WWE Recap of the Week: Top News, Rumors, Results, and Storyline Progressions from RAW, SmackDown and NXT (July 18, 2020)

#3 WWE Friday Night SmackDown

"I am ready and willing to walk through the gates of Hell and slap The Devil himself in the face... I have to go home before HE ends ME!" We've 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 seen @BraunStrowman like this. #SmackDown #ExtremeRules pic.twitter.com/phBTePY5ko

— WWE (@WWE) July 18, 2020

WWE SmackDown kicked off with various WWE Superstars hyping up the matches on the show. The first match of the night was between Big E and Cesaro. After an intense match between the two powerhouses, Cesaro picked up the victory after some distraction from Shinsuke Nakamura.

With that victory, the team of Nakamura and Cesaro earned the right to pick the stipulation for their SmackDown Tag Team Championship match against the New Day at WWE Extreme Rules. Later, they revealed that it will be a Tables Match.

Next was the "Moment of Bliss" with Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. The two were interrupted by the SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks. The Goddess then brought out her "mystery guest" which turned out to be the RAW Women's Champion, Asuka as the faces started brawling with the heels. This led to a match between Asuka & Nikki Cross vs The Rolemodels. Bayley won the match for her team after a dirty pin on Nikki.

.@SashaBanksWWE & @itsBayleyWWE were not ready.@AlexaBliss_WWE's mystery guest is none other than the #WWERAW #WomensChampion... @WWEAsuka!!!! 🤡 #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/4cfnoK1mrf

— WWE (@WWE) July 18, 2020

We then saw a unique version of the Firefly Funhouse segment as Bray Wyatt appeared in his "cult leader" persona at the Swamp, hyping up his match against Braun Strowman at WWE Extreme Rules. In the arena, the Universal Champion cut an intense promo before decimating John Morrison in their scheduled match. The Miz helped a limping Morrison out of the ring.

Next, Lacey Evans defeated Naomi. Backstage, Jeff Hardy was attacked by Sheamus. In another backstage interview, the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions made fun of Nikki Cross which led to Nikki attacking Bayley.

The main event of WWE SmackDown saw AJ Styles defend his Intercontinental Championship against the newest member of the blue brand, Matt Riddle. After a great match, Styles rolled up Riddle to retain his title. The Phenomenal One went on to shake Riddle's hands but King Corbin attacked the Original Bro and took him out to end SmackDown.

WWE did a decent job of hyping up the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV on the go-home show!