WWE Smackdown LIVE Coverage & Discussion - April 10th, 2018
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How will AJ Styles respond following Shinsuke Nakamura’s betrayal?
After WrestleMania made an earth-shattering impact on SmackDown Superstars such as WWE Champion AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and more, Team Blue’s top competitors look forward to new challenges, opportunities and conflicts as the SmackDown LIVE after The Show of Shows approaches.
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- The post-WrestleMania 34 edition of WWE SmackDown opens live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Tom Phillips welcomes us and he's joined by Corey Graves and Byron Saxton.
- We go right to the ring and out comes Shane McMahon to a pop. Shane is back as the SmackDown Commissioner apparently. Shane hits the ring and fans chant his name. He thanks everyone and welcomes us to the end of WrestleMania 34 Week. Shane thanks everyone for making the week a success. Fans chant "thank you Shane" now. Shane says he's fortunate to have a lot of amazing WrestleMania moments but this was special because we got to witness the return of Daniel Bryan. Fans pop big for Bryan's name. Shane not only competed but got to win because of Bryan's determination. Shane says they can all agree that seeing Bryan in action was something magical and he was born to do this. Shane says Bryan has truly crossed back over to become a full-time performer and WWE Superstar, which is why Shane has accepted Bryan's resignation from the General Manager job. Shane says it's all good because this is the land of opportunity and one door closes but another opens. Shane introduces the new SmackDown General Manager and out comes Paige to a pop.
Paige says she's back. She delivered her retirement speech on RAW and the first person to be waiting for her was Shane. Paige thanks Shane and fans chant "this is your house" now. Paige brings up the Superstar Shakeup being next week and says she wants to make this week special. She brings up Daniel Bryan again and asks who wants to see him in action tonight. Fans chant "yes!" now. Paige thinks of an opponent for Bryan tonight and fans chant for Rusev first, then AJ Styles. Paige announces Bryan vs. Styles for tonight in a non-title match. Fans chant "yes!" and Paige leaves with Shane as her music hits.
- The announcers explain how the post-WrestleMania crowd might get tonight. They hype tonight's show with Shinsuke Nakamura, Charlotte Flair and more. Still to come, The Usos vs. The New Day with a title shot on the line for Saudi Arabia. We go to commercial.
#1 Contenders Match: The New Day vs. The Usos
Back from the break and out come former champions The Usos. The winners of this match will face new SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. The New Day is out next.
Jimmy Uso starts off with Xavier Woods and they go at it. Jey Uso assists in the corner with a double team and he comes in for more offense. Big E runs in and hits a big belly-to-belly as Kofi Kingston cheers them on from ringside. Big E ends up on Xavier's shoulders. Kofi slams Big E down onto Uso for a 2 count. The New Day does the Unicorn Stampede in the corner as Kofi tosses pancakes around. Uso gets sent out to the floor with a dropkick and we go to commercial with The New Day in control.
Back from the break and Big E misses a splash on the apron as Jey moves. Jimmy and Woods tag in at the same time and they go at it. Uso gets the upperhand and sends Woods out to the floor. Uso runs the ropes and leaps out onto Big E on the other side. Woods runs the ropes but Uso ends up catching him in a Samoan Drop for a close 2 count.
Jey tags in and The Usos wait for Woods to get up. Woods counters a double team with a big DDT. Big E comes in and spears Jimmy off the apron, landing hard on the floor. Woods goes back to work on Jey and covers for a close 2 count. Tom credits Paige for making this match. Fans do dueling chants now. Woods kicks Jey and yells at him to get up. Woods with more body shots. Jey fights back but Woods decks him. Jey comes right back with a big forearm shot. Woods with another body shot. More back and forth. Jimmy tags in as does Big E. Big E catches Jimmy with a big backbreaker for a close 2 count.
