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WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 9/4: Triple Threat Tag Team Match, Next for Becky and Charlotte, Brie & Bryan, Back to school BBQ in peril

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch Specialist

September 4, 2018

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
SEPTEMBER 4, 2018
DETROIT, MICH. AT THE LITTLE CAESAR’S ARENA
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Arena/Recap of Last Week

WWE Smackdown will make its first appearance in the Little Caesar’s Arena, a building which opened just last year in September and ironically hosted last year’s Hell in a Cell in October.  The same PPV is less than two weeks away and we will continue the journey to that event tonight.

Last week the Bar, Cesaro and Sheamus, advanced in the tag team tournament to determine the number one contender for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.  The Miz and Maryse lay waste to their Hell in a Cell opponents, Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan.  Samoa Joe threatened to attend the Styles’ family back to school BBQ.  After Charlotte Flair successfully defended her Smackdown Women’s Championship over Carmella, Becky Lynch attacked Charlotte and said she’s taking her title at HIAC and proceeded to call her a “bitch.”  Follow up on these items are the points of emphasis according to WWE.com as well as another triple threat tag team match.

The Usos vs. Sanity vs. Rusev Day (Rusev & Aiden English) 

The Usos face Sanity and Rusev Day (Rusev & Aiden English) in a triple threat match.  The winner of this match will face the Bar next week.  The winner of that match will challenge New Day at Hell in a Cell for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.

Rusev initially thought Lana was responsible for getting them into the championship match, but it was revealed that English was the one who “pulled the strings” and wanted to surprise them.  There’s been an odd Twitter exchange between Raw interim G.M. Baron Corbin and Rusev.  Take a look:

Frank’s Take: I don’t know what to make of the tweets, but you never know when a seed is being planted for something later on.  As far as the match tonight I don’t have a strong feeling in any direction.  You would think the Usos would be the favorite, but they’ve lost quite a bit this year. The only thing that makes me think they could be a favorite is the Usos and New Day faced each other at last  year’s HIAC PPV in an actual HIAC match.  WWE could play that up if the Usos win tonight and defeat the Bar next week.  I don’t rule out Sanity.  The dynamics of a match between them and the Bar next week would be interesting, and Sanity has a little history this year with New Day.  Rusev Day is certainly the sleeper team here, and there is a storyline with Rusev and English after what they’ve been through recently.  If they go on to HIAC, you have Rusev Day vs. New Day.  It’s something that could work.

Next for Brie Bella & Daniel Bryan

Last week, Daniel Bryan (flanked by his wife Brie Bella) defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas (flanked by his business manager Zelina Vega) via DQ.  Prior to the match, Brie and Bryan came out to discuss what had happened the week prior in Brooklyn.  Brie acknowledged her husband can fight his own battles but as a wife she couldn’t sit, especially when Maryse helps Miz win matches.  Almas and Vega oddly interrupted.  They talked trash back and forth and eventually, G.M. Paige came out (in her high heels) and made the impromptu match.  The DQ happened when Miz attacked Bryan.  Miz would lay out Bryan with his own Yes Lock while Maryse laid waste to Brie.

 Frank’s Take:  Brie did win her tag match with her sister Nikki Bella last night on Raw, so there are no issues with Brie.  As far as last week it was your straight-forward get heat on Maryse & Miz utilizing Almas & Vega as the “middle people.”  It’s not crazy to expect a mixed tag match tonight with Brie and Bryan vs. Vega and Almas tonight or perhaps a rematch of Bryan vs. Almas, although I’d rather save the latter for a PPV.  Total Divas is right around the corner on September 19 and thus I’m sure we will hear hype for that, especially with Maryse and Brie being on the show.  

Samoa Joe Attending A.J. Styles Family BBQ?

WWE Champion A.J. Styles was in the ring last week discussing his upcoming championship match at Hell in a Cell against Samoa Joe.  He said he wanted Joe to come to the ring right then and there when Joe would appear on the titantron.  Joe declined the invitation but rather called A.J.’s wife on the phone and asked if they were still on for the family BBQ next week.  A.J. would proceed to look for Joe but wouldn’t find him.  Tonight, we find out if Joe actually went to the BBQ.  On Twitter he played up his potential attendance:

Frank’s Take:  This has been a great rivalry thus far, even in a day where kayfabe is essentially gone.  Based on the acting of Joe, you feel like he’s personally attacking A.J. and his family.  It helps they have a long-term relationship especially from their days in TNA.  Having Joe attend a family BBQ is risky for fear it could be cheesy at best.  Based on how this rivalry has gone I’ll remain optimistic.

Becky Lynch-Charlotte Flair Follow Up

As I talked about earlier, Becky Lynch attacked Charlotte Flair following Charlotte’s successful title defense over Carmella.  We learned Becky will challenge Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Hell in a Cell.  According to WWE’s Twitter account, Becky wants this in an actual Hell in a Cell match.  There’s been a little exchange between the two women:

Frank’s Take:  We already have two Hell in a Cell matches at the PPV.  Even though you could justify Strowman vs. Reigns and Hardy vs. Orton, both matches don’t feel they should be in a HIAC just yet.  Becky and Charlotte just started their feud.  The problem here is the calendar.  With HIAC scheduled for this month, WWE feels they need to have HIAC matches even though the rivalries don’t feel like they’re at that point yet.  I’m leaning towards this being in a HIAC because of the tweet.  

Other Items

  • Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton had a verbal exchange in the arena where it was announced they would have a Hell in a Cell match at the upcoming PPV.
  • The IIconics continued their winning ways over Naomi with Billie Kaye this time scoring the quick victory.

Start Time and 205 Live

The arena website shows a start time of 7:45 p.m.  They’re oddly advertising a six-women tag featuring Asuka, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch vs. Carmella & The IIconics.  Given recent events between Charlotte and Becky this doesn’t make sense.  They also show a six-man tag featuring Jeff Hardy, Daniel Bryan, and A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and the Miz.

205 Live will follow Smackdown.

No matches are advertised on WWE.com but they show Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander “calling out” Drew Gulak, the man he defeated on the SummerSlam kickoff show to successfully defend the championship.

In the middle of a match between Hideo Itami and Michael Blaise, Mustafa Ali’s music hit, which whenever theme music hits during a match it cripples the wrestlers from doing anything further as was the case with Itami.  Ali came to the ring while Itami retreated.  Follow up on this is expected tonight.

G.M. Drake Maverick came out on Raw last night and revealed himself to be the new manager of the Authors of Pain.  It came out of nowhere, so it’ll be interesting to see if his babyface role on 205Live changes.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani and ask any questions you may have.  Thank you for reading!

NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK’S SHOW: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – SMACKDOWN 8/28: Becky Cheered Again, King Booker Returns, The Mizanins Take Out the Bryans

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