**The following episode of SmackDown was pre-recorded on June 23rd. There is already a spoiler article for the match results, which you can read here. As the show has yet to air on television on USA Network in the U.S. and Netflix elsewhere, YouTube videos will not be attached in this article as the full broadcast has leaked online and the resulting videos are being blocked by WWE.**
Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the O2 Arena in London, England, ahead of Night of Champions this coming Saturday.
After a recap of Charlotte Flair being attacked by Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab last week and tapping out to Liv Morgan in the Queen of the Ring semifinals, Jackie Redmond interviewed Alexa Bliss and asked for an update on The Queen’s condition. Bliss said that Flair is feeling physical and emotional pain, and issued a warning of revenge to Jade and her crew, even if it means having to team up with the Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton.
Stratton conveniently enters the shot but brushes off the motivations of Bliss, stating she only cares about getting through her title match and beating Jade at Night of Champions. Bliss says that she and everyone else all know Stratton and Flair have history, but she helped them out two weeks ago and Bliss is just returning the favor. Stratton says they can just get through tonight, and then after she beats Jade tomorrow, then Bliss and Flair can do whatever they want, as long as they leave her out of it. Bliss plans to and sighs as Stratton leaves to make her entrance.
With the tag team match pitting the two against Michin and B-Fab underway, things began with Stratton hitting a headlock takedown against Michin, quickly taking control. Bliss soon tagged herself in, but the two were a bit more evenly matched. B-Fab was then tagged in and kicked Bliss on the outside. Bliss soon got back into the ring as the heel team dominated during the commercial break portion of the match.
The show returned with Stratton being tagged in and nearly putting B-Fab away with multiple maneuvers, including an Alabama Slam, a stunner, and a swanton bomb, only for the Canton, Ohio native to kick out the first two times and Michin breaking up the third. Bliss then grabbed and beat on Michin outside the ring.
Meanwhile, in the ring, as Stratton prepared the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, Jade Cargill emerged to push her, allowing B-Fab to hit her finisher to win the match for the Baddies.
Now ready to gang up on the Buff Barbie, the music and presence of Chelsea Green stopped them right in their tracks. Green ran out with a kendo stick, successfully smacking B-Fab, but the stick fell out of her hand as she entered the ring. Jade and Michin tried to attack only for them to fall out of the ring without laying a hand on her. Stratton smiled and gave Green a hug as the two and Bliss raised their arms, with Bliss being weirded out by Green’s positive demeanor.
After the match, Jade walked down the hallway, angrily asking where Nick Aldis was. Soon running into him, Cargill demanded and got a match with Green later on.
One half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Paige, came home to London as she took on Jacy Jayne of Fatal Influence. The match began with Jayne trying to hit a big boot for a quick pin and mocking the “This is my house!” chant. The Anti-Diva soon took control and even took out Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid on the outside with a cannonball.
The match transitioned into a series of strikes after commercials, with Jayne getting frustrated as she failed to put her away with a Rolling Encore. Fallon and Lainey then brawled with Brie Bella on the outside, with Lainey throwing Brie into the ring post. Paige then punched Lainey off the ring apron; although Jayne tried to take advantage by rolling her up, Paige herself would reverse it into a schoolboy pin to win the match.
Chelsea and Jade’s match was up third for women’s matches tonight. Green slapped Cargill to begin, only for The Storm to take the mantle of dominance shortly thereafter. Green did get some offense in following commercials, as she dodged an attack that sent Cargill into the ring post, tried to roll her up to no avail, and attempted to punch her a few times. A missile dropkick kept Cargill down, but not for good. An Un-Pretty-Her attempt was almost reversed, but a kick to the chest of Green turned into Jaded for Cargill to win as she waved to the camera, hoping Tiffany Stratton was watching.
Cargill continued to attack Green after the match as both Tiffany and Alexa Bliss came out running to Stratton’s music. The two checked up on Green before Michin and B-Fab returned to attack them, with The Baddies helping Jade hit Jaded on Stratton.
The final women’s match of the night featured the now-babyface Giulia going up against her former representative Kiana James. Things kicked off with James immediately pouncing on Giulia, who wouldn’t budge and landed a few beatings on her outside the ring. The Beautiful Madness remained in control as they got back into the ring, striking the back of James repeatedly and sending her out of the ring, but James lifted her opponent and dropped Giulia face-first onto the steel steps.
After James dominated throughout the commercial break, the action became more back-and-forth as the match progressed, with both women hoping to outdo the other in what was a very personal battle. Giulia hit a sunset flip bomb and an Arrivederci knee into the northern lights bomb on James for the win.
After the match, Giulia was attacked from behind by Blake Monroe. Monroe, who had spoken about Giulia in her vignette the week before, hit a Gotch-style driver on The Beautiful Madness to applause from the London crowd.
Night of Champions airs from inside the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 27th. Below is the schedule for the show and related events for American viewers:
11 a.m. Eastern / 8 a.m. Pacific – Countdown (on ESPN, the ESPN app, and WWE’s social media accounts)
1 p.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Pacific – Night of Champions (on the ESPN app and Netflix internationally; the first hour will also air on the ESPN network)
Immediately following the event – the Post-Show (on the ESPN app and WWE’s social media accounts)
Two women’s matches are also scheduled to take place:
- Queen of the Ring Finals:Â IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan
- Women’s United States Championship:Â Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Jade Cargill
Friday Night SmackDown will air next Friday from inside the Jim Whelan Broadwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. That episode will be pre-recorded this Monday, June 29th, after Raw, which will air from the same venue and have a special start time of 6 p.m. Next week’s episode of SmackDown will also mark the show’s return to two hours for the first time since last December.Â
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s edition of SmackDown in the comments below.