The post-Money In the Bank edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown is live from the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas as Michael Cole welcomes us and joined at ringside by Corey Graves, who is filling in for Pat McAfee tonight. We know McAfee is off for a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, but Cole says we will have more on his absence later. Cole and Graves hypes tonight’s show.

– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown opened with the The Bloodline – Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos, and Paul Heyman making their way to the ring. The Bloodline hits the ring and raises the gold in the air for more pyro as fans cheer them on.

Suddenly, Theory appears on the stage with his Money In the Bank briefcase and Cole goes wild, wondering if he’s here to cash in on Reigns. We go to commercial break. We are back, The Bloodline is in the ring and there’s no sign of Theory. Reigns takes the mic and calls on Fort Worth to acknowledge him. 

Reigns acknowledges the “you suck!” chants and the “Roman!” chants, and says at the end of the day when The Tribal Chief is in the house, business picks up. Reigns says that means life is so good, so damn good, and as long as God wakes him up, he can handle anything. Reigns recalls how he had a great day, he’s healthy and happy, it feels good to be on his show, and he’s happy to see his family. Then he sees his wise man, his special counsel, and Heyman looks like this… we see a smug look on Heyman’s face.

– The Viking Raiders defeated Jinder Mahal and Shanky via pinfall. After the match, The Vikings attack Jinder and beat him back down. Shanky rolls in the ring but they also beat him down. Now, music interrupts and here comes The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods with mics. They admit The Vikings kicked their butts last week. They turn around and show The Vikings their rear ends, saying their butts are still here, so The Vikings didn’t get the job done. 

The New Day says the beatdown wasn’t sanctioned, but now they have ass kicking sanctioning tickets, so it’s on. They pull out actual tickets, then rush the ring. The New Day brawls with The Vikings but Erik and Ivar easily get the upperhand, beating Kofi and Woods down again. They make quick work of The New Day, then leave them laying. Erik and Ivar exit the ring.

– Cole shows us how Happy Baron Corbin attacked Pat McAfee after WWE Money In the Bank. He also hypes Corbin vs. McAfee at SummerSlam. Corbin joins Cole and Graves now. Corbin says he’s here to do the job better than McAfee does. Cole says McAfee couldn’t get cleared to be here tonight, and he’s playing in a celebrity golf tournament. Corbin knocks how bad McAfee’s golf game is going.

– WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Kaiser make their way to the ring. Now, Kaiser on the stage and takes the mic. Kaiser says there is no competitor worthy of standing in the ring, much less competing with our Intercontinental Champion. Kaiser says it is their personal opinion that no one in attendance is worthy of watching The Ring General compete tonight. However, Kaiser says he knows it’s customary for former Intercontinental Champions of less likely to defend the title against anyone in an Open Challenge.

Gunther takes the mic and says any champion who defends his title against an opponent he doesn’t know, is a fool, and all of you thinking Gunther might take on this challenge tonight are foolish. Fans respond with “What?!” chants. Gunther says someone has to deserve the opportunity to compete with him for the title. The “What?!” chants continue. Gunther hands the mic back to Kaiser, who says they are just being honest… the music interrupts and here comes Shinsuke Nakamura.

Corbin mocks McAfee by going wild for Nakamura’s entrance, laying on Cole and Graves, then dancing on top of the announce table. Nakamura enters the ring and faces off with Gunther. Nakamura says if Gunther doesn’t want to accept him, he can keep his title for now, but what about Kaiser? Nakamura then challenges Kaiser to a match for right now. Kaiser and Gunther look at each other, and Kaiser nods back.

– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kaiser via pinfall. After the match, Nakamura makes his exit to back. Gunther enters the ring and stands over Kaiser now, then yells at him for losing his singles debut. Gunther orders Kaiser to stand up and he does as fans chant “USA!” now. Gunther punishes Kaiser with a huge chop to the chest. Kaiser takes it and stays up on his feet but barely.

Gunther continues yelling at Kaiser and delivers another big chop to the chest. Fans chant “one more time!” as Gunther yells at Kaiser to stand straight back up. He hesitates but stands again. Gunther moves Kaiser’s arms out of the way and delivers a bigger chop to the chest, this time knocking Kaiser straight to the mat. Kaiser lays in pain as Gunther stands over him with the title around his waist.

