With just eight days until he defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Solo SIkoa, and one week after a brutal assault at the hands of The Bloodline, Cody Rhodes addressed the WWE Universe Friday night on SmackDown.

How did the Sikoa and the rest of The Bloodline respond and what else went down as the road to SummerSlam on August 3 in Cleveland continued?

Find out with this recap of Friday's Fox broadcast.

Match Card

Announced in advance of the July 26 broadcast were:

• Cody Rhodes appearance
• LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
• Bayley and Michin vs. Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax
• Tag Team Gauntlet Match to Determine the No. 1 Contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship: Street Profits vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Baron Corbin and Apollo Crew vs. Legado del Fantasma vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa
  

LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar

LA Knight will challenge Logan Paul for the United States Championship at SummerSlam but Friday night, he looked to keep his momentum rolling in a match with Legado del Fantasma's Santos Escobar.

Despite the heel's best efforts, Knight weathered the storm through the commercial break and mounted a comeback late. After thwarting attempted interference from Elektra Lopez and Paul, Knight escaped a Phantom Driver attempt and delivered Blunt Force Trauma for the pin-fall victory.

A post-match beatdown by the heels left The Megastar lying.

Result

Knight pinned Escobar

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Despite Tanga Loa's eye injury, Solo Sikoa informed Nick Aldis that The Bloodline will still be represented in the tag team gauntlet match 
• "He's the perpetual motion machine. You knock him down, he gets back up twice as fast," Wade Barrett said of Knight, putting over his resiliency and explosion.
  
• It wasn't that long ago that Escobar was one of the most over heels in the company following his betrayal of Rey Mysterio. Since WrestleMania, he has floundered and it feels like a major missed opportunity to establish a quality midcard heel. 
• Backstage, Naomi cut a promo on Blair Davenport following the heel's escalation of their rivalry a week ago.
• Elsewhere, Paul promised a "legendary homecoming" for SummerSlam and his match with Knight.

Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair Promo

Former women's tag team champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill hit the ring for a promo and once again addressed their desire for a rematch against Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre.

The new champs attacked but the babyfaces fended them off to end a segment that took longer to get to the ring than it did to execute.

Grade

C-

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Having champions who have hardly been featured and not developed creatively attack two babyfaces is hardly the way to get fans to care about them or this feud for the tag titles. Somehow, even under Triple H, the women's tag title picture remains the most under-served portion of the roster.
• This easily could have been saved for a backstage vignette.

Tag Team No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Match

Participants: Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews, Angel Garza and Berto Carrillo, The Street Profits, Pretty Deadly, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu

The Bloodline's Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu are the No. 1 contenders to Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano's WWE Tag Team Championships following their victory in the Tag Team Gauntlet Match Friday night on SmackDown.

The dangerous duo capitalized on an exhausted Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, who had competed against, and defeated, three other teams prior.

The long match highlighted the depth of the tag team but also revealed just how much more work there is to do when it comes to giving teams outside of the tag team title picture something to do. There is plenty of potential for a red-hot division but it will take developing and featuring the teams involved more consistently than they are.

Results

• Crews and Corbin defeated Garza and Carrillo
• Profits defeated Crews and Corbin
• Profits defeated Pretty Deadly
• Profits defeated Gallows and Anderson
• Fatu and Tonga defeated Profits

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Is Pretty Deadly the best act in WWE not currently being used meaningfully? YES BOY! 
• This was a very effective way to spotlight the tag team division and steal an hour of television. 
• Ford is the most gifted athlete in WWE and the fact that he is not in the midst of a singles push at this point is ludicrous.

Terence Crawford Knocked Out Austin Theory; Cody Rhodes Spoke About SummerSlam

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory called out unbeaten boxer Terence Crawford, who aided Cody Rhodes a week ago by handing him a steel chair against the former tag team champions.

Brash arrogance on the part of Waller was met with a knockout blow from Crawford to Theory, which continued the trend of mishaps between tag partners headed toward the inevitable split.

Cody Rhodes cut a pre-taped promo in which he discussed his upcoming match with Solo Sikoa at SummerSlam and how, before last week, he did not believe the leader of The Bloodline was ready. Now, he's not sure.

Grade

C for the Crawford segment, B+ for Rhodes' promo

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Crawford was a big get but his involvement here was minimal. That segment was more about continuing to build dissension between A-Town Down Under than anything.
• Theory is a gifted in-ring performer with talent for days but WWE is going to have to work to get fans behind and believing in him.
• Rhodes lent credibility to Sikoa by second-guessing himself about his readiness for a championship match. It will go a long way in convincing the fans that the second-generation star belongs in the ring with him at SummerSlam. 

Bayley and Michin vs. Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton

Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton are the two biggest threats to Bayley's reign as WWE Women's Champion and Friday night, they proved why with a big victory over The Role Model and tag team partner, Michin.

A good, competitive match, it saw the heels focus their attack on Bayley after wiping out her partner on two different occasions. Bayley was perfectly sympathetic and had fans on her side before she finally made the hot tag to the recovered Michin.

The action broke down late and, ultimately, it was Jax who was able to stunt the onslaught of her opponents and deliver the Annihilator for the victory as she continued rolling toward SummerSlam and her date with Bayley for the women's title.

Result

Jax and Stratton defeated Michin and Bayley

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• The growth of Stratton as an in-ring performer has been nothing short of astonishing. It has been a joy watching the young star evolve into one of the faces of women's wrestling's future.
• The heels getting heat on Bayley while Michin recovered at ringside was a great way to build heat for the women's tag match at SummerSlam while also positioning Michin to shine bright as she fought back into the contest.
• The Sikoa promo to end the show was an effective way to end the show, especially as the self-proclaimed The Bloodline called out both Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. A great cliffhanger that leaves fans intrigued to see what happens next week. 

Final Grade: C+

With the SmackDown crew in Japan for a live tour, this was a taped show and it felt very much like it.

While there was some good stuff here, including the gauntlet match and a main event opportunity for the criminally underrated Michin, the show lacked the energy and excitement that have been key to WWE television and premium live events in 2024.

On the road to SummerSlam, this was a placeholder and that is not necessarily a bad thing, especially with next week's episode airing live from Cleveland.

No harm, no foul here. No energy, either, despite some quality work, including another great outing from The Street Profits.