The New Day waits for Jimmy to get up as fans chant for them. Jey runs in and breaks the double team from the corner up. Uso nails a big superkick on Woods for a 2 count. More back and forth and counters. Woods gets dropped again. Jey goes to the top and hits the big Superfly Splash for the pin and the title shot.
Winners and New #1 Contenders: The Usos
- After the match, The Usos recover and stand tall as their music hits. We go to replays. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers come out to the stage and stare The Usos down. Rowan and Harper point their large mallets at The Usos while they look on from the ring.
- Tom leads us to a World Wish Day promo with John Cena.
- Still to come, Bryan vs. Styles. Back to commercial.
- Back from the break and we see stills from WrestleMania 34.
- We see backstage video from earlier today of Naomi being interviewed by Dasha Fuentes next to the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal trophy. Natalya interrupts and they have words. Natalya hopes Naomi gets shipped off to RAW next week in the Superstar Shakeup. They continued arguing to set up a match.
Naomi vs. Natalya
We go to the ring and out first comes Naomi as Greg Hamilton does the introductions. Natalya is out next.
The bell rings and they go at it, going to the mat for some back & forth. Natalya gets up and poses to show off. More back and forth on the mat now. Naomi gets up first and shows off this time, taunting Natalya. Natalya swings and takes control. Naomi kicks her and takes her down to the mat face-first with the scissors. We go to commercial after more back and forth with Naomi in control.
Back from the break and Natalya has Naomi in an abdominal stretch. Natalya clubs Naomi to the mat. Naomi makes a comeback and slams Natalya but Natalya comes right back and drops her. Fans boo as Natalya stands tall. Natalya with a snap suplex. Natalya with another stretch in the middle of the ring.
Naomi gets out of the hold but Natalya knocks her back down. Naomi counters a move and ends up countering again with a jawbreaker. Naomi unloads with kicks now. Naomi with a scorpion kick. Natalya comes back and hits a sitdown powerbomb for a close 2 count. Natalya goes for the Sharpshooter but it's blocked. Naomi gets up but Natalya hits the big discus clothesline for another close pin attempt. Natalya goes to ram Naomi into the corner but Naomi slides down and tries to pin her. They struggle in the corner and Naomi hits an enziguri from the top. Naomi hits the split-legged moonsault for the pin.
Winner: Naomi
- After the match, Naomi stands tall as her music hits. Natalya sits up against the barrier on the outside. Naomi goes to ringside and poses with the battle royal trophy to celebrate.
- The announcers show us stills from the WWE Title match at WrestleMania 34. Renee Young is backstage knocking on Shinsuke Nakamura's locker room door now. He comes out and some fans in the arena boo. Renee says a lot of people are calling the attack on AJ Styles, reprehensible, heinous and poor sportsmanship. She asks why he would tarnish the dream match after so many years of anticipation. Nakamura says maybe he got too emotional but he's not sure what happened. Nakamura jokingly says he's sorry for what happened to AJ. Renee asks why again but Nakamura says he doesn't speak English. Nakamura walks off.
- Still to come, Rusev vs. Randy Orton vs. Bobby Roode in a #1 contenders match. We see SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair backstage. We go to commercial.
- Back from the break and we see some mainstream media coverage of WrestleMania 34.
- We go to the ring and out comes SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair.
Flair takes the mic and says she had the toughest challenge of her career at WrestleMania 34 on Sunday. She says Asuka made her dig deeper than ever before and for that, she thanks her. Flair says The Queen left WrestleMania still the champion. She says they left every ounce of energy and emotion in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome that night. She knows it was WrestleMania but something about it was special and magical. Flair says the question now is, who will she make magic with next? She goes on but she's interrupted by The Iconic Duo, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay from WWE NXT.
