{"id":63566,"date":"2018-07-24T12:06:36","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T17:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=63566"},"modified":"2018-07-24T12:06:36","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T17:06:36","slug":"wwe-smackdown-primer-7-24-who-will-face-styles-at-summerslam-carmella-vs-becky-with-summerslam-implications-tag-team-championship-tournament-orton-hardy-fallout-bryan-miz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/07\/24\/wwe-smackdown-primer-7-24-who-will-face-styles-at-summerslam-carmella-vs-becky-with-summerslam-implications-tag-team-championship-tournament-orton-hardy-fallout-bryan-miz\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 7\/24: Who will face Styles at SummerSlam, Carmella vs. Becky with SummerSlam implications, Tag Team Championship tournament, Orton-Hardy fallout, Bryan-Miz"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1027392501\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER<br \/>\nJULY 24, 2018<br \/>\nEVANSVILLE, IND. AT THE FORD CENTER<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00PM EDT<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<h3>Arena\/Opening Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>WWE\u2019s signature blue brand Smackdown returns to The Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. for the first time since May of 2015. The Ford Center opened for business in 2011 and hosts Smackdown for the third time in its short history. It\u2019s crazy to think how much changes in three years. Of the current champions on the Smackdown side, only the Bludgeon Brothers were on the main roster. WWE Champion A.J. Styles and U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura were not even employed by WWE. Women\u2019s Champion Carmella was in NXT managing Enzo Amore and Big Cass.<\/p>\n<p>SummerSlam continued to take shape on Raw last night and the same is expected for tonight. G.M. Paige has already told us about the Tag Team Championship picture via her twitter account. Last week she told us of a possibility with the women\u2019s championship. We had a U.S. Championship match take a bizarre detour. Let\u2019s look at what WWE has in store according to their website.<\/p>\n<h3>WWE Champion A.J. Styles\u2019s SummerSlam Opponent Revealed<\/h3>\n<p>We learned last week that tonight, Paige will reveal A.J. Styles\u2019 opponent at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship. A.J. Styles defeated Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas in an unannounced non-title match last week.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s are no indications as to whom it may be or how the decision will be made. Samoa Joe did send out this tweet just prior to last week\u2019s Smackdown which I found interesting:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">How many more must pay before you give me what I want? You keep denying, I keep collecting.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamoaJoe\/status\/1019390364250267648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts: For a SummerSlam match I would think Samoa Joe would be the direction in which they go. Almas had a decent showing in last week\u2019s match with Styles, but I don\u2019t see him as a possibility just yet. Joe made quick work of Tye Dillinger in a match that was supposed to take place two weeks ago. Don\u2019t be surprised to see Rusev interject himself into the situation, leading to a match between Joe and Rusev with the winner getting the shot at the title. This is pure speculation on my part, but we have four Smackdowns until SummerSlam and a possible issue between Rusev and Aiden English. They could tie this into championship picture. Rusev was the last #1 contender and probably feels he was short-changed at Extreme Rules.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Non-Title Match: Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Carmella vs. Becky Lynch<\/h3>\n<p>Last week Becky Lynch continued her string of compiling victories as she defeated Mandy Rose, accompanied by Sonya Deville. Following the match, she cut a promo telling Carmella she was coming for her and the Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the show Carmella told Paige she wanted another \u2018Mellabration following her second defeat of Asuka in their championship match at Extreme Rules. Paige agreed so long as she defeated Becky next week (tonight) in a non-title match. If Becky wins, she gets a championship match with Carmella at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts: I will personally be thrilled to see Becky Lynch get a championship opportunity at SummerSlam. It feels like somewhat of a letdown facing Carmella, no disrespect to her. I would prefer to see Becky defeat an opponent with more credibility, such as Asuka or Charlotte. On the other side, it may be easier to start a title run defeating someone like Carmella as fans would be thrilled to see that. Either way, Becky is certainly getting a push and being featured as a big deal. I\u2019ll take it.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2723896914\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Tag Team Championship Tournament: New Day vs. Sanity<\/h3>\n<p>Paige announced via her twitter account that four teams will compete in a tournament to determine the #1 contenders for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship currently held by The Bludgeon Brothers, Harper and Rowan. The championship match will take place at SummerSlam. Round one starts tonight with the New Day taking on Sanity. Next week we get The Usos vs. The Bar. Here are Paige\u2019s tweets, which were sent sporadically this past weekend into Monday:<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealPaigeWWE\/status\/1020794734930026497<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealPaigeWWE\/status\/1021099041659195392<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealPaigeWWE\/status\/1021484260258136070<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts: It\u2019s a small tournament but nonetheless a meaningful structure to determine a true #1 contender for a championship. As a G.M. Paige has been framed as sure of herself and firmly in charge of Smackdown. There is no interference from above nor any constables to cause distractions. With that said, I\u2019m not 100% sure but I would go with Sanity tonight. Sanity vs. The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam is an intriguing possibility.