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Friday Night SmackDown was held in Albany, New York from the MVP Arena. Nia Jax is now the first ever Queen of the Ring after defeating one of the newest female Superstars on Monday Night Raw, Lyra Valkyria, at King and Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last Saturday. With that victory comes an important caveat: a title shot at SummerSlam. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill also retained their Women’s Tag Team Championships over Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell during the event as well.
The show opened with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis in the ring, who introduced Nia Jax for her Queen of the Ring coronation. As boos and chants of “YOU SUCK!” consumed the venue, Nia called out WWE Women’s Champion Bayley, who made her way out but would get ambushed by Piper Niven and Chelsea Green.
Niven would then enter the ring and have a staredown with Jax, as Green reminded the new Queen of the Ring that her “sweet pea, best friend, little spicy margarita” in Niven would be the champion by SummerSlam. Jax replied and said that she didn’t give a damn who the champion would be by then because she would annihilate them regardless, before walking off. Still reeling from her attack, Green and Niven would taunt Bayley, their feud clearly being far from over especially with a new obstacle in the champion’s way thanks to Jax.
Now in the trainer’s room, Bayley is getting her arm checked out by one of the doctors when Naomi enters the shot. Naomi tells her that Chelsea and Piper will not be getting away with their attack, and asks Bayley if she’s good to fight later. Bayley believes she’s all good, allowing Naomi to go to Nick Aldis and make a tag team match for later on.
A backstage meeting between new Team Blue female Blair Davenport and Nick Aldis was interrupted by Naomi, who wanted her tag team match to be approved. This didn’t sit well with Davenport, who assured The Girl with the Glow that she will eventually find out who she is before walking away. Naomi got what she wanted, although it was certainly not a new friend in the locker room, as her tag team match was given the okay by the blue brand’s head honcho.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair were talking backstage before being interrupted by Indi Hartwell, who claims that Candice LeRae is now stuck at home with a hurt knee. Bianca says her concerns are a bit extra as it was her and Candice that had injured Bianca’s knee during the Queen of the Ring tournament. Cargill would shut Hartwell up by promising to put her on the shelf with her buddy Candice if she kept complaining.
Michin was interviewed by Kayla Braxton, and was asked about AJ Styles’s announcement regarding his future at the end of the night, as they are both members of The OC. She tries to say that AJ hasn’t really communicated to them but Nia Jax makes sure to spoil the conversation by interrupting her, telling her that as the Queen of the Ring, she should be the talk of the night and warns Michin to not step to her. They have a staredown with Jax promising Michin that she will regret it.
Bayley and Naomi were up next against Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. From the outset, the heel team made sure to brutalize the champion early on. Bayley was able to get a tag in on Naomi, who took out Green on the outside of the ring before the first commercial break.
The show returned from commercials with Piper and Chelsea having taken control of the match. With Bayley trying to make a tag to Naomi, Niven made it her mission to stop her from tagging in, but a reversal threw her off course and led to both Naomi and Green being tagged into the match, with Naomi getting a near fall on Green. After some back and forth from all four competitors, it would be Chelsea and Piper who would win as Piper took a laid out Naomi and helped her tag team partner pin her.
Here’s what’s set to take place next week on Friday Night SmackDown, set to air from Louisville, Kentucky:
Jade Cargill vs Indi Hartwell
