Smackdown Live Review 09/18/2018

Hello Misfits. It is time for this weeks Smackdown Live review. This is the post Hell in a Cell episode of Smackdown Live. AJ Styles is still the WWE Championship after retaining his title in a controversial finish against Samoa Joe. AJ Styles is booked to face Andrade Almas tonight, will Joe make his presence felt? Becky Lynch was able to have her moment and once again become the Women’s Champion by beating Charlotte Flair. Will Charlotte crash Lynch’s celebration to try to ruin another moment for the Irish Lasskicker? Brie and Bryan suffered an embarrassing loss to Miz and Maryse at Hell in a Cell. What will happen next in this never ending rivalry between The Miz and Daniel Bryan? Randy Orton seemed to have gotten rid of Jeff Hardy but will he have a new victim? Lets find out.

Smackdown comes to us live from the BOK Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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

Miz TV
The Miz welcomes the crowd to his show. Miz has some big news for all of us. At Super Showdown Daniel Bryan will face the Miz. The winner gets a shot at the WWE Championship. The Miz says he moved heaven and earth to get his special guest here tonight. His special guest is Maryse. Miz tells Maryse it’s an honor to have her on the show. Maryse says beating Brie was easy. Maryse and Miz go on and on about how Brie and Bryan’s relationship is weak compared to theirs. Maryse says tonight is her last night on Smackdown Live. Miz says she is leaving to go be the best mother on the planet. Miz gets mad at the crowd for booing. Miz is going to give the crowd something to boo about.
Miz demands Bryan come to the ring so Miz can destroy him. Bryan comes out and says Miz can talk about him all Miz wants. When you talk about Bryan’s wife this is what you get. Bryan runs tot he ring and attacks Miz. Bryan dropkicks Miz and Miz stumbles into Maryse. Bryan is mortified. Miz and officials check on Maryse. Bryan tries to apologize to Maryse while the medics are putting her on a stretcher. Maryse starts laughing. Miz grabs Bryan from behind for the Skull Crushing Finale. Bryan elbows his way out of it. Miz charges at Bryan. Bryan moves and Miz crashes into Maryse. Bryan clotheslines Miz out of the ring.
Opinion
This was a good way to address what happened last night, give Maryse a nice farewell instead of her just disappearing and help promote the super showdown match which continues the feud between Bryan and The Miz. There was one last coward-like mind game played by the Miz and Maryse to get the upper hand on Bryan but it backfired. This was a solid opening segment.

– The New Day are backstage dressed in Safari gear heading to the ring.

– Kyra Braxton interviews Daniel Bryan backstage and asks how he realized they were trying to trick him. Bryan says everyone knows Miz is a coward and he can’t believe The Miz would stoop so low as to use his wife to stage an injury to catch him off guard. He says Super Showdown won’t be a double date but one on one. At Super Showdown Bryan isn’t going to just punch Miz in the face, Bryan is also going to punch his ticket to a shot at the WWE Championship.

– The New Day cut a promo prior to their match saying there is only one day on Smackdown Live and it isn’t Rusev Day, its the New Day. They address their match against The Bar at Australia and Super Showdown. They stall to insult Big E’s Australian accent but E says the IIconics said it was cool. They poke fun of The Bar in an accent. Cesaro and The Bar mock the New Day and call them a joke. Sheamus says they’ll be be more than happy to take the tag titles from The New Day and elevate the tag team division because they dont set the bar, they are THE BAR!

Cesaro w/ Sheamus def. Kofi Kingston w/ The New Day
In a competitive match, Cesaro defeated Kofi Kingston after hitting the gotch neutralizer. 
Opinion
I enjoyed this match. Kofi Kingston and Cesaro have great chemistry and their styles mesh perfectly. The right guy won to start building momentum for The Bar as serious number one contenders for the tag team championship.

– Backstage, Rusev is talking to Lana. Aiden English walks in and says he has a good feeling about Rusev’s chances tonight. Rusev tells English to stay in the back. Rusev tells English that his best isn’t good enough. English says Rusev Day was all because of him. English goes into a rant about how this is all Lana’s fault to a producer. The prodcuer tells English to turn around. English tries to apologize. Lana yells she is going to go tell Rusev. Lana storms off in a huff.

