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WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER 9/11: Almas vs. Truth, Charlotte vs. Deville, Brie vs. Maryse, The Bar vs. Rusev Day, Hardy vs. Nakamura

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch Specialist

September 11, 2018

WWE Smackdown hits & misses
Shinsuke Nakamura (art credit Travis Beaven © PWTorch)
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WWE SMACKDOWN PRIMER
SEPTEMBER 11, 2018
LAFAYETTE, LA. AT THE CAJUNDOME
AIRS ON USA NETWORK 8:00 P.M. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Remembering September 11, 2001 

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  We remember those we lost, people we know who lost loved ones close to them, the first responders to the attacks including NYPD and FDNY and those in Washington, D.C.  Some who may read this article are people with whom I attended high school, and we especially remember our friend Andrew Zucker.  He worked at the World Trade Center and lost his life trying to get people out of the building.  We think of him and all that lost their lives on that tragic day in our nation’s history.

Who can forget WWE’s tribute to the United States and the victims of the attacks which aired two days later on Smackdown in Houston, Tex..  Here’s Vince McMahon’s speech from that night and Lilian Garcia singing the national anthem:

Arena/Recap of Last Week

WWE Smackdown returns to the Cajundome after last appearing in June of 2017.  We’ll put the final touches on the buildup towards this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell PPV.

Last week Rusev Day, Rusev & Aiden English, defeated Sanity and the Usos in a triple threat match to advance to the finals of that tag team championship tournament.  Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch exchanged words in advance of their championship match this coming Sunday.  Daniel Bryan defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas.  Later in the evening, he and his wife Brie Bella struck some fear in the eyes of their Hell in a Cell opponents Miz & Maryse following a cat and mouse game throughout the night.  Asuka made her television return to assist Naomi from an attack by the IIconics, following Naomi’s defeat of Billie Kay.  WWE Champion A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe went at it in advance of their championship match at Hell in a Cell.  We got video packages Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton discussing their Hell in a Cell match slated for this Sunday.

WWE and G.M. Paige have announced five matches in advance for tonight.  We also know what’s going to open and close the show, a rarity but a nice treat from WWE these days.

Non-Title Match: U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy

Before Jeff Hardy takes on Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match this coming Sunday, he will take on Shinsuke Nakamura who took his U.S. Championship at Extreme Rules.  He tweeted that he needed to “cleanse his soul” by defeating Nakamura, and G.M. Paige was willing to oblige:

Frank’s Take:  There are no babyfaces on Smackdown and thus while Hardy and Orton are involved in this feud, Nakamura has no challengers for the U.S. Championship.  R-Truth and Tye Dillinger have been somewhat built up, but I can’t see them being credible challengers at this point.  Ultimately this is going to be more about Hardy and Orton than it will Hardy and Nakamura as I’m sure Orton will interfere at some point.  This is a shame for Nakamura as he has done solid work since his heel turn at WrestleMania, but almost feels invisible since he won the U.S. Championship.   

The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) vs. Rusev Day (Rusev & Aiden English): Winner Faces New Day at Hell in a Cell for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship

As I talked about earlier, Rusev Day advance to the finals of the Smackdown Tag Team Championship by defeating the Usos and Sanity in a triple threat match last week.  The Bar had won their triple threat match the week prior, and now these two teams do battle tonight to decide who will face New Day at Hell in a Cell for the championship.  Rusev pinned Eric Young of Sanity after hitting his Machka kick.  Following the match, the Bar came out to remind Rusev Day of their meeting for this week.

Frank’s Take:  I’ve enjoyed the legitimate setup for this championship.  While triple threats are never ideal, they worked here, and I believe the right teams are in the finals.  You get the sense that they are going somewhere with Rusev Day, however a case could be made for the Bar winning this match as well.  They have worked with New Day before and they feel somewhat fresh as they have been relatively quiet since their move to Smackdown.  Should Rusev Day advance, it will be interesting to see two babyface teams go at it especially with how over Rusev Day is at the moment.  It could also be setting up their breakup as they have teased issues between Rusev, English, and even Rusev’s wife Lana for that matter.  Historically that’s how these stories have gone in the past, so WWE could go down that route or do something different and give them a run with the championship.  English probably doesn’t get to do much if he’s a single’s wrestler, so tag team gold would be his route to any sort of championship.  

