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The go-home episode of WWE SmackDown before Extreme Rules looked to set up the matches from the brand for Sunday’s event. The night opened up with Big E taking on Cesaro just days before The New Day defends their SmackDown Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Sheamus sent a message across to Jeff Hardy before their grudge match, while Alexa Bliss set up a big women’s tag team match for the night to make an impression.
Braun Strowman showed a more lethal side to himself which was required before his Swamp Fight against Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules. On the other hand, Naomi and Lacey Evans competed to try and get in the zone for a big opportunity on SmackDown after Extreme Rules.
The final match of the night saw Matt Riddle challenge AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Championship to close out the show and was met with a not-so-pleasant surprise at the end of it.
All this and a lot more was on display during this week’s SmackDown, and we will look at the 5 things WWE got right during the show before Extreme Rules.
#5 Lacey Evans’ heel character resurfaces on WWE SmackDown
Sasha Banks and Bayley have been SmackDown’s premiere heels, and it’s safe to say that the two women are the best heels in the entire WWE women’s locker room.
While things are going smoothly in that department, last week WWE SmackDown thought of turning one of its bigger Superstars heel again. Lacey Evans attacked Naomi after a Karaoke Competition on SmackDown and the two then got into an impromptu match that never came to a conclusive end.
This week, the two women were scheduled to face each other with the hopes of a result coming out of the match. Evans tried to take Naomi out early on in the match but The Glow continued to get back in with some offense of her own.
The Sassy Southern Belle took control in the middle phase, but Naomi hit a moonsault on Evans to even things out. In the final moments of the match, the heelish Sassy Southern Belle knocked Naomi out with The Women’s Right and pinned her for the victory.
While the match was nothing more than ordinary, WWE is doing the right thing by making Evans a heel again. She seems more natural as a heel and did a great job on RAW initially while chasing the RAW Women’s Championship. SmackDown needs a few top heels at the moment, and this could end up being Evans’ ticket to success.
#4 The Role Models of WWE SmackDown pick up yet another victory
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross opened up the segment by talking about the fifth anniversary of the Women’s Evolution and the change it had brought on SmackDown and WWE as a whole.
While Cross believed she was the special guest, Bliss told her she wasn’t the special guest and was interrupted by Bayley and Sasha Banks before she could reveal who it was.
After Bayley and Banks trash-talked for a little while, Asuka was revealed as Bliss’ real guest and she soon turned the mic war into an in-ring battle. Asuka teamed up with Cross to take on Bayley and Banks as all four women tried to shine just in time for Extreme Rules and gain some momentum.
Asuka and Cross proved to be an interesting pair and worked well together, but they were no match for the heels’ chemistry.
While the babyfaces tried their best to score a victory, Bayley rolled Cross up for the pin and once again got her feet on the ropes for leverage to pick up the victory.
This was another good match for The Role Models on SmackDown who continue to impress with their work on the mic and in the ring. However, we did see some differences between the two women, and we could get a major rivalry between them soon after Extreme Rules.
#3 Cesaro continues to impress on WWE SmackDown
This week’s SmackDown started off with a big match between Big E and Cesaro. The New Day will be defending their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against the team of Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura at Extreme Rules, and this was the perfect match to lead up to the ultimate clash.
The two powerhouses showed their strengths early in the matchup and looked to keep each other down. Big E pinned Cesaro against the steel steps with a running shoulder, but The Swiss Superman got his revenge as he moved out of the way as Big E tried the same move against the ring post.
One of the most impressive spots of the night saw Cesaro pull off the Big Swing on Big E before turning it into a Sharpshooter.
He finally managed to hit the Neutralizer on one-half of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions and pocketed the victory in time for Extreme Rules. The heel duo then pulled out a table to announce which stipulation they’d chosen for Sunday’s match.
Cesaro continued to impress on SmackDown yet again, and even as a heel, he remains one of the favorites of the WWE Universe. This was a good match that will likely lead to a great one on Sunday’s event.
#2 Braun Strowman unleashes a more sinister side to himself on WWE SmackDown
Bray Wyatt gave the WWE Universe a quick look of his swamp on this week's SmackDown just in time for his match at the location at Extreme Rules against Braun Strowman.
The Monster Among Men was set to compete against John Morrison during the night but decided to cut a short promo before the match. He looked to remind Wyatt that he was looking to come back and would stun Wyatt at Extreme Rules.
As soon as the match between him and Morrison began, he went full force and destroyed The Friday Night Delight. He took Morrison down easily and hit the Running Powerslam to pick up the victory. To make things seem even more worrisome, the medical staff came out to check on Morrison after the match was over.
The Miz helped him to the back, showing that The Shaman of Sexy had been completely outdone by The Monster Among Men. While this was a good segment for Strowman, it’s sad to see the state Miz and Morrison are in currently.
Strowman needed this quick victory on SmackDown to make one final impact before Extreme Rules as he has been wrestling in much fewer matches since becoming the Universal Champion.
#1 Matt Riddle gets into his next rivalry on WWE SmackDown
Matt Riddle impressed the entire WWE Universe with his debut performance on WWE SmackDown against AJ Styles and was up against the Intercontinental Champion once again this week. However, the stakes were much higher as the match was for the Intercontinental Championship itself.
The two men engaged in a technical battle early on in the match before Styles used a few strikes to take control over the match. However, Riddle’s power allowed him to impress once again as he hit two great gutwrench suplexes to The Phenomenal One.
Styles worked on Riddle’s leg from there on to set up towards the Calf Crusher for later on in the match. A Phenomenal Forearm attempt was countered by The Original Bro but he failed to take advantage of the situation.
Styles locked Riddle in the Calf Crusher but The Bro managed to reverse it. However, The Phenomenal One rolled Riddle up for the three count and picked up the victory on SmackDown.
After the match Styles showed some respect to the challenger and offered a handshake, but SmackDown's King Corbin arrived to attack The Bro from behind and then hit the End of Days before both the heels left.
This was a good match that set up towards Riddle’s next challenge while not completely getting him out of the Intercontinental Championship picture. It will be interesting to see how long Riddle fights Corbin before going back after the Intercontinental Champion.
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