Nerdly » Friday Night Smackdown – June 12th 2020: Results & Review

13th Jun2020

Friday Night Smackdown – June 12th 2020: Results & Review

by Nathan Favel

Welcome to this week’s Friday Night SmackDown review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have AJ Styles fighting Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental Title. I hate existentialism…stupid shit. What do you hate? Don’t say me, you jack-ass! Fine! Let’s just get to the damn review.

Match #1: Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro def. The New Day

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

The New Day appeared ready to coast into WWE Backlash, but Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro had other plans with a challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Kofi Kingston & Big E had it cooking early in the match, but The King of Strong Style stopped an aerial assault from the former WWE Champion with a well-timed knee and secured the pin.

My Opinion: 2.6 out of 5 – This was a nice little taste of what can happen between these two teams. S&C winning was a pleasant surprise. I hope this actually leads to some-thing significant for the tag division, rather than just a cheap win for two guys who should be joining Kofi in the singles division (Big E can hop right in with them).

Match #2: AJ Styles def. Daniel Bryan – Intercontinental Championship Match

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

A wild Intercontinental Championship Tournament culminated in an instant classic showdown as Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles battled for the title. In an epic clash, the two highly skilled competitors continually upped the ante with one impressive maneuver after another. Bryan appeared headed for another Intercontinental Title reign as he lined up a Running Knee, but The Phenomenal One caught his opponent, then hit a Styles Clash and a Phenomenal Forearm off the top ropes to hoist the prestigious title for the first time.

My Opinion: 5 out of 5 – F— it. I was gonna go with 4.5, but when I imagined a full crowd in there I realized that I was only holding back on a full score because of a smaller crowd reaction. This went nearly forty minutes and was the best SmackDown match since the Iron-Man match between Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle from 2003 for the WWE World Title. For all of the talk of AJ being slower than he used to be, I’ll counter with that he wrestles better than ever. Bryan just kicked ass here. It’s so nice to see two of the best get to actually show why so many of us say that about them. If you like technical, then you’ll be happy. If you like submissions, then this match will make you happy. If you like any kind of risk or stunt, then this match will make you happy. These two fighters did everything necessary to take advantage of the extraordinary amount of time given to them. I’d complain about why this wasn’t on Backlash, but I’m sure Vince didn’t want this upstaging Edge/Randy Orton (the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever my ass). I bought everything that they did and never had any issues with believing in either wrestler winning the title. Having AJ win gives something Bryan to do for the summer (Summerslam has got to be inevitable) and that’s alright by me. All in all, it’s about damn time that we get a match like this on SmackDown.

Match #3: (Main Event) Braun Strowman & Heavy Machinery def. Dolph Ziggler, The Miz & John Morrison

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

The Universal Champion gave a stern warning to Mr. Money in the Bank and his teammate ahead of their matchup with Dolph Ziggler, The Miz & John Morrison. The alliance between Braun Strowman, Otis & Tucker appeared to be holding strong until King Corbin’s backstage approach of Mandy Rose forced The Workin’ Man Superstar to leave the ring and go after his peach. Otis returned to help the Strowman Express get rolling and finished off the massive win with an explosive Caterpillar to Ziggler.

My Opinion: 2.6 out of 5 – On the flip side (I apologize for saying that), this match was your weekly, typical “stuff ‘em all in one tight box” approach to booking that we’ll see more of now that Bruce Pritchard is the head booker. Well, there are some nice moves and a dumb booking decision in the middle, but this worked out fine over-all.

News Of The Night:

Jeff Hardy passed a urine test and threw the rest of the jar on Sheamus.
Otis is still contemplating cashing-in on Braun Strowman.
Baron Corbin tried to hit on Mandy Rose to screw with Otis (during the main event).
AJ Styles won the Intercontinental Title for the first time.