The John Report: WWE Smackdown Live Review 05/01/18
Live from Montreal, Quebec (for the second night in a row), this is Smackdown Live for episode #975. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Thanks to Melo Man for the banner up top. Thank you for reading and remember you can always pick up a TJRWrestling t-shirt to support the site as well.
There was a clip shown from the Greatest Royal Rumble on Friday when Braun Strowman threw Shane McMahon off the top rope through the announce table. That led to Smackdown General Manager Paige saying that Shane will not be there. Paige talked about the Styles vs. Nakamura match with Nakamura hitting a low blow and then Styles attacked Nakamura after the match. Paige announced Styles vs. Nakamura at Backlash for the WWE Title will now be No Disqualification.
Analysis: That’s a good move since it adds something to Styles vs. Nakamura III by adding a stipulation on it. That should be an awesome match. Congrats Shane on another day off. I think he works about 30 days a year. Joking…maybe.
Miz TV with Jeff Hardy
The Miz was in the ring wearing a ridiculous red outfit with a headband. Heels like to wear stupid stuff to get heat. The chairs were in the ring. There was a loud reaction for Miz from the vocal Montreal crowd.
The Miz welcomed us to his show noting that his scheduled guest pulled a no-show on Miz TV (Bryan was attacked by Cass in the storyline), which he doesn’t like and said that until further notice, Daniel Bryan is banned from Miz TV. That drew boos. Miz delivered a quick message to Seth Rollins on the “B Show” on Raw and said that at Backlash, it’s Rollins vs. Miz for the most coveted title in all of WWE with Miz claiming he made it famous, relevant and prestigious. Miz said that this Sunday we’ll see an A-Lister as champion.
Analysis: It would be a surprise if Miz beat Rollins for the IC Title at Backlash, but you never really know what might happen.
Miz introduced his guest, the US Champion Jeff Hardy.
Jeff Hardy got a big ovation as he walked out there with the US Title around his waist. Hardy defends the US Title against Randy Orton at Backlash. Tom Phillips noted it’s the first Hardy/Orton match in ten years. They had a really good feud in early 2008.
Jeff Hardy sat in the chair in the ring. Miz said he would shake his hand, but Jeff touched the hands of the fans at ringside. That’s funny. Miz asked Jeff if he thinks Miz is a better IC Champion than Seth Rollins and Jeff insulted him while pointing out that if Miz was better he would have won at the Greatest Royal Rumble like Jeff did. Miz called Hardy arrogant and said that Jeff disrespected a future Hall of Famer on his first night on Smackdown.
A replay aired from two weeks ago when Jeff Hardy interrupted Randy Orton and took a match from Orton.
Miz said he wondered what Randy Orton thought about it, so Miz said that they had a surprise guest…Randy Orton.
Randy Orton walked out in his ring gear with the Montreal crowd giving him a big ovation. Orton joined Miz and Hardy in the ring.
Miz complained about Orton interrupting his introduction of him and Orton just said “so?” to reply to that. Orton said he’s not all that mad at Jeff Hardy because Jeff took advantage of a situation and Randy did the same thing last week. Orton said that he and Jeff are cool. Miz did his “hand goes up, mouth goes shut” routine. Miz didn’t like Orton playing well with others. Miz talked about the Smackdown top ten list where Orton’s peers put Orton ninth on a Smackdown top ten list. Orton said that he didn’t care and nobody cares about the Smackdown top ten list. That list angle was a disaster, by the way.
Miz pointed out that Jeff cost Orton his match with Shelton Benjamin last week and Jeff said that was due to Sunil Singh with a mask. Miz said that there should be a RKO with Hardy’s name all over it. Orton told Miz he’s forgotten who he is talking to and Orton told Miz that he will strike when he wants to. Orton said he earned his rematch for that title, so at Backlash, no matter how cool they are, Orton is taking his title back. Hardy told him he can try. Miz: “A mutual agreement?” He wasn’t happy about it. Miz asked Orton what happened to The Viper.
Shelton Benjamin interrupted them. Benjamin said that Orton doesn’t deserve to try and said that Orton doesn’t deserve a damn thing. Benjamin reminded Orton that last week he beat him in the ring right there. Benjamin said that if anybody deserves a championship opportunity it’s him.