Non-Title Match: Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Sonya Deville

This past Saturday WWE announced a non-title match between Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville for tonight.  Here’s the tweet along with a response from Charlotte:

https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1038469376154976256

WWE UK billed this as a “warmup match” in advance of Becky Lynch challenging Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Championship this Sunday.  Sonya didn’t appreciate it all that much:

Becky is almost certain to get involved tonight:

Frank’s Take:  Depending on how WWE views Sonya Deville, this could be a championship feud down the line.  They have not exposed Deville as much to date, which is smart considering she was a surprise callup last year when Paige returned to WWE.  She has an attractive look and comes to the ring like a pure “fighter.”  As far as Becky Lynch, she is reminding me of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (apparently Jim Ross thinks so as well) when he was getting his big push back in 1996-1997.  WWE tried to make him the top heel, but all fans would do is cheer louder and louder.  The same is happening here with Becky, so it will be interesting if they change plans.  It’s clear they’ve wanted to make Becky the heel and Charlotte the babyface in this rivalry, however the crowd has responded otherwise.  They could still make Charlotte the heel and if so, it would ultimately be a different type of turn than we’ve become accustomed to in the past.

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. R-Truth

Last week, R-Truth with Carmella in his corner picked up an upset victory over the Miz in the main event of Smackdown.  As Miz was about to hit his skull crushing finale on Truth, he was distracted by Daniel Bryan’s music playing and Bryan and Brie Bella coming out.  Truth then rolled up Miz for the victory.  Following that, Andrade “Cien” Almas and his business manager Zelina Vega would go after Bryan and Brie while they were going after Miz and his wife Maryse.  In the end, Bryan and Brie would put Almas and Truth in simultaneous Yes! Locks while Miz and Maryse looked on in fear.

R-Truth has been boasting about his winning streak (of one), being in the main event of Smackdown, and his new partnership with Carmella as they are now paired in the Mixed Match Challenge.  Here are some tweets from Truth:

https://twitter.com/RonKillings/status/1038868711690645504

Vega and Almas did not appreciate Truth’s boasting.  Here’s their response, as they get ready to go at it tonight:

Frank’s Take:  Carmella has magically turned babyface as she teams with R-Truth in the Mixed Match Challenge.  This following a run where WWE clearly tried to get her over as a heel champion after defeating  Charlotte Flair and Asuka twice.  With that said, there is some comedy to her and Truth teaming together.  For most people she was a forgettable champion, so this is fine even if the progression to it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  As far as this match goes tonight I like how it’s being made into somewhat of a big deal.  Smackdown has practically no babyfaces so they’re almost forced to position R-Truth higher than they probably want.  I would be surprised if he wins tonight, but ultimately this match ties into the “triangle” rivalry of sorts involving Miz & Maryse, Vega & Almas, and Brie and Bryan.  For me, the key players in this feud are Almas and Vega.  While I’m somewhat skeptical of how WWE views Almas & Vega, for them to be dropped into this rivalry between Miz & Maryse and Brie and Bryan has to indicate they have or at least want to have big plans for them.  Their story certainly worked during their tenure in NXT but we’ve seen what that means on the main roster.

Brie Bella vs. Maryse

WWE has announced that this will main event Smackdown tonight, as the wives of Daniel Bryan (Brie Bella) and Miz (Maryse) will go at it in a one-on-one match.

I talked about most of what happened between the two couples discussing the Almas vs. Truth match earlier.  Early on in the show a video was shown of Maryse and Miz at the arena prior to the show, looking for Brie and Bryan.  Obviously, they weren’t there.  Later Miz and Maryse were shown in an Italian restaurant where they were to have dinner alone, closing the restaurant down.  Brie and Bryan would leave the arena following Bryan’s win over Andrade “Cien” Almas (still in their wrestling gear) to clearly pursue Miz and Maryse, saying they were “in the mood for Italian.”  Ultimately both couples were in the arena by the end of the night as I talked about previously in the discussion of tonight’s Almas vs. Truth match.

WWE and Paige announced the match between Maryse and Brie for tonight, and Brie had a response:

https://twitter.com/BellaTwins/status/1038958321276002304

Here’s Miz with his response, retweeted by Maryse:

Frank’s Take:  I had a feeling this match would be reserved for Evolution coming up on October 28.  With the mixed tag looming this Sunday between Miz & Maryse vs. Brie & Bryan, they could still be setting up a match between the two at the event if there’s some sort of screwy ending tonight.  Brie and Maryse do come from the “Divas” era, so a rivalry between the two culminating at that event could work.  Miz discussed Maryse recently giving birth, so that could play into the story if Brie wins a match and they want to blame it on that.  Brie could always counter with her giving birth not too long prior.  It’s good to see various issues as well as this match along with the Truth vs. Almas match being somewhat intertwined.

Start Time and 205 Live

The arena website shows a start time of 6:45 p.m. local time.  They advertise these matches and wrestlers, which is certainly not in alignment with what WWE has announced:

“Double Main Event! WWE Champion A.J. Styles, Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton, The Miz and Samoa Joe! SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs Carmella! United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and SmackDown Tag Team Champions the New Day live!”

205 Live will follow Smackdown.  Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander & Akira Tozawa team up to face Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher.

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

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