WWE SmackDown Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From October 2

Money in the Bank is coming up fast next weekend, so WWE is looking to make sure the card is properly hyped between now and the PLE on October 10.

Friday's show saw two more MITB qualifying matches take place. The women's bout featured Tatum Paxley, Tiffany Stratton and Candice LeRae, while the men's match had Kevin Owens, Johnny Gargano and Cody Rhodes fighting for their spot.

After months of videos and false starts, Friday was also set to be the night that Blake Monroe finally made her in-ring debut on the main roster against Giulia.

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

Tiffany Stratton vs. Tatum Paxley vs. Candice LeRae

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Last time in action: LeRae lost to Jacy Jayne (Main Event, June 19), Stratton lost a six-woman tag to Fatal Influence (SD, Sept. 25), Paxley lost a six-woman tag to The Baddies (SNME, Sept. 6)

The show did not waste time with talking segments and got right into the action with LeRae, Stratton and Paxley fighting for one of the final MITB spots.

These are three very different characters, but they all share a lot of similar attributes in the ring. They are all capable of some high-flying, and they all favor a quicker pace.

This match isn't going to be a show-stealer for most people, and it had a few too many moments that didn't quite look right, but it definitely had some highlights along the way.

Paxley is a breath of fresh air on SmackDown, and having LeRae competing again is going to add even more depth to the division. She was wasted sitting on the sidelines for far too long, so getting to see her show off a little was nice.

Stratton felt like the most obvious booking choice in this match heading into Friday, so booking either opponent to win was WWE's chance to do something less predictable. Unfortunately, they went with the predictable outcome.

Tiffy winning is not a bad thing. She will be great in the MITB match. It just would have been nice to see a new face like Tatum or someone like Candice, who has deserved a spotlight for a long time, get that spot.

Result: Stratton defeated LeRae and Paxley

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Candice needs new music. The song she came out to does not fit her.
• Stratton's cartwheel into an Alabama slam move is not consistent enough. She hits it right about half the time, and it looks great, but every other time looks awkward.
• Paxley is a very entertaining personality, but she still has a few things she needs to polish in the ring, like some of her strikes. Once she gets those things squared away, she could easily be someone WWE pushes toward a world title at some point.
• Paxley using an armdrag and a dropkick at the same time was a cool spot.

Rey Fenix and Fraxiom vs. Ricky Saints and War Raiders

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Last time in action: Fraxiom beat DarkState (NXT, Sept. 29), Saints lost to Fenix (SD, Sept. 11), War Raiders lost to The Wagner Brothers (AAA TripleMania)

Rey Fenix and Ricky Saints have a pre-existing feud heading into this match, so they were the main story, but Fraxiom and The War Raiders being involved helped with WWE's current goal to rebuild the tag team division a bit.

Nathan Frazer and Erik started for their teams. The huge size disparity gave the powerhouse an early advantage, and he used it to corner Frazer so he and Ivar could double-team him.

Once the other high-flyers were able to get involved, they started to build momentum, but one rough spot brought it all to a halt. Fenix tried to hit a dive, but he ended up messing up the move, so they had to improvise as the show went on break.

He seemed to be fine when the show returned, so thankfully Fenix did not appear to be injured from the botch. They did a good job trying to get the crowd into the match after the pace had slowed down.

This ended up having a pretty competitive second half. All six guys had their moments, but when it came to an end, it was Saints who pinned Fenix, which may earn him another shot at the AAA cruiserweight title in the future.

Result: Saints and War Raiders defeated Fraxiom and Fenix

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Chelsea Green gave an interview backstage and said she hopes Tiffy wins MITB again. Nikki Bella showed up and insulted the champion until Paige walked up and challenged her to a match in two weeks.
• The botch with Fenix was filmed at such a weird angle that it was hard to tell exactly where it went wrong.

The Last Real Good Guy?

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Sami Zayn came out to what can only be described as a mixed response. You could tell a lot of fans were cheering, but the boos could be heard just a bit more.

He got even more boos when he called himself the last real good guy during his promo. He went on a little rant about everything he has gone through to become the champion again.

He was eventually interrupted by Je'Von Evans, who acted like he was concerned for Sami because it seemed like he was crashing out. He then spoke about how he is on a faster track to becoming the champion than Zayn ever was.