Benjamin was on the apron, Orton kicked Benjamin, Miz went after Orton and Hardy tossed Miz into the turnbuckle. Hardy managed to hit the Whisper in the Wind attack off the ropes onto Miz to take him down. Hardy’s music played to end it.
Analysis: It was a typical Miz TV segment with Miz playing the role of the guy that wants to instigate something and Benjamin joined the party to set up the obvious tag team match. The opening segment on Raw or Smackdown every week is usually setting up a match right away or for later in the show. The formula has existed for decades. Not just years, but decades. It’s sad to think about how repetitive the formula is. As for the US Title, it changes hands every month, so it’s really not that coveted of a title right now.
(Commercial)
The match was made during the break by GM Paige according to Phillips. It’s a Teddy Long tag match special playa.
Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz and Shelton Benjamin
Orton stomped away on Benjamin early in the match. Hardy tagged in with a double axehandle and a dropkick to the back. Benjamin missed a corner attack as Orton sent him into the turnbuckle, but when Orton went for a RKO, Benjamin nailed a spin kick for a two count. Miz worked over Orton, Benjamin got in some cheap knees and the fans did “ole” chants because they are a vocal crowd. Orton with a belly to back suplex on Miz to create some space. Hardy got the tag with punches on Miz followed by a forearm to the face, atomic drop, double leg drop and a low dropkick for two. Hardy got a rollup for a two count followed by an escape into a pin attempt for two again. Benjamin tagged in, Hardy sent Miz out of the ring, Hardy with a Twist of Fate and Hardy went up top. Miz grabbed his foot, so Benjamin recovered with a knee uppercut followed by Miz shoving Hardy to the floor. It went to break there.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Miz grounding Hardy with a headlock. When Hardy got up, Miz planted him with a DDT for two. Benjamin back in, Hardy with a jawbreaker and Miz tagged back in to prevent a tag. Miz nailed two corner dropkicks on Hardy, but Hardy came out of the corner with a leaping clothesline. Orton tagged in against Benjamin. Orton with two clotheslines on Benjamin, a powerslam and he sent Miz out of the ring. Orton set up the draping DDT off the ropes on both guys and hit a double DDT. The crowd was really loud for this and they were into it. Orton hit the RKO on Benjamin, who rolled right into the position for Hardy, who got the tag. Hardy went up top and hit a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall win after 12 minutes of action.
Winners by pinfall: Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy
Analysis: *** That was a good match with four veterans that have a lot of experience. They know how to build up the excitement for the match. The crowd gave a big reaction when Orton got the hot tag and hit his signature spots. There wasn’t a point in the match where it looked like Benjamin and Miz were going to win. If they had a few more minutes then maybe they could have teased some nearfalls, but on Smackdown they have to get through things quickly. Most main roster wrestlers in WWE should be capable of hitting a three-star match in a tag team match if they get over ten minutes. The formula is easy to follow.
As soon as the match was over, Orton and Hardy were announced as the winners and Orton nailed Hardy with a RKO when Hardy didn’t expect it. Orton stood over the fallen Hardy, who is his opponent at Backlash.
Analysis: That’s a nice way to build up some interest in Hardy vs. Orton at Backlash, which doesn’t have much of a story other than Orton earning a title shot. It’s a face vs. face match, which sometimes can lead to a quiet crowd, so we’ll see how they do on Sunday.
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay were interviewed by Renee Young backstage. They were supposed to be joined by Carmella, but there was no Carmella. Royce did an impression of Renee leading to Renee saying that was more like a Minnesota accent. Billie said that they beat Asuka last week and they told Renee to leave. Billie introduced Carmella with the Smackdown Women’s Title. Carmella said last week they beat Asuka and two weeks ago, Carmella beat Charlotte Flair. Carmella said together they are pretty much invincible.
Analysis: Good heel promo from the ladies. It’s always nice to see them.
Still to come is Shinsuke Nakamura wanting an apology from AJ Styles.
(Commercial)
The announce team of Tom Phillips, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton were on camera talking about the Greatest Royal Rumble match. They spoke about how Daniel Bryan was there to compete, but he wasn’t cleared due to a potential chest infection from the GRR match. They showed a clip of Bryan’s interview after GRR with Bryan’s beat up red chest saying he lost because he was unable to eliminate Braun Strowman, which nobody was able to do.
