WWE SmackDown Results And Grades: Finally Some Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas

Credit: WWE.com

For the first time in his career, Andrade “Cien” Almas will have a singles match (against someone who is not an enhancement talent) on the main roster on tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live. Will Sin Cara incur the full wrath of “El Idolo”?

Most members of the WWE Universe were absolutely ecstatic when it was announced that Andrade “Cien” Almas would join WWE SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup. It’s taken a while for Almas to be rewarded with meaningful TV time from SmackDown management, but tonight, he’ll finally have his match against Sin Cara, whom he snubbed last month in a backstage segment.

Almas is as arrogant as they come, and Zelina Vega has brought out the best of the attributes that have made him a special competitor in WWE. He dazzled NXT fans at TakeOver: WarGames, TakeOver: Philadelphia, and TakeOver: New Orleans, and he was a standout at the 2018 Royal Rumble. Tonight will be a showcase match for both him and Sin Cara, who had an underrated program with Baron Corbin earlier this year.

There will be other exciting matches on SmackDown Live tonight, including AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. While it is annoying that the feud didn’t end with their Last Man Standing match, the fan in me is always excited for Nakamura vs. Styles. It’s like eating a whole large pizza by yourself. By the eighth slice, you kind of hate yourself, but if it’s a good enough pizza, you’ll finish it off anyway.

Asuka will seek revenge on James Ellsworth, who won’t be able to run away tonight with the rest of the women’s roster standing outside the ring. Becky Lynch and Ellsworth have quite the history, so I’m looking forward to Becky destroying him on the outside.

Meanwhile, Tye Dillinger made the strange decision to call out Samoa Joe, who will surely put The Perfect 10 to sleep in the Coquina Clutch. But Dillinger has put up valiant fights against the likes of AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura during his career on the Blue Brand, so could he impress the locker room and the WWE Universe with a credible performance against the Samoan Submission Machine?

The show will kick off with yet another “Miz TV” segment, so I look forward to watching him get his ass kicked by Daniel Bryan and Kane.

Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network for WWE SmackDown and check back here during the show for live highlights, grades, and analysis!

Team Hell No Is On Miz TV

As per usual, WWE SmackDown begins with a little bit of A-List injection into our veins, as The Miz kicks off the show with Miz TV, “I have a microphone so I can be louder than all of you.”

Classic Miz. He also claims that he’s going to win an Emmy for his upcoming reality TV show on the USA Network, Miz and Mrs.

He puts over Bryan and Kane as a tag team, likening their reunion to Justin Timberlake getting back together with NSYNC. Kane jokes that NSYNC is never getting back together, and he talks about how the Bludgeon Brothers are nothing compared to the tandem of Kane and Bryan, no matter how formidable the SmackDown Tag Team Champions may be.

I love how The Miz pretended to apologize for showing the footage of Bryan and Kane NOT getting along, but Bryan quickly called him on his crap. He even said that the Miz is “terrible” at everything, including stirring the pot.

The Miz’s reaction was incredible. He called Bryan a “cheesy nostalgia” act, claiming that Bryan can no longer hang with him in the ring. Miz took it a step further, stating that he wants to be the one to end Bryan’s career. For good.

Just as Kane is about to chokeslam Miz, the Bludgeon Brothers come in to interrupt things and save the A-Lister. But guess who else comes out? Sanity!

Sanity blindsides Team Hell No in the ring, allowing the Bludgeon Brothers to get the upper hand on Kane on the outside. Meanwhile, the New Day save Bryan, who was getting stomped on by Sanity inside the ring.

But Sanity turns things in their favor, beating up Xavier Woods and Big E, ignoring WWE officials who stormed the ring. The Bludgeon Brothers took care of Kofi Kingston on the outside.

Grade: A, I loved how they built towards the Tables match between Sanity and The New Day at Extreme Rules, but the real fire came from Daniel Bryan and The Miz, of course.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles

Instead of complaining about seeing this match again, I’m going to be happy that we’re seeing two of the best in the world clashing again. This match will likely be brief, because someone like Rusev, who will fight Styles for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules, or Samoa Joe, who always wants to make his presence felt, could decide to cause a disqualification.

Rusev’s music hit before the match started, and he came out to cut a promo on AJ Styles. And why wouldn’t he? This is a fine Rusev Day to take in a match and inspire fear in the heart of the WWE Champion.

Nakamura immediately goes after Styles when the bell rings, taking advantage of Rusev’s presence, but Styles turns the table with a running dropkick.

Styles went for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Nakamura countered by shoving him out of the ring. He then started to throw Styles into the barricade before moving him back into the ring for a cover. After Styles kicked out at one, Nakamura went for another cover, but Styles kicked out at one again.

Rusev was on commentary during the match, and he quickly made enemies with Byron Saxton. The commentary team stated that Styles has been drinking lots of milk to prepare for his title defense, to which Rusev responded that milk is for babies. Rusev told the commentary team not to forget that he is a “super athlete”, as he noted earlier that he was undefeated earlier in his WWE career and once made a WrestleMania entrance in a tank.

