4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (26 July - Results & Review)

Cody Rhodes was one of several WWE stars absent from this week's episode of SmackDown (at least in person), but the show's overall star power is about to receive a massive boost. Roman Reigns was teased, which really helped Friday night become newsworthy. After all, it was a pre-taped episode filmed last week, and those are typically less exciting.

There were lots of vignettes and recaps, but two stirring matches helped keep things purring. The tag-team gauntlet was routine without ever being boring, and it had a hot finish that promises more fun to come in the division. Elsewhere, Bayley and Nia Jax managed to pull the nose up on their feud after last week's awful promo exchange.

Their hard work helped offset the fact that several heavy hitters were left off the program.

SmackDown's product hasn't been perfect over the past few weeks, but good times are ahead. Indeed, the big teaser for SummerSlam was worth checking out alone. Underneath that, names like Jacob Fatu, LA Knight, Bayley, Jax and even The Street Profits carried the night.

Here's all the good and bad from the penultimate blue brand stop pre-PLE.