WWE SmackDown lacks matches ahead of SummerSlam buildup

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SmackDown airs tonight with a live show emanating from MVP Arena in Albany, New York. This is the third episode of SmackDown during the five week build to SummerSlam, which takes place on the weekend of August 1. WWE somehow forgot to book a card for SmackDown Saturday Night’s Main Event is scheduled for tomorrow night (July 18) and SummerSlam is around the corner after that, but tonight’s episode of SmackDown got the cold shoulder from WWE creative. As of this writing, zero matches have been announced for the show. There’s a somewhat decent kayfabe excuse for this happening, as GM Nick Aldis was just reinstated last week, only to be taken out by GUNTHER two hours later. Aldis didn’t book any matches for tonight’s show during the two hours when he was conscious last Friday night, and he’s presumably been incapacitated ever since. That means Raw GM Adam Pearce is once again the man in charge of the blue brand tonight, where he says there is “a ton to address.” Who knows, maybe it will take the full two hours for Pearce to sort out the mess that’s been dropped into his lap. Besides adding some actual matches to the show, the most pressing issue for Pearce to address has to center on GUNTHER’s punishment for brutally attacking a high ranking WWE official. The Ring General should be suspended by WWE, at a minimum. If this was a normal work environment, GUNTHER would be fired. However, this is pro wrestling, where suspending or firing the offender simply won’t cut it most of the time. There instead needs to be charismatic trash talk, punches in the face, low blows, quality chair shots, and someone’s ass going through a sponsored table. With that mind, is Pearce ready to announce GUNTHER’s SummerSlam opponent? It could be as straightforward as Aldis returning tonight to announce he will fight GUNTHER himself. Perhaps Pearce has another wrestler in mind to kick GUNTHER’s ass, which plenty of hardcore fans have fantasy booked to be the missing Ilja Dragunov. Maybe GUNTHER beats the shit out of Pearce too to set up some kind of bizarre 2-on-1 match of Aldis and Pearce against GUNTHER at SummerSlam. That sounds incredibly dumb, but keep in mind that GUNTHER’s booking since he sent John Cena and AJ Styles into retirement has been trash. What major consequences will GUNTHER face for attacking Nick Aldis last week? Tune into SmackDown tonight to find out. The rest of the card One other GUNTHER-related issue that Pearce might need to address tonight is adding some kind of stakes to the currently scheduled CM Punk and Cody Rhodes vs. GUNTHER and Sami Zayn tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Is Zayn ready to return from his mental health break to get in Pearce’s face and demand to be added to the WWE championship match of Punk vs. Rhodes at SummerSlam? Will there be any tension between Punk and Rhodes as they formulate a strategy for winning at SNME? Other stuff to keep an eye on – WWE hasn’t said a word recently about the status of Rhea Ripley, who’s been out with an injury since early June. There aren’t any obvious challengers for the WWE women’s championship at SummerSlam anyway, so maybe WWE won’t vacate the belt and will instead keep quiet until Rhea is ready to return. – Baron Corbin made his surprise return to WWE last week, where he took out both Carmelo Hayes and United States Champion Trick Williams with End of Days. Will Corbin get some promo time tonight to explain why he wants Trick’s new furry custom title so badly? How does this alter Ricky Saints’ pursuit of the belt? Is it Lil Yachty’s turn to take End of Days next? – WWE ran out of time on last week’s episode of SmackDown, so Blake Monroe’s backstage attack on Chelsea Green was saved for an exclusive video on social media. “The Glamour” has yet to wrestle on SmackDown programming, but she’s making enemies fast after previously attacking Giulia and Kiana James. – Nia Jax and Lash Legend also made their return during that exclusive video, and they plan to win back the WWE women’s tag team championship. Can Chelsea Green and Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton instead use the Irresistible Forces as a stepping stone to get a tag title match of their own? Is this leading to some kind of four team title match at SummerSlam, just like we got at WrestleMania? – Now that GM Nick Aldis is out again, will WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth continue to delay fighting AAA World Tag Team Champions War Raiders in a winner-take-all match? – Alexa Bliss and her double jointed elbow are now a casualty of Jade Cargill and her Baddies, after Bliss warned Charlotte Flair to cool off her obsession with Jade. Will Flair demand a match at SummerSlam against Cargill to get revenge for her friend? Could this be leading to Bliss turning heel on The Queen if that match does take place? -Will Jacob Fatu and Big Jim Uso come back to SmackDown to hunt down that traitor Solo Sikoa and maybe murder him this time for betraying The Bloodline on Raw? Will Royce Keys thank Solo for saving his ass by returning the favor? – What’s next for Finn Balor after he defeated Tama Tonga last week? Will the Tongans be nice enough to let Finn move on to bigger and better things on CM Punk’s blue brand? – Will it be Paige & Brie Bella or Fatal Influence who stand tall on the go home show ahead of their WWE women’s tag team championship match at Saturday Night’s Main Event? Could Nikki Bella possibly return tonight to announce she will be in the champs’ corner at MSG? – Do any cursed Judgment Day members plan to show up on SmackDown and get humiliated by Danhausen after he meddled in their affairs on Raw? – Where the f*** is Jordynne Grace? Her uncertain creative direction is in our Rumor Roundup, at least. What will you be looking for on SmackDown?

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One week after GUNTHER destroyed SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, the Ring General kicked off tonight’s (July 17) episode to address his actions. As you might expect, GUNTHER blamed Aldis for everything that happened, all because the GM prevented him from winning the WWE championship over the last few months. Acting GM Adam Pearce interrupted at that point to read him the riot act and say GUNTHER would be fired if he pulled that same stunt on Raw. He should actually thank Aldis, because he’s the one who insisted that GUNTHER’s tag team match (with Sami Zayn) against WWE Champion CM Punk and Cody Rhodes goes on as planned this weekend (July 18) at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Madison Square Garden. More importantly, GUNTHER should have waited to fully hear what Nick had to say before he attacked. He would have learned that the SNME tag match actually has high stakes; if GUNTHER and Zayn win, they will be added to the SummerSlam main event match of Punk vs. Rhodes on the weekend of August 1 & 2, and it will become a 4-way match for the WWE championship. WOW! 🤯 If Gunther and Sami Zayn win tomorrow night at #SNME, they will be ADDED to the Undisputed WWE Title match at #Summerslam! pic.twitter.com/G371cba6hO — WWE (@WWE) July 18, 2026 GUNTHER laughed upon hearing the big news, probably because he was just rewarded for taking out Aldis. Rhodes then came out and challenged GUNTHER to a singles match later tonight, so there may be more developments coming. But for now, WWE just added some much-needed stakes to Saturday Night’s Main Event. What’s your reaction to GUNTHER’s reward for beating the shit out of Nick Aldis? Do you think he and Sami Zayn will be added to the SummerSlam main event by beating Punk and Rhodes at SNME? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders. Catch up on all the results from SmackDown in our live blog right here.