WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Shinsuke Nakamura continues terrorizing AJ Styles
Shinsuke Nakamura delivered Kinshasa left and right on Tuesday night. WWE
Following the Superstar Shakeup last week, the consensus among the fans was that SmackDown Live -- a show that was fledgling leading up to WrestleMania -- had won out. Tuesday night would give us our first glimpse of whether this revamped roster could deliver, and heading into Tuesday night, it appeared the reboot of SmackDown was getting off to a hot start with the long-awaited faceoff between The Miz and Daniel Bryan.
As it turned out, it was neither of those men who ended up getting everyone's attention in the opening segment.
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Not even The Club can stop Shinsuke Nakamura
AJ Styles was shown leaving the office of commissioner Shane McMahon with quite the smirk on his face. When asked by Renee Young just why the WWE champion was so happy, he revealed that he's been afforded the opportunity to get his hands on Shinsuke Nakamura before their rematch at Greatest Royal Rumble. He revealed it would be in a six-man tag match.
Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev Day def. The Club via pinfall: Nakamura, who debuted a new remixed version of his popular entrance theme, got the win for his team following a Kinshasa to the back of the head to Luke Gallows. Following the match, Styles, who was on the outside, hit the ring to take his anger out on Nakamura for the recent attacks. What he received for his effort, though, was yet another low blow (he should really see these coming by now). Nakamura was lining up Styles for a Kinshasa, but Karl Anderson dove in at the last second to take the hit for his longtime friend. For good measure and with evil intentions, Nakamura nailed Anderson with the finisher one more time right in front of the agonizing Styles.
WWE continues to strike gold with Nakamura as a heel, and just three days before he challenges for the WWE title once again, this was another huge step in his character rehabilitation. Given the success of the turn so far, you really have to wonder whether they'll strike while the iron is hot with the former IWGP heavyweight champion by bestowing upon him his first run with WWE's top title on Friday. Grade: A
Big Cass steals the spotlight
The show began with a segment that everyone had been anticipating: The Miz came out for his first "Miz TV" segment since his return to the brand with scheduled guest Daniel Bryan. Miz first chastised the fans for a bit before proclaiming he was going to win back his intercontinental title this Friday. After taking some jabs at Bryan, including his parenting, he called for his guest to make his way to the ring. Instead, Big Cass hit the ring one week after taking Bryan out to close SmackDown. A suited-up Cass revealed that he was medically cleared the same day as Bryan, yet no one was talking about his return, the reason for his attack last week. He added how he sees his younger self in Bryan. Feeling overshadowed by Bryan returning after nearly three years, Cass vowed to put the former world champion back on the shelf so he can never overshadow anyone, ever again.
We quickly found out where Bryan was during all of this, though, as the camera panned to the back where he was laid out on the floor being attended to by officials who were calling for assistance. Having not come out with his suit coat on originally, the assumption was that Cass caused the damage backstage before hijacking Bryan's place in the segment. Prior to the main event, Young caught up with an angered and banged up Bryan who revealed that general manager Paige has booked Bryan against Cass for Backlash.
Keeping Bryan and Miz away from one another even longer isn't a bad idea by any stretch. That said, they could run into a problem if they drag the face-to-face out just a tad too long. The addition of a returning Cass to the fold was a curious one when it was revealed last week, but it headed off down a promising road with the solid promo he cut on Tuesday. This is indeed quite the interesting wrinkle to toss into the Bryan-Miz feud, and I'm certainly curious to see where it goes in the future. Grade: A-
Carmella is a heat magnet
During the Backlash contract signing, Carmella pointed out how blatantly disrespectful it was to have the champion come out first. She then lashed out about the fans not giving her a standing ovation for the highlight reel she proudly showed off last week to celebrate her title victory. The crowd naturally booed after it was played, so the "Princess of Staten Island" prompted them to play it again. Charlotte Flair interrupted the second go-around. Flair quickly signed the contract, let off a loud "Woooooo!" in Carmella's face, then slammed the champ's head down onto the table before promptly flipping the table onto the woman who cashed in on her. The former champ then exited the ring while Carmella lay hurting on the canvas.
This segment was pretty much what it needed to be, which was a platform to get more heat on Carmella. And all things considered, she did a pretty good job of getting on the fans' nerves with her demands. While Flair did come off as a badass here, it still would have been nice to hear at least the slightest back-and-forth banter between these two. But, maybe that's what next week's go-home show will be for. Grade: B-
What else happened on SmackDown?