WWE SmackDown LIVE Results: July 31, 2018By Cassidy| August 1, 2018 WWE SmackDown Previous Page Detailed Results SmackDown LIVE kicks off with Renee Young in the ring as Renee would introduce the woman who will challenge Carmella for the SmackDown Women’s Title at SummerSlam as “The Irish Lass Kicker” Becky Lynch makes her way to the ring. Renee asks Becky how it feels to be back in the title picture and Becky said that she hasn’t had a SmackDown Women’s Title match since last year’s WrestleMania. Becky then says that she “fought to be a champion” and, come SummerSlam, she will walk out as the brand new SmackDown Women’s Champion. This brings out SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella, who says that Becky earned her title shot last week before saying that she feels like she “failed” as a representative of the women in WWE. Carmella then says that Becky has always been a “step ahead” of her from the beginning, saying that she hears what the fans say about her not deserving to be a champion. Carmella continues, saying that she can’t wait to “tear the house down” with Becky Lynch at SummerSlam, telling Becky “good luck” and extending her hand to the challenger. This is when James Ellsworth’s music would play which would distract Becky long enough for Carmella to blast the #1 Contender from behind before leveling Becky with a super kick. The champion would then bring a steel chair into the ring but this is when Becky’s friend Charlotte Flair would make the save, knocking the chair out of Carmella’s hands before taking the champion out with a suplex. Carmella then grabs her title belt and heads up the ramp as Charlotte checks on Becky. With The New Day providing guest commentary from their own, specially made announce table at ringside, The Usos would face Cesaro & Sheamus in the second First Round Match of the #1 Contender’s Tag Team Tournament with the winners facing The New Day in the Finals of the tournament next week. At the end of a hard-hitting tag team match, it was Sheamus getting his knees up during an attempted Uso Splash by Jimmy Uso, rolling Jimmy up to pick up the win for Cesaro & Sheamus as they will face The New Day in the Finals of the #1 Contenders’ Tag Team Tournament next week. The New Day would then enter the ring as the two teams go face-to-face before Cesaro & Sheamus back off, opting to save the fight for next week. As he prepares to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, Samoa Joe would make an appearance on SmackDown LIVE as “The Samoan Submission Machine” would have a seat on a stool in the middle of the ring to address the champion. Joe says that Styles is more than familiar with Joe’s “style of communication” before saying that he “respects” AJ Styles and what he has done for the WWE Championship. Joe then says that AJ puts being a champion in front of everything, including his family before saying that Styles is barely home long enough to hug his child, let alone look at her lovingly. Joe continues, saying that AJ has always felt more comfortable being on the road than at home with his family and it’s the “sacrifice” AJ has made to be the champion. Joe then says that Styles has put being a champion above everything else, even if it means being a “failure as a father”. Joe then vows to take it all from AJ Styles, saying that the truth is that AJ’s family will be cheering for Joe because, after he is done putting AJ to sleep, AJ’s family will have their daddy back while Joe is the WWE Champion. Joe then leaves the ring, having made an emphatic and personal statement that will certainly raise the ire of AJ Styles. For the first time since being viciously attacked by Randy Orton two weeks ago, Jeff Hardy would be on SmackDown LIVE to address the actions of “The Viper”. Jeff says that the United States Championship is more than just a title to him, saying that the title is his “life force” and it “deepens” his connection with the fans. Jeff then says that “nothing is more important” than beating Shinsuke Nakamura and taking the United States Title back but there is one thing that is almost as important and that is “beating the hell” out of Randy Orton! Jeff then calls out “The Viper” and Randy Orton complies, making his way to the ring but, just when it looks like Jeff and Orton are about to come to blows, Shinsuke Nakamura ambushes Jeff Hardy with a kick to the back of the head. The United States Champion then delivers