WWE Friday Night SmackDown
June 24th, 2022
The Moody Center
Austin, Texas
Welcome to our live coverage of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, which is emanating from The Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Announced for tonight’s show, Gunther will defend his newly won Intercontinental Championship against Ricochet in a rematch, Shinsuke Nakamura will battle Sami Zayn in a Money In The Bank ladder qualifying match, Tamina will battle Shotzi in a Money In The Bank ladder qualifying match, and we will hear from Drew McIntyre ahead of Money In The Bank.
– Smackdown kicks off with a video package highlighting the Undisputed Universal championship match between Roman Reigns and Riddle from last Friday night and the return of Brock Lesnar.
– Smackdown officially starts with Drew McIntyre. Drew welcomes everyone to Friday Night SmackDown, Drew says that when he got drafted to SmackDown he wanted to start from the bottom and earn a title match but Roman has been ducking him, Drew says that he will have to win Money In The Bank to get a title match, Drew says that Brock showed up and already gets a title match, Drew says that they can destroy themselves at Summerslam and he will come in and cash in the briefcase, Sheamus then interrupts with Butch and Ridge Holland, Sheamus says that he will be the one to cash in at Summerslam, Sheamus says that Drew is only in the match because Adam Pearce felt sorry for him and that he doesn’t belong, Sheamus says the only experience Drew has with Money In The Bank is someone else cashing in on him, Sheamus then says that he won Money In The Bank and cashed in on Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman then interrupts, Heyman then hypes up the Last Man Standing match between Roman and Brock at Summerslam, Heyman says that Roman will win and retain the undisputed universal championship, Heyman says that after the last man standing match, Heyman says that he’s here to make sure a cash in won’t happen again, Heyman then says that Adam Pearce has a special announcement to make, Pearce says that he was too quick to put Drew and Sheamus in the ladder match, Pearce says that after some influence from Heyman, WWE management has overruled his decision, Sheamus and Drew are out of the ladder match, Pearce says that Drew and Sheamus can qualify for the Money In The Bank ladder match if they beat The Usos in a tag team match.
Match 1: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn
– The match starts off with Shinsuke attempting to put Zayn in an armbar, Shinsuke then lands a series of knees to the chest of Zayn, Shinsuke then hits a running suplex to Sami through the ropes, Zayn then slams Nakamura into the ringpost, Sami then lands an exploder suplex to Nakamura against the barricade, Shinsuke then rolls up Sami for a nearfall, Zayn then kicks away at a grounded Nakamura, Zayn then sends Nakamura to the outside as we go to commercial break.
*Commercial break*
– We are back from commercial break as we see Shinsuke catch Zayn in mid-air with a sidekick for a nearfall, Shinsuke then lands a kick to the back of Zayn’s head, Zayn then hits a Michinoku driver on Nakamura for a nearfall, Nakamura the racks Zayn on the top turnbuckle, Nakamura goes for the Kinshasa but Zayn moves out of the way, Zayn then rolls up Shinsuke, Zayn tries to use the ropes but the referee sees it, Nakamura then lands a knee to the back of the head of Zayn from the second rope for yet another nearfall, Nakamura goes for another Kinshasa but Zayn rolls to the outside, Shinsuke then hits a Kinshasa to Zayn on the outside, Zayn then hits Nakamura with a helluva kick to secure the pinfall victory.
Winner via pinfall: Sami Zayn at 9:54.Â
-Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods make their entrance, followed by Shanky and Jinder Mahal, Kofi Kingston and Xavier say that no one wants to see this match again and countless rematches make no sense, Kofi says that Jinder took away what we all wanted to see last week, Shanky dancing, Kofi then asks the crowd if they want to see a dancing Shanky, The New Day then dances with Shanky but Jinder cuts it off, Shanky then pushes Jinder, Jinder then retreats as Shanky continues to dance with The New Day. The Viking Raiders then attack The New Day and Shanky from behind, Erik then hits a forearm to the face of Xavier, Ivar then hits a sidekick to the face of Kofi, The Viking Raiders then hit a doubleteam powerbomb on Xavier, Ivar then hits Xavier with a powerslam from the top rope.
