WWE SmackDown: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for June 12

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Result: Jeff Hardy defeated Shinsuke Nakamura via disqualification

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Hey, how did Raw get in my WWE SmackDown?

I hate to be the party pooper, but Jeff Hardy matches in 2018 just don’t do it for me. His best asset was always his ability to do things that others couldn’t, but now he moves so slowly and gingerly at all times it’s just painful to watch. I just want to see him curled up with a heating pad, not bumping his butt off.

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And Nakamura? The heel turn was probably good for his character, but he’s lost that “special” kind of feeling he had during his NXT run. There’s definitely something great hidden underneath the protective shell that keeps the stink of bad booking from totally breaking through to him.

There were some positives in here: Hardy is still the United States Champion, so at least he didn’t get pinned and devalue the title. And Nakamura definitely did more to up his stock heading into MITB than AJ Styles did. So, yay.

But in general, I couldn’t get invested in this one. Every time Jeff limped over to the turnbuckles, I felt sad. Whenever Nakamura made a weird face, it just seemed like too much overcompensation. I don’t know what the hangup has been with getting Nakamura to just be Nakamura — is it Shinsuke himself, or creative, or Vince, or a little of everything?

I still hope Nakamura wins at MITB — Styles has had a great run with the title, but there’s more he can do without the championship. And maybe winning the title will be the Kinshasa in the pants Shin needs to get to the next level he’s capable of.

Let’s Talk

There were a pair of promos bookending a commercial break before the main event. Up first was Carmella being rude to a makeup girls and taking selfies while Renee Young tried to interview her. Meh.

After the break, Big Cass responded to Daniel Bryan by stealing from a county fair. Real nice, bro.