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Orton-Hardy Fallout<\/h3>\n<p>Jeff Hardy exercised his rematch clause and challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the U.S. Championship last week following his loss to Shinsuke at Extreme Rules. Hardy would win via DQ when Randy Orton stopped the referee\u2019s pin count following Hardy hitting a Swanton on Shinsuke.<\/p>\n<p>Randy would continue his attack and in a cringeworthy moment, tugged on Hardy\u2019s pierced ear. It was certainly not for the squeamish of hearts. You could hear Randy yell at Hardy saying \u201cYou want to know why I\u2019m doing this? You\u2019ll have to wait and find out!\u201d Tonight, WWE says they will follow up on this situation.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts: With the shortage of babyfaces on Smackdown, it is odd to be turning Randy Orton heel even though he is better suited for that role. It does also feel random to be having a heated rivalry between Hardy and Orton. Orton did recently unsuccessfully challenge Hardy when he was U.S. Champion at Backlash this past May. The only other thing I could find as a possible issue was a video from Raw in 2008 when Hardy hit a fairly crazy Swanton by the entrance when Orton was WWE Champion. Here\u2019s the link:<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3336540769\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jeff Hardy swanton bomb on randy orton 1\/14\/08\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gU4ZNt_I-Zg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Daniel Bryan-Miz Follow-up<\/h3>\n<p>Last week The Miz hosted a MizTv where he had a \u201ceulogy\u201d for Team Hell No following their unsuccessful challenge to the Bludgeon Brothers Tag Team Championship at Extreme Rules. After several moments Daniel Bryan\u2019s music would play and Bryan surprised Miz from behind in the ring, attacking him and going after the pallbearers as well as the funeral pictures and easels. WWE advertises they will follow up on this tonight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts: Miz certainly did define down Bryan quite a bit last week. He said his return has \u201cbeen a bust\u201d and his days headlining WrestleMania are over. If you\u2019re a VIP member listen to Sunday\u2019s Bruce Mitchell audio show if you haven\u2019t done so at the moment. Bruce alludes to the fact that it\u2019s possible Miz could have been speaking for WWE management, frustrated Bryan has not signed a new contract. Now since then he could have signed a new deal, but I can\u2019t be 100% sure. One thing is for certain and that Daniel Bryan\u2019s future will be a hot topic of conversation as we continue our journey to SummerSlam and beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Other Items<\/h3>\n<p>Aiden English pleaded with Lana to talk to Rusev on his behalf to apologize for costing him the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. He claimed he always had Rusev\u2019s back and his best interests at heart. She said she\u2019d take it under advisement but also questioned if he\u2019s best for Rusev overall\u2026.in her English accent.<\/p>\n<p>WWE pushed the fact that Miz and Mrs. will debut following Smackdown tonight.<\/p>\n<h3>Wrestlers Advertised, Dark Matches, and 205 Live<\/h3>\n<p>I could just \u201ccopy and paste\u201d because the arena\u2019s website is advertising the same double main event as the previous two Smackdowns. They show a six-man tag featuring WWE Champion A.J. Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Daniel Bryan vs. U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, The Miz, and Samoa Joe. It\u2019s confusing because they say it\u2019s \u201cfor the WWE Championship.\u201d They also show Asuka vs. Carmella again. It doesn\u2019t indicate if this is a title match. In addition, they advertise Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair, New Day, and \u201cmany more.\u201d The website is not updated as Flair is still recovering from surgery.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cTalent Is Subject to Change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>205 Live will follow Smackdown. There will be a fatal four-way to determine the #1 contender for the Cruiserweight Championship, still held by Cedric Alexander. The participants are TJP, Drew Gulak, Hideo Itami, and Mustafa Ali. TJP and Gulak won their respective matches last week. Ali recently defeated Buddy Murphy in a no DQ match that could be a candidate for match of the year. Itami recently came up short in a championship match against Alexander but is getting another opportunity tonight.<\/p>\n<p>Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK&#8217;S SMACKDOWN REPORT:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/07\/18\/7-17-elders-wwe-smackdown-report-alt-perspective-report-on-extreme-rules-fallout-jeff-hardy-vs-shinsuke-nakamura-title-rematch-a-j-vs-almas-and-the-miz-hosts-a-eulogy-for-team-hell-no\/\">7\/17 ELDER\u2019S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: Alt-perspective report on Extreme Rules fallout, Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura title rematch, A.J. vs. Almas, and The Miz hosts a eulogy for Team Hell No<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3998545767\"><div id=\"pwtor-2810980874\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER JULY 24, 2018 EVANSVILLE, IND. AT THE FORD CENTER AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00PM EDT BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Arena\/Opening Thoughts WWE\u2019s signature blue brand Smackdown returns to The Ford Center <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/07\/24\/wwe-smackdown-primer-7-24-who-will-face-styles-at-summerslam-carmella-vs-becky-with-summerslam-implications-tag-team-championship-tournament-orton-hardy-fallout-bryan-miz\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 7\/24: Who will face Styles at SummerSlam, Carmella vs. Becky with SummerSlam implications, Tag Team Championship tournament, Orton-Hardy fallout, Bryan-Miz\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4403,27,5893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-smackdown-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/OrtonRandyWK2_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63572,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63566\/revisions\/63572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}