5 Biggest news stories from WWE SmackDown (July 24, 2020)

By Kartik Arry
Modified Jul 25, 2020 16:46 IST
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The "Bar Fight" was the main event of this week's SmackDown!

From Sheamus and Jeff Hardy's "Bar Fight" to another week of entertaining commentary by Bayley & Sasha Banks, this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured many contrasting moments.

Constant readers may be aware that I always liked WWE SmackDown when it was unpredictable and borderline experimental in terms of content. Last night's show captured that very idea, and in my opinion, it was an excellent episode from the Blue Brand.

As we head towards SummerSlam, I sincerely hope that they continue taking risks with their content on the Blue brand.

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 2, 2020).

#5: Big E's singles push may finally come true

The New Day has been a WWE staple for a long time now. A few months ago, Xavier Woods became an inactive member of the roster due to a torn Achilles injury.

After New Day's (Kofi Kingston, Big E) Tables Match against Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura during The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, Kofi became injured after being power-bombed through two tables.

But in order to make the best out of this situation, Kofi encouraged Big E to go ahead and achieve greater things as a singles Superstar.

WWE fans have always believed that Big E could do wonders when it came to a singles push, and this episode may very well mark the beginning of Big E's road to the top of SmackDown.

Would you want Big E to become the new Universal Champion? Since Kofi already beat the odds by becoming a WWE Champion, it could certainly be a possibility for Big E to win a different top title down the road.

#4: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross were pitted against each other to become the #1 contender for Bayley's SmackDown Women's Title

After The Horror Show at WWE Extreme Rules, The Golden Role Models kicked-off this week's edition of WWE SmackDown.

Sasha Banks & Bayley's self-celebration was interrupted by an incensed Nikki Cross, who wanted to desperately get her hands on the SmackDown Women's Champion.

Unexpectedly, Bayley ordered Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss to battle each other in order to determine a #1 contender for next week's episode.

The match itself was a good way to kick things off, but The Golden Role Models are at the top of their game from a character standpoint in WWE right now. Sasha & Bayley's commentary was excellent this week, and they did a really good job of engaging viewers throughout Alexa & Nikki's bout.

In the end, Nikki Cross came out on top as the better wrestler last night, and later, Alexa Bliss admitted the same and congratulated her tag-team partner for getting a title rematch against Bayley next week.

On paper, another Cross vs. Bayley match sounds extremely predictable, but WWE SmackDown did a good job in setting it up for next week's episode.

#3: WWE acknowledged the #NaomiDeservesBetter movement after what happened last week

On last week's edition of WWE SmackDown, Naomi suffered a loss thanks to Lacey Evans' recent push, which led to #NaomiDeservesBetter trending on Twitter.

Usually, WWE doesn't address things like this directly, but the creative team made a good move by striking the iron when it's hot.

Naomi appeared on Miz TV this week, and The Miz & John Morrison were at the top of their game when it came to portraying annoying, pompous heels.

Mentioning the fact that Seth Rollins vomited after the finish to WWE's infamous "Eye for an Eye" Match was also a good touch, but it was Naomi who cut a fierce promo when the topic of #NaomiDeservesBetter was brought up.

Before you knew it, Lacey Evans arrived and earned a verbal shot against The GLOW, which didn't go down well for The Sassy Southern Belle later when Naomi attacked her.

Sure, the lipstick smudge was a bit cheesy, however, it's the cheesiness of this segment which made it quite engaging on this week's WWE SmackDown.

#2: Gran Metalik became the unexpected #1 contender for AJ Styles' Intercontinental Title

A Fatal-4-Way Match between Shorty G, Drew Gulak, Lince Dorade, and Gran Metalik was arranged by WWE to determine the #1 contender for AJ Styles' Intercontinental Championship.

The match itself felt like an impromptu decision to throw a bunch of competitors together at first, but nobody thought that someone like Gran Metalik could win this opportunity. This was an unexpected decision for all the good reasons since WWE fans expected Drew Gulak to win here.

Gran Metalik is a wildly talented WWE Superstar, but The Lucha House Party isn't one of the hottest tag teams that the company has produced in recent memory.

After Metalik's victory, WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles entered the ring and underestimated Metalik's spirit, as the challenger dropped The Phenomenal One to prove that he isn't just messing around here.

Daniel Bryan has joined WWE SmackDown's creative team, in case you haven't heard, and putting that into context, it makes sense why the show went ahead with some unique decisions as far as Superstars like Big E and Gran Metalik are concerned.

#1: Jeff Hardy channeled his "Brother Nero" persona to defeat Sheamus in a Bar Fight

Most WWE fans and critics have been skeptical of Sheamus and Jeff Hardy's recent feud, but their Bar Fight on last night's WWE SmackDown exceeded expectations, to say the least.

It was a semi-cinematic match of sorts, and the opening dialogue definitely set the tone for what would end up being a grueling bar fight. It was towards the end where WWE took us by surprise once again, as "Brother Nero", Broken Matt Hardy's infamous cohort, returned in some form to ensure that Jeff Hardy would win this match.

Sheamus and Hardy's opening dialogue was a bit meta-referential on its own, where Sheamus recalled his stint with Cesaro as "The Bar", and Jeff subtly took shots towards his own brother by mentioning how Matt went ahead and "deleted" his WWE career.

I believe that the Brother Nero tease may lead to better and bigger things for Jeff Hardy's future on SmackDown. On the After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves, Hardy mentioned how facing Bray Wyatt would seem like a great opportunity on the Blue brand, and I wonder if Brother Nero's sudden appearance will have something to do with that idea soon.