5/29 WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS: Samoa Joe vs. A.J. Styles, New Day vs. The Bar & The Miz, more MITB developments (original) (raw)

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KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS

MAY 29, 2018
RALEIGH, N.C.
AIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK

Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

**POST-SHOW:**After WWE Smackdown ends, call us live on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show to talk about it with host Wade Keller and this week’s cohost Greg Parks from the PWTorch Livecast and PWTorch Newsletter. The caller number is: (347) 215-8558.

STREAM LIVE AFTER SMACKDOWN HERE.

Email questions for the Mailbag segment of the WKPWP: wadekellerpodcast@pwtorch.com

[HOUR ONE]

-Phillips introduced the show and previewed The Bar & The Miz vs. The New Day. Saxton excitedly announced the Naomi and Lana dance-off. Graves hyped the Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe match.

-Joe made his ring entrance. The stage was decked out in eight ladders of various sizes. Phillips assumed they may get the Joe-Bryan match now rather than later. Joe shot the announcers a look and they all threw their hands up as if to say they were no threat. Nice little touch. Joe slid a ladder out from under the ring and subsequently into the ring. Joe said it is said in Biblical texts that a ladder represents a connection between Earth and the heavens. He said when Jacob looked at his ladder, angels smiled from above and offered salvation. He looked sternly into the hard cam and said his salvation is very different because there is no salvation and there are no smiling angels, but after Money in the Bank, he’ll be smiling just like he is now. He said he will have secured his championship opportunity after which he’ll unleash a campaign of anxiety and fear on Smackdown that will shake this place to its very core.

Joe said he will show Bryan that there are things far worse than forced retirement. “If your eco-friendly tree-hugging sensibilities will allow it, I want you to jump on a cell phone and call your wife Brie and have her tell your sweet daughter a story – that Daddy will be home for Money in the Bank, but he won’t be the same man.” He said Bryan will be the man with eyes drenched in failure and missed opportunity. He said he hopes Bryan will be forthcoming and explain it was a man named Samoa Joe who did it to him.

Bryan walked out and there and said there are certain lines you don’t cross. He said if he mentions his wife and baby again, he will break his leg. He said they all know where this goes, and they don’t have to wait and they can fight right now. The crowd chanted “Yes!” as Bryan entered the ring.

Suddenly Big Cass’s music played and that made Bryan and Joe suddenly stop as if music prevented them from actually fighting. Cass came out on a crutch in a suit. He mocked them for fighting over words and threats and said it’s juvenile. “What else would I expect from the shrimp and the blimp.” He cackled at his own “funny” comment. He said this should be his MITB opportunity, not Bryan’s. “The second chance crap has got to stop,” he said. “And it will.”

Cass climbed into the ring, wincing a little as he did it. He said he spoke to Paige and this Bryan-Joe match will not happen. He said Joe will face him for the final spot in the MITB ladder match when he is cleared. He then said he has been cleared. He bashed Joe with the crutch. Bryan attacked Cass, but Cass reverse-whipped him into a ladder leaning in the corner. Then he hit Joe with the MITB briefcase. Bryan stood, so Cass bashed him with it. Cass smiled. Cass held the briefcase high in the air and strutted around the ring, all smiles. His music played as the announcers tried to make sense of it.

-They cut backstage to Shinsuke Nakamura who was tossing pieces of paper with the numbers 1-10 written on them and counted up to 10. The camera hovered on him as he acted goofy for several seconds too long. [c]

-Backstage, Paige bumped into Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Rose and Deville told Paige she’s making mistakes lately, giving opportunities to people like Asuka who don’t deserve it. Paige said they are truly deserving of an opportunity and she’ll get it when she wrestles Asuka later. Then Renee Young approached Paige and asked if there’s truth to what Cass said. Paige said he didn’t know Joe was going to hijack his show and Cass was going speak for her. She said she does like the passion and fire they showed. She said Cass is medically cleared, but Bryan did earn his second-chance. She said the only fair solution is to book Big Cass vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniel Bryan. Fans cheered.

