WWE SmackDown - 8/2/2024: 3 Things We Loved And 3 Things We Hated

Another Friday is at an end, another Saturday morning is coming on strong, and another episode of "WWE SmackDown" is in the books. This week's show was WWE's last stop on the road to SummerSlam and there were plenty of pieces put in place for a big show on Saturday, as well as some delights for Friday night viewers amongst the table-setting.

If you're looking for what "happened" on tonight's show, I must direct you to our fastidious results page. Instead, it's time to concern ourselves with the highs and lows of this week's edition of WWE's blue brand. From LA Knight embarrassing Logan Paul in front of his "dignitaries," to a rip-roaring rematch between Andrade and Carmelo Hayes, there was plenty to love on this week's show, but there were also low points. Tag team title matches ended without ceremony, there was plenty that the crew didn't like as well.

Here are the thoughts of the Wrestling Inc. Staff when it comes to this week's "WWE SmackDown."

To be honest, this is a segment I thought myself or one of my colleagues were going to absolutely hate because, well, Logan Paul. If you're not up to speed about Paul's recent transphobic comments, I won't go into them here, and I highly encourage you to Google them. So, when I saw he would be making his "grand homecoming to Cleveland" on the "SmackDown" preview, I'm pretty sure I just put my head in my hands and sighed. I didn't like him before, for his controversial reasons, and I certainly like him less. There was a super random black carpet rolled into the ring for Paul's homecoming celebration, and a bunch of Cleveland "dignitaries" in the ring, who, correct me if I'm wrong, looked like paid actors.

Then, came what I *thought* would be the worst part. They unveil a banner in Paul's honor. I had turned my head, assumably to write something, at that point, and my husband beside me just goes, "YEAH!" and I looked up to see the Knight-inspired graffiti on the banner, which really got a laugh out of me. Of course, the Mega Star, who is challenging for the United States title tomorrow, comes down the ramp and runs down Paul, even alluding to how bad of a week he's had, and said he'd go find him a new banner. He headed backstage, through gorilla, looking for said banner, and even ran into Pretty Deadly for some extra comedic effect.

When Knight couldn't find a banner, which I'm assuming he was never even looking for, her ran into Paul's truck, plastered in PRIME logos, that he entered the arena with. And, lo and behold, the truck was unlocked. Knight basically counted down from three for Paul to run back down the ramp into the back, and took off in the truck, with Paul handing off the back. Amazing. While these aren't of course real-world desserts for the crap Paul has been spewing this week, it certainly felt good in some weird, wrestling fan way.

In an even better mood, Knight took to his X account to post a video of himself driving the truck. He promised he'd hit all the speed bumps and only put a few dents in it, and return it in "just wonderful condition." The little WWE digital exclusives are always fun for me, and this one was no different. The crowd in Cleveland was extremely hot for Knight overall, not just because of Paul's antics, and there's no reason, to me, he shouldn't win the United States title. Then, Paul can go away for a while, rehabilitate his image once again, and we'll finally get the Knight we've been deserving of for a year now.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Sometime in the last few years, I wished on a Monkey's Paw for Kevin Dunn's erratic Michael-Bay-meets-The-Office editing style, and with my wish granted, WWE is now cursed with the fussiest camerawork, which draws as much attention to itself as the nauseating editing of Dunn's team.

One trademark of the Paul Levesque area is there is seemingly always a camera crew in Levesque's office, as Gorilla Position has become an almost ubiquitous backdrop on WWE Television. Multiple segments took the audience behind the curtain and through the Gorilla Position into the backstage area, and I need WWE to just give it a rest. The tracking shots, the drone shots, it's all starting to feel too rehearsed. There's no electricity to the way these settings are deployed, they are as weighty as any of the random classrooms they film NXT segments in.

What used to be an exciting peek behind the scenes has become something rote, and that is the worst thing wrestling television can be. It's time to go back to basics so that the flashy camerawork can really add the "umph" that it should

Written by Ross W Berman IV

The mini-feud between former NXT Champions Andrade and Carmelo Hayes has been so good that it should probably have had some space on the SummerSlam card.

In what felt like a PPV-overflow match, Andrade brought his record against Carmelo Hayes to 2-0 after a thrilling, hard-hitting match. The match not only wouldn't have been out of place on a PPV, but it wouldn't have been out of place as an NXT Championship match back in the brand's (black and) golden era. The contest had everything one could want from a television match, athleticism, drama, story, and a captivated crowd.

Both Andrade and Hayes have been slightly rudderless since Hayes graduated to the main roster and Andrade returned from AEW. While Andrade has the WWE Speed Championship to hang his hat on, Hayes is now stuck 0-2 against a veteran talent, and whatever means he uses to crawl out from Andrade's shadow will surely be good television in the weeks to come.

Written by Ross W Berman IV

#DIY's tag team title run lasted 28 days. The same amount of days as the month of February. Less time than the other 11 months of the year. Less than a moon cycle.

