TFG SmackDown Review: new matches for Backlash; tag team returns

THE LATEST EDITION of SmackDown had huge pressure to deliver due to the sheer brilliance that Monday Night Raw delivered. With Backlash around the corner, they had some matches to make and some superstars needed momentum ahead of the pay-per-view as well. SmackDown concentrated on the same and gave us the following takeaways.

Headbangers return

The return of Headbangers proved to be a pleasant surprise for the fans. This was the first time in more than fifteen years that they showed up inside a WWE ring and though it ended in a loss, it was fun while it lasted. Headbangers lost out to Heath Slater and Rhyno, which is a team that has their own story going on. Slater’s bad state was played up with an interview segment and as they move forward in the tournament, we can witness some more interesting segments from these two.

New Matches made for Backlash

As mentioned earlier, Backlash is just around the corner and WWE had to build up the match card. They added two new matches to the show this week to sort out this problem. Randy Orton, after his defeat to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, will now face off against Bray Wyatt whereas The Miz will defend his WWE Intercontinental championship against Dolph Ziggler.

Ziggler getting a rub at The Miz makes sense as he needed a strong angle to bounce back from the defeat to Ambrose. As far as Orton and Bray Wyatt are concerned, it is a dream match for many and hopefully, it would deliver.

Styles and Ambrose build momentum

AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose are all set to headline Backlash and both superstars needed to draw the battle lines after what happened last week. WWE gave momentum to both the superstars by giving them a good show in the respective matches. AJ Styles got one over Apollo Crews when Ambrose got the better of Baron Corbin even though it was a disqualification loss. Although it was a typical booking from WWE, it did serve the purpose of hyping the match and we can expect more next week around. Here are the complete results from the show:

• The Miz and Dolph Ziggler battled with barbs
• The Hype Bros def. The Vaudevillains in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament Match
• AJ Styles def. Apollo Crews
• Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton’s verbal vitriol continued, leading into a match at Backlash
• Natalya & Alexa Bliss def. Becky Lynch & Naomi
• Heath Slater & Rhyno def. The Headbangers in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament Match
• Baron Corbin def. Dean Ambrose via Disqualification