(1) TYE DILLINGER vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA

When they brawled to ringside, they cut to a break but stayed with the action on split screen. [c]

Nakamura ended up scoring the win with the Kinsasha kick. He played up the ten count schtick throughout the match. And afterward, he kicked Tye again and counted him down for a ten count.

WINNER: Nakamura in 9:00.

-Dasha Fuentes interviewed A.J. Styles backstage. She asked him about what Nakamura did against Tye and asked if he picked that stip because it favors him. Styles said there is something inside Nakamura that has snapped. He said there’s a twisted reason for it and he’s somehow more dangerous than ever. He admitted he is a gifted striker. He said his whole career, though, people thought they had an advantage on him but they were wrong. He said he fights smarter and harder than Nakamura, who is bigger and stronger than him. He said he is the first to arrive, the last to leave, and never backs down from a challenge. He said he won’t let Shinsuke tear down what he’s built.

-Backstage Rusev, Lana, and Aiden English were getting hyped for the dance-off. [c]

-Dance Off: Lana’s ring entrance took place with Rusev and English flanking her on the stage. The Usos came out with Naomi. First Lana danced. Then Naomi danced. Then Naomi and Lana shook hands and danced together. Lana then gave Naomi a neckbreaker out of nowhere. Graves said Lana won. Rusev and English pulled Lana off of Naomi. Lana broke free and slapped Jimmy Uso. Naomi then slapped Lana. Rusev and English ate superkicks next. Naomi gave Lana the Rear View.

(Keller’s Analysis: So Lana’s a heel, but Rusev and English aren’t? What a mess.)

-They showed New Day warming up for their match with pancakes. Then they showed Miz and The Bar warming up, which consisted of a blindfolded Miz batting away pancakes.

(2) THE NEW DAY vs. THE BAR & THE MIZ

New Day got in early offense. When Miz distracted the ref, Sheamus took it to Kofi to take control and they cut to a very early break. [c]

The heels were in control after the break, but eventually New Day made a comeback.

[HOUR TWO]

In the end, Big E gave Miz the Big Ending for the three count. After the match, New Day teased which of them would wrestle in the MITB match.

WINNERS: New Day in 11:00.

-Renee interviewed Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. Gallows talked up Anderson’s hot abs. Anderson showed them off and said his “hot Asian wife” loves them. He said they’re in the best shape of their lives and they’re on the way to become tag team champions. He said at MITB, they’ll beat the Bludgeon Brothers like they’re a couple of… at which point the TV monitor turned on and featured the Bludgeon Brothers with creepy music. They said the depraved will infect the decent and souls will be corrupted and bodies will be liquified.

-They went to the announcers at ringside who reacted to the Bludgeon Brothers. Then they hyped the Triple Threat main event.

-They showed Asuka warming up. [c]

-Superstar Fact: Big Cass played basketball for NYU, where he also studied pre-med.

(3) ASUKA vs. MANDY ROSE

Carmella joined in on commentary. As Asuka came out, Deville attacked her from behind. Byron said Rose isn’t confident in herself and needed to get an unfair advantage. Asuka struggled to stand as Carmella laughed and said, “Poor Asuka.” Carmella said because she beat Charlotte twice, she’s twice as good as Asuka. Byron asked if she seriously believes that. Mandy scored a two count early after a face-first gut wrench. She delivered a running high knee for another near fall. They cut to a break, but stayed with the action, which Rose dominated. [c]

Asuka fought back after the break with a barrage of strikes. Then she won with the Asuka lock.

WINNER: Asuka via tapout in 6:00.

-Afterward Carmella got in Asuka’s face and held her belt in the air. Graves said that showed real guts and confidence.

