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WWE SmackDown pulled out all the stops this week as they looked to make an impression heading towards the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
There was discord in the ranks of Roman Reigns' family heading into this week's show as The Usos were looking at their first tag team match together in more than a year.
The company also focused on the feud between Cesaro and Seth Rollins. Last week, Rollins attacked the Swiss Superman, focusing on his arm, before hitting him with two stomps, the second of them on the steel entrance ramp.
The future of Bianca Belair's title also became a little clearer thanks to her ongoing feud with Bayley. Shinsuke Nakamura also continued his feud with King Corbin, along with Nakamura's latest ally, Rick Boogs.
The superstars all put their best foot forward on SmackDown and several of them were able to stand out from the crowd. The following are five of the best superstars from this week's episode of WWE SmackDown.
#5 Tamina and Natalya dominate on SmackDown again
Tamina and Natalya have proven they can take on anyone by defeating Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler multiple times. They returned to SmackDown this week and faced a challenge from The Riott Squad.
For a moment, Natalya looked like she was reaching another level as she stacked Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott for a double Sharpshooter, but failed to get it locked in.
Tamina showed once again how underrated she had been in WWE for so long. She withstood the assault from Ruby Riott before fighting back and getting her ready for the Superfly Splash. Natalya kept Liv Morgan busy on the outside to leave Tamina to take care of Riott.
She hit the headbutt on Ruby, sending her down from the top turnbuckle, before hitting her with the Superfly Splash for the win on SmackDown.
Tamina and Natalya looked good once again. The champions have a lot of momentum now and may hold the titles for a long time.
#4 Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown
Rick Boogs was back again this week on SmackDown as Shinsuke Nakamura made his way to the ring for his match. Last week, Boogs made himself enough of a presence during Nakamura's match with King Corbin to provide a distraction for the King of Strong Style to take advantage of.
This week, Nakamura faced Chad Gable in a match on SmackDown. Otis attacked Nakamura before the match even started to help Gable.
Nakamura took some time to recover, but he got back into the match soon after. He hit a high spinning kick to Gable and then reversed the armbar. He then hit Gable with a running Kinshasa out of nowhere to win and retain his title.
Unfortunately, during Nakamura's match, King Corbin tried to take back his crown. The hard-hitting superstar was clearly upset, but he got it back. Boogs attacked King Corbin from behind and knocked him down to get the crown off his head. Nakamura took back the crown and wore it while a bemused Corbin looked on.
The combination of Nakamura and Rick Boogs has proven effective two weeks in a row now.
#3 Bianca Belair defeated Carmella on WWE SmackDown
This week on SmackDown, Bianca Belair faced Carmella, while Bayley was on commentary. Carmella looked to make an impact by challenging the SmackDown Women's Champion, but it seemed like she bit off more than she could chew.
Belair dominated most of the match as she brought out all her abilities in the ring to face the women's star. Belair hit a huge shoulder block on Carmella on the outside and then tossed her into the ring with a military press. Belair put Carmella on the back foot again and again throughout the match, but the star used the X-Factor on the apron to get her footing back.
She looked to push her advantage but only got near-falls, instead of getting the win that she wanted. Belair came back out of nowhere to block the Code of Silence and even reversed the X-Factor to hit Carmella with the enormous KOD. The KOD proved enough to get the win and she posed with the title, while Bayley seemed to claim that her win meant nothing, laughing at her from the commentary table.
#2 Rey and Dominik Mysterio retain their SmackDown Tag Team Championships
The SmackDown Tag Team Championships were on the line in the main event of the night. The Mysterio Family put everything on the line as they battled The Dirty Dawgs in an attempt to fend them off in their title rematch.
The father-son duo found themselves on the back foot once again before their title match. Before their match could start, Rey Mysterio was attacked by someone, which forced Dominik to face The Dirty Dawgs alone, much like how Rey had been forced to face them alone at WrestleMania Backlash.
Dominik stepped up to face Ziggler and Roode alone in an apparent handicap match for the titles. He fought off both Ziggler and Roode alone, surviving their assault and then diving outside, taking out both superstars with a giant dive.
He managed to fight on and sent Ziggler into the ropes, but The Showoff avoided the 619. Roode came back in and the two of them hit the double team neckbreaker, but Dominik survived.
Rey Mysterio's music played and Dominik managed to take advantage, rolling up Roode to win the match. Dominik Mysterio stood tall alone to retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles.
#1 The Usos made their in-ring return on WWE SmackDown
The Usos faced The Street Profits this week in the opening match of SmackDown. The show started off in a big way, as Jimmy and Jey Uso both looked very competent.
The Usos had their first match together in more than a year and it looked like they had not lost a step. There was a lot of speculation going into the match about discord in the ranks of Roman Reigns' family. Reigns wished them both luck before the match started, but when The Usos faced Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, none of that discord showed.
The chemistry between the two teams was unbelievable as it looked like both teams were more than capable in the ring and could do anything. The Street Profits faced The Usos and it looked like they had been facing each other in the ring for years and years as Jimmy and Jey Uso broke out all the moves to win the match.
Jimmy and Jey worked together and in the end, a hurt Montez Ford got taken out with the Superkick to get the win. They will face the SmackDown Tag Team Champions next week in a title shot.
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