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The Aug. 7 edition of WWE SmackDown saw several key SummerSlam-related storylines furthered with the biggest party of the summer barely over a week away.
Last night’s WWE SmackDown saw a couple impactful promos along with a key main event match to determine the new number one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam.
Many of the top angles heading into SummerSlam come courtesy of the blue brand and these matches will help determine the fate of the show. With that being said, let’s take a look at a few grades from the Aug. 7 edition of WWE SmackDown.
5. Opening Segment
A heel Randy Orton is undoubtedly one of the greatest heels in WWE history and that had been lacking for too long up until Extreme Rules. But since Extreme Rules last month, The Viper is back in his element and he’s at a sadistic level once again that makes him stand out.
Orton has targeted Jeff Hardy since his return at Extreme Rules and he has given Hardy two major beatings over the past few weeks, including last week. Hardy called out Orton and The Viper wound up taking advantage of a Shinsuke Nakamura interference by trying to remove Hardy’s identity by wiping off his face paint and ripping his necklace off.
Last night’s show started off with Orton cutting another promo about the WWE universe and about The Charismatic Enigma primarily. He said seeing the WWE universe squirm at the attacks he has been giving is as much of a reason why he is doing them in the first place and he continued to harp back on the notion that he believes the WWE universe doesn’t respect him anymore.
He went back to Hardy as well, saying he plans on destroying him as well as the other favorites of the WWE universe. It was another stellar promo by The Viper and it will be intriguing to see what he does next given what he has already done. It felt a bit too much like last week’s promo, but it still hit the mark and resulted in a stellar way to open up the show.
Outside of feeling a bit recycled, Orton made his intentions crystal clear last night in another menacing promo by The Apex Predator.
Final Grade: B+