-Backstage Charlotte told Becky Lynch she can see what’s going to happen. Asuka will win the Smackdown Title at MITB, and then she wins the MITB contract, and the stage is set for a WrestleMania rematch. Becky said she needs to look a little to her left, where Becky was standing. She said she will be the actual winner at MITB. She said they’re friends, but this year nothing will stop her. Paige walked past them in the background. Charlotte and Becky continued to argue over who would win. Paige then walked up to them and said this is getting good. She said this is what they need on Smackdown. Paige asked if they remember Team PCB – Paige, Charlotte, Becky. She said it’s tea time and told them to keep it up. Becky and Charlotte weren’t sure what to make of that. [c]

-A commercial aired for the 205 Live main event.

-They went to the announcers on camera who hyped that the Usos & Naomi would face Lana & Rusev & English and Charlotte would battle Lynch next week on Smackdown.

-Backstage Andrade “Cien” Almas walked out. Sin Cara greeted him. Zelina Vega told him to stay away from Andrade. She said she doesn’t know who he is; she said he’s the future of Smackdown, whereas Sin Cara is a nobody. Sin Cara asked if she’s serious. Andrade spoke in Spanish and blew him off. [c]

(4) DANIEL BRYAN vs. SAMOA JOE vs. BIG CASS

Cass obnoxiously walked out to the ring, with Joe already standing in the ring. Bryan then made his ring entrance to big cheers and a “Yes!” chant. Bryan went after Cass right away. Joe shoved him away and went after Cass. Bryan got up and joined Joe in going after Cass. Fans cheered. Bryan and Joe briefly worked together and let Cass roll out of the ring after a double elbow. Joe then went after Bryan.

Eventually Bryan took it to Cass with a running dropkick to keep him from reentering the ring. Joe then dove through the ropes and took Cass down with a flying elbow to the side his head. Bryan then leaped off the top rope with a dive onto both Cass and Joe. [c]

Back live, Joe was working over Cass and applied a Coquina Clutch. Bryan entered the ring, so Joe let go and gave Bryan a boot to the face and a senton for a two count. Cass was late to breaking up the pin and then rolled to the floor. A minute later, Cass tossed Bryan out of the ring and threw him over the announce table. Cass stalked Bryan at ringside and punched him. Back in the ring Cass and Joe battled, but Bryan re-entered and delivered a running dropkick to Joe’s chin. Then he sent Cass head-first into the middle turnbuckle under Joe. Bryan punched away at Joe, then slidekicked Cass out of the ring. Bryan then gave Joe a huracanrana off the top rope. He followed with two running dropkicks. When he went for a third, Cass cut him off with a clothesline for a believable near fall.

Cass mounted Bryan and punched away at him. Bryan eventually teased a comeback, but Cass cut it off. They cut to a break. [c]

Back from the break, Cass was dominating Joe. Bryan broke up a pin. Cass then beat up Bryan. Joe broke up a near fall (well, Bryan basically kicked out and Joe barely grazed Cass). Bryan dragon-screwed Cass and then Joe. He showed some fire and the crowd cheered as he alternately kicked both Cass and Joe. They chanted “Yes!” each time. He covered Cass, but Cass kicked out. Joe came up behind Bryan and applied the Coquina Clutch. Bryan countered by flipping out of it and leverage pinning Joe’s shoudlers down for a two count. Bryan avoided a charging Joe, who tumbled to the floor, and then avoided a Cass big boot. He tried to take Cass down and apply a Yes lock, but Cass resisted. Bryan finally applied it, but Joe yanked Bryan out of the ring by his leg. Bryan dove at Joe with a flying knee to take Joe down. Everyone was down and slow to get up.

Bryan entered the ring and rallied, leading the crowd in “Yes!” chants and then delivered his running knee. When he made the cover, Joe broke it up from behind and applied the Coquina Clutch. Bryan frantically tried to escape, but faded. His arm dropped once and the ref called for the bell.

WINNER: Joe to qualify for the MITB match in 20:00.

-Cass waited for Bryan to stand, then gave him a Big Boot and stood over him as the show ended.

(Keller’s Analysis: Really good match. A few less-than-crisp spots timing-wise, but overall really strong. Solid win for Joe, too.)