– Randy Orton is threatening the guy in the production truck to pull up the footage of what Orton did to Jeff Hardy’s ear with the screwdriver at Hell in a Cell. Everything Orton did to Hardy will pale in comparison of what Orton is going to do to his next victim. Well this was good and I’m very intrigued by who Orton’s next victim is going to be.

– Backstage, AJ Styles says the worst thing that could have happened is Samoa Joe walking out of Hell in a Cell the WWE Championship. Maybe it was karma that cost Joe the match. Styles says he needs to stop thinking about Joe and focusing on Andrande “Cien” Almas.

-Lana tries to tell Rusev about what happened but he tells her to wait till later. Rusev sends English out to do their entrance.

United States Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura (C) def. Rusev w/ Lana
In another competitive match for the United States Championship, Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Rusev when Rusev counters a kinshasa attempt with a machka kick but gets distracted by Aiden English who was on the apron telling Rusev to crush allowing Nakamura to roll up Rusev for the win.
After the match Aiden English attacks Rusev and sings “Happy Rusev Day!” before he leaves.
Opinion
The match was good but Shinsuke Nakamura and the United States Championship were in the background of the actual story being told her which was the inevitable dissolution of Rusev Day. It was bound to happen and I saw it coming miles away once Lana got involved. It’ll be interesting to see what happens for Rusev after he separates from Aiden English.

AJ Styles def. Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega
Almas attacks Styles before the match and Styles agrees to continue the match.
In yet another really good match, AJ Styles defeats Andrade Almas after rolling a pin attempt into a Styles Clash.
After the match, Joe tries a sneak attack on Styles but Styles fights him off.
Opinion
AJ Styles was having a rough night when this match started but by the end of it he showed everyone why he’s the WWE Champion and why he has been for so long. I’m hoping Almas challenges Shinsuke for the US Title or something now, moving away from facing people to elevate their feuds. The Joe and Styles saga continues and I hope it continues to get more personal.

Asuka w/ Naomi def. Billie Kay w/ Peyton Royce
In a quick match, Asuka defeated Billie Kaye by making her tap out to the Asuka lock.
Opinion
This was exactly what it needed to be. It was a quick match to keep this angle between the IIconics and Asuka/Naomi going.

Becky Lynch Championship Celebration
The ring is set up in blue with the Smackdown Women’s Championship on a pedestal. Paige introduces the new Smackdown Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch. Lynch joins Paige in the ring. The fans chant you deserve it. Lynch says this is her show now. Now Lynch is going to get what she deserves. No longer will she missing from PPV posters or daytime talk shows. Becky Balboa asks where Charlotte Flair is. Flair walks down to the ring. Paige says they are not going to do this tonight. Flair says she there isn’t going to be a fight and Paige has known her long enough to know nothing will happen. Paige leaves the two in the ring. Flair says Lynch beat her in the middle of the ring. At Hell in a Cell Lynch was a better woman. Flair tells Lynch to enjoy it. Flair gets her rematch at Super Showdown. Flair continues by saying that it took Lynch two years to win back the title but only one night to lose it. Lynch says she stopped listening after Flair said she was the better woman.
Lynch says she didn’t let Flair raise her hand because she didn’t want Flair to steal her spotlight. Lynch says tonight is a different story. Flair may raise Lynch’s hand tonight. Flair says no. Lynch says she wants Flair to put the belt around her waist. Lynch says she was just joking. Lynch doesn’t want any of that. Lynch wants Flair to call her queen. Flair tries to walk away. Lynch calls Flair a bitch. Flair attacks Lynch. Lynch sends Flair into the ring steps, then the announce desk. Lynch puts Flair in the DisArmHer. Lynch starts to leave. Lynch turns around and hits an exploder on Flair.
Opinion
This was fantastic. When I realized this was going on last, I wasn’t sure if it was going to live up to what they wanted to cap off this weeks episode but it was perfect. The back and fourth between the two felt real. I love this Becky Lynch with an attitude. Charlotte is still trying to be good sport even in loss but her ego eventually got the best of her. Becky Lynch is the champion we deserve and this was the Becky Lynch we needed as champion.

Final Thoughts
Smackdown Live once again was a solid show. There was a ton of fall out from Hell in a Cell and a lot of angle advancement heading towards Australia’s Super Showdown. There were three solid and competitive matches on this episode as well as two awesome segments to open and close the show. Smackdown Live continues to heat up with personal feuds and great wrestling and I find myself enjoying it every week. Check it out.
Rating – 8/10