– The new WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan makes her way to the ring. Michael Cole is in the ring with Liv Morgan. She thanks him and a “you deserve it!” chant starts up. Liv gets emotional and Cole agrees with the fans. Cole recalls how Morgan won the Women’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match last Saturday night, then cashed in on Ronda Rousey to win the title. Cole reminds us how Rousey suffered a knee injury during her match with Natalya, right before Liv came to the ring. 

Cole brings up a potential rematch for SummerSlam, and Liv says bring it. Liv holds up the title and says this is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work, sweat and tears. She knows what it took to get here, and she’s willing to work ten times harder to stay here. She promises no one wants the title more than her. Now, Cole brings up how 10 years ago Liv was working as a waitress, saving up money to train for pro wrestling. He talks about how she got to WWE, wears her heart on her sleeve, and has suffered her setbacks, but here she is now. 

Now, Cole asks what it means for her to be champion. Liv says this means absolutely everything to her, she’s dreamed of this her entire life and while it got hard at times when she thought she’d maybe never get here, here she is. She raises the title and fans cheer her on. Liv wants to take this as a reminder, as John Cena would say – Never Give Up. She says to always follow your dreams and… the music interrupts and here comes Natalya.

Natalya says she can dream to… for when Liv is going to finally shut up. Natalya says she is the only reason Liv is champion, and this little Cinderella Story will come to an end at SummerSlam. Natalya says Liv could never beat Rousey fresh, she only beat Rousey because Natalya had just injured her. Natalya says she loved to see Rousey scream in pain and while she lost the match at Money In the Bank, she enjoyed the hell out of it. 

Now, Natalya faces off with Liv now. The music interrupts and here comes Ronda Rousey. She is somewhat limping on her way to the ring. Rousey congratulates Liv and says she seized the moment, and that’s what it’s all about. Rousey tells Morgan to enjoy this honeymoon phase because she will learn at SummerSlam that defending the title is a whole lot harder than winning it, or maybe it was challenging for the title is so much easier than defending it?

Now, Rousey mocks Natalya for injuring her knee and taking credit for the title change. Rousey fumbles some of her words it sounds like, and maybe gets the Texas city name wrong, but says she’s not dressed to compete, but who here wants to see her beat Natalya up? Natalya attacks from behind and takes Rousey out. Liv attacks Natalya from behind and tosses her out to the floor. Rousey rolls back into the ring while Liv is raising her title in the air, staring out at Natalya. Liv turns around to see Rousey.

– Ronda Rousey defeated Natalya via submission.

– Megan Morant at backstage with Drew McIntyre, asking about tonight’s #1 contender’s match with Sheamus. Drew says he’s recently been in Europe and Clash at The Castle will be huge. Drew says whether it’s Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar, or even Theory, he’s coming for the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion after SummerSlam. Drew addresses his history with Sheamus and says he knows he will have to deal with all three tonight – Sheamus, Butch and Ridge Holland, but that’s appropriate as the last thing Sheamus will hear before Drew kicks his head off is 3… 2… 1!

– We are in the ring for the reveal of Maximum Male Models’ 2022 Tennis Collection. Crew members roll out a red carpet as Max Dupri makes his way out. Dupri is introduced in the ring. He’s standing under a spotlight and has a mic. Dupri says last week’s Maximum Male Models debut was a smashing success and a viral sensation, so this week they’re offering a captivating tweet to the WWE Universe as they present the 2022 Tennis Collection. 

Dupri introduces ma.çé first and out comes the former Mace. Dupri describes what we’re seeing as ma.çé models his tennis gear. Dupri introduces mån.sôör next, the former Mansoor, and he models the tennis clothes like Mace did. Mansoor also leaves. Dupri says only the best models can be represented by his agency, so if you feel like you can strut like they just did, submit your full-body photos to MaximumMaleModels.com, but if you do not have the natural qualities of a ma.çé or a mån.sôör, then don’t bother. The models come back to the stage and pose with their tennis rackets. Dupri thanks everyone and says his models embody the MMM creed – to titillate the juices of your guilty pleasures.

– Theory at backstage with Kayla Braxton now, and she asks about earlier. Theory says he was just letting The Tribal Chief know that the youngest Mr. MITB is always watching. Theory says he would love to cash in on Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam for the way Lesnar previously treated him on Monday Night Raw, but he might cash in on Roman Reigns because he was out there earlier and saw just how arrogant the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion is up close. 

