Smackdown Live Review 05/29/2018

Hello Misfits. It is time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. The road to Money in the Bank continues. This week we are getting the final MITB qualifying match when Samoa Joe takes on Daniel Bryan in the main event. It’s another one of those matches I never thought we’d see in the WWE. Also the drama between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura continues as we head to their Last Man Standing Match. Carmella continues to prove that Mella is Money but is she heading towards bankruptcy by the Empress of Tomorrow? What’s next for the Iiconics? Who will Andrade Cien Almas cross paths with this week? How will the controversial GM Paige shake up Smackdown Live this week? Lets see how Smackdown Live went.

Smackdown comes to us live from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC.

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

Samoa Joe/Daniel Bryan/Big Cass
Samoa Joe comes out and climbs a ladder to take the Money In The Bank briefcase, then references Biblical verses about offering salvation. Joe says his story doesn’t offer any salvation, but he’s still going to be smiling after Money In The Bank, and he will unleash a campaign of fear on the entire Smackdown roster. Joe says he will prove tonight that there are things worse than forced retirement for Daniel Bryan, and he wants Brie to tell Birdie that her daddy won’t be the same man when he comes home. Joe says it’s going to come down to the fact that Bryan ran into a bad man named Samoa Joe.
Bryan comes out and says there are certain lines you don’t cross, and he threatens to break Joe’s leg if he mentions them again. Bryan says they don’t have to wait, and they can fight right on the spot, but Big Cass cuts them off before they can continue. Cass comes out using a crutch and mocks their juvenile behavior, calling them ‘The Shrimp’ and ‘The Blimp.’ Cass says this should be his Money In The Bank match, and the second chance crap has to stop, then he informs him the match isn’t happening. He says Joe versus Cass is still going to happen when he is cleared… and he just happens to already be cleared. Cass winds up and hits Joe with his crutch, then he whips Bryan into the ladder and hits both Joe and Bryan with the briefcase and poses with it.
Opinion
I really enjoyed this opening segment. Samoa Joe seems to be in a much more prominent spot on Smackdown Live and I dig it. I really liked his promo tonight and they did a great job building heat between Joe and Bryan. I wasn’t expecting the swerve by Big Cass about being cleared to wrestle and it made this segment so much better that I wasn’t expecting it. The brutal beatdown by Big Cass and the fact he tried taking our big match for tonight away from us reminded us all why Cass is one of Smackdown Live’s top heels.

– Shinsuke Nakamura is seen walking backstage, and he counts a bunch of numbered cards before ripping the ’10’ in half.

– Paige is seen walking backstage when Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville approach her, and then talk about Asuka not doing anything lately. They bring up her losses at Wrestlemania and on Smackdown, but Paige books Mandy Rose versus Asuka and says she’ll get a first hand look at what Asuka can still do. Following this, Renee Young approaches her and Paige announces we’ll see Bryan vs Joe vs Cass in a triple threat tonight.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Tye Dillinger
In a fun match where Shinsuke Nakamura kept trying to count to ten every time he took Dillinger down, Nakamura defeated Dillinger after a kinshasa. Nakamura hit another kinshasa on Dillinger after the match and counts to ten.
Opinion
This match was pretty one-sided but it served its purpose. Shinsuke played a great heel here and I loved how he kept doing the ten count throughout the match to show his confidence in winning at MITB.

-Dasha Fuentes is backstage with AJ Styles, who talks about what just Nakamura did to Dillinger. Styles says he didn’t forget what happened last week, and something snapped in Nakamura’s head, who might be more dangerous than ever. Styles says his opponent is underestimating him once again, but he’s WWE Champion and he fights any one in his way, but he’s going to prove himself once again at Money In The Bank.

– Rusev Day is backstage with Lana trying to show her some dance moves. We go back to commercial.

Dance Off
Lana w/ Rusev & Aiden English vs. Naomi w/ The Usos
Lana is accompanied by Rusev and Aiden English, and Naomi gets The Usos in her corner. Lana starts with a pop routine, then Naomi responds with a hip hop based routine. The crowd goes nuts for her, but Lana and Naomi then join hands and do a tandem dance, and seem to be on good terms. They pose with each other, but Lana ends up dropping Naomi with a neckbreaker, then Lana smacks Jimmy in the mouth and it breaks down from here. Naomi runs after Lana and knocks her down, then hits a Rear View and stands tall with The Usos.
Opinion
This was cringe at times but also really entertaining. I’m a fan of everyone involved and I think the silliness of Lana, Rusev and English combined with the energy Naomi and the Usos bring, it worked. I dont think it would have if it was just Lana and Naomi having a dance-off but including Rusev Day and The Usos was the right decision.