– Sonya Deville interrupts Adam Pearce in his office, Sonya says that she watched Pearce take Sheamus and Drew out of the ladder match after already putting them in, Sonya asks Pearce why he’s treating the women’s division like he is, Sonya says that she’s been back on Smackdown for weeks and hasn’t had a match but Raquel Rodriguez already has a Money In The Bank ladder qualifying match, Sonya tells Pearce to not take it out on her that his in-ring career was a failure, Pearce then puts Sonya in a handicap match, next.
Match 2: Sonya Deville vs Lacey Evans and Raquel Rodriguez
– Sonya Deville makes her entrance with Xia Li and Shayna Baszler. The match starts off with Lacey and Sonya locking up, Evans then lands a running flying elbow to the face of Sonya, Xia Li then distracts Lacey, allow Sonya to land a chopblock to the back of Lacey’s leg, Sonya and Lacey then both dropkick each other, Lacey then tags in Raquel, Raquel then lands a punch and a knee to the stomach of Sonya, followed by a shoulder tackle, Raquel then hits Sonya with a scoop suplex, Raquel then hits a running snake eyes on Sonya, Xia Li and Shayna then distract Raquel, Lacey then tags in, Lacey hits Sonya with the women’s right for the pinfall victory.
Winners via pinfall: Lacey Evans and Raquel Rodriguez at 3:06.Â
– After the match, Xia Li and Shayna Baszler attack Raquel Rodriguez and Lacey Evans from behind, Sonya jumps on the back of Raquel but Raquel fights off Xia Li and Shayna, Lacey Evans then takes out Sonya, Sonya, Xia Li, and Shayna Baszler then retreat.
– Natalya then comes out wearing Ronda Rousey’s makeup and attire while pushing a baby stroller, we will hear from Natalya next.
– Natalya is in the ring dressed as Ronda, Natalya says that two weeks ago I (Ronda Rousey) almost tapped out to the sharpshooter, Natalya says that the sharpshooter is better than the armbar, Natalya then gets down and taps out pretending to be Ronda, Natalya says that Ronda should hand over the SmackDown women’s right now, retire, push my stroller, and leave while she can, Natalya then calls Ronda the saddest women on the planet, Ronda Rousey then interrupts, Ronda says that Natalya and her can’t be more completely different, Ronda says that she won’t mutilate her body for unnecessary beauty standards, Ronda says that that the closest Natalya will ever be to being a main attraction is dressing as her, Ronda then rips the jacket off of Natalya, Natalya then attacks Ronda with the stroller, Natalya then retreats up the ramp as Ronda poses with her jacket and the SmackDown women’s championship.
– Ludwig Kaiser introduces Gunther, Gunther will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Ricochet next.
Match 3: Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs Ricochet
– The match starts off with Ricochet landing a dropkick on Gunther, Ricochet then lands a series of punches to Gunther, Gunther then hits a snap suplex on Ricochet, followed by a big boot to the face of Ricochet, Gunther then hits Ricochet with an uppercut, Gunther then stands on the head of Ricochet, Gunther then puts Ricochet in a half boston crab submission, Gunther then turns it into a crossface submission, Ricochet then lands a kick to the side of Gunther head, Gunther goes forna german suplex but Ricochet lands on his feet, Ricochet then lands a jumping knee to the face of Gunther, Gunther then lands a series of chops and uppercuts to Ricochet in the corner, Gunther then lands a german suplex, followed by a dropkick, sending Ricochet into the corner, Gunther then lands a powerbomb for the pinfall victory.
Winner via pinfall and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Gunther at 3:08.
– Paul Heyman is interviewed but Sami Zayn interrupts, Zayn says that Kayla has been twisting his words to make it seem like he would of cashed in on Roman, Zayn says that he would cash in on Brock Lesnar before catching himself, Heyman then staresdown Zayn.