knees to Jeff before sizing Jeff up for the Kinshasa but Orton gets in Nakamura’s face before stepping aside so that Nakamura can hit Jeff with the Kinshasa. Orton then gets in Nakamura’s face again before the United States Champion makes a quick exit from the ring. “The Viper” then sets his sights on Jeff Hardy, seemingly setting Jeff up for the RKO but, instead of the RKO, Orton takes Jeff down before stomping away at every part of Jeff’s body. Orton then plants Jeff with his patented DDT before Orton delivers a second DDT, this time driving the face of Jeff into the floor. Orton then exposes the announce table, putting Jeff on the table and hammering Jeff with right hands. “The Viper” then rips the armbands off of Jeff before ripping off Jeff’s shirt and Jeff’s signature necklace, pocketing the necklace before grabbing a clot and a bottle of water. Orton then proceeds to scrub the paint off of Jeff’s face before telling Jeff, “the enigma is erased”. Orton then looks at Jeff’s necklace before staring out at the fans, walking off with Jeff’s necklace in hand as referees check on Jeff Hardy. Following their brawl outside the ring last week, SmackDown LIVE would see Lana square off with Zelina Vega, with Andrade “Cien” Almas in her corner. During the match, Andrade “Cien” Almas would get on the ring apron, trying to distract Lana. This would bring Aiden English down to ringside as Aiden pulls Almas off of the ring apron but this altercation would distract Lana, allowing Zelina Vega to roll Lana up and, with a handful of tights, Zelina would score the three-count to pick up the win. After getting planted with the Skull Crushing Finale by The Miz last week during The Miz’s premiere party for Miz & Mrs., Daniel Bryan would make an appearance on SmackDown LIVE. Daniel said that, for two years, The Miz antagonized him knowing that Daniel could not fight back but that was before Daniel was cleared to compete. Daniel then says that The Miz knows that, if he and Miz ever got in a fair fight, that he would “destroy” The Miz. Daniel then calls The Miz out to the ring but “The A-Lister” would instead appear on the Tron, flanked by security. The Miz says that he is on location for Miz & Mrs., plugging his new reality show but Daniel accuses The Miz of “hiding”, saying that The Miz is a “coward”. The Miz responds saying that he has “carried” Daniel Bryan since Daniel arrived in WWE, saying that he made Daniel “famous”. Daniel says that wrestling is about “passion” and, for The Miz, it’s about “fame”. Daniel then says that The Miz’s dream of turning a wrestling career into a Hollywood career has already been done and by “better men” than The Miz, saying that the “reality” is that The Miz is never going to be The Rock or John Cena and no one will ever remember the Miz as a “superstar” because The Miz is “too soft”. Daniel continues, telling The Miz that, if he needs something big to come out and fight, then The Miz should talk to his agent and face Daniel one-on-one at SummerSlam! The Miz says that he is sick of Daniel riding his coattails, asking when Daniel is going to “accept reality”. The Miz then says that the Yes Movement is over, Team Hell No is over, and Daniel’s WWE career is over, saying that the fans have moved on and so should Daniel. The Miz continues, telling Daniel to let his WWE contract expire and go back to competing in “high school gyms”, saying that the fans “don’t care” about Daniel Bryan before saying that the fans just see a crybaby when they look at Daniel Bryan, which The Miz exhibits with a collage of baby pictures and crying sounds. Then it was time for the main event as, after coming to the aid of Becky Lynch earlier in the night, Charlotte Flair would go one-on-one with SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella in a non-title match with a win by Charlotte earning Charlotte a spot in the SmackDown Women’s Title match at SummerSlam. In the end, Carmella would go for her own Figure-Eight, but Charlotte would counter, locking in the Figure-Eight on Carmella, making the SmackDown Women’s Champion tap out to earn her way into the SmackDown Women’s Title match at SummerSlam as it will now be a Triple Threat Match between Carmella and best friends Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair as Becky watches from the back, visibly unhappy with the outcome. What did you think of this week’s SmackDown LIVE? Post your comments in the box below.