Late in the match, Styles and Nakamura were on a roll, hitting counters, big moves, and swift strikes. Rusev asks Byron Saxton if AJ Styles can pick me up, and he insists that AJ absolutely cannot. Just then, Nakamura countered a Styles Clash attempt into a Triangle Choke. Styles finally got out of it by nearly rolling Shinsuke up for a victory.

Styles jumped out of Nakamura’s exploder and used his “Come on!” taunt. When Shinsuke charged at him, Styles threw him out of the ring and then hit a Phenomenal Forearm out of the ring. Aiden English started to talk trash, but Styles punched him in the face. Just as Rusev got up, Nakamura beat up AJ. He tried to hit Styles with a Kinsasha Knee Strike, but Styles moved out of the way, causing English to get hit with Nakamura’s finisher.

It seemed like Styles was poise to bag a win with a Phenomenal Forearm in the ring, but Rusev pulled him off the apron for the DQ. Just as Rusev was closing in on Styles, Jeff Hardy came out to make the save, nailing Rusev and Nakamura with a double dropkick.

Because of the chaos, SmackDown GM Paige came out to stop the fighting. She created a tag match with Hardy and AJ teaming up against Rusev and Nakamura.

Grade: B+, Rusev was insanely entertaining, and the in-ring action between Nakamura and Styles was (once again) quite good.

Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev

Rusev will face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules, while Jeff Hardy will defend his United States Championship against Jeff Hardy on Sunday. Because all four of them were brawling in the last segment, Paige channeled her inner Teddy Long to set up this tag match on the go-home show of SmackDown Live.

The two WWE Championship opponents on Sunday, Rusev and Styles, started things off with some grappling to preview their title bout. A fresher Rusev took advantage early on, using his strength to continue to wear down Styles, who had warred for a good ten minutes with Nakamura, gaining the upper hand against his familiar foe. Rusev trapped him in a bear hug, with Hardy clapping to encourage Styles to fight out of it.

Hardy came in for Styles and looked quite good against Rusev, using his quickness and savvy to take control of the match. He hit Whisper in the Wind on the worn-down Rusev, but Nakamura broke up the pin.

Rusev nailed Styles with a Machka Kick, but Hardy followed up with a Twist of Fate. He ascended the top rope for a Swanton Bomb, but Nakamura yanked him off the top rope. And Rusev hit a Machka Kick on Hardy for a surprise win, as it looked like Hardy had the match in the back before Nakamura’s second interference. Since Nakamura got the upper hand on Hardy, fans will speculate that Hardy could retain the United States Championship on Sunday in spite of most predictions tabbing Nakamura as the winner.

Grade: C, This match was OK, but it felt kind of there. It wasn’t a bad way of hyping up both title matches at Extreme Rules in one segment, but I’m not giving it high marks due to the lack of creativity. 

James Ellsworth vs. Asuka

We see James Ellsworth doing awful push-ups and crunches backstage, and Carmella demands that he had better take care of Asuka tonight. Ellsworth winks at Carmella, and The Princess of Staten Island responds that if he winks at her again, she’ll give her a hell of a beating.

Before the match, Ellsworth grabs a mic and addresses the women around the ring while taking his shirt off. He implores the women to show some restraint despite how sexy he may be (barfs), and adds that while none of them are ready for Asuka, “Ellsworth is”. Pure delusion!

Corey Graves claimed that Serena Williams was crying and Danica Patrick retired because they were afraid of competition from James Ellsworth. Having Ellsworth and Graves on the same brand has been *kisses fingers*.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1016849836581109766

Ellsworth obviously kept trying to escape from Asuka, but Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Absolution were having none of it. Asuka then sent Ellsworth to the outside with a devastating Hip Attack. They all promptly threw Ellsworth back into the ring, where he absorbed some more devastating strikes from Asuka.

He tried to escape the ringside into the crowd, but all the women tossed him away from the barricade. Just before they would put him in the ring, all the women started attacking each other, with all of the tensions boiling over. But just as Ellsworth was crawling up the ramp. Becky ran to catch up to him, and she and Naomi dragged him back towards the ring. The women started fighting AGAIN with Ellsworth crawling, but Asuka dove onto all the women a la Roman Reigns last night.

Carmella handed Ellsworth an unknown foreign object, but before he could Spray Asuka, he received a kick to the gut. Asuka then kicked Ellsworth into Carmella and locked in the Asuka Lock for a satisfying win.

After the match, Asuka went right after Carmella with a smile on her face. But Ellsworth sprayed Asuka in the eyes and grabbed Asuka’s leg, allowing Carmella to kick her viciously in the head.

Grade: C+, this match built up to the fight at Extreme Rules with the post-match stuff. I wanted Becky and the women to do more damage to Ellsworth, but it was nice to watch Asuka tap him out. This was funny, but it wasn’t anything close to must-see.

