6/9 WWE in Huntsville, Ala.: Styles pulled from line-up, Hardy vs. Miz vs. Joe vs. Shinsuke, Andrade vs. Sin Cara, Charlotte vs. Carmella

WWE SMACKDOWN LIVE EVENT
JUNE 9, 2018
HUNTSVILLE, ALA.
REPORT BY NICHOLAS CANNELLA, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

If you attend a live event, please sent results like these below to pwtorch@pwtorch.com.

– Originally the main event was advertised to be A.J. Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura one-on-one for the WWE Title but a couple weeks ago A.J. was scratched from the card. On the local TV ad and from The Von Braun Civic Center this past week,  the main event changed to a Fatal Four-Way featuring Jeff Hardy defending the U.S Title against Shinsuke, Samoa Joe, and The Miz. Other matches advertised included Carmella vs. Charlotte for Woman’s Title and The Bludgeons vs. Usos vs. Rusev Day for Tag Titles.

– SmackDown General Manager Paige appeared on the video screen and ran down a preview of the show to get the crowd hyped up.

(1) The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Usos and Rusev Day in a Triple Threat Tag Match to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championship when Rowan & Harper hit their powebomb on Jimmy Uso for the win. Rusev and English both received big pops from the crowd with “Rusev Day” chants. The Usos played up the heel role well. BBs didn’t have their mallets and destroyed the ringside area after the match (threw chairs, ring steps, the bell, etc. items into and around the ring). All three teams were over, including the BBs (loud “Luuuuuke” chants, and he responded with his “Yeeeeeah” thing to the crowd).

(2) Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/Zelina Vega) defeated Sin Cara with his Hammerlock DDT. Sin Cara did some of his high flying moves, but Almas responded and countered most of them to gain control of the match. Almas is building his way up into the main Smackdown main roster.

(3) Becky Lynch defeated Mandy Rose via DQ when Sonya Deville interfered. It was back and forth with Mandy holding her own. Timing issues aside, she looked pretty good and appears to be improving. Finish saw Becky put Mandy in the DisarmHer until Sonya attacked. This led to Naomi making the save for Becky until Lana ran out to make it three-on-two in favor of the heels. Asuka came out to even the odds and the faces cleared the ring. Becky challenged them to a six-woman tag and the heels accepted.

(4) Asuka & Becky & Naomi defeated Lana & Sonya, & Mandy in a six-woman tag match ending when Asuka made Lana tap out to her Asuka Lock. All six women worked well in the match and the crowd was really into siding with the face team.

(5) Big Cass defeated Tye Dillinger via Big Boot to the face. Good match-up with lots of back and forth action with Tye almost pulling the upset. The crowd was into it and was behind Tye. Cass received big heel heat. Suprisingly, Cass didn’t cut a heel promo before the match like he usually does.

6) The New Day defeated Shelton Benjamin & The Bar via pinfall by hitting the Midnight Hour on Cesaro. A fun, action-packed exciting tag match here. New Day came out and was over with their usual stuff while Shelton and The Bar received pretty good reactions as well.

(7) Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Sanity (Eric Young & Alexander Wolf w/ Killian Dane) via DQ when Killian Dane interfered. Gallows & Anderson both cleared the ring afterward. They were over and seem to be building up as a top face team with crowd chanting “ Too Sweet.” Sanity didn’t have much of a reaction, but appears to be starting a feud with The Club once they debut on TV.

(8) Carmella defeated Charlotte Flair to retain the Smackdown Woman’s Championship when ‘Mella rolled up Charlotte after she shoved her into the turnbuckle and held the ropes for leverage in typical heel fashion. Both women put on a great performance and Charlotte was really over. It came across like she almost regained the title but fell short this time.

(9) Jeff Hardy defeated The Miz, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Fatal Fou-Way match to retain the United States Championship when Hardy pinned Miz after the Twist of Fate. All Four were pretty over, but Hardy came out to the biggest pop of the night. It was a fast-paced, safe WWE style match with each man hitting thier moves and had its isolated one on one match ups with the others outside the ring for long stretches. A good comedy spot was when Miz took his time disrobing at the beginnin; he then asked the guy holding his stuff at ringside for a headband and began acting like a Karate Master. Hardy and Joe brawled outside, while Miz was taunting Shinsuke and went for a Crane kick *from “The Karate Kid” movie) but was countered by Shinsuke hitting him with a spinning heel kick.  Hardy was being double and triple teamed for a bit but eventually gained his momentum successfully defending his title. Afterward Jeff celebrated with his fans.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall an exciting show And the fans were into it all Night. It was cool To see the U.S Title be Defended in the Main Event to get the recognition it deserves.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS REPORT: 5/27 WWE in Hampton, Va.: Braun & Lashley vs. Owens & Sami, Seth vs. Balor vs. Elias vs. Roode, plus AOP, No Way Jose, Bray & Hardy