Smackdown Live hosts Wrestlemania rematch. Meanwhile, can Team Hell No fend off The Bludgeon Brothers and Sanity before their Extreme rules championship opportunity?
Paige makes several announcements regarding Extreme Rules. Shinsuke Nakamura once again faces AJ Styles in singles competition. Find out what surprising partnerships form during the main event of Smackdown Live this tenth of July, 2018.
Daniel Drama
Miz TV kicks off the evening with potentially the most explosive episode to date. Team Hell No appears and The Miz immediately addresses his ongoing issues with Daniel Bryan. Kane talks Bryan out of slugging The Miz so that the interview may proceed. Although Kane and Bryan have a tumultuous history they resist The Miz’s transparent attempt to exploit their past. The Miz then questions the team’s capabilities in the ring, finally provoking Kane.
Before Team Hell No go to assault The Miz but The Bludgeon Brothers and then Sanity appear separately, both teams proceeding to attack Bryan and Kane. The New Day rush to the ring to fight off Sanity who they will face at Extreme Rules in a tables match. Following the scuffle Paige makes a ten-man tag team match for the main event of Smackdown Live.
Tonight The Miz once again verbally provokes and yet remains just out of reach of Daniel Bryan. For now Team Hell No will have to focus on winning the Smackdown Live main event before competing for the tag team Championships.
Wrestlemania Rematch
Before defending the WWE Championship against Rusev at Extreme Rules, AJ Styles continues his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura in their latest match installment. Rusev appears prior to the match and proclaims that he will dethrone Styles on Sunday. This allows Nakamura to get the first shot in as Rusev takes his seat on commentary for the match.
Much of the match focuses on Rusev berating the announce team. Nakamura and Styles take turns exchanging offensive flurries as Rusev boasts about his athletic ability.
Styles goes of the Styles Clash but Nakamura counters with a triangle lock. The fight spills to the outside ans Styles gets involved with Aiden English who is also present at ringside. English gets clocked by the champ during a heated exchange. An enraged Rusev pulls Styles off of the ring apron and the match ends in a disqualification. Nakamura and Rusev begin to attack Styles until the United States Champion Jeff Hardy runs down the ring.
Paige quickly sanctions a tag match between the champions and their Extreme Rules challengers.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxHVOoqleLU]
In the final moments of the tag match Rusev unleashes numerous Machka Kicks but Hardy is able to hit him with a Twist of Fate. Hardy goes for the Swanton Bomb but is thwarted by Nakamura. After talking himself up on commentary, Rusev backs up his words as he delivers another kick to pin Hardy for the win.
Rusev is made to look strong in the segment. There is certainly a small glimmer of hope that Rusev can win against AJ Styles. But Styles is closing in on a year with the WWE Championship and Extreme rules is not necessarily the time for a major title change.
Inter-gender Lumberjack Match
The Smackdown Live women’s roster surrounds the ring as Asuka stares down James Ellsworth for the second week in a row. This time Ellsworth has nowhere to run and suffers stiff blows from Asuka as the rest of the women watch in enjoyment. When it comes time to perform their duties, the female lumberjacks break out into fights between the various rivals and factions. Ellsworth nearly escapes as a result.
Becky Lynch and Naomi return the reluctant male challenger back to the ring but before Asuka can execute more brutality Carmella distracts her from the ring apron. Asuka pushes Ellsworth into Carmella and immediately clamps the Asuka lock for the victory.
Ellsworth falls short of softening up Asuka for Carmella as was the plan prior to Extreme Rules. However, Ellsworth attacks Asuka with pepper spray after the match which allows Carmella to kick Asuka in the face. It seems that Ellsworth will once again play a factor in the finish of the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship match.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-l5vSMLLKc]
Paige takes steps to ensure a fair fight ahead of the title match by stipulating Ellsworth will hang above the ring in a shark cage. History shows that Carmella and her henchman are more than capable of coming up with a clever work around for any situation. It is doubtful that even a shark cage will deter interference in Carmella’s favor.
Cien Wrestles
Andrade “Cien” Almas continues to wrestle periodically and once again faces Sin Cara on Smackdown Live. Sin Cara feels betrayed after his former friend disrespected and attacked him the previous week. The two wrestle a short yet physical grudge match as Zelina Vega barks orders at Almas from ringside. Almas nails a double knees in the corner for the victory.
Almas has a great heel persona and it may be time for him to start picking up some heat. After dominating his way through the mid card along side his trash talking manager, Almas could then be a major contender for top Smackdown Live heel. Almas is also no stranger to gold as he was previously NXT Champion. A push does not seem too far away for the emerging Superstar.
Ten-Man Tag
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OhXjQedLLM]
The match begins in chaos as Sanity teams with The Bludgeon Brothers to face Team Hell No and The New Day. Once the teams settle into their corners The New Day make frequent tags to decimate Alexander Wolfe. Eric Rowan is able to tag in and bring the momentum back to the heel team.
From here the match slowly devolves back into chaos until Daniel Bryan enters the match and cleans house. After some slight difficulty with Snaity, Bryan deliver the flying knee to Eric Young for the pinfall victory. Team Hell No come out on top and seemingly cohesive ahead of their battle at Extreme rules.
At the end of their celebration Daniel Bryan attempts to summon Kane’s trademark pyrotechnic explosion from the entrance ramp. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts it seems that this is more of Kane’s shtick. After getting the crowd hyped up Bryan completes the iconic motion that successfully summons an actual explosion and Kane’s entrance theme. Kane and the rest of the WWE Universe are shocked as this is the first time since The Greatest Royal Rumble that pyrotechnics have been used.
Although this amazing closing sequence is a comedic nod to hardcore wrestling fans it does little to enhance the suspense around the Bludgeon Brothers’ championship defense at Extreme Rules. The fact that Harper and Rowan have ran over the entire tag team division seems lost amidst the antics of the rest of the tag teams in this segment. Team Hell No bring to the table rampant nostalgia and WWE may not be able to resist throwing their tag team belts on the Bryan and Kane.
However, it would be hard to imagine such a dominant team such as The Bludgeon Brothers to be dethroned so early in their championship run.
