up to be a night full of bizarre stipulations, but Sheamus and Jeff Hardy's upcoming encounter might be an interesting chapter that will culminate in a place reminiscent of The Charismatic Enigma's real-life struggles.
