WWE SmackDown Live Results And Grades For July 17, 2018

On tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live, Jeff Hardy will try to regain the United States Championship after losing it in mere seconds to Shinsuke Nakamura at Extreme Rules.

All of the title pictures in WWE SmackDown Live appear to be ready for a complete change on the way to SummerSlam 2018.

At Extreme Rules, AJ Styles successfully defended the WWE Championship against Rusev, and it is unlikely for The Bulgarian George Clooney to get another opportunity. Meanwhile, Team Hell No lost to the Bludgeon Brothers due to Kane’s injury, Asuka lost to Carmella for a second time by a fluke, and Jeff Hardy was blindsided by Shinsuke Nakamura.

Hardy’s loss was the only title change on the “Blue Brand” at Extreme Rules, and he’ll immediately look to regain the United States Championship tonight on SmackDown Live. Nakamura, however, is an incredibly formidable foe, as evidenced by his victory on Sunday night. While Hardy will seek to prove that his loss was a fluke, the open-eyed Charismatic Enigma is a heavy underdog against one of WWE’s most vicious competitors.

Styles’s next challenger is unclear, but there’s bound to be a locker room full of potential suitors. The Miz will always seek to have his voice heard, whereas Samoa Joe prefers to let his actions speak for themselves. Even though Joe is all about results, the silver-tongued Samoan Submission specialist can cut a man down with words alone before putting them to sleep, and I imagine he could send this gift to Styles tonight.

Look for tonight’s show to tie up plenty of loose ends from Sunday’s Pay Per View, with the biggest being Asuka’s dubious loss. Fans were infuriated by the way in which WWE’s most dominant champion of all-time (sorry, Brock Lesnar, but you have nothing on Asuka’s undefeated streak with the NXT Women’s Championship) lost at Extreme Rules.

Carmella’s cheating and need for help from James Ellsworth make her primed for a cathartic title loss at SummerSlam. But will she lose the title to Asuka or Becky Lynch? And could that loss come sooner than Aug. 19? We’ll get a step closer to finding the answer tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network.

Check back here for live results and grades for tonight’s show.