Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, a week away from SummerSlam.
After her and Paige lost the Women’s Tag Team Championships to Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley of Fatal Influence at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Brie Bella took on Reid.
When the trio came out with microphones in their hands, Reid said she found it funny how Saturday night was supposed to be the most important part of their career, but somehow Brie and Paige are going to be the ones who remember that night forever. Henley brags that they first got there and took out two legends; if she were Brie, that would keep her up at night. Jayne additionally joins in to say if only she were a champion right now, they would be the perfect package, but thanks to Brie and Paige helping Tiffany Stratton win her SummerSlam qualifying match against Jayne last week, she’s not in the interim Women’s Championship ladder match.
Now getting into the ring, Jayne warns Stratton, wherever she may be, that the Women’s United States Championship will be hers in due time. As for tonight, just like Lainey did to Paige on Saturday, she is going to humiliate Brie Bella and finally put her out of her misery once and for all.
The match began with Lainey tripping Brie, but the tables had been turned by the time the show returned from commercials with Brie Mode having been activated via a series of Yes! Kicks. Brie was able to fight off distractions from Henley and Jayne and pinned Lainey within seconds to win.
Afterwards, as Brie and Paige celebrated, the group attacked them both before the returning Nikki Bella came to the rescue for them. Nikki chastised them on the mic, saying that they thought they could sneak up from the minor leagues of NXT, steal from her sisters and get away with it? They are the reason Fatal Influence is here, so now it’s time for a wake-up call, challenging them to a six-woman tag team match at SummerSlam, which Fatal Influence were not pleased with.
Chelsea Green was backstage with the Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton, who told Green she was going to do great in her SummerSlam ladder match qualifier against Kiana James. Stratton asked if she remembered the last time they were in a ladder match, a nod to when she became Ms. Money in the Bank in 2024, which Green was also involved in, but Green said that this time, the result will be different because she’ll become the interim WWE Women’s Champion, as Stratton has her women’s U.S. title.
Stratton appears to genuinely enjoy Green’s presence now (or at least, has finally been able to match Green’s energy/intellect), but the same can’t be said for Blake Monroe. However, unlike previous weeks, she has no attacks planned – she comes in peace, and admits she actually likes Stratton; she seems like a woman who likes the finer things in life just like The Glamour. But for a word of advice, she’d worry less about Chelsea and more about her title, advising Stratton to polish and admire it, because the higher you climb, the more people look up at what she has, but she knew that, didn’t she.
The match between Chelsea and Kiana was underway with some fast-paced action between the two for the most part. James focused heavily on using her knees to strike Green, including at the top of the barricade at the timekeeper’s area. Green would ultimately win via the Un-Pretty-Her.
After a recap of Charlotte Flair interfering in Jade Cargill’s SummerSlam qualifier against Nia Jax last week, Cathy Kelley interviewed Charlotte Flair and asked The Queen if she regretted her actions, as the interference led to Cargill winning the match by disqualification and becoming one of the five competitors in the SummerSlam ladder match.
Flair says she doesn’t regret it, as she wasn’t thinking about title opportunities or qualifying matches, and she knows that’s hard to believe coming from her, but she was thinking about standing here when Alexa Bliss isn’t, Bliss having her elbow targeted by Cargill two weeks ago. It was her responsibility to protect her; she can’t thank Lexi enough for what she’s done for her this year and in her career, but Jade’s going to learn real quick that she can come for her all she wants, but she’s not coming for her best friend, so if that means going through Nia Jax tonight to get to Jade at SummerSlam and become her biggest obstacle, then she’s going to learn that payback is an expletive (and funny enough, Nikki used that same expletive to describe Fatal Influence).
Charlotte and Nia’s match was underway afterwards with the two fighting for control. Flair notably hit a powerbomb on Jax, and was gearing up for a moonsault when Jade Cargill and her Baddies, B-Fab and Michin, came out poised to confont Flair. Jax took advantage of the distraction to throw Flair out of the ring and told Jade and her crew to mind their own business, although Cargill argued it was her business being that the match involved Flair. While the match remained steady, Flair kicked Jax out onto the floor before Cargill got into the ring herself to throw Flair a punch, causing a disqualification and leading to Charlotte advancing to the ladder match.
Cargill finished off the assault by hitting Jaded on Flair. While her and the Baddies left the ring, Jax remained on the floor and once again was upset to know she had lost out on yet another opportunity to potentially find her way to becoming a world champion again, taking out that disappointment by taking apart the covering of the commentary desk and yelling that she got “fucking screwed”. Wade Barrett noted that her feelings were valid and that she had done nothing wrong to be screwed over.
SummerSlam takes place the weekend of August 1st and 2nd from inside the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The following matches are set to take place:
- Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) vs. IYO SKY
- Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green vs. Charlotte Flair vs. one participant to be determined
- Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Paige and The Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki Bella) vs. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid)
Friday Night SmackDown airs next week from inside the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but no matches or segments are currently scheduled as of this writing.
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown in the comments below.
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