WWE SmackDown Results, Highlights, Grades For June 5, 2018

On tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live, we’ll get more build for the Money in the Bank Pay Per View on June 17, including a contract signing between WWE Champion AJ Styles and his challenger Shinsuke Nakamura.

At Money in the Bank, AJ Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura for a fourth time. Styles defeated Nakamura, who won the 2018 Royal Rumble, at WrestleMania 34, but his other title defenses against Shinsuke at The Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash resulted in double count-outs.

Nakamura has chosen the stipulation for their match at Money in the Bank, so The Phenomenal One and The King of Strong Style will compete in a Last Man Standing match. Tonight on WWE SmackDown Live, the two will have a contract signing with Paige presiding over the proceedings, and I can only hope this segment is more entertaining than the Raw Women’s Championship contract signing weeks ago that involved Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey, and Stephanie McMahon.

Carmella must also defend her title at Money in the Bank, and it almost seems like it’s a foregone conclusion for Asuka to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship after losing to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania. It appears Carmella will figuratively “unmask” Asuka. This segment could prove to be disastrous, but there could be a silver lining if Asuka kicks her head off.

Last July, Becky Lynch submitted Charlotte Flair with her patented Dis-Arm-Her, and she will seek a similar result tonight when she squares off against her best friend. But Charlotte has betrayed Becky in the past, using heelish tactics to defeat Lynch in matches. With both of their eyes on the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in two weeks, Becky can’t afford to trust or go easy on Flair, especially since they both want a title opportunity as badly as anybody. Becky, of course, more so than Charlotte, given their histories.

One more match has been announced for tonight’s show, as Lana and Aiden English (but not Rusev) will team up to battle the real-life couple of Naomi and Jimmy Uso. This match favors Naomi and Jimmy, but could Rusev try and get involved? This mixed tag match stems from Lana blindsiding Naomi with a neckbreaker last week following their dance-off, as both Naomi and Lana will be competing in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

Check back here at 8 p.m. ET for live coverage of WWE SmackDown tonight.

Carmella “Unmasks” Asuka

Carmella, the SmackDown Women’s Champion, opens the show with her entrance, and she’s set to “unmask” Asuka, her opponent for the title at Money in the Bank.

Of course, she yells for the Corpus Christi crowd to get on their feet and give her the praise she deserves. ‘Mella says tonight isn’t about her. It’s about Asuka.

First, we get the hype package of Asuka kicking everyone’s ass, being the Sole Survivor at Survivor Series, and winning the Women’s Royal Rumble. Carmella praises Asuka after the video, but then she turns it around and says that the “real” Asuka is completely different. We get a video highlight of her loss at WrestleMania 34 to Charlotte Flair, as well as Asuka costing Becky Lynch a tag match against the IIconics.

Carmella says that Asuka’s loss at WrestleMania “shattered” her and that Asuka hasn’t been the same since the loss. In between insults, Carmella was cackling, and she proclaimed that EVERYONE in attendance is ready for Asuka, including a fan drooling over her looks (she was joking of course).

As expected, Asuka heard enough of Carmella’s trash-talking, entering the arena to interrupt the champion.

But she wasn’t the only person who came out…Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville also wanted to have their say. Deville and Rose both want to defeat Asuka tonight, and Carmella tries to goad Asuka into fighting both of them.

Now the GM, Paige, gets involved, and this is far from the first time she’s had to resolve a dispute started by her former Absolution stablemates.

The decision was all Asuka’s, and contrary to what Carmella said, Asuka wanted to face Deville and Rose in a handicap match. That’s coming up next.

Grade: C+, this was a decent segment to set up the next match, and I’m glad Carmella’s “unmasking” of Asuka wasn’t a train wreck. Most of these types of segments end pretty poorly, but this was an exception. It wasn’t particularly interesting, but Carmella’s hilarious insults and delivery made it somewhat worth my while.

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Asuka vs. Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose (Absolution) In A Handicap Match

Result: Asuka Submits Sonya Deville With The Asuka Lock

Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose wisely make early tags, but they are somehow at a disadvantage against Asuka despite it being a handicap match. Asuka put Sonya in a sick kneebar, but Deville’s savvy, striking background, and anger allowed her to continue to stay in the match without too much trouble.

Meanwhile, Carmella was busy dissing Byron Saxton on commentary, to the point where Corey Graves must have been incredibly proud of the SmackDown Women’s Champion’s work.

Once Mandy Rose tagged in, she started dominating the worn-out Asuka. And then Asuka started to come back, hitting a couple of hip attacks before ascending the top rope for a missile dropkick that had the crowd going crazy.

Sonya then tagged in, took advantage off of the distraction provided by Carmella to gain some momentum. While this was happening, Carmella just started moon-walking on the announce table. How can you not love our champ?