Match 4: Tamina vs Shotzi
– The match starts off with Shotzi jumping on the back of Tamina, Tamina then throws her off, Tamina then hits a powerslam on Shotzi for a two count, Tamina then places Shotzi on the top rope, Shotzi then chokes Tamina using her legs in the ropes, Shotzi then hits Tamina with a dropkick, Shotzi then hits an enzuigiri on Tamina, followed by a splash to Tamina against the second rope, Shotzi jumps off the top but Tamina catches her with a superkick, Tamina goes for the pin but Shotzi gets her foot on the bottom rope, Shotzi then moves out of the way, sending Tamina shoulder first into the ringpost, Shotzi then hits the “never wake up” to secure the pinfall and her spot in the Money In The Bank ladder match.
Winner via pinfall: Shotzi at 2:39.
– Ivar says that for too long they have been pushed to the side and forgotten, Erik then says that no one is safe.
– Max Dupri is backstage in Adam Pearce’s office, Max asks if Pearce is a real WWE official, Dupri calls Pearce the WWE saboteur, Dupri says that Pearce messed up the debut by not providing him with the proper locker room this week, Dupri says that Pearce needs to get this right, Pearce says next week.
– Pat McAfee is standing on the announce table with a microphone, Pat says that one week ago, bitch ass Corbin come over to him and told him that he doesn’t like the way he does his job, we then get replays of the Happy Corbin vs Madcap Moss match from last week and the shenanigans between Corbin and McAfee, McAfee says that when he walked into the WWE thunderdome for the first time, he felt alive, McAfee says that once he put on the headset to talk to millions of the WWE universe, he feels alive, McAfee then calls out Corbin to a match at Summerslam, McAfee says that once he kicks Corbin’s teeth down his throat he will feel more alive then ever, McAfee tells Corbin to not be a coward before calling him a punk.
Match 5: Sheamus and Drew McIntyre vs The Usos
– Before the match starts, The Street Profits make ther entrance to watch the main event.
– The match starts off with Jimmy punching away at Drew in the corner, Drew then hits a closeline on Jimmy, Drew then tags in Sheamus, Sheamus and Drew then land a doubleteam hiptoss on Jimmy, Jey then hits a running forearm to Sheamus in the corner, Sheamus then lands a series of punches to the chest of Jey on the apron, Sheamus then lands a rolling senton to Jey, Sheamus goes for the brogue kick but Jey rolls to the outside, Drew then slams Butch headfirst into the barricade, Ridge Holland tries to calm Sheamus down but Sheamus and Drew start fighting, The Usos take them out as we go to commercial break.
*Commercial break*
– We are back from commercial as we see Jey Uso putting Sheamus in a neckbreaker submission, Sheamus fights back with punches, Jimmy then gets the blind tag, Sheamus then hits Jey with the Irish curse backbreaker, Jimmy then hits a superkick to the face of Sheamus for a nearfall, Jimmy then hits Sheamus with an enzuigiri, Jimmy then hits Sheamus with a running hip attack in the corner, Jimmy then goes for another corner hip attack but Sheamus lands a running knee to the face of Jimmy, Sheamus then tags in Drew, Drew lands a closeline on Jey, Drew then throws Jey, Jey then sends Drew shoulder first into the ringpost, The Usos then lands a doubleteam superkick on Drew, Jimmy then hits a splash from the top rope, Jimmy goes for the pin but Sheamus makes the save, Drew then hits a neckbreaker on Jimmy and Jey, Drew calls for the claymore but Jey pulls Jimmy to the outside, Jey then hits Drew with a superkick on the outside, Butch runs to the ring but Ridge Holland holds him back, Sami Zayn tries to interfer but Angelo Dawkins takes him out with a pounce, Drew then jumps over the top rope, taking out the Street Profits and The Usos, Sheamus then hits a brogue on Jey on the outside, Drew goes for the claymore but Jimmy lands a superkick, Drew then hits the claymore on Jimmy for the pinfall victory.
Winners via pinfall: Drew McIntyre and Sheamus at 11:14.Â
– Smackdown ends with Drew McIntyre and Sheamus celebrating.
