SmackDown came out of Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with more than just match results. A few people left that building in a better spot than they walked in.
Trick Williams retained the United States Title over Baron Corbin in a steel cage. Lil Yachty was out there with him again. Third match with Corbin. Same ending for the champion. A cage is supposed to settle something. This one kept Trick on top and left Corbin without the easy excuse of a run-in. That’s the point of putting two people in a cage.
Lash Legend won the women’s Money in the Bank qualifier over Giulia and Charlotte Flair. That’s a big get. Charlotte in a triple threat is already a problem. Giulia doesn’t give anything away. Lash walking out of that as Ms. Money in the Bank hopeful tells you WWE wants her in the bigger conversation, not just the loud one. After the match Giulia and Blake Monroe went at it backstage, and Nick Aldis made it official for next week. Fine. Let them have their own fight instead of stealing Lash’s moment.
Fatal Influence beat Tiffany Stratton, Chelsea Green, and Paige. Jacy, Fallon, and Lainey looked like a group that came to win, not just fill a Friday. The other side had more star power on paper. The team that was on the same page left with the win. Nikki Bella also got in Chelsea’s ear before the match and told her she wasn’t a worthy champion. That’s going to linger. Those comments always do.
CM Punk won the men’s qualifier over Finn Balor and Gunther. That’s the one a lot of people came to see, and Punk is in Money in the Bank now. Gunther being in that match and not coming out with the briefcase shot is going to bother him, which is probably the idea. Danhausen tried to get involved in Gunther’s business earlier and got put on the wall for it. Gunther did not find it cute.
The rest of the hour was about the title picture around Sami Zayn. Balor got in his face. Gargano wanted his shot. Aldis already shut that down, but Gargano and Candice LeRae are in next week’s MITB qualifiers. Owens got told to stay out of the qualifier mix. Meanwhile Randy Orton sat down with Michael Cole and made the whole interview about whether Cole really thought Cody would kick his head off. Cody answered later and said he would. Then he said he couldn’t promise Orton would be the only one.
Damian Priest putting hands on R-Truth at the Performance Center was the ugly little tag at the end of the night. Not a match. Just a reminder that thing isn’t done.
What I’d take from Indianapolis: Trick is still the U.S. Champion, Lash and Punk are in the ladder match conversation, Fatal Influence got the TV win they needed, and next week already has Giulia vs. Blake Monroe plus more MITB names. That’s a Friday that did its job.