It didn't take very long for Penta to make his presence felt, and a few moments later, Trick Williams did the same thing. They all traded some trash talk, but there wasn't much settled. Everyone just said the same things about wanting to be the WWE champion.

Zayn eventually left out of frustration, and the segment ended without any fighting. This didn't accomplish anything and felt like filler, but the confrontation with Balor as Zayn was leaving was a fun little moment.

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package for Damian Priest was well made.
• Evans has the number 67 on his new shirt. Can we order a reset on the timeline?
• Evans winning MITB and the title would be the first time it felt like WWE truly invested early in a young talent in quite some time.

Giulia vs. Blake Monroe

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Last time in action: Giulia lost to Lash Legend (SD, Sept. 25), Monroe lost to Paxley (NXT, April 21)

After months of waiting, buildup, delays and injuries, Monroe's in-ring SmackDown debut was finally scheduled for this week's show, and she took on her former ally in Stardom, Giulia.

When the bell rang, they did not waste time with lockups and wristlocks. They were throwing punches right away and turned it into a very personal fight.

Monroe and Giulia are both well-regarded workers, so there was a little pressure on them to not only deliver, but to make this whole months-long build worth the wait.

Did it pay to wait this long for Monroe's debut? Not at all. WWE did not make the most of this story in any way. Was the match enjoyable anyway? Definitely. They might not have had the chance to make this as good as it possibly could be, but they made the most of the time they were given.

Monroe ended up scoring the win, but Giulia may not have made it out unscathed. The ref called for medical help after the match, and the camera never went back to show her, so it was unclear if it was a work or if she is really hurt.

Result: Monroe defeated Giulia

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Gunther got into another altercation with Gunther backstage. This time, The Ring General knocked him on his butt.
• Monroe's special entrance from NXT did not follow her to the main roster.
• Giulia really throws herself into everything. It makes her so much more convincing than a lot of people.
• The stomp Giulia uses looks so much more vicious than the one Seth Rollins uses. Monroe sold it perfectly, too.

Kevin Owens vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Johnny Gargano

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Last time in action: Owens lost to Zayn (SD, Sept. 18), Gargano lost to CM Punk (SD, August 28), Rhodes lost to Randy Orton (SNME)

The main event of this week's show was the final MITB qualifying match. Gargano, Owens and Rhodes fought for the open spot, and with all three men having a storyline going with Zayn at the moment, it was genuinely the hardest match to predict on the show.

This is one of those cases when telling you the match was good feels like a waste of time because it was already a foregone conclusion. Of course it was going to be good with these three men involved.

Owens is incredibly versatile, Rhodes is a longstanding main event player in WWE, and Gargano is one of the best bell-to-bell performers to ever come out of NXT's black and gold era. They would almost have to try to have a bad match.

LeRae showed up and helped Johnny avoid a disaster at ringside with Owens and a table, but it didn't do much to give him an advantage once Rhodes powerslammed him.

The final sequence was very well paced and made all three competitors look great. It looked like The American Nightmare would secure the win, but Randy Orton showed up to spoil his night.

Gargano almost took advantage of the situation to win, but KO barely kicked out and hit the Popup Powerbomb. As Rhodes tried to crawl back in to break up the pin, Orton held his leg so Owens could get the pin.

Result: Owens defeated Rhodes and Gargano

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• There was a guy in a sparkly robe in the front row who seemed stoked to be there all night.
• Seeing Gargano go from lying backstage every week to being in main events again is nice. That story might not have made sense, but he is back where he belongs.
• Young wrestlers should study Owens. He does so many little things between moves to make his whole performance better. Facial expressions are a big part of it.
• Corey Graves made a nice reference to Benjamin Satterley, who you know as Pac in AEW and Neville when he worked for WWE.

The Final Word

Friday's SmackDown probably doesn't sound like anything special on paper, but it ended up being a solid two hours of wrestling on a Friday night.

Monroe finally having her debut was great, even if the match left us wanting more from her and Giulia at the end.

The six-man tag match was also enjoyable, as was the women's MITB qualifier, but the main event stole the show by a mile.

Owens qualifying for the MITB match was a feel-good moment to end the show, and it felt like the right decision given the stories WWE is trying to tell.

Grade: B