Analysis: Bryan is fine, so that’s just a storyline. Bryan wrestled Nakamura in a dark match after Smackdown was over.
Sheamus and Cesaro were shown walking backstage. They bumped into The New Day trio of Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods with Kingston wondered what happened to Sheamus and Cesaro winning back the Tag Team Titles. Cesaro sarcastically said they always wanted to be on Smackdown and Sheamus said they wanted to be there to flatten them like pancakes. A guy brought out some pancakes. Big E was massaging his chest during all of this, which was funny and not a pleasant sight. Cesaro and Sheamus tossed the pancakes. Sheamus challenged them to a fight, Big E said you’ve got it and Sheamus said he was talking to Woods, so Woods accepted the match.
Analysis: There were some good one liners in there. It was a typical backstage segment to set up a match for later.
Rusev and Aiden English were shown talking backstage. The Ravishing Russian Lana showed up with a Rusev Day shirt to join her husband Rusev. Big ovation for Lana when she was on the screen. Lana wanted to talk to him, so English left. Lana said that Rusev Day is bigger than ever, but he came up short and something is holding him back. Rusev asked what can possibly be holding him back. English grabbed his jacket and left. Lana just smiled at Rusev.
Analysis: There hasn’t been much for Lana to do since Tamina got hurt, so having her in a segment with Rusev to suggest that English is holding Rusev back is mildly interesting. I like the Rusev and English pairing, though, so I don’t want that to end.
Big Cass made his entrance.
(Commercial)
A graphic reminded us that Cass is facing Daniel Bryan at Backlash.
Big Cass was in the ring talking about how he’s from New York City and said people from NYC are better than everybody. Cass said he knows he’s better than each and every one of the fans. Cass said he knows he’s better than Daniel Bryan. Cass pointed out that Bryan looks like the fans while Cass claimed that a real WWE superstar is seven feet tall, has super strength while Bryan is small and weak. Cass said that when he faces Bryan you won’t get your five star match, you’ll get a five second match. Cass said he doesn’t need an armbar, wrist lock or Yes Lock because Cass doesn’t even need time to prepare. Cass told Bryan to get out there so he can kick his teeth down his throat right now. Fans chanted “oui” as in “yes” for Daniel Bryan.
The led to a little person entering with long hair, a beard, Daniel Bryan’s shirt and Bryan’s gear. The little man led the crowd in “yes” chants. Cass feigned being scared to see Bryan.
Cass said that Bryan looked a little bit different and said he looked a bit taller perhaps because of lifts. Cass wondered if he was a “little” pissed off. Cass wondered if Bryan was mad that Cass attacked him last week or eliminated in the Greatest Royal Rumble. “Bryan” offered up some kicks and Cass said that he used to be Bryan’s size when he was five years old. Cass congratulated “Pierre Lafleur” for a tremendous performance. Cass encouraged Pierre to take a bow to the fans. When Pierre turned around, Cass decked him with a boot to the face. That drew a lot of boos. Cass attacked Pierre with punches. Fans chanted “Asshole” at Cass as referees ran down to help the fallen little guy. Cass left while the announcers agreed that was uncalled for. Normally a heel announcer like Graves would laugh or put it over as being great, but he did not and it makes Cass look like a jerk.
Analysis: It was a cheap heat segment. The promo skills of Big Cass are good enough, but the short jokes and using a little person is a lame, old school trick. What we need to see is if he has improved in the ring and we will see that at Backlash. I think a better segment would have had been to have Daniel Bryan out there and have them exchange words to build to their match.
Still to come: Carmella, Royce and Kay vs. Charlotte Flair, Asuka and Lynch. Styles and Nakamura are up next.
(Commercial)
AJ Styles Interview
AJ Styles was introduced by Renee Young, who was in the ring to conduct the interview. Styles, the WWE Champion, got a nice ovation from the crowd. Styles vs. Nakamura for the WWE Title in a No Disqualification match is set for Backlash.