– There was a funny backstage cut where the New Day backstage pulling shenanigans with a platter of pancakes. The Miz and The Bar are shown in their dressing room, practicing fighting off pancakes.

The New Day def. The Miz & The Bar
In a great six man tag match, The New Day defeated The Miz & The Bar after Big E catches The Miz with a Big Ending.
Opinion
This was an excellent match between six talented dudes. It gave everyone a chance to shine. I was rooting for The Miz and The Bar but there weren’t no stakes on the line here so it doesn’t matter. There is still no official word on which New Day member will participate in the MITB match.

-Renee Young is backstage with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, asking about their title shot from SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers at MITB. The Good Brothers talk about how they’re in the best shape of their careers and ready for the titles. They admit they have their work cut out for them but they are confident that they will beat The Bludgeon Brothers at Money In the Bank like they’re a couple of… strange music starts playing as Rowan and Harper appear on a nearby TV screen. They send an eerie warning to The Good Brothers and tell them to prepare for what’s coming.

Asuka def. Mandy Rose
The beautiful Carmella was on commentary for this match. In a competitive match, Asuka defeated Mandy Rose by making her tap out with an Asuka lock.
After the match,Carmella gets in the ring and holds her title in Asuka’s face, but leaves without incident.
Opinion
The commentary during this match was all over the place but it was organic and felt real. Graves played his part great as infatuation with Mandy Rose is always hilarious. Carmella reacting to Graves was funny too. The match was good and Rose got more offence then I expected. I definitely expected Asuka to pick up the win so no surprise here. Nice little confrontation between Mella and Asuka after the match showing Carmella had no fear.

-We see Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch backstage watching. Flair believes Asuka will win the title at Money In the Bank. Flair can see it now… Asuka will win the title and she will win the briefcase, setting the stage for a WrestleMania 34 rematch. Becky disagrees and sees herself winning. Becky says she was fingertips away from winning the briefcase last year and nothing will stop her this year, not even Flair. Flair goes on about how this is hard because she wants Becky to win as well but Flair needs this, she needs her title back. They have some friendly words when Paige walks in. Paige loves the competition and it is important in making sure the contract comes to Smackdown Live. Paige says this reminds her of their Team PCB. Paige tries to get in on “tea time” and walks off after an awkward exchange.

– Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair is announced for next week.

– Sin Cara approaches Andrade “Cien” Almas backstage and embraces him. Zelina Vega walks up and she’s not happy, asking who Cara is and why a nobody like him is talking to her client. She says Almas is the future of SmackDown. Cara asks Almas if she is serious and Almas says something back to him in Spanish. Almas and Vega walk off as Cara watches. Interesting.

Qualifying Match for the Money in the Bank Match
Samoa Joe def. Daniel Bryan & Big Cass
In an awesome yet gruelling main event, Samoa Joe defeats Bryan and Cass to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match after Daniel Bryan passed out in the Coquina Clutch which Joe locked in when it looked like Bryan had the victory in the bag.
After the match, Joe stands tall as his arm is raised and his music hits. We go to replays. Joe makes his exit up the ramp, looking back at the ring to mock Bryan for going to sleep. Joe’s music stops as Cass waits for Bryan to get up. Cass charges with a crazed look in his eye and floors Bryan with a big boot. Cass taunts Bryan and stands tall over him with his fist in the air as fans boo. Cass’ music starts up as he looks down at Bryan and SmackDown goes off the air.
Opinion
This was one helluva main event where they made you believe any one of these guys could have picked up the win. They did a good job building heat between these three guys over the last few weeks and it showed here. I think every time Daniel Bryan picks up a loss or loses cleanly, it surprises fans. I was even shocked in ended with his arm dropping for the third time while he was in the coquina clutch cause thats a rare thing in wrestling. I’m sure they’ll be a payoff down the road. I would have predicted that Joe was going to win on the basis that Bryan and Cass can continue their program wrestling each other while Joe being in the ladder match makes a ton of sense. I could actually see Joe as the next MITB.

Final Thoughts
This was another awesome episode of Smackdown Live. They are definitely on a roll right now. Every week they give us something different to look forward too and different segments to shake things up. There were three really good matches and a ton of storyline progression. If you missed it, I’d definitely recommend checking it out.
Rating – 6.5/10