{"id":73637,"date":"2020-07-31T06:32:12","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T10:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=73637"},"modified":"2020-07-31T06:32:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T10:32:12","slug":"preview-friday-night-smackdown-7-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/07\/31\/preview-friday-night-smackdown-7-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: WWE &#8211; Friday Night SmackDown (7\/31\/20)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Friday Night SmackDown is in need of some juice following a number of critically panned shows.\u00a0 This week&#8217;s edition could set them off as we have the return of\u00a0<strong>Otis\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Mandy Rose<\/strong>, as well as a rematch between\u00a0<strong>Bayley <\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Nikki Cross<\/strong>, <strong>AJ Styles <\/strong>also defends his Intercontinental Championship against the luchador <strong>Gran Metalik<\/strong>.\u00a0 An exciting lineup awaits so let&#8217;s get into this preview.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Naomi vs Lacey Evans<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73640\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/07\/Naomi-vs-Lacey-Evans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/07\/Naomi-vs-Lacey-Evans.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/07\/Naomi-vs-Lacey-Evans-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Two weeks ago Evans defeated Naomi in a match that caused outrage in the fandom.\u00a0 The hashtag NaomiDeservesBetter trended following her defeat as fans expressed their support for Naomi.\u00a0 Last week on Miz TV she discussed the hashtag before Evans further stirred the pot.\u00a0 Now the two will meet in a rematch as Naomi looks to get a win for fans to celebrate<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Otis And Mandy Rose Return<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our hearts are full once again&#8230; \u2764\ufe0f \u2764\ufe0f \u2764\ufe0f <\/p>\n<p>The love story of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/otiswwe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@otiswwe<\/a> &amp; @WWE_MandyRose continues tomorrow night on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SmackDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SmackDown<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iIJBmq9YgM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/iIJBmq9YgM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1288957543054811139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 30, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The greatest love story in wrestling history continues as Otis and Rose make their return to Smackdown.\u00a0 The story between these two helped to carry SmackDown in the early portion of the year and their presence has been missed in recent times.\u00a0 With\u00a0<strong>Dolph Ziggler\u00a0<\/strong>off to RAW will the lovers be free of\u00a0<strong>Sonya Deville<\/strong>?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Smackdown Women&#8217;s Championship: Bayley (C) vs Nikki Cross<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.@NikkiCrossWWE gets another opportunity to take down <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BayleyDosStraps?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BayleyDosStraps<\/a> tomorrow night on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SmackDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SmackDown<\/a>! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WomensTitle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WomensTitle<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itsBayleyWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@itsBayleyWWE<\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/a8lNbqKBAq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/a8lNbqKBAq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1288942443338104832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 30, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Cross defeated her tag partner\u00a0<strong>Alexa Bliss\u00a0<\/strong>last week to earn this opportunity.\u00a0 She lost to Bayley at <em>The Horror Show At Extreme Rules<\/em> but now we have the chance that\u00a0<strong>Asuka\u00a0<\/strong>is in the background ready to get revenge after Bayley assaulting\u00a0<strong>Kairi Sane<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Intercontinental Championship: AJ Styles (C) vs Gran Metalik<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-73641\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/07\/Gran-Metalik-vs-AJ-Styles.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/07\/Gran-Metalik-vs-AJ-Styles.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/07\/Gran-Metalik-vs-AJ-Styles-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>AJ Styles defends his Intercontinental Championship against the Lucha House Party member Metalik.\u00a0 Metalik won a fatal four way match last week to earn this match as he reminded everyone that he is one of the best high flyers on the roster.\u00a0 Styles has a tough task on hand if he wants to defeat Metalik but he has been on a great run since returning to Friday Night SmackDown.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Not Announced But Expected<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&#8211; The start of the\u00a0<strong>Big E\u00a0<\/strong>singles push<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Who&#8217;s next for\u00a0<strong>Shinsuke Nakamura\u00a0<\/strong>and <strong>Cesaro<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 WWE fan? You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE and NXT content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday Night SmackDown is in need of some juice following a number of critically panned shows.\u00a0 This week&#8217;s edition could set them off as we have the return of\u00a0Otis\u00a0and\u00a0Mandy Rose, as well as a rematch between\u00a0Bayley and\u00a0Nikki Cross, AJ Styles also defends his Intercontinental Championship against the luchador Gran Metalik.\u00a0 An exciting lineup awaits so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2013,"featured_media":73641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}