WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from July 9

Every week on Bleacher Report, I take an in-depth look at WWE SmackDown to recap the action, offer analysis and grade the matches, segments and anything else that takes place on the show, as well as make a few predictions for future events.

This week's show was rather uneventful in terms of storyline development, but a couple of people managed to provide some decent entertainment.

Having Paul Heyman appear certainly helped make things more interesting, but the majority of the matches were average at best.

Seth Rollins bookended the show with a great opening segment and a main event with Ryback that was better than expected. Everything in between felt like filler.

Let's take a look at what happened on this week's SmackDown.

Opening Segment

After a video package played showing Brock Lesnar destroy J&J Security's car on Raw, Seth Rollins came out all by himself to open the show.

He talked about how he called out Lesnar and somehow twisted the story to make it seem like Lesnar was the coward when it was Rollins who ran away with his tail between his legs.

A tow truck brought out the Cadillac Lesnar destroyed, and it looked like it had taken quite a bit more damage since Monday. Paul Heyman came out on the ramp to tout his client's handy work.

Rollins and Heyman played off each other very well. While Heyman is the best talker WWE has, Rollins was able to keep step with him throughout the segment.

The only concern anyone should have is how Rollins can believably look like he could retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Lesnar without getting himself disqualified or counted out.

This opening promo and exchange was better than average for SmackDown. Heyman and Rollins are very good on the mic, and this felt like the kind of segment that would open Raw, not the B-show.

Grade: B+

Notes and Highlights

• It's great to see Rollins finally standing on his own. He will look like a much stronger champion by not having a bunch of cronies doing his bidding.
• Rollins keeps mentioning the price of the Cadillac as if it's a really expensive vehicle when it's on the low end where luxury cars are concerned.
• Rollins sounded like he was losing his voice toward the end of the segment.
• Rollins was shown backstage trying to get Big Show to help him against Lesnar later in the show. Big Show didn't take the bait, but he seemed like he supported the champion's quest to burn Suplex City to the ground.

Dean Ambrose vs. Bo Dallas

The first match of the night was a complete mismatch. Dean Ambrose, a man who is easily one of the most over Superstars on the roster, faced Bo Dallas.

They started out with a little chain wrestling, which is not exactly the kind of style Ambrose is known for. It was nice to see him show off some technical ability instead of relying on his brawling skills.

The biggest surprise was that this match lasted two segments. Going into it, you would've thought it would have been over quickly, but Dallas put up a decent fight.

However, his heel tactics weren't enough to overcome the unpredictability of Ambrose, who picked up the win with Dirty Deeds.

This was actually one of the better matches we have seen from Dallas since his days in NXT. He used a wide variety of offense and actually looked like someone who belonged in a WWE ring.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• So Ambrose goes from challenging for the title to facing a jobber like Dallas? Can someone please explain the logic behind his booking.
• Dallas taking credit for the Rock's success was really funny for all the wrong reasons.
• Jimmy Uso is a lot better on commentary than I ever though he would be. WWE should have Superstars fill in on the announce table for entire shows with some regularity. It would give fans a chance to see a different side of them.
• The way Ambrose scared Dallas with his mean face was awesome.

Rusev vs. Fandango

Unlike Ambrose against Dallas, it actually made sense for Fandango to face Rusev, given he and Summer Rae used to be in a relationship. However, Fandango didn't put up as much of a fight as Dallas did in his match.

Considering Fandango is a glorified jobber these days, this match lasted longer than expected. He got in a small amount of offense, but he wasn't able to overcome Rusev's power and size advantage.

The Bulgarian Brute picked up the win with his signature Accolade submission. The only thing this really accomplished was reminding people that Rusev is a dominant monster in the ring, but that's hard to forget after he put Ziggler in the hospital on Raw.

Grade: C-

Notes and Highlights

• Rusev is wearing boots now. It's probably smart on his part so he doesn't reinjure his ankle. Wrestling without them was never a good idea to begin with.
• Maybe Rusev really is a superathlete. Healing from a broken ankle usually takes longer than the amount of time he was on the shelf.
• If Rusev keeps growing his hair he might actually grow out of his mullet. Nobody should have a mullet, especially someone who wants to be taken seriously.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show

Roman Reigns and Big Show surprised a lot of people by putting on one of the best matches at Extreme Rules 2015, but they didn't have a hardcore stipulation to help them this time.

These two always manage to have very physical confrontations, and this was no exception. Reigns is the kind of wrestler who brings out the best in Big Show because he actually looks like he can pose a threat to the giant.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a clean finish because Bray Wyatt had an imposter distract Reigns from the stage while he snuck up behind the former Shield enforcer.

Reigns knew it was coming and took Wyatt out with a Superman punch, but the Backwoods Messiah eventually recovered and caused a disqualification.

