Welcome to the Smackdown Review for July 10 2018. For both this and Raw, I will go over what the big talking points were, pick the match of the night, and look ahead to the next show
Talking Points
Coming Soon
Team Hell No continued their reunion tour with a stop on Miz TV. The Miz was all smiles as he poked and prodded the team about recent and not so decent developments. Things began to get more serious as Daniel Bryan said Miz was terrible at everything he did. The Miz let his emotions get the best of him, and we saw a fire we have not seen since that Talking Smack episode years ago. Extreme Rules is Sunday, but I am looking forward to Summerslam and the promise of Miz and Bryan finally squaring off
Surrounded
James Ellsworth was finally ready to face Askua and all the women of Smackdown were around the ring to make sure he could not escape. Ellsworth is interesting because he is one of those characters that both heels and faces hate. Ellsworth got about a second of offense and spent the rest of the match trying to get away from Askua’s strikes. He eventually tapped out, but Carmella was the one standing tall at the end. Ellsworth will be in a shark tank for Carmella and Askua’s match at Extreme Rules. There is about a zero chance he stays there.
Cian
Sin Cara and Andrade Almas finally had their match after a few weeks of buildup. While Cian was as dominant as he has ever been in the match, there is a question of how far he can go on Smackdown. This is not to say he is not talented, he is, but there is so much talent on the blue brand right now he might have to wait his turn in order to get a huge push. Cian and Zelina Vega are hot right now and they need to get the competition they have been asking for since day one.
Match of the Night
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (No Contest)
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura continue to get better and better each time they face each other. This was not as good as their Last Man Standing Match, but it was damn close. Styles ramps up his almost endless energy and Nakamura almost becomes a different wrestler. Rusev interfering and causing the DQ hurt this match a little, but the match itself should remind everyone that two talented wrestlers can have a great match anywhere.
Conclusion
Styles and Jeff Hardy lost to Rusev and Nakamura after the DQ turned it into a tag match. The New Day and Team Hell No beat Sanity and the Bludgeon Brothers. Kane had the best lines of the night regarding N*SYNC (yes you read that correctly.)
