Top Star Buried On WWE SmackDown Debut

Tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown looked to build on a successful Night of Champions, which took place this past weekend in Saudi Arabia. The landscape in SmackDown changed completely after the main event of the show.

The Night of Champions ended with a new Undisputed WWE Champion as Sami Zayn defeated Cody Rhodes and Gunther to win his first World Title in the company. While one champion opened the show tonight, another defended his title.

Rey Fenix recently won the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship and has since been defending his title on the blue brand. Since winning the belt, he’s defended it thrice, with two of them coming on SmackDown.

WWE SmackDown featured a huge title match

Tonight marked his third title defense on the show as Fenix put his title on the line against fellow AAA competitor, El Hijo del Vikingo. The former AAA Mega World Champion made his WWE in-ring debut tonight against Fenix.

Vikingo has a massive reputation outside the Stamford-based promotion and is widely considered to be one of the best luchadors. However, he wasn’t treated as a huge star on the show and was quickly buried on his debut.

REY FENIX RETAINS!!! @ReyFenixMx is STILL AAA World Cruiserweight Champion! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/g8CZx1pGCT

— WWE (@WWE) July 4, 2026

Fenix wrestled a fairly regular match with El Hijo, which didn’t really set the world on fire. The match didn’t draw a lot of reaction from the crowd either, and ultimately ended in a loss for El Hijo del Vikingo, making him look weak in front of the WWE Universe, most of whom were likely seeing him for the first time on their screens.

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