The match itself was average, and the way it ended was extremely predictable. Hopefully this feud finishes at Battleground because it's already starting to feel repetitive.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• Big Show was wearing a shirt under his singlet for some reason.
• Shouldn't Big Show be pissed off that Wyatt cost him the match? Just once it would be nice if WWE put some logic into the booking of things like this.
• WWE should have Luke Harper be the one who is helping Wyatt by pretending to be him. The Wyatt Family was so much better as a group than any of its members are on their own.

Titus O'Neil vs. Big E

The two powerhouses of the New Day and Prime Time Players battled each other when Big E took on Titus O'Neil.

These are two of the most underrated workers in WWE today, so it was nice to see them have some time to shine without their partners.

Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were ejected from ringside, but they didn't even have enough time to make it up the ramp before O'Neil hit Clash of the Titus for the pin and the win.

The only thing wrong with this match was how long it lasted. These two could have put on a good show if they were given more time.

Grade: C

Notes and Highlights

• The way Kingston claps is easily the funniest thing about The New Day.
• How can Darren Young possibly think his facial hair looks good? It's like he couldn't decide what he wanted to do, so he just tried everything.

Randy Orton Spits Venom

Randy Orton came out to the ring for a promo that saw him address his rivalry with Sheamus. He said in the 13 years he's been with the company, nobody has gotten under his skin more than the Celtic Warrior.

He only spoke for about 30 seconds before it looked like he was going to leave, but the Ascension came out and tried to intimidate him.

As anyone who has watched WWE for more than a month could have predicted, Orton took out both men with RKOs, much to the delight of the crowd.

This kind of segment helps make someone like Orton look good, but it's a shame two guys who are supposed to be big, bad powerhouses were put down so easily.

The Ascension have flopped on the main roster, but that is because the creative team doesn't know how to book them, not because they aren't talented.

This was still a decent segment despite the burial of a promising tag team. Hopefully Konnor and Viktor are able to get back to the level they were at in NXT before WWE decides to break them up for no reason.

Grade: C

Brie Bella and Alicia Fox vs. Tamina and Naomi

Tamina and Naomi, despite never actually turning babyface, continued their feud with the heel faction of Alicia Fox and the Bellas with another pointless tag team match.

All four of these women definitely have talent in different areas, but they are being used in such a weird way these days that it's hard to get excited about a contest like this.

Brie and Foxy picked up the win but didn't really gain anything by doing so. If Paige was aligned with Naomi and Tamina, it might make things more interesting.

It wasn't the worst Divas match, but after Nikki, Tamina and Paige put on a good performance during the Beast in the East special, this looked like amateur hour.

Grade: C-

Notes and Highlights

• Can we please get a defined face turn for Tamina and Naomi? Seeing heel-versus-heel matches in the Divas division is becoming way too commonplace.
• Seeing Brie team up with someone other than Nikki is weird but somehow refreshing.
• It looked like Brie connected with a running knee to Naomi's face really hard.

Ryback vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins and Ryback closed out SmackDown with what was easily the best match of the night. Both men used all their skills to make up for the run-of-the-mill bouts we had to sit through beforehand.

Ryback looked very impressive against someone who is considered to be one of the most talented wrestlers in the entire company, which is great, considering nobody thought too highly of him a year ago.

Rollins ended up getting himself counted out, which might have actually been the best way for this to end. Ryback gets to look strong by defeating the WWE world heavyweight champion, while Rollins looks like the cowardly heel he is supposed to be.

Big Show came out and helped Rollins attack Ryback after the match was over, but Reigns made the save to send the crowd home happy.

Grade: B+

Notes and Highlights

• It felt like Ryback held Rollins in that vertical suplex forever. It's surprising Rollins didn't have a red face from all his blood rushing to his head.
• Reigns' Spear always looks really good when he uses it on monsters such as Big Show and Mark Henry.
• Watching Ryback evolve from a one-note meathead into someone who can actually wrestle a good match has been an interesting journey, and he continues to improve with each passing week.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

All things considered, this was a pretty poor episode of SmackDown. Most of the matches were underwhelming and the only segments worth watching were the main event and the opening exchange between Heyman and Rollins.

The Divas division continues to be treated like an afterthought, and most of the current feuds therein are either repetitive or pointless.

Orton's return has helped a little, but his feud with Sheamus will likely be no different than all the other times they have fought each other.

The good news is that Battleground has the potential to be a great show. Hopefully it turns out that way.

Predictions

• Brock Lesnar won't get his hands on Rollins until Battleground
• Sheamus versus Orton will be added to the Battleground card on Monday.
• J&J Security won't return for at least a month.
• Naomi and Tamina will eventually join Paige's cause.
• Reigns will finally get the upper hand on Wyatt next week.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown?

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