Tonight’s WWE SmackDown started off on a somber note, as the locker room and a number of WWE legends came out to honor the late Hulk Hogan with a 10-bell salute and video tribute. Throughout the night, WWE would show footage of some of Hogan’s most iconic moments as well, but there was also movement on a number of current storylines and rivalries in the lead-up to next week’s SummerSlam. With SmackDown now in the books, we’re breaking down all the biggest hits and misses of the night.
Hit: Jelly Roll Just Gets It
I’m not going to lie and say I was fully onboard with the Jelly Roll and Randy Orton team-up program against Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre, and that’s honestly true of most celebrity feuds, though Bad Bunny is one of the few exceptions. That said, while the match isn’t my most anticipated on the SummerSlam card, I have to give credit where credit is due, and at the moment, this is a hit through and through.
Simply put, Jelly Roll just gets it. It’s damn near impossible not to root for him, both due to his overall likability but also because of his clear enthusiasm for WWE and pro wrestling in general. It’s like watching someone live out their dream, and while that’s happened plenty of times before, Jelly Roll wears his love for it on his sleeve, and that joy is infectious. As for the match itself, with two top stars like Orton and McIntyre involved, you know it’s going to be not only entertaining but hard-hitting as well, and it’s setting up to be a truly enjoyable mainstream moment at one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year.
Hit: Frenemies to Friends
One of the most delightful surprises over the past few weeks has been the Tag Team partnership between Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, and tonight that frenemies-to-friends evolution took another important step. The chemistry between Bliss and Flair has been fantastic, and that continued tonight as they made their way to the ring, but their partnership entered another tier by the end of the match.
Not only did Flair have Bliss’ back against Raquel Rodriguez, throwing her over the barricade after she attacked Bliss and interfered in the match, but she also showed genuine concern when Bliss suffered a busted nose towards the end of the match. Bliss got that busted nose when she pivoted on the fly and dove off the top rope to help Flair on the outside, as Rodriguez was about to hit her with a power bomb. While it would end up costing Bliss the match, it then led to a segment later that featured the two superstars backstage, and during that exchange, Flair almost referred to them as friends, but went with partners instead. This story has been such a great surprise, and here’s hoping they walk away from SummerSlam with some gold.
Miss: Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice Can’t Catch a Break
It’s been a rough week for Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice, as just this past Monday, Green, Alba Fyre, and Piper Niven all ended up getting taken down by Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, and Stephanie Vaquer. Unfortunately, tonight’s SmackDown didn’t bring much in the way of momentum for the group, and instead of getting some kind of payback, they ended up getting dismantled by two of SmackDown’s biggest superstars.
Things went south immediately after Cargill caught Green talking about her backstage. Cargill proceeded to attack her across the backstage area before picking Green up and carrying her all to the entrance ramp. Cargill threw her down the ramp and then took the fight to the ring, and while Green would get some help from Niven and Fyre, they were soon taken down by Tiffany Stratton, who came to help her SummerSlam challenger. Green, Niven, and Fyre are still doing amazing work as heels, but at this point, they really need some wins or strong moments to actually give them any sort of credibility as threats.
Miss: Cody Wants the Real Cena
Later in the night, Cody Rhodes would address the crowd about his upcoming match against John Cena, which will be a rematch from their bout at WrestleMania 41. Few are as compelling as Rhodes on the mic, and while he delivered a fine promo in general, it felt like a promo Rhodes would have delivered to Cena weeks or even months ago at this point, retreading some older ideas about who Cena is.
Rhodes called for the real Cena to show up for their match at SummerSlam, mentioning things like talking to Stu on the way to the ring or wearing the Championship title the right way. Rhodes then brought up Cena’s famed loyalty, hustle, and respect line before wrapping things up, and again, while it was a fine promo overall, there was nothing new here in terms of their feud, and more importantly, this seems like a step back in terms of the edge and fire we’ve seen Rhodes have towards Cena in recent weeks. Hopefully, next week Cena and Rhodes can have one last clash to get fans ready for what is hopefully a great match over the weekend.
Hit: The Miz Is Back!
Tonight’s SmackDown featured two welcome returns, and the first one was Mr. Awesome himself, The Miz. Miz just didn’t come back to face anyone, though, as his first interaction of the night was with one of WWE’s fastest rising stars, Jacob Fatu, and Miz cut a fiery promo on Fatu that ended with a slap to the face. It would end up leading to a match, but things got even better for The Miz, as he had a stellar showing against the Samoan Werewolf. Miz even countered a wanton and almost pinned Jacob, so if you were going to make a splash in your WWE return, that’s a hell of a way to get things started.
Hit: Clipboard Karen
Another welcome surprise was the official WWE TV return of Kiana James, which would be a great story on its own, as James had been out of action with an injury for the better part of a year. There was one additional surprise that made that return even better though, as James introduced herself to Zelina Vega as the new representative for Giulia, which led to a hilarious quip from Vega that named her Clipboard Karen. James feels like she never left, and having her paired up with Giulia is a perfect way to reintroduce her into the mix, and James’ presence will only be an asset for Giulia and Vega to play off of as well.
Hit: SmackDown’s Insane Tag Team Division
While Monday Night Raw has a talented Tag Team Division, it simply can’t hold a candle to the weekly intensity and chaos that is SmackDown’s Tag Team roster, and now they have another new team battling it out to steal the show. Tonight featured a stellar vignette for the newer team of Andrade and Rey Fenix, and it’s no surprise that they are working exceptionally well together, but slick videos like this will only help their cause.
Then you throw them into a division that already includes the Wyatt Sicks, DIY, Motor City Machine Guns, The Street Profits, and FraXiom, which is simply insane on a talent level alone, but it gets even better the more they interact. After all that, now we get a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at SummerSlam for the Titles? Life is good, folks, life is good.
Hit and Miss: TV Time Please!
You’d be forgiven for not realizing that a new match had been made official for SummerSlam, as it was barely mentioned and mostly publicized on social media. The Hit of all this is that Karrion Kross, who has been on fire as of late, will have a match against Sami Zayn at SummerSlam. It will hopefully be another strong showcase for both superstars, but especially Kross.
The Miss of all this is that it feels sort of buried under everything else that’s happening on the show tonight, and it would have been nice to have meaningful time given to not only announcing the match but also building to it. Kross has gotten himself over more than anything, and while WWE has built on that a bit, things like this feel like missed opportunities to make that run even bigger.
Alright, so those are our hits and misses for Friday Night SmackDown! Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
