HEYDORN’S SMACKDOWN RECEIPT 7/2: Bianca Belair and Bayley cut their most successful promo to date, feud still feels expired

This week’s episode of WWE Smackdown has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-An effective promo from Edge to start the show. Is it just me or does he look more like, well, Edge? He seemed to have found part of what he lost heading into WrestleMania this year and came across as confident and believable.

-For as good as the promo was, he should be careful contradicting himself the way he did. Telling the audience what he’d complain about if he were to complain IS him complaining. Someone should have picked up on that before he started the show – most of all, him.

-Rick Boogs drives me insane. I can’t find a redeeming quality about what he’s doing out there and worst of all, it’s hurting any upside or momentum Shinsuke Nakamura may have — silly crown angle aside.

-Speaking of the crown madness, poor Baron Corbin. Am I right? The guy loses his crown and … wait, wait, wait … what am I doing?

-Bianca Belair and Bayley had one of their most entertaining and effective promo segments to date, but the feud feels expired at this point and intrigue will be hard to cultivate. Props to WWE for giving a suitable reason for the match having the “I Quit” stipulation, but both women need someone fresh to work with – Belair in particular. We know how this match will go at Money In the Bank and Belair needs someone to work with that can alleviate some of the “obvious” that the Bayley feud brings to the table.

-Thank you, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, for showing the world what an effective Last Man Standing match looks like. This had the action, the intensity, the spots, and the story. If you haven’t seen this. See this.

-Good to see Zelina Vega back. In just a short moment on the microphone she was able to exude loads of charisma as usual. She’s a blast to watch and gets the game.

-The optimistic part of the brain tells me Liv Morgan is in the midst of an underdog, babyface push and to be patient. The smart part of the same brain tells me not to be ridiculous.

-Anyone else buying a vowel on the Jimmy Uso character? What happened to the bad ass babyface standing up to Roman Reigns? Like Edge’s contradiction to start the show, Uso can’t talk about not being Roman’s bitch and then spend the better part of the last three weeks being exactly that.

-The closing angle was impactful in building intrigue for the Reigns return next week. How about the artistic symmetry between the look on Roman’s face at WrestleMania like Edge talked about and the look on Uso’s face to close the show while in the crossface? Smart work, from two strong workers.

CATCH-UP: 7/2 WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: Hazelwood’s alt-perspective on advancement in Reigns-Usos story, Owens vs. Zayn in Last Man Standing qualifying match, more