WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From August 22
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on August 22.
We are just over a week away from Clash in Paris, so it's all hands on deck to hype up the French PLE.
Here is a look at what WWE advertised for Friday's show:
Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's SmackDown.
The Man Returns to Ireland
1 of 8
This Irish edition of SmackDown opened with Becky Lynch coming out to a huge ovation from her countrymen.
She talked about how important it is to have the first episode of SmackDown in Ireland only to say the Irish fans do not deserve it and she tried to get the show canceled.
The crowd immediately began chanting for Lyra Valkyria as Lynch ripped into everyone. She complained about a lack of Irish media coverage for her career.
Lynch knocked this promo out of the park. She hasn't had a chance to really sink her teeth into this current heel character until recently, and she was clearly enjoying every second of this.
Tiffany Stratton interrupted The Man and threatened to send her packing before Nia Jax joined the party. Jax and Lynch attacked Tiffy until Jade Cargill made the save. Nick Aldis came out and booked a tag match for later in the show.
This was a copy-and-paste segment that was incredibly predictable, but the strength of Lynch's performance made it entertaining.
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Lynch was having a ball waiting for the crowd to stop chanting so she could turn on them.
- The fact that WWE barely did anything to hype Lynch appearing in Happy Gilmore 2 feels like an oversight, especially with the Netflix relationship.
Melo Don't Miz vs. Motor City Machine Guns
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Carmelo Hayes and The Miz were in action this week against Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley as they continue their quest for tag team gold.
Melo opted to tag in and start the match against Sabin, which The A-Lister was more than happy to allow. Then Melo pretended he was going to tag Miz but pulled his hand away. The Miz tagged in and they had a brief exchange of smirks before he got on Sabin.
MCMG used some double-team offense to take control as the show went to a break. We returned to see MCMG still controlling the pace with their signature fast-paced style.
The Miz was able to steal the win from Melo once again, but his partner didn't look too upset about it this time. This was their best match as a duo so far.
Result: Melo Don't Miz defeated MCMG
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Melo put over The Miz during a backstage interaction with Fraxiom. It was the first time it felt like Melo appreciated being his partner.
- MCMG have some of the best double-team offense in all of pro wrestling. They are so in sync.
Charlotte Flair vs. Piper Niven
3 of 8
The next match featured Flair taking on Niven, but they were not alone. Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre were in Piper's corner. Alexa Bliss was absent, so The Queen had to go it alone this week.
Niven used her size advantage to take control at first, but Flair didn't let her keep the upper hand for too long.
Green and Fyre were doing their best to keep The Queen distracted, and it helped Niven dominate most of the match before the break.
Flair began building up a head of steam when we returned. Green and Fyre interfered while the ref was distracted and helped Niven break out of the Figure Eight and hit her finisher for what ended up being her biggest singles win to date.
This was a decent match, but seeing Niven get a win over such a big star was the best part.
Result: Niven defeated Flair
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn had a backstage confrontation with Solo Sikoa but there was no violence.
- The way Flair hits a kick through the ropes never looks right. It looks more like they run into her foot than anything else.
- The rolling clothesline Charlotte hit looked good.
John Cena's Farewell to Ireland
4 of 8
Cena made his way out to a big ovation from the Irish crowd for what will likely be his final appearance in a WWE ring in the country.
He was joined by Logan Paul before he could even say two words. The Social Media Megastar went off on Cena and the crowd. It was completely unprompted. Cena just sat back and listened until it was the right time to speak.
Paul said Cena was the imposter, not him. No matter what he said, the crowd chanted against him. When Cena finally spoke, he put Paul over as a great athlete and future champion before calling him a disappointment.
Cena tipped over the Prime display at ringside as he continued to complain about Paul's lack of respect for the business, which popped the crowd.
You could see every step of this segment coming before it happened, but it still ended up being entertaining because Cena is one of the best promo men in the business. He can get the crowd invested faster than anyone, and this segment was a great display of his ability.