The fans chanted “AJ Styles” before Renee could start the interview. Renee asked if the No DQ match will help Styles retain his championship. Styles wondered if we are talking about the con artist or the cheap shot artist. Styles said Nakamura can play his games because that’s the benefit of a No DQ match. Styles said that he’s out there trying to defend his championship while Nakamura is more interested in low blows. Renee pointed out that Nakamura wants an apology.
Styles said he was not going to apologize to Nakamura. Styles talked about how Nakamura ruined WrestleMania and he took away Styles vs. Bryan from the WWE Universe. Styles called Nakamura a coward that attacks him from behind and below the belt. Styles said you can throw the rules out the window on Sunday and Styles can break the rules too. Styles said it’s an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and when it’s over the look on Shinsuke’s face will be the look of torture courtesy of AJ Styles. Renee asked if there would be an apology. Styles said Nakamura should come down there…but here is Samoa Joe.
Samoa Joe’s music hit as Joe walked out in his ring gear with the fans chanting “Joe” for him. Joe received a nice ovation even though he’s a heel. Joe said Styles was making a spectacle out of himself while Joe told Styles that he has lost focus on the danger around him. Joe said the match Styles should focus on is Joe’s hand being raised as he proves once again that Roman Reigns is a failure. Joe said that even though a referee apologized, Lesnar was first out of that cage and Lesnar is still the Universal Champion.
Joe told Styles that he needs to make peace with one destiny that is definitely coming his way. Joe said that once he’s done putting Reigns to sleep, whether it’s Styles or Nakamura, Joe is coming to beat him down and take the WWE Championship. Joe ended it with a Reigns line: “Believe that.” Joe’s music played to it.
Analysis: That’s a nice tease of what’s to come with Joe possibly facing off with an old rival in Styles. They have wrestled many times outside of WWE, so having that as a possible feud in WWE would feel familiar to a lot of us, but also a fresh feud on Smackdown.
Shinsuke Nakamura’s music started. Joe turned around to the entrance to face him, but Nakamura was in the ring and he hit another low blow uppercut on Styles in the middle of the ring. Fans chanted “Nakamura” for it. Styles crumpled in a heap. Nakamura teased a Kinshasa to the back of the head, but Nakamura just ran to the corner. Nakamura set up in that corner and hit the Kinshasa knee strike to the face of Styles. Nakamura trash talked Styles, who sold it like he was knocked out. Nakamura held up the WWE Title and dropped it on Styles.
Analysis: Nakamura is really good as a heel. He is getting heat in the cheapest way possible with all of the low blow attacks, but it’s working because it’s getting a loud reaction when he does it. I like that the WWE Title match is No Disqualification because the feud has been built up well in the last month leading to a match that will feel more like a fight. I’m not sure what my prediction is for Backlash right now. I thought Nakamura was going to win the WWE Title, but it might make more sense for Styles to retain especially after Nakamura got the upper hand here. I’ll figure it out in our Backlash Preview on Friday.
Analysis x2: The low blow felt by Styles is also how I felt when my Raptors blew game one in their series against the Cavs in the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday. Ugh.
Becky Lynch was in the locker room talking to herself about how she felt bad about costing Asuka her first loss on Smackdown. Asuka told Lynch to forget about last week. Charlotte Flair showed up to say that Carmella, Peyton and Billie are annoying. Charlotte said they will teach them respect. Asuka said they were like the Avengers assembling, she left and Charlotte/Becky drank some of their “tea” together by doing their hand gesture.
Sheamus vs. Xavier Woods is next.
(Commercial)
Sheamus was in the ring for the match with Cesaro by his side.
The New Day trio made their entrance. Big E dumped some pancakes on fans in the aisle like usual. Good reaction for them. Graves pointed out The Bar are the team that ended the record title reign of New Day.
