WWE’s house show tour in Japan from July 25 to July 27 caused the July 26th edition of Friday Night SmackDown to be pre-recorded a week earlier in Omaha, Nebraska.
However, WWE SmackDown was not aired in the order it was filmed.
The main event, which featured Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax against Bayley and Michin, was recorded before the Tag Team Gauntlet match.
Fightful is reporting that the Tag Team Gauntlet match was originally supposed to headline SmackDown but was recorded earlier.
WWE chose to film the segments out of order to make the process more efficient and expedite the travel, as the taping format provided flexibility in the sequence of events.
The report states, “Michin and Bayley vs. Nia Jax and Tiffany was listed as the last segment for SmackDown and ended up airing that way. But it was actually filmed before the tag team turmoil match. When I asked people why that was they said, ‘Probably to get people out of there a little bit earlier.’ And it’s taped and didn’t matter as much to necessarily organize it in that matter.”
The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga) won the Tag Team Gauntlet match to earn a shot at #DIY’s WWE Tag Team Championships at SummerSlam 2024.
