WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - July 24th, 2026

[Kemo]

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes react after their altercation at Saturday Night's Main Event

Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and Cody Rhodes nearly came to blows in the aftermath of Saturday Night's Main Event and then again on the SummerSlam Kickoff show. How will The Best in the World and The American Nightmare react en route to their highly-anticipated title showdown at The Biggest Event of the Summer?

— Joe Tessitore welcomes us to the show from commentary as we see the sights of Oakland and the Bay Area. Inside the Oakland Arena, we see Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Paige and Brie Bella and Fatal Influence and others arriving to the building.

— Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis are waiting in the ring as we head to a video recapping the recent tensions between Aldis and GUNTHER.

Pearce welcomes fans to SmackDown and introduces GUNTHER. GUNTHER then makes his way to the ring.

Pearce says GUNTHER and Aldis have had the chance to review the contract for their SummerSlam match, then informs Aldis that he can't compete as an official WWE Superstar as the SmackDown General Manager which means he will have to relinquish the role of SmackDown General Manager upon signing the contract. He also notes that he will be taking over as SmackDown General Manager, then says there's also a clause that states Aldis is returning to competition of his own free will and WWE assumes no responsibility for what happens to Aldis.

Pearce asks Aldis if they're crystal clear on the terms of the contract, and Aldis says he knows what he's signing. He the signs the contract, but GUNTHER says their match will be the greatest moment of Aldis' career. He says since joining SmackDown, Aldis has had an issue with him and he realized that issue is jealousy. GUNTHER says Aldis never made it as a WWE Superstar and says he got it all when he walked into the door from the titles to the money to the accolades. He says Aldis had to be honest with himself that he just isn't good enough and says he'll fulfill Aldis' dream and signs the contract.

GUNTHER says he'll turn Aldis into a legend and will have him join the list of names such as John Cena, Goldberg, and AJ Styles that he's retired. He says he'll end Aldis' career before it's properly started and looks to leave, but Aldis stops him and says GUNTHER keeps repeating himself. He says if GUNTHER believed anything he was saying, he wouldn't keep repeating himself to him and says GUNTHER is really just trying to get him to believe everything he's saying about him. He says GUNTHER never thought it would come to a match between them and says he saw in GUNTHER's eyes that he wants nothing to do with their match at the SummerSlam Kickoff show because GUNTHER is the one to put his career in jeopardy. HE says GUNTHER will go from the "Career Killer" to the man who's boss made a b**** out of him.

Aldis and GUNTHER begin brawling, but Pearce attempts to separate the two men. Aldis is sent crashing into Pearce, but GUNTHER low blows Aldis and powerbombs him through the table in the ring.

— We head backstage, where Sami Zayn hijacks a camera to once again vent his frustrations with the recent Undisputed WWE Championship ongoings and the current Undisputed WWE Championship SummerSlam match. He questions why Aldis gets to have a match with GUNTHER and runs into Pearce, where he demands that Pearce fix the situation as he says Aldis screwed him over at Saturday Night's Main Event as well. He asks Pearce to make the SummerSlam Undisputed WWE Championship match a Triple Threat, but Pearce declines to do so and says a Fatal Four-Way Match between Trick Williams, Damian Priest, Finn Balor, and Royce Keys will be held tonight. He says the winner will face Zayn in a Number One Contenders Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, but Zayn voices his anger about having to earn his way back to the Undisputed WWE Championship. Pearce tells Zayn to take it or leave it, and Zayn says he'll take it.

— Brie Bella and Paige make their way to the ring. Fatal Influence follows, with Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley bragging about being the new Women's Tag Team Championship and Jacy Jayne making it clear she wants some gold of her own as she calls out Women's United States Champion Tiffany Stratton.

Lainey Reid (w/ Fatal Influence) vs. Brie Bella (w/ Paige)

Brie levels Reid with a right hand, then delivers a knee to her off the ring steps. The pair get back into the ring back from the break, and the bell sounds.

Reid delivers a double ax handle to Brie, then jams her knee into the back of Brie's neck. Reid continues to wear down Brie and whips her into the corner spine first, then levels her with a right hand. Brie connects with a Russian Leg Sweep on Reid and pins her, but Reid kicks out and looks to land an elbow drop on Brie.

