WWE SmackDown: John Morrison, Matt Riddle deliver solid match; AJ Styles retains Intercontinental Championship

We're inching closer to Extreme Rules and before The Horror Show commences, the feuds are being set in motion. Friday Night SmackDown began with a Matt Riddle interview that was hosted by Michael Cole. The Original King spoke about winning against AJ Styles last week before King Corbin interrupted him. Taking the reins into his own hands' again, Corbin sanctioned a match between Riddle and John Morrison, who had The Miz by his side. During their match, which was a welcome fresh pairing, Morrison showed off his veteran skills and dominated early on with a mean corkscrew plancha.

Eventually, the Original Bro got his mojo back and hit Morrison with Bro To Sleep. While Morrison kept up with the defense and Riddle was fairly distracted by Corbin, the former still managed to win over Morrison with a rollup pin. AJ Styles made his presence felt by attacking Riddle at the ramp but was chased away by Drew Gulak. While Morrison vs. Riddle saw both getting the upper hand, Styles vs. Gulak was a one-man show that disappointed. Inspite of Daniel Bryan's endorsement of Gulak over a Zoom call, The Phenomenal One continued to dominate. Just when you thought Gulak had decent momentum, Styles hit him with a Styles Clash. Instead of going for the pinfall immediately, Styles hit the Phenomenal Forearm for the win.

Next up, we had Bayley and Sasha Banks continue their heel dominance and boasting about their recent achievements including getting praised by the recently retired The Undertaker. Moreover, a tribute of sorts at their achievements was showcased to the audience as a video package that was heavily booed. Bayley and Sasha were interrupted by Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. Cross stated that she had what it takes to defeat Bayley at Extreme Rules and win the SmackDown Women's Championship and proceeded to make a statement by slapping the champ. Inevitably, a match was set between Bayley and Bliss, with Banks accepting the bout on her best friend's behalf.

When it comes to the match, Alexa was fiery hot early on but the champion was able to dominate later. There was obvious interference by Sasha with Nikki; not sitting on the sidelines, taking the fight to the heels, who ran away from the ring holding on to their titles. While Bayley will have her work cut out for her during her Extreme Rules match with Nikki, Sasha Banks has a shot at the RAW Women's Championship as she goes toe-to-toe with Asuka.

The WWE Universe then witness another solid match in Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, with Big E and Cesaro by their side. Kingston dominated early on with Big E and Cesaro being banned from ringside so as not to interfere in the match. Nakamura took over shortly after but Kofi pulled off his veteran skills and fought back hard earning a few two-counts. However, The Artist was able to pull through and won the match with a mean Kinshasa.

The next segment saw Jeff Hardy's feud continue with Sheamus as the former was welcome to the ring with a bar at his disposal. The Celtic Warrior appeared via satellite and went for another round of spewing Hardy's dark past and rendezvous with addiction in the guise of a toast. Hardy asked for the purpose behind the toast as Shaemis tried to manipulate his foe into drinking again. Instead, The Charismatic Enigma broke a champagne glass over Sheamus' personal bartender Geeves and hit him with a Swanton Bomb to end the show. Not everyone was convinced with the final segment as it felt like repetition on Sheamus' behalf of constantly bringing up Hardy's past without any solid feud to attach itself to the scenario for a future match.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? Loved it or hated it? Let us know your views in the comments section below.

In what will definitely pique the WWE Universe's curiosity is the winning streak of Riddle, as he not only won against Morrison this week but won against Styles last week as well. He's got quite a few enemies, who have him under their radar and it will be interesting to know what WWE has planned for the Orignal King of Bros.