Tonight’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown comes off the heels of last Saturday’s Money in the Bank premium live event. Speaking of heels and Money in the Bank, our women’s Money in the Bank winner is none other than Tiffany Stratton. How did her celebration go? Let’s find out.
Lo and behold, the celebration kicks off the show. Tiffany says that on Saturday, it officially became Tiffy Time when she claimed the ladder to the Tiffy Top and became the youngest female winner of the Money in the Bank ladder match in WWE history. While Trish Stratus may have been the host of the show, the Buff Barbie believes she was the real star of the show, and without having the Hall of Famer around to “ruin her moment”, it is now her time. She proceeds to name drop Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, and Bayley, each of them current women’s champions in the company, warning them to keep their heads on a swivel because their title reigns are now on Tiffy Time. One of the champs has had enough of Stratton’s words in the form of Bayley.
The WWE Women’s Champion takes her stand on the mic, congratulating Tiffany for achieving a big accomplishment by winning the Money in the Bank ladder match. Stratton questions Bayley’s motives for coming out to the ring, but the champ says she’s there to lend advice considering her own MITB victory in 2019, a time that had yet to feature Tiffany in WWE. Stratton doesn’t pay mind to Bayley’s comments because it is now 2024, once again flaunting her status as the youngest winner and verbally disparaging the woman that stands in front of her. Bayley isn’t bothered by the potato chip-eating insults, because she has one more piece of advice to lend to Tiffany: if she even plans on cashing in her Money in the Bank contract, she should additionally plan on making history as the first winner to ever fail her cash-in.
An additional woman joins the fray as Nia Jax makes her way out. The Irresistible Force accuses Bayley of making empty threats, especially when she’ll be facing her at SummerSlam for the Women’s Championship. But she won’t be facing any version of Bayley: not “Hugger” Bayley from NXT, not the Bayley circa 2017 who was injured for three months due to Nia, but the Grand Slam Women’s Champion and Royal Rumble winner, the same Bayley that is going to embarrass Nia at the Biggest Party of the Summer. However, on the off chance she loses the title to Jax, what’s Tiffany to do? Does she cash in on Nia?
Jax sees through Bayley’s words as a way to create friction with Stratton, her “personal little Barbie doll”. But to Jax, Bayley is not a toy; she is a victim, and at SummerSlam, Nia is going to victimize her. The champ attempts to throw a left punch that quickly turns into a double team attack by Nia and Tiffany, but Michin comes in armed with a kendo stick to rescue the Women’s Champion once again.
Following a commercial break, we get highlights of the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Byron Saxton tries to speak to Piper Niven and Chelsea Green, who are outside the office of Nick Aldis; Green is noticeably wearing a bedazzled neckbrace after her performance at Saturday’s show, stating that she has been called “mother of mayhem” and “princess of pain” by the whole world, so she does not have time to answer any questions. Piper commands Saxton to leave.
We cut right back to the in-ring action and the fight is on between Michin and Nia Jax. Michin tries to find ways to reverse Jax’s arsenal, but the Queen of the Ring winner somehow counters it off. Bayley is watching from ringside supporting Michin, while Tiffany watches from the other side supporting Nia. Jax eventually gains control of the match, but the Blasian Baddie continues to fight and shows no signs of slowing down. At this point, Tiffany tries to distract the referee by misplacing Michin’s kendo stick, but gets attacked by Bayley for doing so. The distraction seems like it’ll lead to a victory for Michin, but Nia kicks out at two, and she ends up falling victim to a Samoan drop and an Annihilator for Nia to win the match.
With the match now over, Bayley now attempts to throw hands with her SummerSlam opponent, but just like before, it turns into another opportunity for Nia and Tiffany to gang up on her. They exit the ring, but Tiffany seemingly has other plans, thinking of potentially cashing in on Bayley, but Jax stops her and gives her a concerning look, knowing that a cash in could cost her an opportunity to win the title at SummerSlam. Stratton becomes nervous, but quickly brushes it off by high-fiving Nia.
Chelsea and Piper are at it again, still standing outside of Nick Aldis’s office. They run into Pretty Deadly, who are trying to get their budget approved for “Pretty Deadly: The Musical”, which they first pitched last week. The two are told by Green that there is a line to talk to Nick Aldis, because no one is getting in line before “mwah” does. The door then opens, and it’s LA Knight to much fanfare. Chelsea is offended, but asks if Aldis is busy, and is told that he’ll call her, but still has a few other things to do.
(Also of note: not Piper reading a book called “HOW TO START A CULT”. Embrace that brujería/witchcraft, queen!)
Blair Davenport is featured in another vignette. Dialogue and some clips from one of her previous vignettes were recycled, intercut with new footage of her main roster run. Davenport then makes her entrance, gearing up for a match with Naomi. The two have had lingering issues since Davenport’s arrival to the blue brand. The match is very back and forth at the start, but eventually picks up in Blair’s favor before a commercial break, as she targets Naomi’s arm and rams her into the ring post.
The break is brief, but the pain on Naomi’s arm continues. The fans remain on her side, in spite of commentary mentioning that her body is still banged up from Money in the Bank. Her and Blair get some near falls in, but it was Naomi who got the W over the promising upstart.
Naomi was now backstage and was congratulated by Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. Like Piper and Chelsea, Bianca and Jade have been wanting to talk to Nick Aldis, but there’s still no sign of him at all. When Chelsea overhears this in the background, she and Piper storm into Aldis’s office. Since the show’s almost over, the ex-Women’s Tag Team Champions plan on going home and say goodbye to Naomi for the night.
The Girl with the Glow then runs into Blair, who is hurting and tells her she doesn’t want any trouble, admitting that the best woman won and offering her a handshake, but Naomi is doubtful that the respect is sincere, so Davenport walks away. Chelsea and Piper then exit the office, realizing Nick really is gone and letting Naomi know, leaving in a huff. Unfortunately for Naomi, her night ends laid out on the floor thanks to a sneak attack from Blair, showing resentment for her loss.
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