Smackdown came live from Corpus Christi, Texas. The crowd wasn’t as much in it as it was for Raw, but they still made it enjoyable at times. Asuka took out two opponents by herself. Nakamura and AJ signed the contract to battle at Money in the Bank and The New Day took out The Miz, Samoa Joe and Rusev.
Asuka Is Dominant
Carmella is first out. She apparently is out here to “unmask” Asuka, by playing clips of Asuka winning, then the loss to Charlotte at Wrestlemania. I have no idea what she meant by that, but I guess showing us clips we already know. Asuka came out, and went face to face with Carmella, but Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville interrupted. Then, Paige came out. Asuka challenged both Rose and Deville to a match. Paige made it right away, of course.
Asuka had an uphill battle for most of the match. Rose and Deville controlled Asuka on the mat, but Asuka could take over whenever she wanted. Carmella tried to distract Asuka by moonwalking on the announce table. Asuka eventually locked Deville in the Asuka Lock. Carmella gets into the ring, but Rose attacks Asuka from behind, but is dropped. Carmella then gets some cheap heat by attacking Asuka from behind. It’s still just a matter of time until Asuka is the champion, doesn’t really matter when.
Anderson Steals A Victory
Anderson and Gallows have a title match at Money in the Bank, but tonight Anderson took on Harper alone. It was not pretty, but Harper did look dominant. Bouncing Anderson around the ring, but Anderson eventually rolled up Harper. This starts at least making this match semi-interesting, but it’s hard to not book against the Bludgeon Brothers at this point.
Jimmy & Naomi Win Marriage
Jimmy Uso and Naomi took on Aiden English and Lana, in a quasi-married matchup. Uso and Naomi are married but Lana’s husband was still in the back. I guess that should have given away the finish. It was a well worked match, but it wasn’t anything special. Naomi flew around, hitting English with multiple dives. Uso hit a superkick and it was over. I didn’t really get this having to be a match, but who knows with creative anymore.
Styles/Nakamura Sign Contract
In what was supposed to be a “volatile” situation, all we got was a bitch slap from AJ and Shinsuke being a weird heel, this time with pens. Otherwise, it was super uninteresting. Same old, same old. I will say that I popped for Dean Malenko showing up to hold AJ back. I’m glad to see him being an agent, he was an excellent worker and should be an invaluable resource to everyone in the back.
Becky Out Duels Charlotte
In a matchup of “friends” this was a really good match. Both women knowing each other really well, smooth transitions and great counters. Charlotte held control late, but Becky rolled into her Dis-Arm-Her. Helping each up after the match, I could see them building into a similar situation as Sasha and Bayley.
Cass Says He’s Big, Wow Surprise
Cass had an interview with Renee Young. He basically touted that he is big and Bryan is small, and WWE is a big man’s world. How many times are we gonna run this angle with Bryan? It’s getting to be a mute point. We know Bryan is small, and it’s not getting the other people over just pointing that out. They need to just let Bryan loose and stop hamstringing him with the B player angle.
It’s A New Day
The New Day took on the other three men to qualify for Money in the Bank, Rusev, Samoa Joe and The Miz. The heels had the advantage throughout most of the match. Keeping the group seperated and grounded. Joe took out Xavier with the Coquina Clutch, as Rusev flattened a flying Kofi with the Machka Kick. They had Big E held down, and Miz went in with the pancakes.
But, a seconds long pause made Miz toss them on his partners. They didn’t take this well and took out The Miz. They walked out on him, and The New Day hit the Midnight Hour. We still have no idea who is going to be in the Money in the Bank match for The New Day. It was a decent match, but ultimately it added up to nothing. Just a way to make us wait another week.
Results
Asuka def. Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose
Karl Anderson def. Harper
Jimmy Uso & Naomi def. Aiden English & Lana
Becky Lynch def. Charlotte
The New Day def. The Miz, Rusev & Samoa Joe
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