4 surprising moments from Smackdown Live this week (26 June 2018)

WWE presented an episode of SmackDown Live that did not feel thoroughly important, as the planned United States Title match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy was canned due to Nakamura sustaining a late injury. Also, the exclusion of main event talents such as Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Charlotte Flair left a gap in the blue brand's usually excellent broadcast.

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However, this episode did its job in building up Rusev as a likeable underdog and monster at the same time, gave Becky Lynch a chance to build momentum and make tag team wrestling the focal point of the show. Thus, the surprises the show had to offer were ranging from "this is absolutely" awesome to "really this again?"

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#1 Sanity losses their first ever main roster match

So what's the logic behind this decision?

Eric Young, Killian Dain, and Alexander Wolfe were absolute beasts down in NXT, as the Full Sail faithful treated them as such, the creative team booked them in that manner, and their excellent matches spoke for itself.

Therefore, fans expected their debut on SmackDown Live to be awe-inspiring, but WWE delayed it for such a long time they eventually did not make the impact they were supposed to make. As this week on SmackDown Live, they lost clean to The Usos and Jeff Hardy.

Moreover, for what it is worth, the norm that every debuting Superstar needs to win their big debut match is sort of uninteresting, as the loss can allow them to build character, but in the case of Sanity, their concept of chaos must be validated; otherwise, their team is rendered useless. Hopefully, WWE can use this loss to add layers to Sanity, as right now they do not feel like big deals on the blue brand.

#2 Almas stays inactive

The longer Almas stays away from the ring, the more people forget he is even around.

WWE had a great idea by booking Andrade "Cien" Almas's first feud with a man he has a storied history with, Sin Cara, but due to injury, the Sin Cara narrative has fallen through. While that injury might have delayed this feud, WWE should not let Andrade sit on the sidelines waiting for a narrative to pass him by, as he is one of the hottest young talents ion the company with one of the best managers in the company.

And on this week's episode of Smackdown Live, WWE produced another one-minute selfie video with Almas and Zelina Vega claiming that after Almas took out Sin Cara, the Smackdown Live roster is afraid he might do the same to them which is why he has not received any competition from them. WWE can make all the excuses they want but it is surprising that they continue to exclude a man who was literally on fire down in NXT from the action on the main roster.

#3 James Ellsworth vs. Asuka

After competing in an intergender match against Becky Lynch, Ellsworth will go against one of the most dangerous athletes on the roster.

James Ellsworth might be one of the least intimidating superstars on the blue brand's roster as his size, persona and overall aura do not spell danger. However, Ellsworth realizes this and uses his somewhat good mic skills to his advantage, and this week on SmackDown Live he did just that when he claimed he could take on Asuka one on one and lay her out. But instead of Asuka coming out to destroy Ellsworth, GM Paige came out and announced Asuka vs. Ellsworth next week on SmackDown Live.

WWE have explored the idea of intergender matches before, but never has it truly being competitive, and with Ellsworth involved it surely is not going to tun out to be a classic, but this is SmackDown Live, the only main roster show that surprises fans every week, so maybe Asuka vs. Ellsworth might be a competitive match in some aspect.

#4 Kane makes a shocking return

A reunion that would make

Dr.

Shelby proud.

Kane has been called old, boring, monotonous and a joke towards the end of his WWE career, and that is sort of unfortunate considering the beast he was when he first debuted. But when Daniel Bryan was in a state of peril on this week's episode of SmackDown Live, and Kane's music erupted over the PA system fans lost their mind. This could probably be the first time in a long time that has happened for the man who has been loyal to WWE for years.

After saving his former Team Hell No partner Daniel Bryan from a beatdown, Paige came out to book a SmackDown Live Tag Team match between Team Hell No and The Bludgeon Brothers at Extreme Rules. The return of Kane and Daniel Bryan as a tag team does wonders for SmackDown Live as the tag team division is better than ever with teams such as The Bar, The Usos, The New Day and Sanity all vying to become champion. While SmackDown Live lacked its biggest stars this week, it had one surprise under its sleeve that saved the show.