Paul tried to get physical and ended up taking an Attitude Adjustment to end the segment.
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- You can tell Cena is still having fun with this final run and likes being back in the babyface role.
- Having Paul's music hit before Cena had a chance to speak was a good way to get him some heat.
- Paul said he could spit in the face of anyone in the crowd and they wouldn't do anything. He's clearly never known anyone Irish before because he wouldn't make it out of the arena if he did that.
- Paul being allowed to mention the agreement Cena had Nikki Bella sign to move in with him was surprising, but Cena was allowed to mention Paul's legal issues, so they made it out of this segment on even ground.
Street Profits vs. MFTs
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Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins took on JC Mateo and Tanga Loa this week, but as usual, Sikoa and Talla Tonga were not far behind.
Loa and Dawkins started for their teams and the Profits took control with some quick double-team offense.
After that initial onslaught, it felt like this match was all MFTs. Big Jim tried to provide some support by attacking Talla with a chair, but he was chased away by the giant. Zayn showed up and took out Sikoa before the Profits finished off Mateo to get the win.
Most of this match was pretty standard stuff, but the final couple of minutes helped elevate it.
Result: The Street Profits defeated MFTs
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Chanting "You can't wrestle" at Mateo is absurd. He may not have had a chance to shine yet, but the former Jeff Cobb is a great performer.
- Sikoa continues to be the best at taunting in WWE today.
- Ford and Dawkins will have great careers but will still be one of the most underrated tag teams when they are done. They are so good and it feels like their booking has never quite matched up to their skill.
Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest
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R-Truth revealed he ended up in Dublin, Georgia instead of Dublin, Ireland, but he sent Damian Priest to fight in his place.
They started brawling as soon as Priest hit the ring. The ref was trying to separate them so he could start the match with no success.
Security tried to break it up, but they kept breaking free and going after each other. It's kind of sad that it looks like WWE might have given up on Truth being a more serious character.
The brawl between Priest and Black was quick and didn't have anything too shocking.
After Priest and Black were cleared from the ringside area, Drew McIntyre showed up and gave a promo directed at Cody Rhodes.
As he was talking, Randy Orton made his return and hit an RKO out of nowhere to take down the Scottish Psychopath. This was a fun way to cap off a segment that was supposed to be a match.
Result: The Match Never Took Place
Grade: C+
Nia Jax and Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill
7 of 8
Nia and Becky had a quick meeting backstage to establish that they want to be on the same page despite still hating each other.
Tiffy ended up taking out both opponents by herself with a huge senton from the top rope to the floor within the first few minutes of the match.
We returned from a break to see Cargill taking it to Lynch. Jax made a blind tag and took out Cargill from behind, but she took too long setting up her finisher.
Lynch decided to leave Jax to fend for herself, which led to Jade and Tiffy scoring the win. This match had a few hiccups, but it was decent and had the right ending.
The show went off the air after Paul was shown knocking out Cena backstage.
Result: Cargill and Stratton defeated Lynch and Jax
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Lynch was kind of hilarious in the brief segment with Jax backstage.
- The corner splash Cargill hit looked like it would actually hurt someone.
- Jade's torture rack into a powerbomb is decent, but it would be fun if she used the rack as a submission move. She could pull it off.
The Final Word
8 of 8
Friday's SmackDown from Dublin was a slightly above average episode thanks to some solid in-ring work and a few fun promo segments.
Cena handing Paul an AA after running him down on the mic was one of the highlights of the entire show, but when it comes to in-ring action, it was hard to pick a standout this week.
The Profits vs. MFTs match had some fun moments, but if we have to pick something as the Match of the Night, it's going to be Motor City Machine Guns vs. Melo Don't Miz.
Ever since they reunited a few weeks ago, Melo and Miz have been on a roll. It won't be long before they end up challenging for the tag titles.
The Irish crowd was loud and excited all night, which always makes for a more entertaining show. Let's hope France keeps this same energy next week.
Grade: B
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