WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from August 7

SummerSlam takes place on August 23, so that means WWE is going to be in full planning mode for the pay-per-view from this point forward.

Bray Wyatt returned to the Firefly Fun House this week after attacking Alexa Bliss during last Friday's show. Did he do it to recruit her, or is it just a tactic to draw Braun Strowman out of hiding?

This week's show also saw The Miz and John Morrison bring in Sonya Deville as a new special correspondent for MizTV. 

Jeff Hardy looked to continue his path of redemption with a match against King Baron Corbin, and Matt Riddle faced his biggest test on the main roster as he took on Sheamus.

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

Here is a list of the segments WWE advertised ahead of Friday's show:

• Jeff Hardy vs. King Corbin
• Sheamus vs. Matt Riddle
• Sonya Deville joins MizTV as a special correspondent.
• Bray Wyatt returns to the Firefly Fun House.

After a quick video from Wyatt directed at Strowman, Riddle made his way to the ring for the opening match against Sheamus.

The Celtic Warrior asserted his dominance early by forcing The Barefoot Bro to the corner and wrestling him down to the mat in a side headlock. The MMA practitioner found his way out and began relying on his striking ability to combat Sheamus' raw power.

Riddle tried to employ a few submissions before the former world champion powerbombed him to stop him in his tracks. We returned from a commercial break to see Riddle kick out after taking three consecutive backbreakers.

The Bro started to make a comeback and hit several signature moves before one White Noise put him down for a near fall. As Riddle struggled to get up at ringside, Chad Gable attacked him out of nowhere to cause a disqualification.

Sheamus watched as Riddle rebounded and beat down the former Olympian. The Celtic Warrior was angry when he found out he lost and made Shorty G pay with a Brogue Kick.        

Grade: B-

Analysis

This match was all about physicality. Sheamus is a powerhouse with more speed than most, and Riddle is a well-rounded athlete who is capable of working against any kind of opponent, so they meshed well from the opening bell.

Sheamus is an underrated worker. He showed off his technical skills in this one by employing a variety of different types of offense as opposed to his usual onslaught of power moves and strikes.

The DQ finish is never how anyone wants a match to end, but from a storytelling standpoint, it worked. It kept Sheamus and Riddle looking strong but, unfortunately, it came at the expense of Gable.

WWE is clearly building toward Corbin vs. Riddle, but it would be great to see The Bro and Sheamus get back in the ring at some point because they had good chemistry in this bout. 

The Miz and John Morrison were back for another episode of MizTV. They had a few technical glitches, and JoMo made a joke about the new stable on Raw, Retribution.

They interviewed a wig with googly eyes while pretending it was the hair Deville cut off of Mandy Rose's head last week. It was every bit as cringe-inducing as you would expect.

They eventually brought out Deville, and she went on a rant about The Golden Goddess. She said Rose has lost all of her respect and she took pleasure in destroying her last week. 

Heavy Machinery ran down and beat up The A-Listers as we went to a break. 

Grade: C

Analysis

The Miz and Morrison are talented performers who usually make every episode of MizTV enjoyable. That was not the case this week, especially during the wig portion of the show.

Deville brought the segment back up with her promo directed at Rose. Their storyline has been going for months, but it has managed to remain enjoyable so far.

It was great to see Otis and Tucker back together, but it would have been better if the attack led to an immediate match. 

Lince Dorado and Cesaro faced off in the second match of the night while Gran Metalik and Shinsuke Nakamura watched from ringside.

As expected, The Swiss Superman used his significant power advantage to bully the high-flyer as much as he could. It took some creative use of the plexiglass barrier for Dorado to take him down with a hurricanrana.

After some back and forth action, Cesaro scored the win with The Gotch Neutralizer.      

Grade: C+

Analysis

This was a solid performance that suffered from being too short. These guys were having a great exchange, but it felt like it ended too abruptly.

Dorado getting a singles match on SmackDown is cool, but the loss makes it unlikely he and Metalik will be the next challengers for the tag titles.

