WWE Friday Night Smackdown
August 5th, 2022
Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Greenville, South Caolina
Welcome to our live coverage of WWE Friday Night Smackdown, which is emanating from The Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Announced for tonight’s show, Xia Li, Raquel Rodriguez, Aliyah, Sonya Deville, Natalya, Shotzi, and Shayna Baszler will battle in a Gauntlet match to determine the next challenger for Liv Morgan’s Smackdown women’s championship, Shinsuke Nakamura will take on Ludwig Kaiser, and Roman Reigns will address his next challenger at Clash At The Castle, Drew McIntyre.
– Smackdown starts off with a video package highlighting Summerslam.
– We get footage from earlier in the day with Roman Reigns arriving with The Bloodline.
– Pat McAfee goes over his match against Happy Corbin from Summerslam.
– Ricochet tells Corbin that Karma Is a beautiful thing, Corbin says that he will wipe the smile off of Ricochet’s face, Ricochet them challenges Corbin to a match.
Match 1: Ricochet vs Happy Corbin
– The match starts off with both men locking up, Ricochet then lands a kick to Corbin’s head, Ricochet then hits a dropkick on Corbin, followed by a corkscrew dive over the top rope, taking out Corbin, Corbin then hits a closeline on Ricochet, Corbin then hits a back elbow to the face of Ricochet, Corbin then sends Ricochet into the corner with a strong Irishwhip, Ricochet then lands a superkick from the apron onto Corbin, Corbin then launches Ricochet into the ringpost as we go to commercial break.
*Commercial break*
– We are back from commercial as we see Corbin lock in a jawbreaker on Ricochet, Corbin then hits Ricochet with a big backdrop to secure a nearfall, Ricochet then hits a flying closeline onto Corbin, followed by a standing shooting star to secure a nearfall, Corbin then hits a twisting neckbreaker on Ricochet to secure a nearfall, Ricochet then hits a hurricarana on Corbin, Corbin then hits the deep six on Ricochet to secure a nearfall, Corbin then chokeslams Ricochet off the top rope into the rope, Pat then distracts Corbin, allowing Ricochet to rack him on the top rope, Ricochet then hits the recoil on Corbin, followed by a shooting star press to secure the pinfall victory.
Winner via pinfall: Ricochet.
– After the match, Ricochet throws a football to McAfee, McAfee then punts the football into the crowd.
Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ludwig Kaiser
– The match starts off with Kaiser taking down Shinsuke with a wristlock, Kaiser then hits Shinsuke in the face with an elbow, Kaiser then lands a series of kicks in the corner onto Shinsuke, Nakamura then delivers good vibrations onto Kaiser in the corner, Shinsuke then hits Kaiser in the stomach with a running jumping knee as we go to commercial break.
*Commercial break*
– We are back from commercial as we see Shinsuke land a kick to the back of Kaiser’s head, Shinsuke then hits a german suplex on Kaiser from the second rope, Kaiser then hits an uppercut on Shinsuke, Nakamura then locks Kaiser in an armbar, followed by a heel kick and the Kinshasa to secure the pinfall victory.
Winner via pinfall: Shinsuke Nakamura at 8:45.
– After the match, Nakamura and Gunther stare off, the two will fight next week on Smackdown for the intercontinental championship.
– Kayla Braxton interviews Liv Morgan in the ring, Liv says that she’s feeling so many different emotions, Liv says that the championship means everything to her, Sonya Deville then interrupts, Sonya says that she was happy when Ronda beat her down, Sonya says that she loves seeing Liv hurt.
Match 3: Gauntlet match
– The match starts off with Sonya Deville and Aliyah, Sonya then hits a spinebuster on Aliyah, Sonya then locks Aliyah in a headlock, Aliyah then hits a springboard crossbody onto Sonya to secure a nearfall, Sonya then eliminates Aliyah at 2:16, Raquel Rodriguez is the next one in, Sonya then hits a chopblock to the back of Raquel’s leg, Sonya then locks Raquel in a headlock, Raquel then hits a corkscrew elbow on Sonya, Raquel then eliminates Sonya at 4:45, Shotzi is the next one in as we go to commercial break.
*Commercial break*
– We are back from commercial as we see Shotzi lock Raquel in a stretch, Raquel then hits a fall away slam on Shotzi, followed by the corkscrew elbow, Raquel then pins Shotzi at 10:09, Xia Li is the next one in, Xia then hits a dropkick on Raquel, Xia then puts Raquel in a single leg Boston crab, Raquel then headbutts Xia, followed by a fallaway slam, Raquel then eliminates Xia Li at 12:59, Natalya then kicks away at the knee of Raquel, Raquel then punches Natalya in the face before hitting a suplex, Natalya then locks Raquel in the sharpshooter but Raquel is able to reach the bottom rope, Raquel then eliminates Natalya at 15:38, Shayna Baszler is next in as we go to commercial break.
*Commercial break*
– We are back from commercial as we see Shayna locks Shayna in a submission, Shayna then sends Raquel shoulder first into the top turnbuckle, Shayna then hits Raquel with a knee to secure a nearfall, Shayna then locks Raquel in a headlock, Shayna then rolls up Raquel to secure the pinfall victory.
Winner via pinfall: Shayna Baszler at 22:08.
Match 4: The Viking Raiders vs Jim and Tommy
– The match starts off with Erik slamming himself into Jim, Ivar then lands a series of elbows to Ivar in the corner, The Viking Raiders then powerbomb Jim onto Tommy to secure the pinfall victory.
Winners via pinfall: The Viking Raiders at 1:27.
– After the match, Kofi beats down Erik and Ivar with a kendostick.
Match 5: Erik vs Kofi Kingston
– The match starts off with Kofi lands a series of punches on Erik, Erik then hits a knee to the face of Kofi, Erik then hits a forearm on Kofi, Kofi then hits a crossbody on Erik to secure a nearfall, Erik then slams Kofi to secure a nearfall, Kofi then hits a dropkick on Erik, Kofi then hits a running trustfall onto Erik on the outside, Kofi then rollups Erik to secure the pinfall victory.
Winner via pinfall: Kofi Kingston.
– Michael Cole says that on Raw, a tournament will start to crown new women’s tag team champions..
– Roman Reigns and The Bloodline make their entrance, Roman tells Greenville to acknowledge him, Reigns says that they’re here on Smackdown to brag about what they accomplished, Reigns says that he hates Brock Lesnar, but he respects him, Drew McIntyre then interrupts, Drew says that he can’t wait to get his hands on Roman, Karrion Kross then attacks Drew from behind, Kross then hits a forearm to the back or Drew’s head, Scarlett then presents the doomsday clock on Roman.
