WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: July 2, 2021

The build up for the upcoming show will be the main focus of this week’s Friday Night SmackDown where a Last Man Standing match is in-store as the main event that also happens to be a MITB match qualifier.

Also, a mega Universal Championship match has been confirmed on this past week’s Talking Smack episode which is bound to bring some fallouts on SmackDown that goes down from the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.

A week after his history-making win over Rey Mysterio in SmackDown’s first-ever Hell in a Cell Match, Universal Champion Roman Reigns and his Special Council Paul Heyman carried out a State Of the Universal Championship Address last week.

After Heyman ran down the list of Superstars his client had put down over the course of a year, the sound of “You Think You Know Me” echoed through the arena to literally bring back a ghost to haunt the Champion.

WWE Hall of Famer Edge made his return for the first time since losing to Reigns in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 37 and unleashed a brutal attack on The Head of the Table.

Following an earth-shattering Spear, he was about to taste the sweet redemption via a Con-Chair-To on but Jimmy Uso saved his cousin Roman. Uso eventually sacrificed himself for a beatdown in his cousin’s place as Edge speared him through the barricade.

Then on Talking Smack, a footage was shown after last week’s SmackDown went off air where Edge made his way into Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville’s office to demand a match against Reigns for the Universal Title at WWE Money in the Bank on July 18. The two officials immediately sanctioned the match for the PPV event.

Seth Rollins was a guest on Talking Smack and he was irate when the footage rolled on the show. The SmackDown Savior noted that he was promised a title shot at the PPV before storming off the set.

Rollins demanded the top contender’s spot after defeating Cesaro at Hell In A Cell and he’s irate over the fact that Edge has captured it with his impactful return. The top heel must have a lot to get off his chest on this week’s show.

Moving on to the Smackdown Women’s Championship picture, Bianca Belair had expected to receive a new opponent for the title after beating Bayley inside Hell In A Cell structure. However, Bayley pinned her again during a mixed tag team match and looks set for yet another title rematch that should be made official for Money In The Bank 2021.

Last week, Big E had qualified for the 2021 Men’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match by scoring a non-title win over WWE Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews. The next spot from the blue brand will be filled when Sami Zayn faces Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match tonight.

At Hell In A Cell, Zayn defeated Owens in a singles contest where the latter was also dealing with an injury. It was believed that Owens may have been given time-off after that match. But The Prizefighter will be back in no time, fighting his long-term rival for a coveted MITB Ladder Match spot.

Speaking of another MITB match, the women’s division slots for the upcoming ladder match is also being filled up. From Raw, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Asuka, and Naomi have already made their way into the match.

From SmackDown, WWE Official Sonya Deville announced Carmella as the first selection for the match as Mella did not have to go through a qualifying match, being a two-time MITB Ladder Match winner.

Liv Morgan, who defeated Carmella two weeks ago on SmackDown interrupted the announcement and made her case for a Money In the Bank spot. Deville told her to prove her ability by defeating Carmella, which she did, right on the spot.

But for some reason, Morgan is yet to be included in the MITB match lineup. We expect clarifications on this story during a brand new episode of SmackDown on FOX.