WWE SmackDown Top-3 Hits (07/26/24): Gauntlet match steals the show; Stratton, Jax punish Bayley

At this point, many in the WWE Universe are in solidarity in championing some sort of curveball within the arc of Solo Sikoa and the new-look Bloodline ahead of a looming Roman Reigns’ return, seeing as the last three consecutive episodes of SmackDown have ended nearly the same way: with Cody Rhodes and Friends being pulverized and put through the announcer’s table.

It’s like a syndicated sitcom.

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With Summerslam right around the corner on Aug. 3, the penultimate episode of SmackDown needed some very real juice to throw the buildup to Cleveland into hyperdrive; and there’s no shortage of options to make this happen — one example being the fact Jimmy Uso was medically cleared nearly a month ago.

The good news for the Blue Brand is that, Bloodline ratings vacuum aside, the feud between WWE Women’s Champion Bayley, 2024 Queen of the Ring Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton, the reigning Miss Money in the Bank, is extremely entertaining; and the same can be said for LA Knight versus Logan Paul.

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It was Bayley teaming up with Michin against Jax and Stratton after the events of last week, when the champ went feral on Jax and the MITB briefcase, and Knight looking to finally put Santos Escobar in his place as a warm-up for his title match next Saturday.

Toss in a Gauntlet Match to determine the men’s No. 1 contender for the titles held currently by DIY and SmackDown had plenty to look forward to, but one glaring hole in its programming.

Was that solved on July 26??

Let’s get into the top-3 hits from the latest episode and find out.

3. In Cahoots

Knight didn’t exactly walk into a fair fight against Escobar, but he likely knew that would be the case, though he didn’t expect he’d also have to contend with Elektra Lopez slapping him at some point during the match.

Outnumbered from the start, the Megastar was still able to deliver his brand of beatdown on Escobar and nearly walked away with the win before, you guessed it, Paul inserted himself into the situation to sneak attack Knight and, in the process, again showing some sort of teamwork with Escobar.

They’ve definitely pulled this before against Knight, so keep an eye on this going into Summerslam, although Paul promises some other sort of hidden surprise by way of “Mr. Cleveland”, whomever that might be.

Paul is willing to defend the WWE United States Championship at all costs.

Unluckily for him, though, is the fact Knight knows this all too well and will likely be prepared for it, and especially after hearing Paul make the mistake of showing his hand too early.

By the way, Paul may want to also work on selling his kicks because, I mean, come on.

2. Money in the Beatdown

Tiffy was backstage still mourning her battered briefcase that got obliterated by Bayley last week, when her newfound “friend” (air quotes) promised to get her a new one if they were to win their match against Bayley and Michin — easier said than done when considering both heels have been embarrassed recently by the faces.

Needless to say, this match was going to be as fun as it was set to be interesting, because it’s still unknown when Tiffy will cash in the briefcase, but it’s safe to assume it’ll happen when Nia Jax least expects or wants it to.

Michin couldn’t make it to the ring before Jax and Stratton would attack her from behind, getting the action going before the bell had time to sound. Once things did officially get underway, Stratton was her usual braggadocious self and it cost her at times against a much more experienced and savvy Michin and Bayley, though there was a lot of back and forth in this fight — things turning toward Jax and Stratton once the former got Michin out of the ring.

A back slam onto the mat helped that be true.

Things slowly turned back into the favor of Michin and Bayley from there, but it took a lot of grit due to an ailing back. Bayley would get tagged in shortly after Stratton panicked to tag Jax and get away from a crazed Michin, and it became all but a wrap after Stratton hit Bayley in the face with the briefcase and the Annihilator followed.

Ballgame.

Bayley is all set for her revenge at Summerslam.

1. Blood In

The Gauntlet Match was pure fire, and deserves a nod of some sort here; and brilliant on Triple H for booking this to not only help devour a good chunk of the two-hour time slot to avoid having to book added matches that might negatively affect Summerslam or be viewed as fillers, but this match also wonderfully showcased lots of talent that might be in need of it.

That goes for Pretty Deadly, as one example, and others like The OC, Apollo Crews and Barin Corbin — who have been working hard across multiple brands to get TV time.

Street Profits win or WE RIOT. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/rswUqjPfYk

— And New! Wrestling (@andnewwrestling) July 27, 2024

Crews and Corbin put on a show before ultimately giving way to Pretty Deadly who then gave the Street Profits (who also put down Crews and Corbin) a run for their money, being eliminated before The OC would come in and try their hand at earning the title shot against DIY.

Nope.

yeah no one saw this win coming amirite #Smackdown pic.twitter.com/22Qc6hKfFs

— And New! Wrestling (@andnewwrestling) July 27, 2024

They were also eliminated, but then came the overpowered (or rather that’s what you’ve been sold the last several weeks) Bloodline as the final entrants which, to the surprise of no one, gave them the best odds of Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga winning the match.

And so they did, because yeah.

But it was literally every other tag team involved, and definitely the Street Profits, that pushed this match to the top of this list because, otherwise, it wouldn't be here.

The match deserved better than its ending.