This win gives Cesaro and Nakamura a little momentum, but in the end, they are already champions. Dorado would have benefitted much more from the victory. 

SmackDown opened with a recap of The Wyatt Swamp Fight and last week's attack by The Fiend on Bliss before we saw Wyatt back in his Firefly Fun House.

He said what happened to Bliss last week was Strowman's fault because he wasn't there to stop it. He teased an appearance by The Fiend later in the evening and promised to have someone special with him. 

About halfway through the show, Wyatt came to the ring. Bliss sat in the middle, and he almost applied The Mandible Claw again. She stopped him with one small touch before Strowman's voice came through the speakers.

He said he doesn't care about Bliss, he just wants to destroy Wyatt. The Monster Among Men said he was pushed to his breaking point and cannot contain his evil anymore. 

Grade: C+

Analysis

This was on the verge of being really interesting, but it ended up being more of a tease of what's to come than giving us any real progress.

Seeing the way Bliss and Wyatt interacted opens the door for a lot of possible directions WWE could take her character. Is she going to join him, or is she just trying to play her own mind games? 

This could lead to the payoff of the Sister Abigail stuff WWE failed to deliver on a couple of years ago. Time will tell. 

Hardy and Corbin met for a match after The King interrupted Hardy last week. As soon as they locked up, The Charismatic Enigma started unloading with punches to the head.

The painted warrior hit a few quick moves for a two-count before the former Golden Gloves fighter drilled him with a right hand of his own. 

Hardy spent the next few minutes on defense. He was able to make a brief comeback, but Corbin planted him with Deep Six for another two-count.

Sheamus ran down and delivered a Brogue Kick to Hardy to cause a disqualification in retaliation for his own loss earlier in the evening. This led to an impromptu match between Sheamus and Corbin after the commercial break.

Riddle showed up to cause a distraction that allowed Sheamus to hit his Brogue Kick for the win. The Bro even applauded Sheamus after it was over. 

Grade: B

Analysis

Hardy has momentum after his recent win over Sheamus, so it was a little surprising to see him used for a DQ to initiate a new match between the Irishman and The King. 

That being said, both matches blended together into one cohesive story, with the earlier interference from Gable planting the seeds for all of this to take place.

Hardy and Corbin had a decent exchange, but the fight between Sheamus and Corbin was a little more entertaining because of the level of anger felt by both men.

Instead of following up the attack from earlier in the night with a match right away, WWE waited until the main event to have Heavy Machinery battle The Miz and Morrison.

Tucker and JoMo started for their teams. Tucky took The Friday Night Delight down a few times with a waistlock slam before he laid him out with a straight right hand.

He spent a long time in the ring, and it led to The Miz and Morrison taking control for a long period of time. Deville cheered them on while Otis waited for his partner to tag him in.

Mr. Money in the Bank was unable to help his partner get the upper hand, but Rose ran down and attacked her former best friend. The ref called for the bell as Otis and Tucker tried to hold Rose back.

The two tag teams tried playing peacemakers, but the women would not be held back. They kept breaking free until the show went to a commercial. 

After the break, everyone could be seen arguing backstage until the lights started flickering. When we went back to the announcers, several people in black hoodies rushed the ring with weapons and started causing mayhem. 

Retribution sent the crew running before going into the crowd and attacking any wrestlers they could get their hands on.  

Grade: C+

Analysis

The first half of this was a standard tag match. Both teams got in their usual moves, but Miz and Morrison dominated most of the action. 

The fight between Deville and Rose injected some needed energy. They were vicious and were not about to let anyone get in their way. 

The ending with Retribution coming in and wrecking shop was reminiscent of the debut of Nexus a little over 10 years ago. This, however, was a lot more chaotic.

This new group is intriguing, but WWE shouldn't wait too long to reveal who is behind those masks. A few developmental talents stick out, but many of them are not easily identifiable. The timing of introducing a group like this is odd.