WWE SmackDown: The Fiend attacks Alexa Bliss

Bayley keeps her title but the Fiend had business with Alexa Bliss

AJ Styles was the first name out on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown and the Phenomenal One was set to compete against Gran Metalik. The Intercontinental title was on the line as Metalik won a multi-man match last week to earn this shot.

Styles got out to an early advantage, keeping Metalik grounded and battering him around the ring. Lince Dorado was on the outside, trying to cheer his partner on, but nothing helped early in the match. Styles could not keep Metalik on the ground for the entirety of the match. When he did find some offense, he found the space to leave his feet and keep Styles on the back foot. Styles found a way to isolated Metalik’s legs by torturing him with submission holds. Metalik tried to battle back but Styles locked in the Styles Clash to force the challenger to submit.

Shorty G no more

Baron Corbin continued his gimmick of ostracizing anyone standing in his way. His energy was focused on Drew Gulak Friday evening. Gulak looked to use his grappling abilities to control the size and strength of Corbin. For a while it was working, especially when Gulak began to mix in some high-energy offense. Matt Riddle tried to provide a distraction but Gulak would still eat the End of Days, allowing Corbin to pick up the victory.

The rise of Big E started on Friday when he stepped into the ring for a one-on-one match against the Miz. Miz could not match strength with the big man of the New Day who toyed with him for much of the early portions of the match. Miz made the mistake of slapping Big E which unleashed the anger in the multiple-time tag team champion.

John Morrison got involved in the match, setting up the opportunity for Miz to take advantage of the attack. Big E missed a splash on the apron, giving Miz the opening to mock him while beating him up around the ring. Miz tried to take away the power of Big E by taking out his legs, but that did not have a lot of effectiveness. Morrison tried to continue helping but found himself ejected from ring side. While Miz argued with the ref, Big E lifted Miz into the Stretch Muffler to get the submission win.

Lacey Evans and Naomi continued their feud when they met in a singles match. Evans went to the power game early to plant Naomi with a nasty power bomb. Naomi was on the receiving end for much of this match but found a way to counter the Women’s Right and pin Evans using a back slide.

The main event of the evening featured a singles match between Nikki Cross as she challenged one of the most dominant women’s champions in WWE history, Bayley. Cross tried to take it to the champion out of aggression, but Bayley was ready to meet her there. Cross started to target Bayley’s ribs and that helped here keep the pressure on Bayley. Cross seemed to have an answer for everything Bayley threw her way until Bayley reversed a back slide and face planted Cross, pinning her to retain her title.

Before the show ended, Cross would shove Bliss down and leave her in the ring. But she wasn’t alone for long as the Fiend appeared and applied the Mandible Claw until the lights shut off in the building.

July 31 WWE SmackDown Results

• AJ Styles defeated Gran Metalik via submission
• Baron Corbin defeated Drew Gulak via pin fall
• Big E defeated the Miz via submission
• Naomi defeated Lacey Evans via pin fall
• Bayley defeated Nikki Cross via pin fall