Bayley’s forgettable title reign might not even make it to SummerSlam

SmackDown airs tonight (July 12) with a live show emanating from DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the four week build towards SummerSlam, which takes place on August 3 in Cleveland.

Bayley’s forgettable title reign might not even make it to SummerSlam

Bayley won the WWE women’s championship over three months ago at WrestleMania 40, but she hasn’t exactly had a memorable run with the gold thus far. Unlike Liv Morgan, for example, nothing really stands out about the angles and storylines that Bayley’s been involved with as the champ.

Now that Money in the Bank is in the rearview mirror, Bayley is preparing for a title defense against Queen Nia Jax at SummerSlam. Jax ambushed Bayley last week, but Michin made the save. As a result, Jax will wrestle against Michin tonight on SmackDown and most likely annihilate her.

I would normally suggest that Bayley be ringside for this match in order to pay Michin back the favor of saving her last week. However, there’s a new wrinkle in the equation, and that’s Tiffany Stratton now holding the Money in the Bank contract. If Bayley finds herself on the wrong end of another Nia Jax attack, she could be ripe for the picking for Stratton to end her forgettable title reign before SummerSlam even gets here.

Stratton made the smart strategic decision to buddy up with Jax over the last month, putting herself very close to the championship, and now she looms as a major threat to Bayley after winning the Money in the Bank ladder match. Stratton is scheduled for an appearance on SmackDown tonight. Assuming that means she will have a mic in her hand, there’s a pretty good chance she will trash talk Bayley while being careful not to say the wrong thing to anger Jax.

But what if Bayley is laid out by Nia again at some point during the show? Will Stratton not infringe on Nia’s territory and refrain from cashing in her MITB contract, or will she go for broke and try to make it Tiffy Time in WWE ASAP? You’ll have to tune into SmackDown tonight to see the start of what may be multiple teases of a cash-in during the coming weeks or months.

The rest of tonight’s card

The lower card actually has a match booked in advance for tonight. It will be Apollo Crews teaming up with Baron Corbin in a tag team match against Angel & Berto of Legado del Fantasma. Can Apollo actually trust Baron given the man’s long history of being a selfish dick on the main roster?

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa won the WWE Tag Team Championship from A-Town Down Under last week in Toronto. Will Grayson Waller and Austin Theory pursue a rematch for the gold during SummerSlam weekend in Gargano’s hometown, or is the heel team about to crumble after their first major setback together?

- Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair defeated Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell last week, before cutting a promo on WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. The champs have their plate full on Raw and don’t have much of a reason to come to SmackDown to deal with Cargill and Belair. With that in mind, is there still time for Cargill to turn on Belair and set up a major match for SummerSlam?

- LA Knight is sick and tired of United States Champion YouTube Douchebag Logan Paul not showing up for work in WWE. I don’t see Paul advertised for the show tonight, so it might be another night of the megastar twiddling his thumbs while trying to figure out how to get his hands on the champ.

- Solo Sikoa cemented his status as the new Tribal Chief of The Bloodline by pinning Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in a six-man tag team match at Money in the Bank. Will Sikoa officially challenge Rhodes to a one-on-one title match at SummerSlam so that he can succeed where Roman Reigns failed at WrestleMania 40?

- Will Randy Orton and Kevin Owens remain by Cody’s side in this ongoing war with The Bloodline, or will one of them find better things to do with his time?

- Pretty Deadly returned to SmackDown with a loss against the Street Profits last week. Will their luck turn around tonight?

- Which babyface veteran does Carmelo Hayes plan to disrespect in the lead up to SummerSlam? Does he have any thoughts on John Cena’s decision to announce his retirement tour?

- What’s next for Naomi after she came up short in the Money in the Bank ladder match?

- Can Andrade find another Latino wrestler to feud with on SmackDown who isn’t part of Legado del Fantasma?

- Giovanni Vinci is totally screwed on this SmackDown roster, isn’t he?

- Where the f*** is Jimmy Uso?

What will you be looking for on SmackDown?