5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 18)

by Andy H Murray

1. The Night Belongs To KO & Corbin

Kevin Owens AJ Styles
WWE.com

SmackDown’s main event was textbook WWE booking. Two feuds were paired up in a tag match, with the heels taking on the faces. This time, it was AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura combining to battle Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin, and with the participants set to meet in singles matches on Sunday, they closed SD on a high note.

It wasn’t a blowaway main event, but there was nothing wrong with it. Both Styles and Nakamura looked good and got plenty of shine, but the night belonged to the bad guys, who beat their opponents not through cowardice, but by outsmarting them. AJ missed KO’s blind tag on ‘The Lone Wolf,’ allowing ‘The New Face Of America’ to catch him with a Superkick, then put him away with the Pop-Up Powerbomb.

A refreshing outcome, as WWE’s main event heels rarely score clean victories this week. Styles vs. Owens occupied much of the runtime, which is exactly how it should’ve been booked. Their feud has been progressing for several months now, while Corbin vs. Nakamura is just getting started, and still has plenty of time to grow.

Did the match do much to hype Battleground? Not really, but it was a decent contest regardless.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.