WWE SmackDown Live Report Card

We are just hours after the conclusion of the first SmackDown Live after Money In The Bank, and while the brand didn't come away with any briefcases, it didn't stop the show from delivering an amazing two hours of pro wrestling on Tuesday night.

After AJ Styles outlasted Shinsuke Nakamura in the Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship, General Manager Paige announced that there would be a five-man Gauntlet Match to determine the #1 contender. Those competitors would include The Miz, Daniel Bryan, Rusev, Samoa Joe, and Big E.

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On top of that, Paige also instituted a rematch for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships between the good brothers of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows against The Bludgeon Brothers. It was also made known before the show kicked off that we would finally get the long-awaited debut of SAnitY.

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As always on these report card articles, the best grade a segment or match can earn is an A+. On the flip side, the worst grade one can earn here is an F.

Let's start things off with the WWE SmackDown Women's Champion...

Asuka crashes the Carmella and James Ellsworth celebration

Carmella kicked things off and uncharacteristically acted humble, but much like when Alexa Bliss acts compassionate, we soon find out it's all a ruse and the cocky and arrogant side comes to life. Asuka's music hit soon after, but it didn't take long to see that it was James Ellsworth just like he did two nights prior at Money In The Bank.

After Ellsworth said Carmella is better than all the women in pro wrestling and entertainment from Asuka to Beyonce, the real Asuka came out. Ellsworth would talk smack to her, but Asuka would nail a kick to the gut before an opportune Carmella hit her own superkick on Asuka.

I'm glad that Ellsworth is back, and this was a pretty good segment.

GRADE: B

The main roster debut of SAnitY

The Usos came out to the ring and cut a promo about how there is a new tag team looking to make a name for themselves. They might be crazy, but The Usos have a few screws loose as well.

SAnitY makes their main roster debut afterwards, and while we thought there was going to be a match, SAnitY attacked before the bell could ring. Killian Dain would hit Jey with a splash from the top rope; while Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young did a tandem neckbreaker move.

This attack was the PERFECT way to debut SAnitY, and hopefully in the weeks to come, Nikki Cross will join them.

GRADE: A

Quick grades for other SmackDown Live matches and segments

The always entertaining IIconics of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce...

Becky Lynch d. Billie Kay

The IIconics cut a promo before the match and proved that they are great at being annoying (and that's a good thing). The match with Becky Lynch was pretty solid with the numbers game predictably coming into play. Eventually, the Lass Kicker was able to get the advantage and make Billie tap out to the Disarmer. GRADE: B

Jeff Hardy's dark promo calling out Shinsuke Nakamura

A vignette was shown with Jeff Hardy's back to the camera as he talks about how Shinsuke Nakamura may have moved on after giving Hardy a low blow, but Jeff has not moved on. Hardy said that his eyes were closed, but now they're open.

He turned around to reveal the return of the face paint that the WWE Universe loved. It was a dark and beautiful promo by Jeff. I absolutely LOVED it. GRADE: A

The Bludgeon Brothers d. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows

Just like the Money In The Bank Kickoff Show match two nights ago, The Bludgeon Brothers pretty much squashed The Good Brothers. Was hoping that Gallows and Anderson would get a little more offence, but they're booking Harper and Rowan like monsters right now. GRADE: C

Five-man Gauntlet Match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship (Part 1)

Daniel Bryan and Big E kicked off the Gauntlet Match in style...

Immediately after The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, Daniel Bryan made his entrance for the Gauntlet Match and had an uncomfortable staredown with the tag champs. More on that later.

Big E was the second competitor to come out and these two didn't disappoint. I've been saying for a long time that they should push Big E as a top singles competitor while still in The New Day, and his showing against Bryan proved that.

The match was fairly lengthy and ended when Bryan landed his knee strike finisher.

GRADE: A

Next to enter the ring was Samoa Joe and he had a huge advantage over Bryan who just competed in a tough and lengthy match against Big E. The action here was amazing and gives us a taste of what we could see if (or probably when) they're paired up on a pay per view.

Bryan attempted a baseball slide on the outside, but Joe side-stepped it and applied the Coquina Clutch. Bryan used the ringside barrier to do a move similar to Kalisto's Salida del Sol to break the hold.

This whole time the referee was counting and Joe couldn't make the ten count and was eliminated.

A great showing between these two that has us wanting more.

GRADE: A-

Five-man Gauntlet Match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship (Part 2)

Miz easily disposes of Daniel Bryan thanks to the help of The Bludgeon Brothers...

After Samoa Joe was counted out, Harper and Rowan came to the ring and delivered their finisher on Daniel Bryan. Ever the opportunist, The Miz was the next entrant and immediately landed a Skull Crushing Finale to eliminate Bryan.

Since this was such a short part of the Gauntlet Match, I'm not going to give it a grade, but it does make me happy to see it play out like this to elevate the feud between Miz and Bryan.

GRADE: N/A

That just left Rusev as the only competitor left in the Gauntlet Match. Either Miz or Rusev was going to go on and face AJ Styles at Extreme Rules on July 15th.

After doing some research, I found out that The Miz and Rusev have never met each other one-on-one before. Both men were really fresh, so it was an even contest from the start, and a lengthy finale to the Gauntlet Match.

Miz's downfall started when he mocked Daniel Bryan at the end of the match. His lack of focus walked him right into a Machka Kick, followed by The Accolade; which he couldn't escape.

Surprisingly your new #1 contender for the WWE Championship is RUSEV! Considering the work he's done getting Rusev Day over, it's well deserved.

GRADE: A