Smackdown Live Review 07/10/2018

Hello Misfits. It is time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. It is the go-home show to Extreme Rules and the final episode of Smackdown Live to hype their matches on the card. This week it has been announced that Shinsuke Nakamura will return to action in a match against AJ Styles yet again. Also, we know that James Ellsworth will be facing Asuka in another battle of sexes match. Only this time the ring will be surrounded with the Smackdown Women’s division because it’s a lumberjack match. Team Hell No still has to deal with the Bludgeon Brothers and SanIty has turned their focus on to The New Day. Will Becky Lynch’s winning streak continue? Will the Usos try to make an impact tonight? Lets find out.

Smackdown comes to us live from the TD Bank Arena in Boston, MA.

–  Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves are on commentary.

Miz TV w/ Team Hell No
Miz says everywhere he goes everyone is talking about the upcoming premiere of Miz and Mrs. Miz. He also notes that people have also been talking about the reunion of Team Hell No for some reason. Miz welcomes Team Hell No to the show. Kane and Daniel Bryan join Miz in the ring. Miz says he knows Bryan is upset Miz beat him a few weeks back, but Miz wants Bryan to be professional tonight. Bryan says he isn’t going to punch Miz in the face (after Kane nudges him a bit). Miz says Team Hell No getting back together was bigger than Nsync getting back together. Kane says, first of all, Nsync will never get back together as Bryan looks confused. Kane turns around and tells Bryan that JT is just too big a star now. Kane says they will beat the Bludgeon Brothers. Miz says Team Hell No are the most dominant team ever.
Miz plays a video package of Kane and Bryan hugging. Miz apologizes and says that isn’t the footage he wanted to show. Bryan says the only thing Miz is worse at than stirring the pot is being a wrestler. Miz says Bryan is hiding behind this nostalgia act and that Bryan knows he can’t hang with Miz at this point. Kane backs Bryan up and tells Bryan to calm down and breathe. Miz tells Bryan to hide behind his broken down demon one more time. Kane grabs Miz by the throat. The Bludgeon Brothers come out on the stage. Before Harper and Rowen get to the ring, SAnitY appears behind Team Hell No. SAnitY attacks Team Hell No. The New Day come out and join the fight. SAnitY and the Bludgeon Brothers leave New Day and Team Hell No laying.
Opinion
This was a great opening segment. Miz TV is the perfect segment to not only get Miz on TV for a bit and progress storylines but to give variety to opening segment every week. I loved the underlying tension between Bryan and Miz coming up again. Kane was showcasing his humorous side again with the Nsync line and stuff. Right when it felt like things were getting heated with Miz and Bryan, things broke down with SanIty and the Bludgeon Brothers showing up. Add in the New Day and our main event was set. This was better than that pull-apart last night between Lashley and Reigns.

AJ Styles def. Shinsuke Nakamura
Rusev and Aiden English came out for commentary for this match. In a competitive back and fourth match between two guys we’ve seen wrestle a lot these past four months, AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ when Rusev pulled AJ Styles off the apron interfering in the match after Shinsuke hit the kinshasa on Aiden by accident. After the match Rusev holds Styles so Nakamura can hit him with another kinshasa but Jeff Hardy came to rescue Styles. Paige makes this into a tag team championship.
Opinion
Although it feels like we’ve seen this match so many times these past few months, I still enjoyed this. I didn’t want to see either guy over the other so I didn’t mind the finish with Rusev getting involved.

Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev w/ Aiden English def. AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy
In a solid tag team match, Nakamura and Rusev defeat Styles and Hardy when Jeff Hardy goes to the top for a swanton bomb onto Rusev only to get low-blowed by Shinsuke Nakamura which allowed Rusev to retaliate with a machka kick for the win.
Opinion
Clever way to kill two birds with one stone, putting these feuds together in for an extended segment. I knew the moment Jeff came out, this was potentially leading to a tag match and I was right. My traditional booking mind makes me believe that Nakamura and Rusev winning here and standing tall last before the PPV means they won’t this Sunday. I mean I’m almost sure Rusev isn’t going to win.