The back-and-forth continued, but one pivotal moment occurred when Asuka kicked out of Sonya’s spear. Deville started going at her in frustration for kicking out of the big move. This proved to be her  mistake, as Asuka started going for the Asuka Lock. Although Deville managed to grapple out of it, Asuka eventually locked in her deadly submission to win the match.

After the match, Carmella got off of commentary to step up to Asuka, who was attacked by Rose from behind. While Asuka snuffed out Rose, she couldn’t deal with Carmella, who took advantage and stood tall after hitting Asuka with the title.

Grade: A-, this was a damn good match. Asuka puts on a clinic every week, and she dominated here, as the crowd reacted strongly to every thing she did. The stuff after the match was also great, because it seems clear that WWE is waiting until Money in the Bank for Asuka to get her hands on the trash-talking Carmella.

The New Day “Apologize”

The New Day interrupt The Miz’s mid-life crisis ninja practice to apologize to The A-Lister for annoying him over the past couple of weeks. They tell Miz that they will let him pick a name out of a hat, so he can finally announce which member of The New Day he’ll face at Money in the Bank in the ladder match.

Instead, he sticks his hand in a hat filled with pancake batter, and he’s beyond pissed at The New Day’s trickery. Tonight, Rusev, Samoa Joe, and The Miz will team up to face The New Day, and The Miz warns them that they won’t be laughing when Rusev kicks them and Joe puts them to sleep.

Grade: A, everything these four men touch is amazing, and this was no exception.

Harper vs. Karl Anderson

Result: Karl Anderosn Defeats Harper By Roll-Up

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson recently defeated The Usos to become the No. 1 contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, and they will face The Bludgeon Brothers at Money in the Bank. Tonight, Karl Anderson has a monstrous task on his hands against Harper.

After Harper dominated the match, Anderson somehow swooped in to seamlessly roll up Harper for a legitimately shocking victory. I wonder how Harper and Rowan will respond to this loss.

Grade: C+, really cool to see Anderson bag the win, and I’m always #here for a surprise roll-up win by the underdog in a random TV match.

Naomi And Jimmy Uso Promo

Naomi was attacked from behind by Lana after the dance-off last week, and she and husband Jimmy Uso will face Lana and Aiden English in a mixed tag match tonight. In this promo, Naomi calls out Lana for what she did last week, and she says she will snatch Lana bald and snatch the briefcase. Oh, and she and Jimmy welcomed English and Lana to the Uso Penitentiary, proclaiming that they will prove they are WWE’s real couple.

Grade: B, #CoupleGoals, ’nuff said.

Naomi And Jimmy Uso vs. Aiden English And Lana

Result: Jimmy Uso superkicks Aiden English For The Win

Aiden English rudely interrupts Naomi’s and Jimmy Uso’s AWESOME entrance, but he does get thunderous #RusevDay chants, so it’s all good. Oh, and he sung “Lana is the best, Lana No. 1!”. So yeah, all is forgiven.

The match starts with Aiden and Jimmy, and Aiden immediately puts Jimmy in a side headlock and sings “It’s Rusev Day” while doing it. However, Jimmy gets out of it by hitting Aiden in the throat, and since he’s a singer, Corey Graves gets scared as hell.

Things break down when Aiden and Lana try to jump in to attack Naomi and Jimmy together, but they counter with Enziguiris in stereo and take a big advantage before the break. Again, #CoupleGoals.

After the break, there were big moves on both sides, but the final sequence was the best. It looked like English was about to win the match with a huge move, as Jimmy was stuck in the corner. But Naomi flew in from out of nowhere to take up English, allowing Jimmy to collect himself and deliver a superkick for the win.

Grade: A-, way better than I expected. Naomi and Jimmy Uso were fantastic, Lana looks improved, and Aiden English was solid per usual. I have to say Naomi was the MVP of this match.

Shinsuke Nakamura And AJ Styles Contract Signing

Paige is the middle of a table backstage, and Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles are there to sign the contract for the Last Man Standing match at Money in the Bank. Nakamura commented that his pen was “out of ink”, and he immediately threw it over his shoulder when Paige offered to take it. Then, Nakamura asked for Styles’s pen and broke it, dryly stating, “This pen is broken…”

Styles got up in frustration at Nakamura’s mindgames, and he yelled at Nakamura to get up like a man. Nakamura just sat there, doing absolutely nothing. So you know what Styles did? He hit him and started screaming.

Back before WrestleMania 34, Nakamura predicted that he’d win because Styles is too emotional. That isn’t what happened at all, but ahead of the WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank, that seems to be the case here. Styles let his emotions get the best of him in this segment, and he seems off his game. Nakamura’s mindgames are working beautifully.