Brie rolls out of the way and fires off the Yes Kicks on Reid, then delivers a knee strike to her and goes for a pin. Reid kicks out and sends Brie crashing into the corner spine first, but Brie catches Reid with a Bulldog and ascends to the top rope. Henley looks to interfere, but Brie sends her crashing off the ring apron with a kick. This opens the door for Reid to join Brie on the ropes, but Brie sees Reid crashing into the mat face first.

Jayne hops up on the apron and gets in Reid's face, but Paige pulls her off the ring apron. Brie looks to land a Sunset Flip off the ropes on Reid, but Reid sits down into a pinfall. The referee catches her hand on the ropes, allowing Brie to reverse the fall for the win.

Winner: Brie Bella

— After the match, Fatal Influence looks to beat down Paige and Brie, but Nikki Bella's music hits and she makes her way out to the ring to return from injury. She lands a Rack Attack 2.0 on Jayne, then challenges Fatal Influence to a Six Woman Tag Team Match at SummerSlam on behalf of herself, Brie, and Paige.

— We head backstage, where Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green ponder the thought of each of them winning the Interim Women's Championship at SummerSlam. Blake Monroe approaches Green and tells her to worry about her Women's United States Championship rather than Green. She then tells Stratton to polish the belt for her.

— Back at ringside, Green makes her way out. Kiana James follows.

Interim WWE Women's Championship Ladder Match Qualifier Match: Chelsea Green vs. Kiana James

The bell rings and Green slaps James. She dropkicks James out of the ring and off the apron, then looks to fly. James intercepts Green with a right hand and fires off knees on Green's midsection on the outside, then drapes her across one of the barricades midsection first and delivers a superkick on her.

James dumps Green back in the ring, but Green delivers a Russian Leg Sweep to James and goes for a pin. James kicks out, but Green catches her with Unprettier for the win.

Winner: Chelsea Green

— Backstage, we see former tag-team champions R-Truth is with Damian Priest, when in comes "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes. Rhodes tells them that he could be facing Priest for the title and not CM Punk based on how things play out.

— Cody Rhodes then makes his way to the ring.

Rhodes asks the live crowd what they want to talk about and calls out CM Punk. Punk then makes his way out and begins to gets defensive about hitting Rhodes with the strap of the disputed WWE Championship belt.

Rhodes tells Punk to stop with the term paranoid and says he's not paranoid, then says he accepts Punk accidentally hitting him with the Undisputed WWE Championship belt strap. He says Punk has the title that WWE revolves around and says he wants to beat Punk for himself, then says he doesn't like Punk and takes the fans back to 2011. He says Punk cut his infamous Pipe Bomb and he exactly followed that promo, going on to drop a nuke in the professional wrestling business. He says he was aware that the fans wished that he was Punk, then says he can respect Punk and says for their story to have a proper ending, he has to beat Punk at SummerSlam.

Punk says he casts a large shadow that Rhodes and a few others can't get out from underneath from. He says brothers fight, but if Rhodes watched him do those great things, he was smart enough to pay attention. He says whether Rhodes did them bigger or better is for the fans and history to decide, but says Rhodes is lying to himself about being able to handle taking the Undisputed WWE Championship off someone he loves. He says if Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and John Cena are Rhodes' enemy, that makes him Rhodes' only friends and says he promised years ago he would stab Rhodes in the front. He says he'll break Rhodes' heart at SummerSlam.

Rhodes says himself and Punk will be tagging at Live Events and says he has a gift for Punk to give him after their tag team matches. Punk responds by saying he has a gift for Rhodes at SummerSlam: a beating. He claims to be the best in the world as a wrestler and on a microphone, then says he'll be beating Dusty's kid.

Punk looks to leave, but Rhodes stops him and says he wants his music to be played instead of Punk's so that Punk has a preview of the music he'll be hearing at SummerSlam.

— We cut backstage and Cathy Kelley is backstage with Charlotte Flair. She tells Kelley that she was not thinking about title opportunities last week. She is thinking that she is standing here and her best friend isn’t.

She says she can’t thank Bliss enough for what she did for her this year. She says Jade can go after her all she wants but she won’t get to Bliss. She says if she has to go through Nia Jax to get to Jade at SummerSlam, she will.

— Back at ringside, Charlotte Flair makes her way out. Nia Jax follows.

Interim WWE Women's Championship Ladder Match Qualifier Match: Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax

The bell rings and Jax fires off shoulders on Flair's midsection in the corner. Flair catches Jax with a boot and ascends to the middle rope, then delivers a hurricarnana to her and fires off shoulders of her own on Jax's midsection.

