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SmackDown Live rolled into the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, and by the end of the show, a title match for SummerSlam was drastically changed. Charlotte Flair returned after several weeks off and defeated the WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella to make the title match a triple threat.
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While the women's title match was the only thing changed on the SummerSlam card, we are a step closer to finding out who will face The Bludgeon Brothers as The New Day and The Bar will square off next week in the finals of the mini-tag team tournament.
While there were not a lot of matches on the show this week, three in fact, a lot of feuds were escalated in great promos and segments. By the end of the show, it was clear that Samoa Joe and Randy Orton are definitely the top two villains on the blue brand.
The entire two hours of SmackDown Live was rather excellent. It is baffling how it seems like a chore to get through Monday Night Raw lately; while it's counterpart on Tuesday is consistently delivering.
As always on the report card articles, the best grade a match or segment can earn is an A+, with an F being the worst grade. On the final slide, I will also give an overall grade for the show.
Let's kick things off with a tremendous tag team match...
#5 The Bar and The Usos tear down the house
General Manager Paige created a four-team tournament to determine who will have the unenviable task of facing the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam. The New Day defeated SAnitY last week, and this week, it was The Usos against The Bar.
If you don't believe me, just listen to the WWE Universe on this one as Sheamus, Cesaro, Jimmy, and Jey Uso put on one hell of a match. The crowd was very loud for this great 15-minute contest.
In the end, Jey went for a splash but ran into a massive European uppercut from Cesaro. Jimmy also went for a splash but ran into Sheamus' knees as The Celtic Warrior rolled up Jimmy for the victory.
Expect another tag team classic when The Bar and The New Day square off next week.
GRADE: A
#4 Samoa Joe gets personal with AJ Styles
We learned last week that Samoa Joe was Paige's appointed #1 contender to AJ Styles' WWE Championship at SummerSlam. What Paige didn't know was Joe was planning a sneak attack on the champ just before signing the contract.
Joe came out to the ring to send another message to AJ this week on SmackDown, and this time he got personal by involving family. Joe called AJ a failure as a father due to him being away being the WWE Champion, but once AJ is put to sleep, the children will have their daddy back.
Amazing promo from one of the best talkers in the company. It was effective because you know this will piss AJ off, and it will be great to see his reaction next week.
GRADE: A
#3 Jeff Hardy is viciously attacked by BOTH Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura
After being brutally attacked by Randy Orton during the WWE United States Championship rematch against Shinsuke Nakamura, Jeff Hardy came to the ring this week calling out Randy Orton.
Orton would answer the call, but it was Nakamura who attacked Hardy from behind. Just as Shinsuke was going to deliver a Kinshasa, Orton stepped in front of him, only to order him to nail Hardy with the finisher.
Orton would then continue his assault on Hardy before placing him on the announce table where he wiped away Hardy's face paint with a wet towel and ripped off his chain. This was a tremendous segment, but still unsure if this leads to a triple threat match at SummerSlam.
GRADE: A
#2 Grades for other segments and matches for SmackDown Live this week
Becky Lynch kicks off SmackDown Live
The show started with Renee Young interviewing Lynch who would describe her long journey back to the top of the women's division. Carmella interrupted appearing to be genuine, but using the distractions of James Ellsworth's entrance music led to an attack, but Charlotte Flair made her return to save Becky. GRADE: B
Zelina Vega and Lana settle their differences in the ring
Zelina made her SmackDown Live in-ring debut against Lana in a feud that continued over from last week. The match itself was short and just okay, but it was good to see some different women in the division competing. GRADE: C+
Daniel Bryan's promo
Bryan reiterated the various ways of how Miz is a coward in this great promo. He challenged Miz to prove him wrong, but instead Miz appeared "on the set" of his reality series Miz and Mrs. (he was actually just backstage). Great stuff from both men here. GRADE: A-
#1 Charlotte Flair earns her way into the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship Match / overall grade
The main event of the evening featured the WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella against a returning Charlotte Flair. If Charlotte wins, she's in the title match at SummerSlam.
Though Carmella has been sub-par in the ring, this was a decent match. That may have been more due to Charlotte than anything though.
Carmella tried to get cocky and land a Figure Four on Charlotte, but The Queen would counter into the Figure Eight to make Carmella tap out, as Becky Lynch looked on and was clearly not pleased her title match is a triple threat now.
GRADE: B+
As for the show overall, it was one of the best of the year. It made me forward to what the blue brand is bringing to SummerSlam in just a little over two weeks. GRADE: A
