WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 6/26: U.S. Championship Match, Miz TV, Lynch vs. Royce, Woods vs. Rusev, Cast of “GLOW” Appearance

WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
JUNE 26, 2018
ONTARIO, CA. AT CITIZENS BUSINESS BANK ARENA
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00PM EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Arena/Opening Thoughts

WWE will pull into Ontario, CA tonight as Smackdown arrives in the Citizen’s Business Bank Arena where it last appeared nearly a year and a half ago in February of 2017.  Money in the Bank is firmly behind us and we continue to get ready for Extreme Rules, which is just under three weeks away.  

Tonight’s festivities will feature a championship match as Raw did last night, as well as an appearance from the member of the cast of Netflix’s “GLOW.”  Two other matches have been announced.  With that being said, let’s take a look at what’s in store.

U.S. Championship Match: Jeff Hardy (Champion) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

On Sunday, G.M. Paige tweeted the following:

As General Manager of #SDLive, it’s my responsibility to make matches that you want to SEE … so, I’m making it official. @JeffHardyBrand will defend the #USTitle against @ShinsukeN THIS Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura squared off in a non-title match which saw Hardy win via disqualification.  Shinsuke continued his fascination with damaging his opponents’ private regions as he delivered a low blow to the U.S. Champ.  Last week, a pre-recorded segment was shown with Jeff telling Shinsuke “he could see him” with checkered contact lenses and white & black face paint (“Crow” Sting would be proud).  Later on, in an interview with Renee Young, Shinsuke complained about losing his WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank claiming the referee counted too fast and didn’t count in Japanese.  He said also said he would close Jeff’s eyes should their paths cross.

Thoughts:  I have enjoyed the beginning of this rivalry.  While I would have liked to have seen Shinsuke have a run with the WWE Championship, I’m not upset they kept the title on A.J. Styles.  To me, that’s where it still belongs.  With the IC title changing hands as it has on Raw over the past two weeks, it wouldn’t surprise me if Shinsuke captures the U.S. Championship tonight.  It’s a nice fit for him, and it would certainly be an interesting run considering what he’s done with his character since his heel turn.  Jeff and Shinsuke could have a rivalry that takes us through the summer months.

Miz TV: The Bludgeon Brothers

Last week our favorite “A Lister” The Miz lay quick waste to Daniel Bryan in a gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender to A.J. Styles for the WWE Championship.  After Bryan secured two grueling victories over Big E and Samoa Joe, The Smackdown Tag Team Champion Bludgeon Brothers surprisingly came out and attacked him performing their signature double-team powerbomb.  Miz would come out shortly thereafter and give Bryan, his former NXT protegee, the skull-crushing finale to secure victory and continue on in the gauntlet match.  WWE has advertised that Miz has “invited” The Bludgeon Brothers to appear on Miz TV tonight. 

Thoughts: It’s clear we’re on our way to a Miz-Daniel Bryan match as has been talked about for quite some time.  SummerSlam would be a logical setting.  The involvement of The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) can certainly be viewed as a “stop on the way” and could involve other parties with something culminating at Extreme Rules.  I would expect we begin setting the stage during tonight’s segment.

Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce

Becky Lynch looks to go two-for-two over the Australian duo, The IIconics.  Last week Becky scored a victory over Billie Kay and tonight, she looks to do the same against her partner Peyton Royce.  

Thoughts:  Selfishly I’m happy Becky is getting featured more as of late.  In addition to beating Kay last week she secured a victory over her best friend Charlotte Flair prior to Money in the Bank.  With Charlotte down for injury as was reported recently, and Asuka possibly not in line to topple Smackdown Women’s Champion Carmella, it’s not crazy to think Becky could be in line for a championship opportunity in the near future. 

Xavier Woods of “New Day” vs. Rusev

Last week Rusev secured an opportunity at Extreme Rules for the WWE Championship winning a gauntlet match, ultimately pinning The Miz.  This past week on Twitter, he’s targeted Xavier Woods.  Here’s what he said to Woods this past Saturday:

I want to thank Woods for being there since The BEGINNING . NXT RAW SMACKDOWN PPV WRESTLEMANIA #ANDNEW

5:30 PM – Jun 23, 2018 

Woods replied with this:

Oh wow…. Apparently the number one contender @RusevBUL is out here subtweeting me. I’m surprised he even has time for twitter in between throwing fish at his wife and yelling the phrase he bit from us #HappyRusevDay

8:36 PM – Jun 23, 2018 

The “Twitter War” didn’t stop there.  Check out their accounts @RusevBUL and @XavierWoodsPhD if you wish to see more of the exchange.  There is a history between these two most notably at WrestleMania 32 when New Day faced “The League of Nations,” a stable which with Rusev was involved at the time.

