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SmackDown Live took place from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, last night, and by the end of the night, we knew the entire men's field for the Money In The Bank Ladder Match in what turned out to be a pretty decent main event. The problem was that it wasn't the main event we were promised a week ago (more about that later).
After Samoa Joe became the eighth and final qualifier for the ladder match, he joins Rusev, a member of the New Day, The Miz, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens and Bobby Roode. That is an AMAZING lineup in my opinion. I could literally see a scenario where any of those eight could win.
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Overall SmackDown Live was a great show this week, as it continues to earn better grades overall than Monday Night Raw lately.
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This article is going to take a look at the key moments from last night's episode of SmackDown Live where I will grade the segments from the best possible grade of an A+ to the worst possible grade of F.
Let's start with the open where the WWE Universe didn't get what they were promised...
#1 Opening segment with Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, and a returning guest...
Samoa Joe kicked of SmackDown Live this week and put a ladder in the ring. He climbed the ladder and grabbed the briefcase (hopefully for Joe that isn't a kiss of death).
He talked about what he was going to do to Daniel Bryan that night and brought his family into it; which promoted Bryan to come out.
Bryan was completely ready to have the main event happen right then and there when Big Cass interrupted.
This was the first time he appeared since Bryan brutally attacked his knee a couple of weeks back.
Cass informed Bryan he's no longer in the qualifying match because SD General Manager Paige put Cass back in now that he's medically cleared. He swung his crutch but hit Joe instead of Bryan starting a melee.
Paige would say in a backstage interview that Cass doesn't have the authority to speak on her behalf, and she made a triple threat match for the main event.
This made a LOT of people, including myself upset as we were hoping for Joe v. Bryan.
Joe and Bryan's promos saved this segment from getting a terrible grade, though.
GRADE: C-
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura v. Tye Dillinger
After the following exchange on Twitter:
A match was set up between Shinsuke Nakamura and "The Perfect 10" Tye Dillinger. Just like Nakamura did with AJ Styles the week before, he would start counting to 10 when he got the advantage on Dillinger, mimicking the referee's actions for a Last Man Standing Match.
Dillinger has been severely under-utilized since being called up to the main roster on April 2017; however, within this match against Nakamura, it was the best he's looked in a long time. It wasn't a quick three-minute squash, the match actually went nearly eight minutes.
Dillinger was able to get some offense in and he worked really well-trading mind games with Nakamura. Hopefully, this is the start of something for Tye.
GRADE: B
#3 Dance-Off between Lana and Naomi
I will admit, when Tom Phillips announced at the top of the show that there was going to be a dance-off between Naomi and Lana, I cringed. For the most part, segments like this are not good.
I will have to give everyone involved credit though, I really did enjoy this segment. It was a lot of fun. After Lana and Naomi each had taken turns, they joined in a dance together until Lana found the right opening to hit a cheap shot starting a brawl with Rusev Day, The Usos and Naomi.
This will set up a mixed tag match next week on SmackDown where Naomi and her husband Jimmy Uso will take on Aiden English and Lana.
GRADE: B
#4 The Miz & The Bar v. The New Day
A feud has been brewing between these six men ever since the Superstar Shakeup and they took to the ring to settle their differences in this six-man tag match. The action in this six-man tag match was phenomenal, as expected with the six men who are in the ring.
After The Bar and The Miz took out Big E to prevent him from being tagged in, Kofi would eventually tag in Xavier Woods to clean house. After a few near falls, Big E was able to get his revenge on The Miz by hitting The Big Ending for the victory.
I fully expect The Bar to take on Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston on the Kickoff Show for Money In The Bank; while Big E represents them in the ladder match.
GRADE: A-
#5 Asuka v. Mandy Rose
After some smart remarks towards her former Absolution member and current SD General Manager Paige, Mandy Rose found herself in a match against Asuka. Rose had a plan though as her friend Sonya Deville attacked Asuka during her entrance to give Mandy the upper hand.
It is clear to me that Mandy Rose is going to be a future women's champion within the WWE. She continues to impress as every week goes by and looked like she could hang against a great like Asuka.
Eventually, Asuka got the victory with the Asuka Lock; which isn't a surprise since she's in the ladder match and Rose is not.
GRADE: B
Daniel Bryan v. Samoa Joe v. Big Cass - Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
I already said my peace about my displeasure regarding not giving us Samoa Joe v. Daniel Bryan one-on-one in the open of this article. With that said, my grade of this match won't be hampered by what happened at the start of the show.
Though we all wanted Joe and Bryan, the triple threat match was a solid main event, and Big Cass' work didn't detract from the match at all. It's obvious that he's not up to par with Joe or Bryan at this point in his career, but he held his own in a very entertaining main event.
I fully expected Samoa Joe to win this match, but when Bryan hit Cass with his running knee finisher, I thought that was it. Out of nowhere Joe came in and applied the Coquina Clutch while Bryan was making the cover on Cass.
This was an excellent 22-minute match.
GRADE: A
Do you agree with the grades for the matches and segments from this week's Smackdown? Sound off in the comments section below!