Xavier Woods (w/Big E and Kofi Kingston) vs. Sheamus (w/Cesaro)
Sheamus had the size advantage, so he pushed Woods down. Woods with a knee to the face and a dropkick to the knee. Woods came back with an elbow to the draw followed by a dropkick that sent Sheamus out of the ring. Woods with a somersault dive over the top to take out Sheamus on the floor. Cesaro distracted Woods, so Sheamus capitalized with a jumping knee on Woods for a two count. Sheamus whipped Woods throat first into the bottom rope. They went to break there.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Sheamus in control with an armbar. When Woods broke free, Sheamus hit the Irish Curse backbreaker. There was a replay of the spot where Woods went crashing into the bottom rope. Woods came back with kicks to the face followed by a knee to the face. Sheamus teased a powerslam, Woods slipped out, Sheamus charged and Woods avoided an attack that led to Sheamus going shoulder first into the ring post. Woods with a corkscrew legdrop off the ropes for a two count. Sheamus got a rollup for two. Woods nailed a Shining Wizard knee to the face. Woods went up top with Sheamus all the way across the ring. Cesaro distracted, so Cesaro went after him and Cesaro sent Big E into the ring post. Cesaro avoided an attack from Kingston and Woods kicked Cesaro. Sheamus capitalized by sending Woods into the barricade. Back in the ring, Woods with an inside cradle on Sheamus was good enough to win the match after about eight minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Xavier Woods
Analysis: **1/4 The match was okay with Woods hanging in there with a former World Champion like Sheamus. It was an upset win by Woods due to the outside distraction. That was a predictable ending due to all the guys that were on the floor. There will probably be a match with Cesaro against Kingston or Big E next week to continue this feud.
There was a clip from last week with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville talking trash about Becky Lynch after Lynch’s loss last week with Lynch getting mad at them for it. The acting was bad in the clip. I like everybody involved, but that was so cheesy.
Paige was in her office watching the TV when Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville showed up in their Absolution shirts – the group the three of them formed on Raw. They had a group hug. Mandy congratulated Paige on her job and Paige noted she even gets her own office. Sonya wondered who is it going to be and Paige said it would be Mandy. Mandy thought that meant it would be a title shot. Paige told them it’s not a championship match because you have to earn it like she did. Paige told Mandy that next week she’ll face Becky Lynch. Mandy asked if Paige had some special treatment for them and Sonya pointed out they are Absolution. Paige told them that Absolution is dead while looking at their Absolution shirts. That led to a long pause as the segment ended.
Analysis: It’s the end of the Absolution group, which was expected since Paige is now the face GM of Smackdown while Mandy and Sonya are heel wrestlers. It was a necessary segment to show that Paige has moved on from them.
(Commercial)
There was a cell phone promo from Zelina Vega with Andrade Almas with the dreaded WORDS ON THE SCREEN. They were in a parking lot. Zelina said that they are coming soon to Smackdown Live and when they get there, Smackdown Live will change forever. Almas did a promo in Spanish.
Analysis: They are great performers. Almas will likely be pushed in the upper midcard right away.
The announcers went over the Backlash card: Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton for the US Title, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Title, Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Title, Seth Rollins vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Title, Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass, Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe and Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Title. That’s the full card with eight announced matches. I have the full card at the bottom of this post as well. I will have a preview up on Friday and a live review on Sunday.
Charlotte Flair made her entrance for the face team in the main event. Becky Lynch was up next for the team. Asuka was last. All of them were cheered loudly by the crowd.
(Commercial)
The lovely Iiconics duo of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay made their entrance for the main event. They were joined by the Smackdown Women’s Champion Carmella, who was wearing the title around her waist. Carmella faces Charlotte at Backlash.
Charlotte Flair, Asuka and Becky Lynch vs. Becky Lynch, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay
Carmella tagged out to avoid Charlotte, so Royce tagged in and Lynch started for her team. Royce took down Lynch by pulling her down by the hair. Kay got in a cheap shot on Lynch, so Lynch missed a leg drop on Royce and Royce kicked Lynch. Kay tagged in and was met by a forearm by Lynch. Asuka tagged in, Kay slapped her and Asuka unloaded with strikes followed by a running hip attack. Charlotte tagged in with a double axe to Kay’s arm. Chops from Charlotte. Kay sent Charlotte into the turnbuckle and Carmella tagged in. Charlotte tripped her up, Carmella grabbed the ropes and bailed to the floor with her buddies. Flair with a plancha that took down Royce and Kay. Carmella backed away as the show went to break.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Lynch was the face in peril and she nailed a kick on Carmella. When Lynch tried to tag in Asuka, Royce and Kay attacked Asuka to prevent a tag. Charlotte was knocked down earlier. Lynch kicked away Carmella and tagged in Charlotte. Chops from Charlotte on Carmella with the crowd chanting “woo” for all of them as Charlotte hit an overhead suplex on Kay and one of those suplexes for Royce as well. Belly to back suplex by Charlotte on Carmella. Charlotte on the turnbuckle, Kay distracted and Carmella tripped up Charlotte leading to Charlotte bumping off the ring post. You could see her hand clearly hit, but Charlotte sold it like it was her head. Kay nailed a kick for a two count. Carmella hit a headscissors off the top on Charlotte for a two count. Carmella screamed about not winning. It was annoying, but she’s a heel so it’s okay. Royce grounded Charlotte with a headlock as a split screen commercial for Backlash aired. Charlotte broke free with a rollup. Royce kicked Charlotte into the turnbuckle.