Peyton speaks from the ramp and says she just happens to know a few wizards if Flair is looking to make magic as they can make that title disappear from her waist. Billie introduces Peyton and herself. Billie says Flair's match at WrestleMania was good but it just wasn't... iconic. Fans cheer as they head into the ring. Billie says no one wants to hear Flair out here running her mouth. Peyton and Billie mock Flair in the middle of the ring now. Fans chant for The Iconic Duo again. They tell Flair to stop talking about a match that was in the past, especially because she's looking at the future. Peyton says it's now out with the old and in with the iconics. Flair attacks Peyton first but Billie comes from behind and the numbers game catches up.
Peyton and Billie unload on Flair and beat her down but she's trying to fight back. Billie hits Shades of Kay and sends Flair out to the floor where Peyton is. They toss Flair over the announce table and into the barrier. They ragdoll Flair back over the announce table and continue the double team at ringside. They send Flair face-first into the steel ring steps and she goes down. Fans chant for Carmella to come cash in. Flair slowly gets to her feet but they grab her and send her shoulder-first into the steel ring steps. Flair rolls around and yells out in pain. They scoop Flair for a big double powerbomb on the floor now. They bring Flair back into the ring but she's knocked out.
The Iconic Duo stands tall over Flair's body to a mixed reaction. Referees are out to send them to the back and to check on Flair as their music hits. They back up the ramp and continue the trash talking. The music hits and out comes Carmella with her Money In the Bank briefcase. Carmella runs to the ring and hands her title shot to the referee. The referee asks if she's sure she wants to do this. She screams at him but he's acting like he doesn't understand. The referee talks to Hamilton but takes his time as Flair slowly recovers. Hamilton makes the announcement.
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SmackDown Women's Title Match: Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair
The referee hesitates on ringing the bell but it finally hits as Flair stumbles to her feet. Carmella immediately nails the big kick and covers Flair for the win and the title.
Winner and New SmackDown Women's Champion: Carmella
- After the match, Carmella celebrates and raises the title as her music hits. Carmella runs around the ring with the title in the air. Carmella returns to the ring and taunts Flair, who is still laid out in the middle of the ring. Carmella gets emotional and keeps celebrating while clutching the title. We get a graphic for Styles vs. Bryan and come back to Carmella celebrating, going from the stage back down to the ring area. Flair sits up in the ring and looks devastated as Carmella mocks her and heads to the back.
Triple Threat #1 Contenders Match: Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton vs. Rusev
Back from the break and new WWE United States Champion Jinder Mahal is already out with Sunil Singh. They're watching the next match from ringside. Bobby Roode is out first followed by former champion Randy Orton. The winner of this match will face Jinder at WWE Backlash. Aiden English is out next to sing the introduction for Rusev, who comes out to a big pop. We go to commercial.
Back from the break and Roode has Orton in the corner working him over. Rusev comes back into the ring and works both opponents over. More back and forth between the three until they end up on the floor again. Rusev sends Orton into the announce table but Orton backdrops him onto it. Roode comes over and rocks Orton. Roode rolls Orton into the ring and mounts some offense. Roode goes to the top rope as Jinder looks on. Roode comes off the top and nails Orton. Roode stands tall and plays to the crowd as he waits for Orton to get up.
Orton avoids the Glorious DDT and rolls Roode up for 2. Roode comes back with offense but Orton catches him in the powerslam. Roode rolls to the apron. Fans chant for the RKO now. Roode blocks the second rope draping DDT and sends Orton out. Rusev grabs Orton on the floor and backdrops Orton on top of the announce table as fans pop. Fans chant for Rusev Day as Rusev returns to the ring and starts unloading on Roode.
Rusev with a big shot into the corner and the heel kick to Roode. Rusev gets the crowd hyped up and they cheer him on. Rusev with a huge Machka Kick on Roode. Rusev stomps on Roode's back and applies The Accolade for another pop. Orton breaks the submission and sends Rusev into the steel ring post. Orton goes back over for a 2 count. They get right up and Orton nails the RKO for the pin.
Winner and New #1 Contender: Randy Orton
- After the match, Orton hits the corner to pose as his music hits. Orton looks out at Jinder and Jinder raises the title at him, smiling. Orton vs. Jinder is confirmed for Backlash. We go to replays.
