TWO HOURS OF MY LIFE I WISH I HAD BACK | WWE SmackDown Review (7/24/26)

We are one week away from SummerSlam, and tonight is the first and only meaningful face to face for Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, and they are finally MAD at each other heading into SummerSlam. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes nearly came to blows in the aftermath of Saturday Night's Main Event when Punk "accidentally" smacked Cody Rhodes in the face with the WWE Championship, and then got into a shoving match again on the SummerSlam Kickoff show. How do they respond to each other tonight? Also, after being blindsided by Nick Aldis on Saturday Night's Main Event last weekend, Gunther is set to discuss his match against the SmackDown General Manager on SmackDown. And, the Interim Women's Championship Qualifying matches continue tonight heading into the 5 Woman Ladder Match at SummerSlam. Join ‪@JDfromNY‬ LIVE for the WWE SmackDown Post Show Review for Friday July 24th, 2026. Timestamps: 13:55 Stream intro, SmackDown was one of the worst in WWE history 14:29 WWE Radio absorbs Busted Open, how do you cover up a show this bad 16:03 IWC wanted women's matches, SmackDown gave them nothing but garbage 18:08 What did this show even accomplish 19:37 SmackDown showed you how awful the women's division really is 33:53 Worst week in pro wrestling all year 34:33 WWE paid to control the narrative, independent voices are dying 39:25 JD and the last dying breed of honest wrestling coverage 45:39 Busted Open WWE Radio news is disheartening, JD's personal reaction 52:42 Show breakdown begins, Gunther and Nick Aldis contract signing 53:21 Nick Aldis relinquishes GM duties, Adam Pearce takes over 54:35 AJ Styles should be the new SmackDown General Manager 56:24 Gunther's promo, jealousy, the Rolex, career killer 57:53 Why Gunther has been used as a handyman in 2026 1:00:43 Brawl breaks out, Gunther powerbombs Aldis through the table 1:02:22 Why announce the match on Twitter instead of saving it for TV 1:05:49 Sami Zayn, what about me, 18 days ago I was WWE Champion 1:07:05 Sami demands a triple threat, Pearce says earn your way back 1:07:45 How WWE screwed Sami Zayn at every turn 1:10:29 WWE took the belt off Sami to sell tickets, not for creative reasons 1:11:28 Sami in the fatal four way, JD likes him on the SummerSlam card 1:12:40 Match 1, Brie Bella vs Lainey Reid, five minutes 1:13:54 Fatal Influence won the titles Saturday, why run it back six days later 1:16:02 Why is the new tag champion losing her first singles match 1:18:11 Nikki Bella challenges Fatal Influence to a six woman tag at SummerSlam 1:21:04 JD reacts to WWE Radio on SiriusXM, 48 hours of propaganda 1:22:59 Dave Meltzer wants longer pay-per-views, JD goes off 1:26:01 HBK vs Triple H 2002 was 23 minutes, not every match needs 40 1:29:03 Match 2, Chelsea Green vs Kiana James, four minutes 1:29:27 Nine minutes of wrestling in two matches, everything else was promos 1:32:09 Priest says the boys are sick of the same people on top, crowd cheers 1:33:05 CM Punk and Cody Rhodes face to face, first time since SNME 1:33:38 Cody barely gets a reaction in Oakland 1:34:05 Cody drops the mic on Punk on purpose, says it was an accident 1:35:52 Cody promo, pipe bomb, dropped a nuke on the business 1:38:53 Punk promo, brothers fight, stab in the front not the back 1:42:23 Good first step, no need for deep personal jabs yet 1:43:46 CM Punk is not losing the title at SummerSlam 1:44:15 Cody Rhodes needs to turn heel, everything points to it 1:45:29 Match 3, Charlotte vs Nia Jax qualifying match 1:48:30 Fatal four way main event, Balor, Priest, Trick, Royce Keys 1:49:26 Two commercial breaks in the main event, five minutes of wrestling visible 1:52:07 Finn Balor wins, goes to SummerSlam to face Sami Zayn 1:52:39 Final verdict, one of the worst SmackDown episodes in history 1:53:08 Do not watch any WWE affiliated podcast, they cannot defend this show 2:02:39 Superchats 2:36:09 Closing thoughts, live Sunday for AEW Redemption 📍Support The Channel: ♦Join the "Off The Script" VIP Club: 👉   / jdfromny206   ♦Get Your JDfromNY Merch: 👉https://jdfromny-shop.fourthwall.com/ ♦Follow on Twitter/X: 👉  / jdfromny206   ♦Follow on Instagram: 👉  / jdfromny206   ♦Follow on Tik Tok: 👉  / jdfromny   ♦Follow on Twitch: 👉http://www.twitch.com/jdfromnewyork ♦Request A Cameo: 👉http://www.cameo.com/jdfromny 🤝Sponsors: ♦ Blue Chew (Use Code "JD"): https://go.bluechew.com ♦ Turtle Beach (Code "SCRIPT"): http://www.turtlebeach.com/script ♦ Mars Men (REFERENCE JDFROMNY) http://wwwmengotomars.com 🎵The Official Off The Script Music Playlist: ♦Spotify 👉https://tinyurl.com/49arna26 📢Off The Script Podcast on iTunes & Spotify: ♦Apple Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/3r53nycv ♦Spotify Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/yt8k63t2 #CMPunk #CodyRhodes #WWE #SmackDown #Wrestling