Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: aj styles, Baron Corbin, Matt Riddle, naomi, Smackdown, Tony Nese, wwe

WWE Smackdown 7/24/2020 Part 2 – Naomi Still Deserves Better

When we left off in Part 1 of our WWE Smackdown report, Matt Riddle was headed out to the ring. The Extreme Rules fallout show continues…

WWE Smackdown 7/24/2020 Part 2 – Matt Riddle vs. Tony Nese

Matt Riddle faces Tony Nese. It's a squash for Riddle to get his heat back after losing to AJ Styles. He wins quickly with Bro Derek after letting Neese get a tiny bit of offense in.

Winner: Matt Riddle

Riddle cuts a promo after the match. He's calling King Corbin out, bro. Come on, bro. Come on, bro. Let's go. Corbin obliges, bro. He comes to the stage, but he says Riddle doesn't get to just call somebody out on Smackdown, let alone the King. Corbin says Riddle doesn't belong in his kingdom. He's not ready. He has a little bit of talent and new car smell, but that smell fades, bro. Then what is Riddle left with, bro? Just his dumb frat boy image, bro. Then he can go back to NXT or to 205 Live, bro, where he could be a top guy. Corbin is so confident Riddle doesn't belong that he's putting out a King's Ransom on Riddle's head, bro.

Riddle says Corbin has it wrong, bro. He's not a helpless subject in Corbin's weird, made-up kingdom. But Corbin is the next guest on the bro show, bro. Tony Nese tries to attack from behind but Riddle kicks him in the head, bro.

Miz and Morrison are backstage, bro. Morrison is jealous that Naomi is getting hashtags about her on Twitter, bro. Morrison wants his own hashtag, bro. He suggests a few dumb ones, bro. Smackdown goes to commercials, bro. *smacks self*

Back from break, we get a glimpse of Irish Shannon's, the bar in Orlando where the Bar Fight will happen tonight. So it's not just relapse Jeff Hardy has to worry about, but coronavirus too from people ignoring social distancing rules. Sweet. JBL talks about his glory days in the APA again to sell the bar fight. He puts over both Sheamus and Jeff Hardy, who he notes won his first title from the APA. JBL predicts Hardy wins the match tonight.

Miz TV featuring Naomi

Miz and Morrison are in the ring for Miz TV. Miz says the key to staying relevant is keeping up with whatever's getting buzz, even if they don't understand it. Morrison shows off a hashtag he wants to trend: #MoreMorrison. He makes a Seth Rollins puking joke saying he'll be sick if the hashtag doesn't trend. Thankfully, Naomi comes out to put an end to this sad comedy routine.

Miz dances to Naomi's music, which impresses her. Mix talks about Naomi's loss last week, but points out Naomi trended with the #NaomiDeservesBetter hashtag. Naomi loves that the fans support her. It's not always easy to push herself in the ring, but the fans motivate her. Miz points out this isn't the first time she went viral, as her Royal Rumble return did too. But Naomi hasn't won these matches. Miz says it makes sense when he and Miz go viral, but Naomi shouldn't go viral for losing. Lacey Evans should be. Naomi says they're making her sick, which leads to another Seth Rollins puking joke. Naomi says Miz and Morrison have to ask why the fans are behind Naomi. And why do they feel they get to pass judgement on Naomi and her fans. She tries her hardest, damn it. That's why fans support her and that's why they want more for her. Naomi stands up to intimidate Miz and Morrison.

Miz and Morrison bring out Lacey Evans. Lacey asks Miz and Morrison if they ever got their asses kicked so bad that it became a pity hashtag. Lacey says Naomi doesn't have much to show for being here over a decade. She's as washed up as ever, "bless her heart." Naomi shoves Lacey, smearing her lipstick, which Lacey was putting on in the ring for some reason. Lacey leaves the ring and freaks out about the lipstick. Naomi, Miz, and Morrison have a dance party in the ring. The Women's Evolution is set back 10 years by all of this.

The Progressive Match Flo of the week is Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro beating New Day for the Smackdown Tag belts at Extreme Rules. Big E is waiting outside the trainer's office backstage. Kofi Kingston comes out of the office with bad news. He's gonna be out for six weeks or more. Big E promises that when he returns, they'll get the titles back. Kofi says this is the universe speaking to them. With Xavier Woods out and Kofi about to be out, it's Big E's turn. Big E has been putting the group above himself for six years. Kofi appreciates that, but now it's about him. Big E needs to show the world what he can do. He and Xavier want this for Big E. He's earned it and he deserves a singles push. They hug. Kofi is right.

AJ Styles heads to the commentary table. Smackdown heads to commercials.

Drew Gulak vs. Gran Metalik vs. Lince Dorado vs. Shorty G

Back from break, Drew Gulak, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, and Shorty G face off in a fatal four-way to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. AJ says he's filing a formal complaint about this match. he doesn't believe winning one match should be enough to get a title shot. It's hard to disagree with him. WWE has spent the past, oh, I don't know, forty or fifty years doing their best to convince us that Cruiserweights don't matter. Just a few minutes earlier on the show, the prospect of a wrestler going to 205 Live was used as an insult. But now we're supposed to take them seriously?

The match lasts through a commercial break and consists of lots of acrobatic spots, but not as many as your average random AEW match. Like me, the announcers spend at best 30% of the time here actually paying attention to this match. Instead, they mostly interview Styles and talk about Daniel Bryan's vegan lifestyle. Styles does spend some talking trying to figure out how to pronounce Gran Metalik's name, which I suppose at least has something to do with the match. At one point, Corey Graves tries to get AJ to explain what being "lucha lit" means. He wonders if it means getting high. Surprisingly, Gran Metalik gets the win in this one, earning a title shot against Styles next week.

Winner: Gran Metalik

AJ heads into the ring and wants to shake hands with Gran Metalik, but Metalik is skeptical. Styles slaps him in the face. Metalik slaps him back and hits a hurricanrana. My god, he really has a chance against Styles next week! Just kidding. He's gonna lose. This Smackdown reports continues in part three.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!