WWE SmackDown Results, Highlights, and Grades For May 29, 2018

Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe will renew their rivalry with their first match in WWE tonight on WWE SmackDown Live. But what else will take place tonight on the show that is quickly reasserting itself as WWE’s “A” show?

Last week, Daniel Bryan faced Jeff Hardy for the first time ever, and Bryan tapped the United States Champion out in the main event of WWE SmackDown Live. Bryan’s win allowed him to face Samoa Joe tonight, and the winner will qualify for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, taking the final spot.

Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Rusev (defeated Bryan to qualify), The Miz, and an unnamed member of the New Day (hopefully Xavier Woods) have all qualified. Joe is the favorite to win after Bryan put it all on the line against Hardy last week, and there’s even a chance Big Cass could come in and cost Bryan the match. And if Bryan does win, don’t discount the chances of Joe beating him up backstage and essentially hijacking his spot in the ladder match.

In London, Paige announced that Carmella would have to face Asuka at Money in the Bank. Carmella believes she is twice as good as Asuka, seeing how she’s defeated Charlotte Flair twice, whereas Asuka could not even defeat her once. Asuka is bound to give Carmella some comeuppance, but what will the Princess of Staten Island have in store tonight?

Andrade “Cien” Almas has defeated local talents in each of his first two appearances on SmackDown Live, but he and manager Zelina Vega are thoroughly unimpressed with how SmackDown management has rolled out the welcome wagon for Almas. The former NXT Champion wants some real competition, and I wonder if he’ll go out of his way to get it.

There’s no doubt that Shinsuke Nakmaura has been making enemies with the members of the SmackDown Live roster ever since turning heel on WWE Champion AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34. Nakamura’s Twitter war with Tye Dillinger was entertaining as hell, and Paige decided to give these two a singles match tonight. Will Nakamura defeat “The Perfect 10” with ease, or could some shenanigans be on the way?

The New Day got on The Miz’s bad side last week, which isn’t difficult to do, because they refused to divulge their entrant into the Money in the Bank ladder match. They understandably didn’t want to tip their hand, especially since Miz will be one of the competitors in the match. Tensions boiled, and Big E and The Miz ended up squaring off, until The Bar, who have been feuding with The New Day again, interfered. The Miz will team up against The Bar to take on The New Day, and I have a feeling the man who gets the decisive pin will be the one to compete in the ladder match.

Hopefully tonight’s show also features some of the women on the SmackDown Live roster who have qualified for the ladder match. Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Charlotte Flair are the top three babyfaces and could afford to be showcased more frequently, so we’ll see what the writing staff has dialed up for us.

WWE SmackDown Live has been exciting in the month of May, and with Joe vs. Bryan on tap, tonight’s show should not be an exception.

Check back here at 8 p.m. ET for live highlights, grades, and analysis from tonight’s show! You can watch SmackDown Live on the USA Network.

Major Heat For Big Cass

Last week, Big Cass was supposed to face Samoa Joe in a qualifying match for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, but he wasn’t able to compete due to an injury. Instead, Daniel Bryan faced Jeff Hardy in a second-chance match for an opportunity to face Samoa Joe tonight.

Big Cass had his say, laying waste to both Bryan and Joe, and he tries to take Bryan out of commission to have his match with Joe after all. He speaks for Paige and says he’s in the match, and Paige has none of that. Paige notes that while she likes Cass’s passion and he’s medically cleared, she says that Bryan earned his shot last week by beating Hardy. So she books a Triple Threat match with Cass, Joe, and Bryan all set to face each other.

My money is still on Joe, but this definitely complicates things. As for Paige, I LOVE her as GM, and I LOVE how she put her foot down while still giving Cass his fair shot. Meanwhile, Cass is an excellent heel, and it was hilarious watching him absorb all the heat as he held the briefcase following his beatdowns of Joe and Bryan.

Segment Grade: B

Shinsuke Nakamura Taunts Tye Dillinger

Shinsuke Nakamura has a match against Tye Dillinger tonight that was book by SmackDown Live GM Paige following a brief Twitter war. Backstage, Nakamura was reeling off sheets of paper, counting up from one to ten before ripping apart the “ten” sign. Classic Heel Nakamura!

Segment Grade: A-

Paige Puts Mandy Rose In A Big Match

Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville keep trying to get special favors from Paige, who isn’t going to sit there and listen to any of their complaining. Rose wonders why Asuka should have a SmackDown Women’s Title shot against Carmella at Money in the Bank, considering she lost to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34. Paige wants Rose to witness firsthand how good Asuka is, so she has announced that Rose must face The Empress of Tomorrow tonight.