Grade: B, initially, I was perplexed as to why Nakamura and Styles had the contract signing backstage, but by the end of the segment, it all made sense. This contract signing was low-key, but highly effective, with both men playing their roles absolutely perfectly.

Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch

Result: Becky Lynch Submits Charlotte Flair With The Dis-Arm-Her

Now THIS is the match we tuned in to see tonight on SmackDown Live! I’m honestly excited, but a little nervous in case the meddlesome IIconics decide to ruin this match for some reason.

These two were on fire from the start, countering each other’s moves, and Charlotte’s acting was excellent. They played up their familiarity with each other by literally tackling each other before the break, and this was after they shared “tea time” and agreed to put their feet down on the count of three when they caught each other’s kicks. (And yes, this match should have been the main event of SmackDown tonight.)

Charlotte nailed Becky with a brutal spear that was sold perfectly, and she followed that up by taking Lynch out on the outside. Then, Charlotte went for a moonsault, but she took too long to get set up, allowing Lynch to get the knees up. Although Flair kept going for the Figure Eight, it eventually costed her, as Becky tied her up in the Dis-Arm-Her again.

Last year in July when Charlotte and Becky faced off in singles competition on SmackDown Live, Charlotte tapped out to the Dis-Arm-Her. Tonight, it was the same result. Becky got a huge win in an incredible match, and this could end up being the best match of the week. Again, massive win for Becky heading into Money in the Bank, and I hope it actually leads to something. Because if these two feud over the SmackDown Women’s Championship one day, the story will be if Charlotte can avoid tapping out to Becky’s Dis-Arm-Her.

Grade: A+, watch this and you’ll immediately feel better about life.

Big Cass Promo

Renee Young welcomes Big Cass for an in-arena interview, and she brings up his upcoming match at Money in the Bank against Daniel Bryan. Cass already lost to Bryan at Backlash, tapping out to the YES! Lock. His response? He just brings up his height again…Right. Nice. Great. Thanks for showing up. Oh, and he started making fun of Bryan’s height by bringing up his WWE Championship win at WrestleMania 30. The crowd hated it, so that’s good, but eventually they’ll get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

He needs to say something different, be more intimidating, or do something. But hey, he’s getting heat. So I guess it’s working.

Grade: F, very boring, don’t bother watching.

Sin Cara Speaks

Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas snubbed Sin Cara last week. Sin Cara says that he considers Almas like a brother, seeing as how he knew Almas since El Idolo was 14. Vega overheard the interview and interrupted Sin Cara, stating that she is the greatest thing that ever happened to Almas. She says that Sin Cara made Almas weak.

Sin Cara is in disbelief, and he can’t come to grips with the fact that Almas has turned his back on him. As he contemplates this reality, Almas ambushes him and beats the hell out of him. We learn that they will face off against each other next week, and, honestly, this program is even better than I expected. Vega is money, Almas is pure evil, and Sin Cara has done a great job of coming across as sympathetic despite the fact that it’s harder to relate to a character we barely see on television.

Grade: A, I’m a huge fan of Almas and Vega, and Sin Cara always pulls me back in.

Rusev, Samoa Joe, And The Miz vs. The New Day

Result: The New Day Win With A Little Midnight Hour

Xavier Woods and The Miz start this six-man tag match off, and The A-Lister gets an early advantage. However, Woods turns it around immediately, as The Miz continues to have difficulty handling Woods’s quickness. Woods tags out, and Kofi Kingston and Big E start going to work on The Miz as The New Day wisely bring in some rapid-fire offense as a tag team.

Miz gets out of there, allowing Samoa Joe to try and contend with Joe. Big E hits Joe with a big suplex, but he tags in Woods, who starts to falter against Joe’s size advantage. After the break, Woods makes a huge comeback, giving Kofi the hot tag and forcing Joe to tag in Miz. Kingston wipes out the Miz, nearly winning with a huge crossbody.

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Remember when Miz said that Samoa Joe would put the New Day to sleep and Rusev would kick their heads off? Well, Joe snatched Xavier Woods off the apron to put him in the Coquina Clutch, and when Kofi Kingston tried to save him, Rusev kicked Kingston’s head off.

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It seemed like Miz, Rusev, and Joe were about to win by isolating Big E, and Miz went in for the kill with the platter of pancakes. But after being briefly distracted, he accidentally threw the pancakes in the faces of his teammates, so Rusev and Joe immediately turned on him before walking out. The New Day picked up the pieces, hitting the Midnight Hour on The Miz for a win.

Grade: A-, another wildly entertaining match featuring The Miz and The New Day. Oh, and pancakes! Lots and lots of pancakes!