WWE SmackDown Results, Highlights, and Grades For May 22, 2018

Andrade “Cien” Almas Squashes Someone Else

So much for Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas asking for better competition, huh? Tonight’s jobber got a couple of shots in, but he was basically dead from the get-go. The double knees in the corner turnbuckle is one of the best moves on the main roster today.

Match Rating: Squash, but it’s always entertaining to watch Almas. He makes everything look good.

Carmella Interview

Dasha Fuentes reminds Carmella that her Royal MellaBration was interrupted by Asuka, and she asks Carmella how she plans on dealing with someone as dominant as Asuka. Carmella reminds Dasha that Asuka was defeated by Charlotte at WrestleMania, and she defeated Charlotte twice. So, in her eyes, that means she’s twice as good as Asuka. Furthermore, she believes Asuka should be afraid of HER.

Promo Rating: A-, this was a great backstage promo from Carmella, who is just so grating and annoying. I can’t get enough of her trash talk, and she shines every week as a promo, regardless of the format. Top 5 talker in the company? I think so.

AJ Styles/Shinsuke Nakamura Segment

Renee Young reminds the fans that Shinsuke Nakamura gets to choose the WWE Championship match stipulation for Money in the Bank after defeating AJ Styles last week. Nakamura jokes that the stipulation for their match will be a “Pillow Fight”.

Nakamura, as expected, plays mind games with AJ Styles. He doesn’t name the stipulation of the match, joking that it will be a “Pillow Fight”. He notes that he jokes because he has the advantage, whereas Styles jokes because he’s afraid. Styles dismisses this, concluding that he doesn’t care what the stipulation is, since he will just beat Shinsuke when it matters anyway.

But after the two brawl and Nakamura drills Styles with a Kinsasha Knee Strike to the outside, he starts counting to 10 while Styles is lying on the ground. He then yells that this will be a Last Man Standing match, meeting fan expectations after their match finish at Backlash.

Segment Rating: B+, loved how Nakamura announced the stipulation here after initially keeping it close to the vest.