On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, the final two men qualified for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and several NXT talents appeared.
Days after he was arrested for a DUI in Florida, Jimmy Uso did appear on the show and featured in a show-long angle where The Usos were aligned with Roman Reigns. It climaxed in the final segment of the show where The Usos came out as back-up for Reigns after the champion was called out by Edge. As Reigns and Edge fought, Rey & Dominik Mysterio appeared and attacked The Usos with chairs. It ended with Edge using a piece of the chair to assist with crossfaces on both Usos.
King Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin with the Kinshasa to qualify for the men’s ladder match and continuing the story that Corbin has hit rock bottom after losing the crown to Nakamura.
In the final men’s qualifying match, Seth Rollins defeated Cesaro with the stomp in a match that lasted over eighteen minutes. The match featured Cesaro bleeding and struggling to beat the count after a DDT on the ramp. After failing to get the Cesaro Swing, Rollins ended the match after hitting his finisher.
In the back, Rollins said he should be facing Reigns for the title and was confronted by Edge.
On the women’s side, Sonya Deville announced Carmella will now challenge Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship on next Friday’s episode in Houston, Texas. Therefore, Carmella will be replaced by Liv Morgan in the women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match at the pay-per-view.
SmackDown also featured appearances by NXT talents Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox, who worked as a team to defeat Women’s Tag Champions Natalya & Tamina in a non-title match. The unannounced appearances led to a match with the champions and Blackheart pinning Natalya with a senton off the top.
The two were identified as “Shotzi” and “Nox” but were called their names during their entrance and in the match.
Later in the show, a vignette aired to reveal that Toni Storm is coming to SmackDown.
Storm was signed in 2018 by WWE and won that year’s Mae Young Classic. She is also a former NXT UK Women’s Champion before debuting on NXT proper.
Below is the updated card for the Money in the Bank card on July 18th in Fort Worth, Texas:
*WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (champion) vs. Edge
*WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (champion) vs. Kofi Kingston
*Raw Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (champion) vs. Charlotte Flair
*Men’s MITB Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. John Morrison vs. Riddle vs. Big E. vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kevin Owens vs. King Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins
*Women’s MITB Ladder Match: Naomi vs. Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Cross vs. Liv Morgan vs. Zelina Vega vs. TBA vs. TBA
