SmackDown Live - 22/05/2020

SmackDown this week promised some intriguing match ups, with NXT Women's Champion Charlotte Flair using the Brand-to-Brand invitation to go up against SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley. We also had two quarterfinal matches of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, with Sheamus taking on Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura facing old foe AJ Styles. The promise of a culmination of months of conflict between Mandy Rose, Otis, Sonya Deville and Dolph Ziggler is also something worth checking in for. What went well and what missed the mark? Read on to find out.

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Source: wwe.com

The Dirt Sheet with Braun Strowman

The Miz and John Morrison were in the ring to start the show, running down Mr Money in the Bank Otis, claiming he was a disgrace to the title and could never be a worthy champion. The former tag champs then turned their attention to the current Universal Champion Braun Strowman, angry that he had got involved in their business with Otis. They also mocked him for Bray Wyatt replacing him with puppets and claimed that he had done nothing to earn his title shot at Wrestlemania (definitely not untrue). Strowman stormed the ring, having heard enough, and - after Miz claimed that Wyatt wasn't finished with Braun - Morrison accidentally issued a challenge to the Monster Among Men on Miz's behalf. Miz managed to take the early beating from Braun to take control with the help of Morrison, but his advantage didn't last long. Braun took out Morrison before hitting Miz with the running powerslam for the win. Morrison took to the mic after the fact, challenging Strowman to a 2-on-1 handicap match for the Universal Championship at Backlash, which Strowman immediately accepted. Giving Braun something to do before another match with Wyatt, potentially as The Fiend for a title switch.

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AJ Styles v Shinsuke Nakamura (Intercontinental Championship Tournament)

A Wrestlemania World Title match once upon a time, these two old rivals went head to head in the first quarterfinal of this tournament. Coming into the match, Michael Cole made the announcement that Styles had officially been traded to SmackDown, with currently unnamed superstars moving in the opposite direction. The two traded the advantage and nearfalls, with a vicious clothesline from Styles and a running knee from Nakamura both almost claiming the win. Nakamura went for the Kinshasa and then a triangle choke, but Styles managed to get away from both before hitting a Phenomenal Forearm for the win, moving him on to the semifinals. Considering the history between these two and the high profile of their previous encounters, this was actually one of their better matches, reminding more of the Wrestle Kingdom stars than the Wrestlemania duds.

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Source: wwe.com

Bayley v Charlotte Flair

Bayley was out to prove a point here, telling Sasha Banks to stay in the locker room so that she could show the Queen that she was her equal. Charlotte took control early on, taking the fight to the outside and throwing Bayley over the barricade before grabbing Michael Cole's headset to call out Sasha Banks. Bayley managed to take over following the break, driving Flair into the ring apron but Bayley took to long posturing, allowing Charlotte to hit a fallaway slam. Some back and forth action followed, with Bayley going for the top rope elbow drop but Charlotte got her knees up. Bayley used some of Flair's signature moves against her, hitting chops and trying for the Figure-Four. This angered Charlotte and, as the Queen started to lose her cool, Bayley managed to score a sneaky roll up for the win - holding the ropes to guarantee it. Bayley looked good here, better than she has in a while, and showed that she can hold her own without Sasha. Her heelish antics nearly cost her, but they also helped her take the win.

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Mandy Rose & Otis v Sonya Deville & Dolph Ziggler

The culmination of a broken friendship and a romantic rivalry, this match promised to be very personal. Sonya had promised Mandy that she would ruin her life and Dolph had been in her corner since Mandy had chosen Otis over the Show-Off. Dolph had the upper-hand early on, sending Otis crashing into the steel steps. Otis needed his lady to fight for their team, but Mandy was outmatched by The Pride Fighter. Mandy eventually broke away from Deville, with Deville making the tag. Otis came in full of rage, taking Dolph to the limit but, just as it looked like Otis was ready to put Ziggler down for the count, Deville tagged back in and hit a knee to the back of the head to put Mandy away, while then men continued their brawl outside. As Otis got in the ring to check on Mandy, Ziggler took the opportunity to hit a sneaky Superkick. The women were the main focus here - rightly so given how much has already gone on between Ziggler and Otis - and hopefully they will continue to build this programme well into a Pay-Per-View blow off.

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Source: wwe.com

Jeff Hardy v Sheamus (Intercontinental Championship Tournament)

The second quarterfinal match of the night had the vicious heel Sheamus against perennial babyface Jeff Hardy. The two had been butting heads recently, with Sheamus jealous of the coverage that Jeff had received in the recent vignette series. Sheamus' power advantage was clear here, but Jeff slammed him into the announce table to create some separation. Sheamus hit back, throwing The Charasmatic Enigma over the table into Michael Cole and Corey Graves. With Sheamus back on top, the question of rung rust was asked about Hardy, but he managed to break away and hit the Whisper in the Wind for a 2-count. Sheamus' aggression levels began to climb, causing him to charge into the ring post as Jeff dodged. He then tried to hit White Noise on Hardy, but his injured shoulder allowed it to be countered into a roll-up as Hardy took the victory. Jeff will now face Daniel Bryan next week, while AJ Styles will face Elias in the other semifinal match.

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What did you think of this week's SmackDown? Who will come out on top in the Intercontinental Championship Tournament? Will The Miz and John Morrison be able to take on Braun Strowman? When will The Fiend strike next? Let me know what you think down below.

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