WWE SmackDown Live Review - September 11, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jeff Hardy def. United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura by Disqualification (Non-title)

I appreciated the pre-match promo from Hardy as he hyped up his upcoming Hell in a Cell match with Randy Orton on Sunday. It wasn't his best mic work in recent memory, but it served its purpose. It's such a shame Nakamura has been lost in the shuffle as a result of this feud and isn't even on the Hell in a Cell card. The United States Championship hasn't meant this little in a great while. Anyway, this was another enjoyable encounter between Hardy and Nakamura and the post-match angle with Hardy getting a measure of revenge over Orton was well done.

SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair def. Sonya Deville (Non-title)

Deville is definitely a work in progress having made strides since arriving on the main roster late last year, but this was clearly all about Charlotte ahead of Hell in a Cell where she'll defend her SmackDown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch. Deville had a fine showing, but the match wasn't much more than decent. Lynch ambushing Flair afterward by dressing up in disguise in the crowd was an effective way of getting more heat on her before she and Flair finally go at it one-on-one.

Rusev Day def. The Bar in the Finals of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament

Rusev Day reuniting in their pursuit of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship has been a fun story to follow in recent weeks and they're a welcome addition to the brand's growing tag team scene. Of course, The Bar can always be counted on for a quality contest, so I wasn't surprised this turned into an entertaining outing down the stretch. As much chemistry as The Bar and The New Day have, New Day vs. Rusev Day is a much fresher match that I'm looking forward to. It remains to be seen whether Rusev and Aiden English will remain friends assuming they're unsuccessful at Hell in a Cell, though.

Andrade "Cien" Almas def. R-Truth

You can blame the second season of WWE Mixed Match Challenge for Truth being back on TV in a prominent role. Okay, so he isn't competing for the WWE Championship and some fans might get a kick out of his antics, but I'd rather not see Almas wasted on him. This match was total throwaway and was way too short to be anything of note, but at least Almas went over. Then again, was it really necessary for Almas to cheat to beat Truth of all people?

Brie Bella def. Maryse by Disqualification

I can't say I was highly anticipating Bella vs. Maryse coming into this show because I think we were all well aware that it wasn't going to be a five star mat classic, but this should not have been the main event. It was barely a match and ended before it could even get going. On the bright side, everything that happened post-match was excellent with Daniel Bryan and Bella laying out Miz and Maryse and the audience in attendance eating up everything they did. This feels like the biggest feud on SmackDown Live right now, even over the WWE Championship program, and that's fine by me because it has been brilliantly booking up to this point.

Overall Show

If you read my Raw review from Monday, you would know how that show did nothing to get me any more excited for Hell in a Cell than I was before. That said, this was a much better go-home show. The in-ring action was average on the whole, but all of the blue brand's feuds that will be featured at the event were furthered in some form or fashion. Even the pre-taped promos from AJ Styles and Samoa Joe were fantastic and I love what they've done with that rivalry. Nothing stood out as must-see from this edition of SmackDown, but it did its part in promoting the pay-per-view and making me care about several storylines.