WWE SmackDown 7/26/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show where we're all pretending we didn't read the spoilers from this pre-taped episode because for some reason WWE couldn't run "SmackDown" in Japan! As a result, not a whole lot going on this week, though we did get new tag title contenders in the form of the New Bloodline — we here at Wrestling Inc. had some feelings about that, and as always for the blue brand, we had feelings about pretty much everything else, too.

That doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't go check out our "SmackDown" results page, because you definitely can and should, especially for more detailed, more objective information. This column, however, is strictly about our personal opinions about everything that went down. Which is just a gratuitously wordy way of saying: These are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 6/26/24 episode of "WWE SmackDown."

Back when Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn won the women's tag titles back at Clash at the Castle, I took their victory as an opportunity to truly dissect the status of WWE's women's tag team division. Their reign, I claimed, could serve as the basis of conversation for any number of concepts related to women's tag team wrestling, whether they be positive or negative. Unfortunately, The Unholy Union's title reign have only left room for negative conversations.

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill, two of the hottest women on the roster even without the titles, came out to offer some choice words to the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Fyre and Dawn. Belair's promo was good, and Cargill hyped up her tag team partner well, but then they beckoned Fyre and Dawn to ringside. They started looking around for the tag champs. Then they looked some more They looked for a little too long. Did someone miss their cue? Fyre and Dawn's music finally hit after an awkward silence, but the tag champs blindsided the opposition from behind — understandable, given that they're heels, but a bit cowardly for the champs. So far, this feud has been booked as if Belair and Cargill were still the champions, with their presence being prioritized over Fyre's and Dawn's. This brief show of dominance, which was swiftly squashed, with no build-up or fanfare, felt like it was making already poor booking even worse.

At this point, the women's tag team title scene is basically Belair and Cargill's show, with everybody else serving as cameos — not even side characters. While Belair and Cargill are undoubtedly great talent — they were the one saving grace in this abysmally clunky, criminally short segment — this is not how a healthy tag team roster operates, male or female. If there are not going to be interesting segments or heated competition for the tag team roster, there shouldn't be tag team titles. If these tag team storylines do not keep us on the edge of our seats, what more are the tag team titles than glorified, chunky belts? WWE's women's tag wrestling scene has always been its weakest point, but this week, it was utterly abysmal. The tag team champs look weak, their competitors don't even need the titles to be relevant, and the titles themselves are not even being defended at SummerSlam. It is a mess. WWE creative have displayed no intentions on solving it.

The poor booking of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships is a chronic condition. This ailment has no immediate cure. Nobody has been able to make the tag titles relevant — not Belair and Cargill, not The Unholy Union. Nobody in this era of WWE programming seems capable of bringing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships to even a modicum of prestige. The tag titles are, succinctly put, hopeless, and a title that should have elevated the women's division is instead weighing it down.

Written by Angeline Phu

Running it back for a match between Carmelo Hayes and Andrade? I'll happily take that any day of their way.

The match between Hayes and Andrade was so good last week that they deserve to have a second one. It's nice to see that come to fruition, and is a good way to keep the interest in both stars who are otherwise not doing much at the moment.

Not only is "SmackDown" an hour shorter than "WWE Raw", but its roster is admittedly smaller. There are subsequently less opportunities to give talent television time and less talents that can be paired together for storylines, leaving a gap within the midcard due to the emphasis the show places on the main event scene. Setting up another match between Hayes and Andrade – even if that's in a simple backstage segment wherein the two get into a verbal exchange – creates the opportunity to continue a storyline between them and increase what's at stake without having to do too much.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

On "SmackDown" this week, two matches that had been considered potential SummerSlam bouts were announced for next week, instead, and OF COURSE they're both for the tag titles. Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga won the right to challenge DIY Friday night, while Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will try to win their women's tag titles back from Unholy Union, but neither match will be on the PLE, despite the fact that we're a week out now and SummerSlam only has seven matches. Seven singles matches. Assuming Finn Balor and JD McDonagh don't defend their own belts (and why would they, considering how long it took me just now to remember who the World Tag Team Champions are) this is the second year in a row where there will be zero tag team matches at SummerSlam. At least last year they had the stupid Slim Jim Battle Royal; this year it's just seven singles matches. Why Is Triple H such a boring person?

I'm just starting to get sick of the tag team disrespect. Not even 18 months ago the men's tag titles headlined WrestleMania 39. No`w there are two sets of them, and they haven't made a PLE card at all since they were split up at WrestleMania 40. The women's tag titles haven't been defended at all in the month-and-a-half since Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn won them at Clash at the Castle. Why even have one tag team division, much less three? And to be perfectly honest, I'm really starting to get sick of these tiny PLE cards that apparently don't have room for JADE CARGILL AND BIANCA BELAIR. WHAT ARE WE DOING.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Wade Barrett called the six teams competing in tonight's gauntlet match "six of the best [teams]." Before the match had even ended, I found myself completely agreeing.