Segment Grade: B

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tye Dillinger

As usual, Tye Dillinger starts hot right out of the gate, and before the break starts, he nails Shinsuke Nakamura with a lovely dropkick that sends the 2018 Royal Rumble winner flying out of the ring from the apron. Dillinger goes for a high-risk move to give himself a huge advantage, but Nakamura scouts out the suicide dive attempt with a knee.

I always love it when Nakamura does this, though I’m also waiting for him to do the “NOPE” thing where he just lets his opponent hit the floor. That, of course, isn’t happening on the WWE main roster, so the knee to a diving opponent is the next best thing.

The match got even better after the break. At one point, Nakamura had Dillinger on the ground, and it looked like Tye wouldn’t be able to get up. So Nakamura started playing up the “Last Man Standing” match at Money in the Bank, counting to “10”. But before he could get to 10, Dillinger got up to his feet on the ropes at the count of “9”, and he flashed the “10” right at Nakamura. Incensed, Nakamura charged at Dillinger, who dodged Shinsuke and mocked his “Come on!” taunt.

Nakamura won the match with a Kinsasha Knee Strike and beat down Dillinger after the match, counting to “10” to rub salt in the wound. That said, Dillinger did hit Nakamura with a “knee to face”, though it didn’t go anywhere.

Match Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars, this was a lot of fun. Watch it.

AJ Styles Promo

Styles says that a “Last Man Standing” match ostensibly gives Nakamura the benefit, since Nakamura is a superior striker. But AJ says he fights smarter and harder, and that’s why he’s still WWE Champion.

Lana vs. Naomi: Dance-Off!

Aiden English and Rusev enter to serenade Lana to the ring, with Rusev screaming/singing “Lana is the best! Lana No. 1!” And yes, the crowd loved it.

Last week, Lana and Naomi qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match after defeating Billie Kay and Sonya Deville, respectively, but tonight SmackDown Live’s writers have decided to put them both in a dance-off. If you recall, Lana faced Naomi for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at last year’s Money in the Bank Pay Per View.

Naomi didn’t come alone either, because she has The Usos, whom she saved from the Bludgeon Brothers about a month ago, in her corner for this “Dance-Off” to offset the support Lana is getting from Rusev and Aiden.

Lana started things off with her dance moves, and she was great. But Naomi? Well, uh, of course she was even better, and The Usos reactions only made it better.

Afterwards, Lana and Naomi started dancing together and seemed to be getting along. However, Lana suddenly attacked Naomi with a neckbreaker, and things broke down. Lana event went over to slap Naomi’s husband Jimmy Uso. The Usos stood tall after superkicking Rusev and Aiden English out of the ring, and Naomi also got the best of Lana, smacking her straight in the face with a little “Rearview” action.

Segment Grade: B, this segment was entertaining and better than it had any right being. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The New Day vs. The Bar and The Miz

Quick note: They used Pentagon Jr.’s theme song in Impact Wrestling for the commercial for next week’s Raw, which features Bobby Roode vs. Braun Strowman and Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens as Money in the Bank preview matches.

On Miz TV last week, The New Day refused to tell The Miz which one of them would be entered into the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was their reward for defeating Sheamus and Cesaro in a tag match. After they irked The Miz and threw pancakes in his face shouting “Shame!”, Big E and The Miz squared off, only to have their match interrupted by The Bar. So naturally, Paige, being the smart GM she is, placed The Bar with The Miz in six-man tag action against all three members of The New Day.

The Miz and Big E start the match, with Big E gyrating his hips at The A-Lister in classic fashion. Clearly psyched out, Miz immediately tags out and Cesaro enters the match.

After the break, The Miz is beating down Kofi Kingston, and he quickly tags in Sheamus to keep putting Kingston in a perilous position. But Kofi eventually counters an uppercut attempt from Cesaro, sending him to the outside. The Miz follows up and gets thrown to the outside, too.

Miz picks a fight with Big E to prevent Kofi from tagging out, and he and Sheamus gang up on Big E to take The New Day’s powerhouse out. Kofi goes for a surprise pin on Cesaro, but the Swiss Cyborg kicks out and The Bar and The Miz hold a key advantage with Big E and Xavier Woods taken out.

Kofi finally tags out, sending in Xavier Woods for a blistering hot tag.  Seriously, his hot tag alone is worth re-watching and goes down as one of the highlights of the match.

The final two minutes of the match were absolutely fantastic and were at a breath-taking pace. The Miz sulking around, Cesaro and Sheamus at their machine-like best, and Big E eventually winning it with a SICK tilt-a-whirl Big Ending.

Matching Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. Go out of your way to watch this, because this was incredibly entertaining and one of (maybe even THE) the best tag matches on television in 2018.