Their last title run ended in 2021 after 163 days during the Black and Gold days of NXT. It was a long journey to get to their WWE title run. Gargano left for a while. When he returned, he and his partner were kept apart on the main roster. When they finally reunited, it took a while to win over the fans and regain some of their old magic. They finally had the fans behind them and won the titles in Toronto, where they won the NXT tag titles in 2016.

One week after winning the titles, A-Town Down Under were given a rematch. #DIY retained and were immediately taken out by Jacob Fatu before a segment with the rest of the new Bloodline. Last week, Fatu and Tama Tonga won a gauntlet match to become number one contenders.

Friday night's match happened in Johnny Wrestling's hometown of Cleveland. Prior to the match, Gargano was seen with his wife, Candice LeRae, and Baby Wrestling. In their second title defense, they lost. If they were going to lose, why not make it happen at "SummerSlam"? Especially when Solo Sikoa has a title match against Cody Rhodes and with the impending return of Roman Reigns. Gargano losing in his hometown gets the Bloodline heat either way, so why not do it when so much is already going to be happening with them?

Sadly, this could be #DIY's only tag team title reign. WWE doesn't have a deep tag division on "Raw" or "SmackDown". The tag titles are more of an afterthought and have been for a very long time. With the new Bloodline and the return of the original Bloodline imminent, they'll likely keep the titles between them for the foreseeable future. What a lackluster run (through no fault of their own) that doesn't seem like it will elevate them.

Written by Samantha Schipman

I'll be frank, I really wasn't excited for Cody Rhodes versus Solo Sikoa as the main event of SummerSlam, and that's even with Rhodes as my favorite wrestler in WWE at the moment. For some reason, Sikoa just isn't doing it for me as the Tribal Chief. He just seems like some kind of mini-boss with a bunch of minions. But tonight, and at the start of "SmackDown" at that, that excitement changed almost on a dime. Rhodes called out Sikoa for the usual go-home angle of a face-to-face, and of course, we all expected the rest of the Bloodline to follow. This is an angle I feel as though I always write about hating on go-home shows. However, I didn't ever expect a huge angle to get announced right before the match. And I didn't ever really expect a Bloodline Rules stipulation for this match, which could be happening less than 24 hours from now.

I really thought we would only see a Bloodline Rules match when The Rock and Roman Reigns were present, so I thought the only one we would ever see would be at WrestleMania 40. And it was really cool. I absolutely loved it with the inference from all angles. But, now that I'm thinking as I write about it, it not only makes sense for Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jacob Fatu, and whoever else from the Samoan Dynasty that could debut. It means, to me at least, in my prediction, that Reigns is absolutely set to return. How could you make it any more perfect?

You see Tonga, Loa, Fatu, and I'm sure someone else from the Dynasty who will be debuting with the Bloodline, beating down Rhodes into a bloody pulp, and then you hear Reigns' music hits. And he's not alone. He's brought a returning Paul Heyman with him. While I don't think he's going to help defend Rhodes, which is an argument I've heard in some circles, I think he's immediately going after Sikoa for him claiming to be the Tribal Chief. With the other members of the new Bloodline there to help Sikoa beat down Reigns, of course, I don't think our REAL Tribal Chief comes back with just Heyman. Jey Uso doesn't have a match on SummerSlam. I'm hoping Jimmy Uso is healed up. In Bloodline Rules, I think they come down with Reigns, and we start the "good Bloodline" versus the "bad Bloodline" feud. Heck, even the new debuting member of the family could be on Reigns' side, other than Sikoa's many fans are thinking.

While many of us thought we'd never see another Bloodline Rules match without The Rock, this adds so much intrigue to tomorrow's main event. Because, to me, it means the real Tribal Chief, Reigns, is returning. So put your ones up, and acknowledge him.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Here's the thing: I don't mind Blair Davenport seemingly being the newest member of The Unholy Union or WWE pairing her with Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. Davenport hasn't done a ton since arriving on "SmackDown" during the WWE Draft back in April, so this gives her something to do and provides her with the opportunity to provide her with more television time. However, SummerSlam is the day after this edition of "SmackDown", and the timing of the Davenport turn seems misguided.

The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match between The Unholy Union and Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair should've been part of the SummerSlam card to begin with, whether that be on the three-hour pre-show (which may I add has no matches announced for it) or the main show. It feels underwhelming to have it instead be on "SmackDown", let alone end in a disqualification that allows for Dawn and Fyre to retain their title. Nobody truly benefited from this ending, as it made Dawn and Fyre look like they couldn't retain their title without any help and made Cargill and Belair look unnecessarily weaker than they needed to. Beyond that, if WWE insisted on doing this finish, then having Davenport do it on the bigger stage of SummerSlam would've made it feel like it was a bigger ordeal. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise fine match and was extremely disappointing to watch play out.

Written by Olivia Quinlan