Sure, there might be only six teams on the "WWE SmackDown" roster, but after a lackluster performance from the blue brand last week, it was really refreshing to see some high-flying, hard-hitting, honest-to-God wrestling. All of the teams involved in the match performed adequately, and several teams went above and beyond in their explosiveness to contribute to a great match that, honestly, could have been the main event.

The team of Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews made little sense until tonight. The two WWE veterans took on Angel and Berto of Legado del Fantasma, and all parties delivered a good performance that successfully put the unlikely duo of Corbin and Crews on the map. Angel stood out in particular as he locked up with Crews in the final moments of his in-ring time — for a moment, he looked strong, like he was actually going to pick up the win over Corbin and Crews in order to bring some much-needed honor back to Legado del Fantasma. Then, Corbin and Crews showed their tag-team synergy, and Angel nicely sold the End of Days in order to put Corbin and Crews over. It was a very solid start to a very satisfying match.

The Street Profits came out next, and their performance was nothing less of stunning. Angelo Dawkins' in-ring improvement has been an absolutely pleasure to watch, and in all honesty, he carried most of the match. He is capable of being the powerhouse of the team — and he fills that role well — but he has shown a capacity for high-velocity moves. His corkscrew back elbow is incredible, and it gets even more incredible when you consider his size. Absolutely incredible.

It would be wrong to lavish praise unto The Street Profits without giving Montez Ford his flowers. He had several awesome athletic moments with Crews, and their teamwork elevated both teams. When Pretty Deadly — who really established themselves as a vitriolic heel team that is to be taken seriously tonight — continuously targeted his leg, Ford sold it beautifully. Don't even get me started on Ford's hot tags and their Blockbuster from the Heavens (shoutout to Ford's little salute towards Elton Prince). Ford and Dawkins absolutely carried the match, and at three eliminations, there is no doubt that the two men were vital to the match's success.

Jacob Fatu is a force to be reckoned with, full stop. From his shouts of love towards Solo Sikoa (who was hilariously shadowboxing after running match interference) to his picture-perfect Moonsault, Fatu is easily the stand-out talent from The Bloodline, with Sikoa's improved persona coming in close second. For the first time in a while, I was pleased with a Bloodline victory. They've improved so much.

Even though only one team became the Number One contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championships, everybody won with that performance. Wow.

Written by Angeline Phu

WWE are certainly no strangers to having partnerships with companies and putting much of their television time towards advertising of both products and matches. When you dedicate an entire segment on your show for the sole purpose of promoting an upcoming fight for Terence Crawford, then things become a little ridiculous and almost corny.

Yes, Crawford did hand Cody Rhodes a chair to use on A-Town Down Under when they attacked him last week while he was speaking and yes, "SmackDown" was pre-taped at the same arena meaning everyone at last week's show was already present. However, it was such a short and one-time thing that had little to nothing to do with their main event tag team match later that night. It was such an insignificant thing, and made me question why they didn't just turn this into a backstage encounter before having Wade Barrett and Corey Graves quickly promote Crawford's fight after. It seemed like a giant waste of time, and no one came off looking good in this.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Cody Rhodes? Barely know him. Not familiar. I think he did some kind of video package thing this week or something. The real main event babyface this week was the WWE Women's Champion, Bayley, who spent the night digging into her plucky underdog roots in her tag team match with Michin against Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax. But the return to something resembling Classic Bayley wasn't the thing that made the match work for me. What worked for me was the structure.

Let me put it like this. The opening match of this week's "SmackDown," LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar, was basically structured like a typical AEW match (for those who haven't read my opinions before, that's not a compliment). The finish saw Logan Paul interfere due to his rivalry with Knight, only for Knight to pull out the win anyway, but now Paul is ringside so he can do a post-match attack and still build heat for their US title match at SummerSlam. That's a very AEW finish, from the outside interference to the forced subversion of expectations (Knight wins despite the interference) that stops working when you do it every single time.

In contrast, the main event was the kind of thing I find myself begging for, not just from AEW, but from WWE and every other promotion. Jax and Stratton attack Michin during her entrance, and that immediately sets up the dynamic for the rest of the match, including the subversion of expectations. Because Michin is hurt and easily disposed of on the outside, Jax and Stratton spend the vast majority of the match working over Bayley, meaning the champion is playing the face-in-peril role while Michin, finally dragging herself back onto the apron, gets the hot tag. The resiliency of the babyface team, expressed through effective selling, is enough to even the odds against the power and dominance of Stratton and Jax, which is why Stratton — whose character has no interest in a level playing field — wipes Bayley out with her taped-together MITB briefcase behind the referee's back. One Annihilator later, Jax has pinned Bayley — not because Bayley and Michin were weak, but because when their strength was enough to overcome Jax and Stratton's first dastardly plan, the heels were able to pull out a second. No interference or breaking of storytelling conventions, just a well-structured match with events that progressed logically and made everyone look good. More of this, please. From all of you

Written by Miles Schneiderman