4 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 25)

by Andy H Murray

1. Closing On A High

Chris Jericho Kevin Owens AJ Styles
WWE.com

The title change sucked, but SmackDown’s main event was easily its biggest highlight last night. The match between Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, and United States Champion Kevin Owens completely eclipsed the Battleground bout in terms of quality, with each man working extremely hard, creating what sounded like a hot atmosphere inside the building.

The trio largely avoided falling into the usual three-way problem of one man waiting on the outside while the other two fight. They kept it fluid and fast-paced, with multiple momentum swings throughout the match, and each man came close to winning before Styles’ eventual victory.

In the end, AJ regained the title by disposing of KO after he’d hit a Frog Splash on Jericho, before making the cover himself. Owens was absolutely fuming afterwards, launching into a huge temper tantrum, an challenging AJ to a rematch next week. He wasn’t pinned, so as much as it would suck to see yet another title change, Owens does have a point.

This match felt like a return to SmackDown’s glory days, when no matter what else happened on the show, fans would at least be guaranteed a quality main event. Long may it continue.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.