Lumberjack Match
Asuka vs. James Ellsworth
All the women are out at ringside for this match. Carmella makes her way out first and taunts all the women while prancing around with her championship belt. Ellsworth gets on the mic before the match Ellsworth says all the women around the ring need to control themselves and not try to kiss him while he is in the ring.
In quick match, Asuka defeated Ellsworth when she avoided getting hit by the spray bottle Carmella tried handing to Ellsworth and locking in the Asuka lock on Ellsworth making him tap out.
After the match, Ellsworth sprays Asuka in the face with whatever was in the bottle. Ellsworth holds Asuka in place while Carmella kicks Asuka in the face.
Opinion
This was a fun segment which once again furthers the storyline between Asuka and Carmella while using Ellsworth to help her get more heat. It sucks that the rest of the women were just used for this segment this week rather than further developing their own but this is the only major Smackdown womens match this Sunday, so I guess it makes sense. Carmella and Ellsworth stood tall tonight even after Ellsworth loss, and I hope they do this Sunday too. I’m cool if Asuka wins but I’m enjoying Mella as champion. This was fun and just storyline progression.

– Backstage, New Day and Team Hell No are together. Big E. says they need to find a way to defeat the Bludgeons and SAnitY. Kane says they need a more final solution like setting them on fire and dragging them to hell. Bryan asks if they will need to ask Satan to open a portal. Kane says technically it’s a gateway but yes, that is what Kane expects. Bryan says if Kane would have let him punch Miz in the face this wouldn’t have happened. Bryan and Kane argue. Big E. tells them to stop. Big E. gives everyone their marching orders. Kane says a strange quote about him promising and this leading to forever. Bryan asks Kane if that was NSYNC. Kane says yes… but it still applies here and everyone gets hyped.

– Backstage, Ellsworth tries to kiss Paige brushes him off and tells him that Ellsworth will be in a shark cage during Carmella’s title match with Asuka.

Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega def. Sin Cara
In a really good competitive match, Almas defeated Sin Cara by hitting the running Metora on Sin Cara for the win.
Opinion
I really really enjoyed this match. It was two really talented guys giving us 205 cruiserweight like action on Smackdown. It changed the pace of the show and it felt good. Almas is the man and needs to be involved in a major angle asap because he’s a star. The package of Vega and himself have a presence and I dont want them to flounder in the mid-card. Check out this match if you missed it.

– Backstage, we get a promo from SanIty and the Bludgeon Brothers.

Team Hell No & The New Day def. SanIty & Bludgeon Brothers
In a quality main event, Team Hell No and The New Day defeated  SanIty and the Bludgeon Brothers when Bryan connected with the knee on Young for the win.
After the match, Bryan does the Yes chant. Kane stops Bryan and does the Yes chant. Bryan stops Kane and tries to do Kane’s pyro taunt bit there is no explosion. Bryan tries again to no avail. On the third attempt, Kane’s old pyro actually goes off. Kane is shocked.
Opinion
This was a fun match and showcased all the competitors strengths. Even in loss SanIty and the Bludgeon Brothers looked like monsters. Killian Dain stood out the most to me. The dude is a beast. The good guys won in the end to send the fans home happy and it gives everyone hope that Team Hell No could walk out of Extreme Rules as the tag team champions. I really enjoyed the post match antics with Bryan trying to do the Kane pyro and it actually going off. It’s the little playful stuff like that which makes wrestling fun and enjoyable. I forgot how good the chemistry between the Kane and Bryan character was.

Final Thoughts
This was a fun episode of Smackdown Live and it flew by. There was a ton of storyline and angle progression for this Sundays Extreme Rules. There were three solid matches and not a ton of talking. I really enjoyed the Almas/Cara match and recommend everyone check that out if they haven’t watched Smackdown. All the NSYNC references made me realize that someone in the writers room is from my generation or age group because I totally got a kick out of them. I did miss Samoa Joe and the Usos being featured on the show but there isn’t really anything creative for them right now, especially with Extreme Rules being this Sunday. If you didn’t watch Smackdown yet, check it out. It was solid and went by way faster than Raw.
Rating – 6.5/10