Team Hell No and The New Day Segment

Daniel Bryan and Kane are talking strategy with The New Day ahead of their ten-man tag match against the Bludgeon Brothers and Sanity. Bryan reasons that because their opponents are big, they should chop them down by attacking their knees. However, Kane believes they need to set them on fire or summon Satan and drag them to hell. The two start arguing loudly, before Big E yells even louder, motivating the two of them to get on the same page.

Carmellsworth Segment

Carmella and James Ellsworth are celebrating what they did to Asuka, and Ellsworth claims that his stock is rising faster than WWE’s stock! He says that Paige gets an exception and is allowed to kiss him. She declines and says that if Ellsworth’s stock is so “high”, he should be suspended above the ring in a shark cage during Carmella’s SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Asuka at Extreme Rules.

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Sin Cara

Finally, at long last! We get Andrade “Cien” Almas’s first REAL match on the WWE main roster, and it will come against Sin Cara, whom he snubbed backstage last month. Zelina Vega has caused Almas to turn his back on the people he once knew, and Sin Cara is about to feel the wrath of one of WWE’s most heartless wrestlers.

Sin Cara started to build some momentum with a beautiful headscissors and a suicide dive, but Almas reached out to grab Zelina Vega and started to gain some momentum again. Almas showed off his arm submission on the ropes, and he kept working on Sin Cara’s left arm relentlessly. That’s the savage limb work that Almas likes to mix in with his athleticism and brutal strikes.

After the break, Sin Cara laid in some chops and hit some huge moves, including a moonsault off the middle rope while on the run. Yes, Sin Cara can GO. He hit another beautiful move (a headscissors from the back!) for a near-fall, taking Almas to the brink.

Almas hit a heavy strike to get back on top, and Vega screamed for him to finish his opponent. But Sin Cara countered the Hammerlock DDT into a roll-up that was a close call. Sin Cara shoved Almas out of the ring and hit him with another great headscissors. He ascended the top rope, but Almas got the knees up to counter.

Once again, Almas showed his brutal style by hitting Sin Cara with a double stomp on the apron, followed by double knees in the corner for the win.

Grade: A-, this match was short but VERY sweet. It’s a reminder of how brilliant Almas is, as well as how underrated Sin Cara is. Great stuff! I’m looking forward to Almas’s first title run in WWE.

Sanity and Bludgeon Brothers Segment

Sanity’s Alexander Wolfe says that the tag team is here to break the status quo. Eric Young says that they are not here for the nostalgia and that The New Day’s and Team Hell No’s time in the sun is over. All that is left, according to Young, is the “pure and unadulterated chaos”. The camera then focuses on the Bludgeon Brothers, as Erick Rowan slowly takes off his mask to say, “Let the bludgeoning begin”.

We’re in for a heck of a ten-man tag match.

The Bludgeon Brothers and Sanity vs. The New Day and Team Hell No

Alexander Wolfe hit Xavier Woods with a German Suplex, and Rowan aggressively tagged himself in. This makes it interesting to see if Sanity and the Bludgeon Brothers will be able to work together. Rowan hit Woods with a backbreaker and an elbow drop before Harper tagged in. Harper and Woods started grappling, with Harper continuing to wear down the smaller opponent.

Killian Dain tagged himself in for Harper and forcibly ordered Harper to exit the ring so that he could inflict some punishment on Woods. I love how all five of these heels are imposing and want a piece of The New Day’s perceived weak link, but an implosion also feels inevitable.

Woods was out to prove that he is no weak link, as he started hitting all the heel tag team members on the apron before Dain dropped him.

Harper and Rowan kept on isolating Woods with double team moves, but Big E and Kofi Kingston decided to rush the ring. The heels proceeded to dump them all out of the ring, but Woods started to come back with a big DDT to Harper. And who did Woods tag in? Daniel Bryan.

Immediately, Bryan went after Eric Young and started to fly around the ring, as is customary for the GOAT. He took out Dain and Wolfe at ringside before drilling Young with a running dropkick in the corner and a hurricanrana off the top rope. Next? Those lovely YES! kicks, though Young countered the last one into a roll-up. Bryan got out of it and went for the YES! Lock, but it was broken up.

We got a chokeslam from Kane, a missile dropkick from Woods, Trouble in Paradise from Kofi, and more massive moves from the likes of the Bludgeon Brothers and The New Day. This is exactly what we came to see! Big moves and chaos in a ten-man tag that is breaking down!

Big E threw Killian Dain to the outside and then hit his massive spear!

Eric Young was in the ring alone with Daniel Bryan, who took advantage with a Running Knee for a big tag match W.

After the match, Bryan stood on the stage and tried to summon the fire that shoots up like Kane does. He started pumping himself up and the crowd to do it for a third time, and it worked! Brilliant!

Next: WWE Raw 5 Takeaways

Grade: A-, this was awesome! Everything I wanted to see happened, and I’d love to see a Big E vs. Killian Dain and an Eric Young vs. Daniel Bryan tag match. When ten-men tag matches are done right, they look great. Props to all ten of these men for putting on a show in the main event of Extreme Rules’s go-home show on SmackDown Live.