Flair ascends to the top rope and lands a crossbody on Jax, but Jax delivers a powerbomb to Flair and delivers a chop to her in the corner during the commercial break. Flair responds with a couple chops on Jax, but Jax levels Flair with a clothesline and Flair catches her with a jawbreaker.

Flair pulls Jax off the ropes with a hurricanrana and goes for a pin, but Jax kicks out and delivers a leg drop to Flair off the middle rope back from the break. She goes for a pin, but Flair kicks out and Jax sets up for a An-Nia-Lator on Flair. Flair pulls Jax off the middle rope and lands a powerbomb on her, then goes for a pin but Jax kicks out.

Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab make their way out to the ring, and Flair takes out B-Fal and Michin. She catches Jax with a jawbreaker off the top rope and sends her crashing out of the ring with a big boot, but Jax tumbles out of the ring. Cargill, Michin, and Cargill slide into the ring and go after Flair, causing the disqualification.

Winner: Charlotte Flair (via disqualification)

— After the match, Cargill lands Jaded on Flair as an understandably frustrated Jax shoves things off the announce desk.

— Damian Priest then makes his way to the ring. Trick Williams, Finn Balor, and Royce Keys all follow.

No. 1 Contender Qualifier Match: Trick Williams vs. Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest vs. Royce Keys

The bell rings and Keys levels Priest and Williams with a double clothesline. Williams looks to land a leg lariat on Keys, but Keys intercepts him and delivers a Fallaway Slam to him before sending Balor crashing into the ring apron face first. Priest flies off the ring steps with an ax handle to take out Keys on the outside, but Williams lands a flapjack on Priest to send him crashing into the announce desk face first.

During the commercial break, Williams lands a delayed vertical suplex on Balor. He goes for a pin, but Williams kicks out and Balor fires off chops on him. Balor then rains dow right hands on Williams in the corner, but Priest goes after Balor. Balor lands a stomp on Priest's chest and lands a shotgun dropkick on Williams, then lands an elbow drop on Keys.

Priest whips Balor crashing into the corner back from the break and levels him with a big boot, then delivers a flatlier to Williams. Williams catches Balor with a flapjack and fires off stomps on both Keys and Balor in the corner, but Priest rocks Williams with a spinning kick to the side of his head. Williams levels Priest with a chop, but Balor dumps Williams and Keys out of the ring and flies over the top rope to take out Williams, Priest, and Keys on the outside.

Solo Sikoa saunters out to ringside as Keys dumps Priest in the ring. Priest and Keys teeter on the ropes, but Keys fights off Balor during the commercial break and Balor rocks Keys with an enzuigiri. Priest and Balor then land a double superplex on Keys, but Williams lands a chokeslam on Keys back from the break. Williams pins Keys, but Sikoa gets Keys' foot on the bottom rope to break the hold.

The Usos' music hits, and Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso both make their way out. They rain down right hands on Sikoa, but LA Knight's music hits. He sneaks up behind Jimmy and Jey to blindside them and brawls with them alongside Sikoa.

Inside the ring, Balor delivers a shotgun dropkick to send him crashing into the corner. Williams intercepts Balor with a spinning pump kick as we see Sami Zayn, Candice LeRae, and Johnny Gargano watching the action from backstage.

The Usos brawl up the entrance ramp with Knight and Sikoa as Priest levels Williams with a clothesline. He delivers South of Heaven to Williams and pins him, but Keys breaks the fall and sends Priest crashing into the ring post shoulder first. He lands a spinebuster on Priest and pins him, but Jacob Fatu pulls Keys out of the ring to break the fall .

Fatu lands a Hip Attack on Keys on the outside as Balor catches Priest with a Sling Blade. He lands a shotgun dropkick to send him crashing into the corner and follows it up with a Coup De Grace for the win.

Winner: Finn Balor

[LionDen]

Scheduled so far:
- Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and Cody Rhodes react after their altercation at Saturday Night's Main Event.
CM Punk and Cody Rhodes nearly came to blows after Saturday Night's Main Event went off the air and then again on the SummerSlam Kickoff show.

- 5-way Interim WWE Women's CHampionship Ladder Match at SummerSlam Qualifier: Chelsea Green vs. Kiana James.

- 5-way Interim WWE Women's CHampionship Ladder Match at SummerSlam Qualifier: Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax.

- Gunther to discuss his SummerSlam match against Nick Aldis.

- One week to SummerSlam.

- Saturday Night's Main Event Fallout.