WWE SmackDown Live Recap: July 9, 2019

A.K.A. The One Where We Learned Who Knocked

Finally we will have our answer as to who knocked on Aleister Black’s door. Around that will be another hour and 50 minutes of wrestling, probably. It’s the last show before Extreme Rules. Will WWE sell us all on their extreme pay-per-view? Kevin Owens is scheduled to face Dolph Ziggler, and appears to be a bit more of a babyface. Does he have stunners for anyone else tonight? Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura will also get a match on the show. I would ask if it will be fantastic, but the answer is “yes, of course”. Let’s get into it.

Results:

  • Shinsuke Nakamura def. Finn Balor
  • Nikki Cross def. Carmella
  • Otis def. Xavier Woods & Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match
  • Roman Reigns def. Dolph Ziggler
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Match of the Night: Otis def. Xavier Woods & Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match

These three and their tag team partners are making the blue brand tag team titles so much better. After a great promo between all the teams (including a great line from Woods telling Rowan it’s hard to keep track of who his daddy is) the in-ring work was fantastic. Otis looked like a star in this match. Normally his charisma is what carries him, but his wrestling was rather crisp. Woods & Bryan are two solid hands as well. The highlight of the match was definitely Otis hitting a double suplex on both men.

Three Thoughts:

Kevin Owens Is Good At Being Good

In two shows, WWE has completed a quick babyface turn for Kevin Owens. The best part: they knocked it out of the park. Last week it was calling out Dolph Ziggler for his whiny behaviour. This week, SmackDown started with footage of Owens and Ziggler brawling in the parking lot. Shane McMahon broke them up and told Owens that his match was cancelled. Owens would interrupt the first bit of live broadcast on the show and cut a scathing promo on Shane McMahon.

Owens was banned from the building, but we all knew that wouldn’t stick. He popped up at the end of the show to stunner Shane and help Roman Reigns win the main event. Owens-McMahon has become a rivalry with momentum in just two weeks. It is a testament to just how good Kevin Owens is.

Nak’s Back

He is back and maybe back in a big way. Shinsuke Nakamura got a clean pinfall over big-time babyface and Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor. Usually a pinfall over a champ will earn you a title shot. Nakamura would be the perfect foil for Finn to feud with. Sure, New Japan fans would love for these two to be battling over the WWE or Universal title. Instead, they’ll make the Intercontinental Championship must-see television again after Balor was absent from TV for a while. Give these two twenty minutes and let the magic happen.

Cesaro Is The One Who Knocks

We’ve finally found out who knocked on Aleister Black’s door. “The Swiss Cyborg” Cesaro is ready to go toe-to-toe with Black. It is hard to look as tough as Black, but Cesaro managed to do it with his Bond-esque cool. Both of these men want to brawl. Both love to inflict pain. Extreme Rules is going to have one heck of a match on the show between these two. It will be difficult to see Cesaro take another high-profile loss, but hopefully his being picked for this spot will mean big things in his future.

Grade: A-

Standout moments across the board in a jam-packed episode. Black-Cesaro is a matchup that will make wrestling purists lose their minds. Kevin Owens became a red-hot babyface in a single promo. There were no 2-out-of-3 falls matches shoehorned into the show. Angles were advanced, a triple threat match was good. I have no complaints, except that Shane McMahon still had a lot of time on television.

One More Thing:

Big E remains a national treasure.

– Evan Gomes is the Managing Editor of Pro Wrestling for Full Press Coverage. Like and follow on and Facebook.

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