WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: July 8, 2022

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Bengaluru, July 8: WWE’s blue brand officially kick off the build towards Summerslam 2022 starting tonight with the fallouts from Money in the Bank and what transpired three weeks ago in the main event segment.

On July 8th's SmackDown, Roman Reigns will be back on his 'island of relevancy’ to address his next title defense against the most prominent opponent of his career. Also, the former Women’s Champion is booked to appear on the July 8 episode of Friday Night Smackdown that takes place at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

On the June 17 episode of Smackdown, Roman Reigns overcame a game Riddle to retain his Undisputed WWE Universal Title in his first championship defense since Wrestlemania 38 Night Two in April.

With no one from the locker room remaining to challenge him for the title, The Tribal Chief was about to leave the WWE after a heel promo when The Beast Incarnate made his triumphant return on the blue brand.

Initially, intending for a handshake, Lesnar proceeded to hit Reigns and The Usos with a trifecta of F5s. Soon after this rampage, WWE confirmed that Reigns will defend his titles against Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match in the main event of this year’s Summerslam.

We haven’t heard from the champion since that night. Then over on Raw, it was announced that the Head of the Table will be retuning on Smackdown, this week. Nothing specific was noted about his appearance but the assumption is that he will be addressing the Summerslam title match confirmation, made by the WWE.

Also announced for this week’s Smackdown is the former women’s champion of the show, Ronda Rousey. At Money in the Bank, The Baddest Woman on the Planet defeated The BOAT, Natalya, in almost a submission battle between the two specialists.

Soon after her championship retention, Liv Morgan, who won the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match just 2 hours and 12 minutes prior, cashed in her title match contract.

In a short matchup, the former Riott Squad member took advantage of the hurt legs of Rousey and pinned her to become the new Smackdown Women’s Champion. Like a true champion, Rousey hugged Morgan and handed the title to her in a friendly gesture.

Now the ex-champion will be back on Smackdown to address the end of her championship reign at the hands of the emerging superstar. Rumours also suggest that Rousey would proceed to challenge Morgan for the Smackdown Women’s Title at Summerslam in a rematch.

One of the biggest news coming out of last week’s episode of Smackdown was the debut of Max Durpi’s Maximum Male Models faction. Mace and Mansoor, now dubbed as Mån.sôör and Ma.cé have transitioned to become two male models.

Under the management of Max Dupri (former NXT Superstar LA Knight), the two came out on the stage and posed for cameras. This week too, the two will be out to unveil their 2022 tennis wear collection when Smackdown airs with the post-Money in the Bank 2022 episode.