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Becky Lynch made a surprise return to the ring at WWE SummerSlam and won the SmackDown Women’s Championship. She defeated Bianca Belair after a quick match at the pay-per-view and was expected to show up on this week’s SmackDown.
Roman Reigns put down John Cena at SummerSlam to continue his dominant reign as the Universal Champion. The Usos were also successful at retaining their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Rey and Dominik Mysterio.
Seth Rollins and Edge had a great match at SummerSlam. Edge defeated Rollins to win the contest, but this week’s segments suggest their rivalry is far from over.
Liv Morgan returned to SmackDown for a big match this week, while Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura teamed up again. Baron Corbin also debuted another new character and tried to buy Big E’s Money in the Bank contract.
Take a look at the five things WWE got right on SmackDown after SummerSlam.
#5 Becky Lynch returned to WWE SmackDown after her victory at SummerSlam
New WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch kicked off Friday night after winning the title at SummerSlam. Lynch addressed the WWE Universe and said that she missed the fans.
Lynch showed her new heel character and told the WWE Universe to watch out for what she was about to do on the brand. Bianca Belair came out and immediately got down to business.
She said she wouldn’t make excuses for her loss before challenging Lynch to a title match on the show. Before The Man could answer, Zelina Vega, Carmella, and Liv Morgan came out one by one.
Morgan claimed that Vega and Carmella lost every week before laying down a challenge of her own. Lynch brushed off the challengers and walked off, leaving the four women to brawl in the ring.
Soon after, a fatal 4-way elimination match took place on SmackDown. Belair took out Vega early in the contest before Liv Morgan eliminated Carmella. Belair and Morgan had a solid contest to determine who’d face The Man for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Belair sent Morgan face-first into the top turnbuckle and hit the Kiss of Death for the win. It was good to see Liv Morgan perform at the top level once again.
It was expected that The EST would get back in contention for the title after losing it so quickly at SummerSlam. However, SmackDown did well to have a match to crown her the number one contender rather than just giving her a rematch for the title.
#4 Roman Reigns questioned Paul Heyman’s loyalty on WWE SmackDown
Paul Heyman was shown backstage on WWE SmackDown in a few segments. Heyman was questioned about Brock Lesnar’s return backstage, asking where he stood after the return of The Beast. He was confident that he’d remain with The Tribal Chief on SmackDown going forward.
However, Heyman found himself locked out of Reigns’ locker room following the interview. Later on SmackDown, Jimmy & Jey Uso confronted Heyman. The twins asked Heyman whether he knew that Lesnar would return at SummerSlam and also questioned why he sent them back before The Beast’s return.
Reigns later showed up and asked Heyman if he was joining him in the locker room or not. There seems to be some obvious tension between the two men which will weave into their storyline considering Lesnar's return.
SmackDown is doing well at building the rivalry between Reigns and Brock Lesnar without the latter's appearance. Fans are aware of Paul Heyman’s relationship with The Beast, and it will be interesting to see whether he turns on Reigns or not.
#3 Rick Boogs picked up another pinfall on WWE SmackDown
Rick Boogs teamed up with Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura once again on WWE SmackDown this week. The two men took on former SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.
Boogs used his power against Ziggler and punished him for some time. The former world champion turned the tides in his favor and used his experience against Boogs.
Shinsuke Nakamura came in and tried to slow down the heels but took a Zig-Zag behind the referee’s back. The Artist stayed in the ring for some time before he made a hot-tag to Boogs.
The guitar-playing superstar went on a roll and took down the heels in the final part of the match. He planted Ziggler with a pump-handle slam to pick up another win for his team.
It looks like the SmackDown creative has a lot of faith in Rick Boogs. Boogs has gotten a big start on SmackDown, where he is now one of the main members of the mid-card.
His partnership with Shinsuke Nakamura is working well, and he could soon turn on his partner to take home the Intercontinental Championship.
#2 Rey and Dominik Mysterio continued to tease a split on WWE SmackDown
Sami Zayn finally returned to WWE SmackDown and was revealed as Dominik Mysterio’s opponent for the night. Before the match, Rey Mysterio was shown backstage telling his son that he would step back and let him be his own man.
The two men got down to business in the ring. The young superstar set the pace early, but Zayn took him down during a 619 attempt.
The Conspiracy Theorist started to work over Dominik and kept him grounded for some time. Dominik mounted a comeback soon after and took down Zayn with some good moves. He delivered a 619 and attempted to hit a frog splash, but Zayn moved out of the way.
The former Intercontinental Champion got back in the game with some heelish tactics and delivered an exploder into the corner. He ended Dominik’s night with a Helluva Kick.
After the match, Rey Mysterio came out to help his son to the back. However, Dominik ditched him and walked away. SmackDown seems to be building towards a father-son rivalry that could help Dominik get over.
It looks like the younger Mysterio will be turning heel soon. That could turn out to be beneficial for the SmackDown brand and the superstar.
#1 Roman Reigns celebrated his victory before being confronted by The Prince on WWE SmackDown
Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, and The Usos came out for the final segment of WWE SmackDown. It was a celebration of Reigns’ victory over John Cena at SummerSlam.
Heyman took the mic and put The Tribal Chief over for some time. Soon after, Finn Balor’s music hit, and the former NXT Champion made his way out.
The Prince was frustrated at losing his opportunity to challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. He did not want to see Brock Lesnar find an easy path to the title scene.
Balor said he wanted to challenge Reigns for the title at Extreme Rules, but he knew someone would jump the line. He challenged Roman Reigns to a Universal Championship on next week’s episode of SmackDown.
The Prince then threw the mic at Reigns and attacked him. The Street Profits arrived to provide Balor with some backup and take out The Usos. Balor landed a Coup De Grace on Jey Uso as the show went off the air.
Finn Balor was fantastic once again and came across as a real threat to The Head of the Table. It’s interesting that The Street Profits provided him back up and began a potential rivalry with The Usos.