- Still to come, Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles for the first time in WWE. Back to commercial.
- Back from the break and we see what happened with The Iconic Duo, Carmella and Charlotte. Dasha Fuentes is backstage with Carmella now. She brags on tonight's big win and says she's waited 287 days to remove Flair from her throne and she finally did it. Carmella goes on and says she wasn't going to get emotional but she does. She says there is one person she wants to thank who has been a big help... herself! Carmella says just like she made history at Money In the Bank, she made history here tonight. Dasha asks what about Peyton Royce and Billie Kay but Carmella downplays their role and leaves all smiles.
- We see WWE Champion AJ Styles backstage walking. Renee Young approaches and asks about Nakamura's apology from earlier. AJ doesn't want to hear it and says he just might put his fist down Nakamura's throat if he sees him. AJ says he's not worried about Nakamura tonight because he never thought he'd be standing across from Daniel Bryan in the ring. AJ goes on and says Bryan is one of the best but he's not phenomenal.
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan
We go to the ring and out comes Daniel Bryan for his first regular TV match since 2015. Fans pop as Bryan hits the ring and poses on the top to lead the "yes!" chant. WWE Champion AJ Styles is out next for this non-title match, also to a pop. We go to commercial.
Back from the break and we see more stills from WrestleMania 34. We return to the ring and the bell rings. Bryan and Styles lock up to go at it as fans pop. AJ takes control but they go back to the mat to trade counters. They get back up and Bryan connects with several kicks. Bryan takes control and takes AJ to the mat, working on the arm he was kicking. AJ eventually connects with a dropkick and sends Bryan out to the floor.
Styles launches himself over the top and connects with a forearm on the floor. We go to commercial with both Superstars down on the floor.
Back from the break and fans do dueling chants as they go at it. Bryan nails a big forearm and looks to mount offense now. Bryan charges and hits the corner dropkick. Bryan with the "yes!" kicks now. AJ avoids the final kick and brings Bryan down with the Dragon Screw whip. More back and forth between the two. Bryan sells a knee injury. AJ comes off the top and catches Bryan in the inverted DDT. AJ with a 2 count. Fans chant "this is awesome" now.
AJ goes for the knee now but Bryan slams him and turns it into an arm bar. AJ quickly turns it around to a hold of his own. They tangle and AJ applies the Calf Crusher to the injured left leg. More back and forth on the mat. AJ blocks the Yes Lock. AJ with a 2 count. AJ nails a pele kick as they get too their feet. AJ drops Bryan again with a lariat and covers for a 2 count. AJ springboards in with the Phenomenal Forearm but Bryan catches him mid-move. Bryan drops AJ with a kick.
Bryan goes to the corner and leads the "yes!" chant as he waits for AJ to get up. Bryan charges for the big knee but AJ blocks it and goes for the Styles Clash. Bryan counters that and positions AJ into the Yes Lock. AJ makes it to the bottom rope and quickly breaks the hold. Bryan takes AJ to the top and turns him upside down in the corner for the Tree of Woe. Bryan with kicks to the gut. Bryan climbs up to the top with AJ for a back superplex but AJ shifts his weight and lands on top of Bryan.
Shinsuke Nakamura suddenly enters the ring out of nowhere. He looks at both men and nails Bryan with a Kinshasa for the bell.
Winner by DQ: Daniel Bryan
- After the bell, Nakamura turns his attention to AJ and goes to work on him. Fans boo. Nakamura delivers another low blow to AJ as the boos get louder. Nakamura waits in the corner as AJ struggles to get back up. Nakamura nails Kinshasa on AJ. Fans chant "you suck" at Nakamura as he drops AJ again. Nakamura heads to the stage and smiles as we see AJ recovering on the mat. The post-WrestleMania 34 edition of SmackDown goes off the air.
