Sports Al Dente Smackdown Review- 5-1-18

SmackDown Summary
SmackDown Summary

Opening Segment

SmackDown Live opens with Paige summarizing the Greatest Royal Rumble result of AJ Styles losing, but retaining his WWE Championship. Then it is announced that Sunday’s WWE title match between Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at Backlash will be no disqualification.

MizTV

MizTV starts with Miz calling out Seth Rollins and letting everyone know he is looking to become the Intercontinental Champion again. The guest of MizTV is United States Champion Jeff Hardy. Hardy and Miz trade some barbs with one another as Randy Orton is introduced as another guest.

“The Viper” appears to squash the beef between him and Hardy by taking no disrespect from Hardy’s actions. Miz tries to create a situation between the two, which is the interrupted by Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin says that Orton is not deserving of the title shot. As Shelton enters the ring, a scuffle breaks loose, which ends with Hardy and Orton side by side in the middle of the ring. Great opening to SmackDown and sets up for a awesome show.

Jeff Hardy & Randy Orton vs. The Miz and Shelton Benjamin

Interesting to see the two wrestlers vying for the United States Championship at Backlash as tag team partners.The match starts out slow with Orton taking on Benjamin. Business picks up when Hardy is tagged in, hitting some of his patented moves on the Miz. After a few failed attempts to tag out, Hardy eventually gets the tag and in comes Orton. “The Viper” comes in and starts a rally for his team with a double hanging DDT. The crowd roars with approval as he coils up and hits the RKO on Benjamin. Hardy then hits a Swanton Bomb for the win. After the match, Orton hits an RKO out of nowhere on Hardy and stands over the champion.

The IIconics with Carmella

Renee starts the segment with a few questions for the IIconics about their impact on SmackDown Live. The two talk about beating Asuka with a wannabe Canadian accent, which they butcher. After shooing Renee away, they introduce the SmackDown Woman’s Champion, Carmella. Looks like Carmella has found her crew in the IIconics and they claim themselves to be an invincible team together.

The Bar

The Bar comes in walking through the arena where they are met by The New Day. The New Day calls them out for not winning the RAW Tag Team Championship, followed by serving the bar a tray of pancakes which is Cesaro throws in the air. Sheamus then goes on to to challenge Xavier Woods to a match.

Rusev and Aiden English

The two are shown standing in the hallway as the camera pans out to show Lana next to Rusev. Lana then claims that Rusev is being held back while she stares at Aiden English, who quickly excuses himself.

Big Cass

After the commercial break, Big Cass stands in the middle of the ring with a mic. Cass then talks smack about Daniel Bryan being a regular-sized person and claiming himself as a true superstar because of his physical attributes. Big Cass then calls out Daniel Bryan, who is not medically cleared to be at the show. Bryan’s entrance music plays as the crowd stands to see a much smaller person emerges to confront Big Cass. Cass then connects with a big boot to spoil the hometown kid’s day.

Shinsuke Nakamura & AJ Styles

The two competitors who will meet this Sunday at Backlash come to talk about what happened at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Nakamura is asking for a public apology for the beating AJ Styles gave Nakamura.

Surprisingly, Samoa Joe emerges, calling Roman Reigns a failure and wants Styles to take notice of his presence on the SmackDown roster. Joe then lays stake to the WWE Championship after he puts Reigns to sleep. Nakamura’s entrance music plays, which distracts Styles to create a opportunity for a surprise low blow from Nakamura on Styles. Nakamura then hits the Kinshasa and raises the title over Styles to set up a great Backlash title match.

Xavier Woods vs Sheamus

A matchup of speed vs power, Woods uses his speed to connect on a flurry of moves, capped of with a leap over the ropes onto Sheamus. Sheamus uses a distraction from his partner, Cesaro, to take control of the match. Sheamus uses an array of power moves to keep the speed of Woods grounded. The members of both groups get into a small scuffle outside the ring, creating a distraction that Woods uses to his advantage, rolling Sheamus into a small package pin for the win.

Absolution

A mini reunion of the group where Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose are told by Paige that the group is no more, meaning that they will not have special treatment and would need to earn their way around as Paige did.

Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, & Asuka vs. The IIconics & Carmella

The match starts with Charlotte and Carmella, but Carmella thought better and tags Royce in to start instead. As Flair is stunned, Carmella tags in to take advantage of the situation. She is quickly rebuffed as Charlotte takes control, ending with a leap over the top rope onto the IIconics.

We return from the break with Royce in control of Becky Lynch in a headlock. Charlotte finally gets tagged in and comes in with backhand chops on Carmella with the echoing of “WOOs!” from the crowd. Carmella’s team takes over with tag team combinations and we get a near fall broken up by Lynch. Asuka tags herself in and comes in with a fury of strikes. Chaos breaks out where all members hit big strikes on one another, capped off with a beautiful back flip from Charlotte onto Billy and Carmella. The match ends with Asuka locking in her Asuka lock on Royce for the submission finish.