This time next week, Extreme Rules 2018 will have been and gone but here we are, the last stop before we get to the last Petrol station before our destination, which is Summerslam. Now, this week brought with it not only the challenge of hyping up Sunday’s event but also trying to explain just what, if any, extra rules Smackdown were bringing to the table and if they were, in fact, extreme with over half the matches being, well, standard. Along with this, WWE continued its year-long attempt to make me not want to see Nakamura vs Styles again, but could they keep up the in-ring quality and also sell me on Sunday? I’m Jozef Raczka, I think this new Team Hell No T-Shirt looks like a burnt raisin with human arms, and this is the Smackdown: Live Review.
MizTv Goes to Hell…No.
The Miz brought Daniel Bryan and Kane onto the show, seemingly to talk about their Smackdown Tag Team Championship shot on Sunday but really it was so The Miz could say a pre-emptive ‘I told you so’ for when Kane betrays Bryan but also to remind Bryan that he wants to be the one to permanently put him on the retired shelf. Bryan managed to remain calm during this but when he called either Kane or Hell No a ‘cheap nostalgia act’ leading to him going to chokeslam Miz, also leading to Bludgeon Brothers and SaNItY coming out for a beatdown and New Day making the odds more even but most importantly, setting up for tonight’s Main Event – The New Day & Team Hell No vs SaNItY & The Bludgeon Brothers.
Other Things that Happened:
- AJ Styles def. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ after Rusev got some revenge on Styles attacking Aiden English. Post-match, Nakamura & Rusev beat down styles till Jeff Hardy made the save, setting up for the Teddy Long treatment, Player.
- Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura def. AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy. The finish came as Rusev hit a Matchka Kick on Hardy. And on Rusev Day.
- James Ellsworth works out backstage until Carmella turns up and tells him to win. Spoiler alert: He doesn’t.
- Asuka def. James Ellsworth in Lumberjack Match. The entire Women’s Roster, bar Charlotte, were out at ringside. Post-match, Carmella kicked Asuka in the face. This might have been fun if it wasn’t for the fact it was bad.
- The Team New Hell Day No discuss tactics backstage. Pancakes, burning men alive, squabbling, resolutions involving N-Sync, exactly what you’d expect.
- Paige tells Ellsworth and Carmella that at Extreme Rules, Ellsworth is going to be suspended above the ring in a shark cage. The last time we had one of those was Summerslam last year with Big Show vs. Big Future Endeavoured with Little Future Endeavoured suspended above.
- Andrade Almas def. Sin Cara via pinfall after a double stomp off the top to the apron and then a corner Double Knees. This was really fun if a little too much Sin Cara and not enough Almas for my liking.
The Main Event or All The Smackdown Tag Teams We Care About.
This was exactly what you’d expect, everyone brawled off the bell with the faces cleaning house, eventually order was restored and it became a straight tag match with The New Day working quick tags until Xavier Woods got cut off, they tried to keep him from his corner till he was able to use a momentary opening to tag in Bryan, sweet hot tag, everyone got their shit in before Bryan hit the Busaiku Knee on Young for the pin. I don’t understand why Young is the one taking the pin when he has two perfectly good cronies on the sidelines but still, a good match that put the ‘fun’ into ‘functional entertainment’.
Post-match: Bryan and Kane celebrate on the ramp as Bryan summons Kane’s hellfire. The Dazzler’s latest trick is much bigger than making that nail in a jar wobble.
All Photo Courtesy of wwe.com