WWE SmackDown Notes: New Special Stip Added To Gunther & Zayn vs. Punk & Rhodes Tag Match at 7/18 WWE SNME, Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill Qualifies for Interim WWE Women’s Title Ladder Match at SummerSlam, Danhausen Teases “Secret Weapon” for McDonagh Match at 7/18 WWE SNME, 7/24 Show Card

WWE
Jul 17, 2026

New Special Stip Added To Gunther & Zayn vs. Punk & Rhodes Tag Match at July 18 WWE SNME Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York featured one newly updated match announced for the card of the next WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show on July 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

This newly updated match was the announcement of the special stipulation of if Gunther and Sami Zayn win their tag team match against CM Punk and Cody Rhodes at WWE SNME, then both will be added to the Undisputed WWE Championship match to make it into a Fatal Four-way at this August’s SummerSlam 2026 event.

This newly updated match was setup following an in-ring promo segment involving Gunther, RAW GM Adam Pearce, and Rhodes.

Current card for July 18th WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show:

  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Fatal Influence (Lainey Reid & Fallon Henley) vs. Scream Mode (Paige & Brie Bella) (c)
  • No DQ match – Danhausen vs. JD McDonagh
  • Cody Rhodes & CM Punk vs. Gunther & Sami Zayn
  • Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria
  • WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and 2026 NBA Champion Jalen Brunson to appear

Tiffany Stratton & Qualifies for Interim WWE Women’s Title Ladder Match at SummerSlam 2026

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured the announcement of WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley not being medically cleared to compete at SummerSlam 2026.

During the show, a video aired featuring RAW GM Adam Pearce providing an update on Ripley’s meniscus tear injury and stated she will not be able to compete at SummerSlam due to her current situation. Pearce stated that an Interim WWE Women’s Champion will be crowned in a Ladder match at SummerSlam and qualifying matches will be taking place starting with tonight’s show to determine the official five competitors for it.

The first qualifying match was Tiffany Stratton defeating Jacy Jayne.

The second qualifying match was Jade Cargill defeating Nia Jax.

Current card for WWE SummerSlam 2026:

  • Undisputed WWE Championship – Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk (c)
  • WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns (c)
  • Intermin WWE Women’s Championship Ladder match – Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill vs. TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA
  • WWE Women’s World Championship – IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan (c)
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship – Chad Gable vs. Penta (c)
  • Hell in a Cell match – Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
  • Six-Man Tag Team match – LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, & Royce Keys vs. The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso))

Danhausen Teases Having “Secret Weapon” for McDonagh Match at July 18 WWE SNME Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Danhausen teasing him having a “secret weapon” in store for Judgement Day’s Dominik Mysterio if he tries to interfere in his No DQ match against JD McDonagh at this Saturday’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Current Card for Next Week’s Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured one new match announced for the card of next week’s show on July 24 at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California.

Current card for July 24th WWE SmackDown show:

  • Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Qualifier match – Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax
Trending
  1. [Spoiler] WWE's Current Plans for New Match at SummerSlam 2026[Spoiler] WWE’s Current Plans for New Match at SummerSlam 2026
  2. Backstage Update on Big Cass' WWE ReturnBackstage Update on Big Cass’ WWE Return
  3. WWE SmackDown Results – July 17, 2026 – Fallout From Gunther's Attack on Nick Aldis, Cody Rhodes & CM Punk Appears, Finn Balor vs. Talla TongaWWE SmackDown Results – July 17, 2026 – Fallout From Gunther’s Attack on Nick Aldis,…
  4. TNA Impact! Results – July 16, 2026 – TNA Knockouts Television Title Tournament Matches, Cedric Alexander vs. Fabian AichnerTNA Impact! Results – July 16, 2026 – TNA Knockouts Television Title Tournament Matches,…
  5. AEW Collision Taping Spoilers for July 18 Episode from Boston, MAAEW Collision Taping Spoilers for July 18 Episode from Boston, MA
  6. WWE Provides Update on Rhea Ripley Meniscus Tear Injury & Announces Ladder Match for Interim WWE Women's Title at SummerSlam 2026WWE Provides Update on Rhea Ripley Meniscus Tear Injury & Announces Ladder Match for…