Kayla says Theory knows something about arrogance. Theory says people don’t like him but he loves that they don’t like him, and everybody is just looking for someone to knock Reigns off his pedestal, and that just might be yours truly. Theory says he will become a two-time WWE United States Champion when he beats Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam and the winner of the Last Man Standing match better be ready for a prime cash in because he knows Lesnar and Reigns will beat the hell out of each other that night, but that’s besides the point because Reigns is screwed as either Brock or Theory will beat him, but the same goes for Brock if he beats Reigns. Theory walks off and Madcap Moss approaches Kayla. He says that’s a big briefcase but he bets he can shove it all in Theory’s mouth. Moss says he’d love to try.

– Aliyah makes her way to the ring and next comes her partner Lacey Evans for the match with Shayna Baszler and Shotzi. But Evans turns right back around and returns to the backstage area after Graves points to her lackluster reaction. Then music starts back up and out comes Evans to a louder pop. Evans seems to be happy with that reaction as she runs out, but she stops and goes backstage once again, apparently signaling for a louder reaction. Her music plays for the third time and she comes back out to another pop, but she looks unhappy. Fan boos.

Evans takes the mic and says before her opponents come out, she wants to say how disgusted she is over the response she just got. Fans boo. Evans asks if the fans know who she is, don’t they know what she’s been through. She reminds everyone how she’s poured her heart and soul out on TV, in hopes of helping the fans, but for what… those cheers and that reaction? Fans continue with “What?!” chants now. 

Evans says looking at a woman like her kills the people because of how weak they are. She goes on and says everyone knows all the struggles she’s been through and deep down in their souls, they know they can’t go through half of what she did and be the woman she is. Evans says the truth hurts, but when she comes out in the ring, she deserves a standing ovation, meaning everyone should be up on their feet. The boos continue.

Evans says she doesn’t know what it is, maybe the fans are too weighed down by pulled pork and brisket, that they can’t stand up. It makes her sick to see. Evans says the fans are disgusting. Evans says she’s an American hero, she’s sacrificed and put her life on the line for the likes of the fans, and for what, those cheers? Until she gets the respect she knows she deserves, as far as she’s concerned… every single one of the fans can go to hell. Evans goes to exit the ring but Aliyah stops her and asks why. Evans drops her with the Woman’s Right and exits the ring.

– The Usos defeated Los Lotharios via pinfall. After the match, The Usos stood tall and celebrates. Now, Kayla Braxton is in the ring with The Usos and brings up their controversial win at Money In the Bank and says some people are saying they got away with it. They ask, got away with what? Kayla shows us a replay that confirms Montez Ford had his shoulder up when Jimmy pinned him. 

Kayla says it appears The Usos got away with cheating. The Usos don’t need to cheat, and that wasn’t on them, it was on the referee. Kayla says it’s rumored that there will be a special guest referee for the rematch at SummerSlam. The Usos say that’s cool, depending on who it is, but if we’re taking volunteers, they have someone in mind, as long as they can count to 3. The Usos declare that The Street Profits are the 2s, and The Usos are the 1s.

– Drew McIntyre makes his way to the ring with his sword, Angela. Now, Sheamus with Butch and Ridge Holland. The winner of this match will challenge for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at WWE Clash at The Castle on September 3 in Cardiff. Sheamus calls Butch and Ridge as he takes the mic. He taunts Drew and says he has Drew’s number because… Sheamus has a tickle in his throat all of a sudden. 

He hopes he doesn’t have a dose of the old COVID-19. Sheamus says rules state he can’t compete until he gets tested. Fans boo as Sheamus continues coughing. He says don’t worry, he has a back-up plan in mind. We’re going to get a match tonight, but not the match, because his buddy Butch is foaming at the mouth to get his hands on Drew. Sheamus tells Drew not to worry because he and Ridge The Fridge will be at ringside watching the match if he misses them.

– Drew McIntyre defeated Butch via pinfall. After the match, Holland immediately tries to attack from behind but Drew takes him out with a Future Shock DDT. Sheamus tends to Butch at ringside. Sheamus is slowly entering the ring now but he backs off when Drew points Angela at him. Sheamus talks trash from the apron as Drew gets closer. 

Drew chops the sword but Sheamus hops off the apron, and Drew cuts the ring rope instead. The pyro explodes from the ring posts as the sword cuts the top rope. Sheamus is terrified as he looks on from the ramp with Butch and Holland. Drew stands tall in the middle of the ring with his sword. Drew poses in the corner now with the sword, yelling out at Sheamus and his crew about how he will become Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and there’s nothing they can do about it and SmackDown goes off the air.