Asuka tagged in with a dropkick on Royce, a knee to the face, strikes and a running kick by Asuka on Royce with the crowd coming alive. Asuka hit a running hip attack on Royce and Carmella to knock them off the apron. Royce with a rollup followed by a kick to the face for two. Asuka avoided a spin kick and nailed a spin kick. Kay took out Asuka with a kick. Lynch wit ha dropkick off the top on Kay. Carmella with a kick on Lynch. Charlotte back in with a Spear on Carmella. Charlotte went up top and hit a moonsault off the top onto Kay and Carmella on the floor. Charlotte landed the move with her arms knocking down each woman on each side of her. Asuka slapped the Asuka Lock submission on Royce and that lead to the submission win. It went 14 minutes.
Winners by submission: Asuka, Charlotte and Becky Lynch
Analysis: *** That was a fun main event match with the crowd really getting into it after Charlotte hit that moonsault on the girls on the floor. The heel work by Carmella, Royce and Kay was good in terms of getting in some cheap shots when needed. The hot tag from Asuka led to a lot of excitement in the last few months and it gives Asuka a win after she lost with Lynch last week.
Charlotte stared down Carmella from the ringside area while Carmella was seated on the ramp. That was how Smackdown ended.
Three Stars of the Show
1. Charlotte Flair
2. AJ Styles
3. Asuka
The Scoreboard
6 out of 10
Last week: 6
2018 Average: 6.17
Last 5 Weeks: 6, 6.5, 8, 6.5, 6.5
2018 High: 8 (April 10)
2018 Low: 4.5 (January 2 and January 9)
Final Thoughts
It gets a 6 out of 10.
It was an average show. I feel like I give Smackdown something between 5.5 to 6.5 nearly every week and when I looked at my scores in the last couple of months, that’s usually the range that it is in. Raw is similar too. It tells me that the shows are good, but hardly ever great. I don’t think I’m a tough grader. I’m just being honest. These shows are formulaic a lot of times with matches being set up the same way week after week, the same booking in these tag matches we get all the time and it’s hard for anything to stand out.
There were only three matches in a two-hour show. That’s not good. You’d like to see four or five. The good thing is the matches were given time, so that made it okay at least this week.
My favorite part was AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura due to the intensity shown by Nakamura. Sprinkling in a Samoa Joe promo was a nice touch as well.
The other promo work was fine with Miz TV leading to the predictable tag. I thought Big Cass’ promo was okay, but bringing out the little person (I don’t like saying “midget”) was too cheesy. Like I said earlier, keeping Bryan off the show to sell injuries was not the right call because his feud with Cass needed a Bryan promo to get people more excited about it.
The main event was fine, but it didn’t feel like a big deal because WWE does six-woman tags on both shows every other week. At least it feels that way. It was just another match rather than something I would consider special.
#ThePrincess and #TheQueen will COLLIDE for the royal title of #SDLive#WomensChampion THIS SUNDAY at #WWEBacklash! @MsCharlotteWWE@CarmellaWWEpic.twitter.com/iaUc8wm3sK
— WWE (@WWE) May 2, 2018
Here’s the lineup for Backlash, which takes place this Sunday, May 6. I’ll have a preview up on Friday and then the live review on TJRWrestling.net on Sunday night.
WWE Championship No Disqualification Match: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns
Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
United States Championship: Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton
Raw Women’s Championship: Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair
There may be a match or two added later in the week, but those are the eight matches for now.
—
That’s all for now. Go Toronto Raptors and Toronto Blue Jays.
My contact info is below. Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport