WWE SmackDown 05/15/18: Phantom Ball Punch
About Last Night is a quick reflection on the matches and segments, or random observations, from a wrestling show that sticks out to us the morning after we watch them. If you would like to get your comments featured, chime in below in our comments section or tweet us. You can also help support us on Patreon.
About Big Ass…
Big Cass is quickly turning from someone I had faith would get a fresh start on SmackDown where he could develop into an excellent heel to someone who just annoys me and makes me dread every time he’s on screen. I think it started with that segment in Montreal involving a small person. Well, that idiot showed up again this week while Daniel Bryan was being interviewed in the ring by Renee Young regarding his recent struggles. Big Cass start trying to take credit for Bryan’s troubles, and making up the excuse that he tapped out quickly so he could just beat him up after the match. As soon as Cass got in the ring, Bryan snapped and beat the shit out of Cass in relatively easy fashion.
It was really good to see Bryan get his revenge, but Big Cass is just a Big Joke at this point. He’s all talk, and can’t back any of it up in the ring. Hell, the guy who just handed him his ass is half his size. I hope this is a way to write him off for a while until they find something better for him, because there are way more deserving people who should have television time over this loser.
About Andrade “Cien” Almas…
After about a month of hype, Andrade “Cien” Almas as his business associate Zelina Vega finally appeared on SmackDown. And… it was a bit underwhelming. He just showed up and won a squash match against a local talent before Zelina cut a promo about how lame the match was. It was a bit of a bummer, since the bar has been set so high after his last few TakeOver matches. Zelina saying they’re going to “take over” doesn’t help with tempering these expectations either. Imagine how much better it would have been if they just appeared for promos and it let to a major match at Money in the Bank?
About The Royal Mellabration…
The Royal Mellabration started off well, with a town crier yelling a proclamation about “the princess of the isle of Staten” and her multiple victories over Charlotte Flair. Then she had royal guards on the stage as she made her entrance. After that, it all went downhill. The ring was decorated with leopard-printed drapes in the corner and a large pillow for the belt, and Carmella getting mad that people aren’t bowing to her since she’s better than “Trish Stratus and Lita combined.” Paige interrupted and ignored the crowd chanting for her so she could get through her promo announcing that Carmella would defend her title against Asuka at Money in the Bank.
It seems a bit early to be putting the belt onto Asuka after just ending her streak, but if they’re going to put the red version on Ronda Rousey at this pay-per-view, you might as well.
About Paige Still Being the Worst…
Paige didn’t contain her terribleness to the Royal Mellabration, she’s still a shitty friend to the former members of Absolution. When Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose entered her office to rub it in her dumb face about last week’s plot not working and ask about qualifying for Money in the Bank, instead of giving them singles matches like everyone else on SmackDown so far she instead books them in a Triple Threat with obvious entrant Becky Lynch. And who would have guessed it, Becky Lynch won!
Why can’t Paige just let them be friends instead of pull them apart? I’m guessing she can’t take a bump or else I would love them to work together as a stronger unit and destroy her because she is an enemy of friendship.
About The Main Event…
What the hell? Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles squared off once again in their fourth WWE match, and this time it was on free television. And yet, this was their best match in the series. There were some great reversals and nearfalls, and heel Nakamura continues to entertain me to no end. This match went around 20 minutes, and ended with Nakamura pretended he was hit in the balls to throw AJ Styles off and set up a Kinshasa for an actual win. This gives hope for the match at Money in the Bank, but the logic of this one even happening doesn’t make much sense.
The whole story of the Money in the Bank match happening is that these two can’t seem to have a clear-cut winner. So to set the stipulation to ensure we get a winner is decided in a regular singles match where one of them actually won? Why wasn’t this just the rematch at this point? I would have preferred this to be a tag or something so we could avoid this issue or have them do a Beat the Clock Challenge, but I guess I can’t complain too much when this match was great. Now we just need to figure out what the stipulation will be that Shinsuke Nakamura picks. Would it be funny if he chose a ladder match at the pay-per-view involving two other ladder matches?
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Let us know in the comments!