Thoughts:  I don’t expect Rusev to gain the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules.  Tonight’s match could be building to something involving New Day and well, “Rusev Day.”  It could culminate with at SummerSlam or could just play itself out on Smackdown in the coming weeks.

Guest Appearance: Cast of Netflix’s “GLOW” With Message for Naomi

Last night we learned members of the cast of GLOW, currently on Netflix, will make an appearance on Smackdown this evening.  Britt Baron, who plays Justine, of the cast tweeted out the following:

@GlowNetflix coming for you WWE Smack Down!! Live TOMORROW! @wwe @naomiwwe #WWE #SDLive #glownetflix

6:42 PM – Jun 25, 2018

Fellow cast member Sydelle Noel, who plays Cherry Bang, tweeted this:

What ya’ll wanna do #WWE? @GlowNetflix coming for ya!! SmackDown Live!!! Tomorrow!@WWE @NaomiWWE #SDlive #GLOW #CherryBang

8:23 PM – Jun 25, 2018 · Los Angeles, CA 

Naomi replied with the following:

…add glow to the WWE universe? Sorry ladies I beat you to it watch and learn “yuppie scum!” #sdlive #feeltheglow

Noel replied:

#cherrybang ! My #glow is the “real thang” but I can show you better than i can tell you tomorrow on #sdlive #feeltheglow

Thoughts:  This comes somewhat out of nowhere but certainly not the first time WWE has crossed over with a TV show, an upcoming movie, etc.  It doesn’t seem like there’s much for Naomi at the moment.  Involving her with cast members of a show named GLOW and considering her gimmick is “Feel the Glow” is quite clever on the part of WWE.  The only problem is GLOW is about the “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” and not a display of dancing and neon lights.  

Other Items

• As I said last week, Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Sin Cara is still in play.  Almas trash talked Cara a bit on Twitter this past week.  
• Big Cass’s direction was certainly made clear shortly after last week’s primer was posted as he was released.  (And you can’t… teach… that)
• Sanity was to have their debut match vs. The Usos.  A brawl broke out prior to the bell ringing, and thus the match never started.  Sanity left the Usos laid out in the ring.  There may or may not be follow up tonight.
• Carmella celebrated her victory over Asuka at Money in the Bank.  James Ellsworth made his return to Smackdown dressed as Asuka.  He said, “nobody was ready for Ellsworth, especially Asuka.”  Asuka later came out and kicked Ellsworth, followed by Carmella kicking Asuka.  Carmella and Ellsworth retreated leaving Asuka in the ring.
• Big E had a tremendous showing in the gauntlet match, as did Samoa Joe.  
• “The Good Brothers” Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows lost their “rematch” for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship against The Bludgeon Brothers.  I would imagine they’re out of the title picture for now having lost two straight championship matches (where have we heard this before?) and moving on to something else.
• It was reported here on PWTorch by Wade Keller that Charlotte Flair would be out for some time due to complications involving a breast implant.  There’s no definitive timetable for her return but she could miss SummerSlam.  She was not on last year’s card.

Wrestlers Advertised, Dark Matches, and 205Live

The Citizens Business Bank Arena’s website is advertising the following:

• U.S. Champion Jeff Hardy & Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz & Samoa Joe 
• New Day, Charlotte Flair, and Shinsuke Nakamura live!

We know now that Charlotte is on the shelf.  New Day is expected to be involved in the Xavier Woods-Rusev match.  Nakamura is facing Jeff Hardy for the U.S. Championship.  The tag match advertised could be a dark match, but of course the “Lineup is subject to change.”  

205Live will follow Smackdown.  We will get the debut of Lio Rush, whose signing was announced on last week’s show.  Also, The Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado) will face Jack Gallagher, Drew Gulak, and The Brian Kendrick in a six-man tag match.

Start time is shown at 4:45 PDT.

NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 6/19 WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS: Keller’s report on Money in the Bank fallout, Gauntlet match to determine Styles’s challenger at Extreme Rules, Carmella celebrates

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani or email me at fpeteani@gmail.com.  Thank you for reading!