With less than two weeks until WWE heads to Australia for the Super Show-Down card, SmackDown Live took place inside the same Pepsi Center venue in Denver as Raw did on Monday. Personal rivalries are at the forefront on the blue brand when it comes to the build for Australia, and without question they all took a giant step forward on Tuesday night. But on what was one of the better episodes of WWE television on Tuesday, maybe the most personal rivalry on the brand took ventured to a whole other level thanks to Samoa Joe keeping a chilling promise he made weeks ago. 

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Samoa Joe visits the Styles family

General manager Paige was in the ring as the moderator of the scheduled contract signing for the main event segment. She brought out the champion AJ Styles first, and then called for Joe, who didn't appear. Styles called Joe a coward and said that the no disqualification, no countout stipulation is right up the challenger's alley. Just as Styles was about to rant on Joe some more, he appeared on the Titantron -- and he was nowhere near the arena. 

A few weeks after threatening to make his way to the champion's residence, Joe had finally done just that. He taunted Styles in front of his mailbox, and even propped himself on his front steps as he slowly teased making his way into the house; the taunting even included Joe revealing a doll he had bought as a present for Styles' daughter Annie. Joe said that Styles' actions from stealing his title victory at Hell in a Cell have consequences, and Styles pleaded as vehemently as he could to Joe to not enter his house. SmackDown then provided one of the best endings to WWE television in recent memory as Joe said he was going to ring the doorbell and proclaimed, "Daddy's home," just as the screen went to black on this week's episode. 

It's certainly nowhere near hyperbole to state that was one of the better endings to TV in quite some time. A few weeks ago, Joe warned that he was going to the champ's house, but he never made it there. Well, he made it there on Tuesday night, paying off the promise we thought WWE forgot about, and thus propelling this feud to an even more personal level. When all is said and done, this Styles-Joe feud will go down as one of the best of the year in not just the company, but pro wrestling in general. And without a doubt, one of the highlights that will be consistently packaged with the feud will be the visual of Joe set to enter his rival's house to presumably torment his family. Grade: A+ 

Welcome to 'Truth TV'

Upon first glance as SmackDown opened up this week, it appeared we were kicking off with an episode of "Miz TV." However, R-Truth and Carmella were occupying the ring with an episode of "Truth TV" instead. Truth said he was bringing out the man who will be facing the "former host" of the segment, The Miz, at Super Show-Down for the right to be the No. 1 contender to the WWE championship. Truth asked Daniel Bryan how cathartic it'll feel to finally defeat Miz in Australia, but Bryan couldn't give an immediate response -- mainly because it was time for the required 7-second dance break on Truth and Carmella's show. Things then turned more serious, with Bryan explaining how he has unfinished business with the WWE championship -- which he was only able to defend once prior to injury when he held it in 2014 -- as well as The Miz after he cheated to defeat Bryan at SummerSlam. 

Miz's music hit, and he, of course, was curious as to what Truth was doing. Miz turned his attention to Bryan, admitting that while he's the scrappy underdog that everyone loves, that's also the reason he can't defeat him; The Miz wins at all costs and will do whatever it takes to move on to a WWE title shot, while Bryan doesn't have what it takes because he won't compromise his own moral code and tarnish his name. Truth interrupted Miz for taking up too much time on his show and said that if he wants it back, he'll have to fight him for it. In gorilla position, Paige forced Miz to go back out and fight for his show. 

The Miz def. R-Truth via pinfall: Miz initially hit the Skull-Crushing Finale, but instead of making the immediate pin, he taunted Bryan -- who was on commentary -- by finishing off Truth with his own version of the running knee. 

The Bryan-Miz rivalry has evolved pretty well to this point, but it's made substantially more intriguing now that the WWE championship opportunity is dangling in front of them. It was great to have Bryan call back to the unfinished business he has with the top title, while at the same time letting Miz explain the reasoning why he doesn't believe that mega-babyface Bryan has what it takes to reach the mountaintop again. Not to mention, this week's opening segment received an added bonus via the hilarious antics of Truth and Carmella, who have been quite the nice surprise since being paired for the Mixed Match Challenge. Grade: A

Aiden English has a dirty little secret

Backstage, Lana went to Rusev's locker room before they made their way to the ring. Rusev told his wife that he just wants some answers from English. In the ring, Rusev recalled the events of last week and said the betrayal was made even worse by the fact that it went down on Rusev Day. He said before he takes care of him, he wants those aforementioned answers. English -- equipped with a "Happy Aiden Day" T-shirt and microphone --  came out and told his former partner that he was floundering before they linked up together before showing a montage of their relationship. English then went and stated the obvious -- that the wedge driven between them for good was caused by Lana, and then we were treated to a montage of all the occurrences where English and Lana got in each other's way while trying to aid Rusev. Lana fired back by telling English that he was just looking to piggyback off of Rusev's fame, but the segment was dealt a major cliffhanger when English told Rusev to ask his wife about what happened in Milwaukee. 

After commercial, Rusev was questioning Lana about Milwaukee when Becky Lynch interrupted them to talk trash to Lana ahead of their match later in the night. Following Lynch's departure, Rusev pondered about Milwaukee, and did so again as he went to wish Lana luck right before her match with the champion. 

Becky Lynch def. Lana via submission: Lana was able to get some offense in, but the champ made her tap to the Dis-Arm-Her. Backstage, English promised to provide video evidence next week of this Milwaukee incident he brought to light earlier in the night. 

There was some worry by fans that the Rusev Day breakup may have taken place just a tad too soon, but so far, they're off to a good start. Yes, English went down the obvious road by placing the blame on Lana, but made up for it with the dirty little Milwaukee secret. This first segment with English as the traitorous heel, so now we just have to hope the eventual payoff to the Milwaukee secret is something worthwhile. If it's not, then the feud could take a drastic hit. But again, good start here. Grade: A-

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • Becky Lynch ruins Charlotte Flair's photo shoot: They showed footage from earlier in the day where Flair was taking part in a photo shoot before she was blindsided by SmackDown women's champion Lynch. Lynch beat down Flair and then put one foot on her prone body. She then ordered the photographer to take the champ's picture. The announce team revealed that Flair had been sent home from Tuesday's show after being evaluated for injuries. 
  • Sheamus def. Big E via pinfall: For the second consecutive week, New Day was on the losing end to The Bar in singles competition. This time it was Sheamus getting the clean win after a Brogue Kick. 
  • Naomi & Asuka def. Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose via pinfall: With their opponents opponents at Super Show-Down, the IIconics, on commentary, Naomi and Asuka got the victory after both connected with a double roundhouse kick to Deville. 
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tye Dillinger ended in a no contest: Dillinger was giving the United States champion all he could handle -- until Randy Orton showed up. Orton proceeded to brutalize Dillinger outside of the ring, mocking him with the "10" gesture before he left. Nakamura took advantage of Dillinger, nailing him with a Kinshasa that sent him into the video board on the apron. Backstage, Orton said he doesn't really have any beef with Dillinger, he simply just hates the "10" chant.