The Club Interview

Karl “Abs” Anderson, as Luke Gallows now calls him, and his “Good Brother” talk about how they buried the hatchet with The Usos after defeating them last week for the No. 1 contendership to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Gallows says that The Club kicked back a couple of brewskis and asked The Usos about what it’s like facing the indomitable Bludgeon Brothers.

But just as the overconfident Club are about to call Harper and Rowan “NERDSSS!!!!”, the TV monitor starts going static. The Bludgeon Brothers appear, say some scary things, and then the segment pretty much ends. The Club are in for a world of hurt at Money in the Bank, and The Bludgeon Brothers are as ominous as ever.

Asuka vs. Mandy Rose

Mandy Rose doesn’t think Asuak deserves an opportunity at the SmackDown Women’s Championship next month at Money in the Bank? She thinks she’s ready for Asuka? Well, she’s entitled for a world of hurt, even if she did beat Becky Lynch by fluke a few weeks ago.

Carmella comes out as the SmackDown Women’s Champion to scout out her competition and get a little bit of a read on Asuka, who is her No. 1 contender. But with Carmella out there, that makes me a bit nervous that Mandy might pull off a shocking upset here.

And uh yup, Sonya Deville came out to ambush Asuka from behind…so The Empress is in a bit of trouble… Asuka isn’t phased, though, as she tears off the robe and scrambles into the ring.

However, Asuka takes control of the match after an initial flurry from Mandy, and while Mandy hangs in there, she just isn’t good enough to pull off the upset. Asuka makes an incredible transition into the Asuka Lock (as always), and that’s all she wrote.

Match Rating: 2.75 out of 5.0 stars, nothing special, but solid. Rose continues to improve noticeably, and Asuka remains one of the smoothest submission experts in all of professional wrestling.

Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch Promo

Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair cut awesome backstage promos about Money in the Bank. Charlotte says that Asuka will defeat Carmella for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank, and because Charlotte will win the contract, she’ll be able to set up a WrestleMania 34 rematch of the previously undefeated Empress she counquered.

With all due respect, says Becky, she is the actual future winner of the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match next month. Lynch stresses how much she needs to win that title, and she once again displays why she’s one of the best babyface promos in WWE. Her passion, with a tinge of desperation, comes across beautifully, and you can’t help but feel for a woman who has been an afterthought ever since she was the first ever SmackDown Women’s Champion.

Paige comes in and says she loves the fire both Becky and Charlotte are displaying here, and she adds that this is the kind of competitive spirit that the SmackDown Live women need to have if the contract is to remain on the Blue Brand. Sadly, Paige tries to bring up their old “PCB” days together, which Charlotte and Becky clearly aren’t interested in reliving despite their friendship. Paige tries to get some “tea-drinking” involved, but they have their eyes on the prize.

Segment Grade: B+, I’m hyped for these two to confront each other big-time in the future, including during the Money in the Bank ladder match.

El Idolo Backstage Promo

Sin Cara tries to say high to Andrade “Cien” Almas, and Zelina Vega takes issue to a “nobody” trying to interact with him. So I guess that’s the match we’re getting next week. That’s a step up from the “local talent”, and hopefully their match is solid, but I’m hoping for a little bit more for Almas as soon as possible.

Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe

This match is the final qualifying match for both the men’s and women’s ladder matches. The winner will join Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Rusev, The Miz, and one member of The New Day on June 17 for a contract that can give them the opportunity to cash in on the WWE Championship.

Joe and Bryan relive their Ring of Honor days by teaming up to beat up Big Cass, and after they send the big man out of the ring, Joe goes to work on Bryan with some focused strikes. There was an awesome sequence before the break where Samoe Joe hit Cass with one of his suicide dives, and Bryan leaped onto both of them with a crossbody to the outside.

There was some clunkiness in this match because Big Cass is still green, but the finish made everything alright in the end. Bryan hit Cass with a running knee, and it seemed like he was about to win. But Joe broke up the pin, locked in the Coquina Clutch, and put Bryan to sleep in emphatic fashion. Fantastic stuff. Joe is headed to Money in the Bank, and he had to be considered one of the favorites to win.

Other spots in the match I liked were Bryan’s counter of the Coquina Clutch into a pinning predicament for Joe, and Bryan trying to lock in the Yes! Lock on Cass while fatigued. He was selling how difficult it is to put Cass in a submission hold because Cass’s limbs are so long.

Next: WWE Raw 5 Takeaways

At the end of the match, Cass hit Bryan with a Big Boot for good measure.

Matching Rating: 3.25 out of 5.0, this was a decent match, but with Cass involved, Bryan and Joe held something back. Which is good. I can’t wait for them to fight in a singles match for the WWE Championship one day.