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WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
JULY 17, 2018
WILKES-BARRE, PA. AT MOHEGAN SUN ARENA at CASEY PLAZA
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Arena/Opening Thoughts
The Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. will be the hosts this evening for WWE Smackdown as we continue to move away from Extreme Rules and turn our attention towards SummerSlam. Smackdown previously emanated from this building in November of 2016.
At Extreme Rules, we saw the crowning of a new U.S. Champion in Shinsuke Nakamura while A.J. Styles retained his WWE Championship. The Bludgeon Brothers retained the Tag Team Championship, while Carmella held on to the Women’s Championship. According to WWE.com, the fallout of those matches is the focus tonight. We’ll almost certainly start to put the pieces together for the SummerSlam as well.
U.S. Championship Rematch: Shinsuke Nakamura (Champ) vs. Jeff Hardy (Challenger)
As I talked about, Shinsuke Nakamura captured the U.S. Championship from Jeff Hardy this past Sunday at Extreme Rules. To quickly review, Nakamura hit Hardy with his signature “Kinshasa” kick almost immediately after the bell rang. He helped himself by hitting Hardy with a low blow with the referee not looking before the match started. Hardy would demand the match go on, only to immediately lose his championship. To complicate matters, Randy Orton made his return following the match only to attack an already “downed” Jeff Hardy, apparently turning heel.
WWE tweeted that night that G.M. Paige announced a rematch for tonight.
Thoughts: It was somewhat surprising to see this be a quick match. I say somewhat because Nakamura has used the low blow so many times this year. It’s about time it brings him a victory in a big match. WWE may have wanted that to be the focus, playing into Nakamura’s sneaky, “con-artist” gimmick. I’m only speculating, but I wonder if Hardy has some injury that’s going to come out in the next week. He has certainly look beat up in recent weeks. If it’s another quick match tonight, I would be inclined to think more along those lines. I don’t know how to read Orton’s post-match attack on Hardy or how that plays into this story. With the shortage of babyfaces on the Smackdown side, it’s odd to see this development.
Next Up for WWE Champion A.J. Styles
“The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles retained his WWE Championship over Rusev at Extreme Rules. It was one of the better matches on the card, and you could certainly make the case that Rusev nearly captured his first top title since coming up to main roster in 2014. In an attempt to help, Aiden English exposed one the top turnbuckle corners only to have it backfire as Styles threw Rusev into said corner. Styles would eventually hit his signature “Phenomenal Forearm” and continue his impressive run as the WWE Champion. Tonight, we’ll find out what’s next for the champ especially in regard to SummerSlam.
Thoughts: I noticed Rusev arguing with English following the match, and as Wade Keller pointed out in his Extreme Rules report the announcers did not discuss it. I don’t know if means anything for their duo going forward there’s certainly been the discussion of Rusev splitting away and going babyface. The announcers not discussing the argument in interesting. As far as Styles goes it’s anyone’s guess who the next #1 contender to his championship could be. The Miz, Samoa Joe, and Daniel Bryan would be the top candidates at the moment. Joe did send out a few tweets about doing media rounds in Wilkes-Barre this morning. Take a look:
Morning media rounds Wilkes Barre. #SmackdownLive https://t.co/9No44KK8zx
— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) July 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/JScaLive/status/1019204987933556737
Asuka Reaction over Loss to Carmella
At Extreme Rules, Carmella retained the Smackdown Women’s Championship over Asuka. Carmella’s sidekick James Ellsworth was suspended over the ring in a shark cage. Ellsworth would eventually break out of the cage but hang upside down when something he was wearing got caught on the cage. With Carmella on the outside, Asuka would attack Ellsworth. She did so until Carmella recovered and pushed Asuka head first into the cage, knocking her out, and allowing Carmella to score the pin. Tonight, Asuka reacts to this loss.
Thoughts: If you’re a VIP member and haven’t heard the Post-PPV Roundtable with Wade Keller, Bruce Mitchell, and Todd Martin I would highly recommend it. Martin’s opinion of their match lines up with mine. I do have to say Ellsworth hanging from the cage was funny. That’s the problem with this feud. We should not be looking for comedic moments in professional wrestling. It’s ok if they happen inconsequentially but they shouldn’t happen purposely. I’m personally not the biggest Asuka fan in the world, but talent is talent. I have not enjoyed seeing her essentially blown to bits since WrestleMania.
Daniel Bryan Following Team Hell No Defeat
Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan and Kane, were unsuccessful in their quest against the Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) to become Smackdown Tag Team Champions. It didn’t help that Bryan and Kane were attacked by the Brothers pre-match, and Kane’s foot was “injured.” Bryan recovered and initially went it alone in valiant fashion in the match. Kane would appear later on wearing a boot on his “injured” foot. He wouldn’t be much help as Harper would pin Bryan following a clothesline off Rowan’s shoulder. Tonight, we’ll learn what’s next for Daniel Bryan.
Thoughts: It’s unknown if Kane was really injured, or perhaps WWE was protecting Daniel Bryan by not having Team Hell No take a straight-forward loss. By doing the pre-match attack, it puts Bryan in a precarious position having to go it alone against two monsters like Harper and Rowan. A loss is not embarrassing, and he could still go on to something with The Miz or A.J. Styles for that matter retaining his credibility. Either way, I get the sense Team Hell No could be done for the moment but can’t be 100% sure.
Other Items
- Sanity defeated New Day in a table match on the Extreme Rules pre-show. Whether that rivalry continues is anyone’s guess. I talked about a shortage of babyfaces earlier. If you’re not going to involve New Day in the tag team title picture, you may as well have them do some single’s work. You don’t have to split up the faction, but rather just have them go on their own missions. Even if you just use Big E in that role that plugs a tremendous hole on the babyface side.
- Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Sin Cara again in the pre-show. Almas could also play into the WWE Championship picture. He had a fine run as NXT Champion and would be a fine candidate to at least be in the mix if they’re not quite ready to pull the trigger on him.
Wrestlers Advertised, Dark Matches, and 205 Live
Similar to last week, the arena’s website is advertising a double main event. They show a six-man tag featuring WWE Champion A.J. Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, The Miz, and Samoa Joe. They also show Asuka vs. Carmella. It doesn’t indicate if this is a title match.
The “Card Is Subject to Change.”
205Live will follow Smackdown. Noam Dar takes on TJP in a rematch from two weeks ago. TJP had been complaining about the competition on the show only to thrust into a match with a returning Dar. Dar defeated TJP, the winner of the first Cruiserweight Classic and former Cruiserweight Champion, in under 30 seconds. Tonight, TJP looks to even the score.
Akira Tozawa will take on Lio Rush. Rush and Tozawa have been trash talking each other following their respective matches the past two weeks so G.M. Drake Maverick decided to make a match between the two tonight.
There apparently will be a “pre-show” party outside of the arena starting from 5:00-7:00pm. The arena website has more details on that. Doors open for the show at 6:45pm.
Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!
NOW CHECK OUT THIS COLUMN: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – SMACKDOWN 7/10: Tag Division in the Main Event, WWE & US Champions Tag, Battle of the Sexes II
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