:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59953333/20180601_SD_AJPaigeNaka__a69cfe4ddef876e80b7b736e796f0196.0.jpg)
WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (June 5, 2018) from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month in Chicago.
Advertised for tonight: A WWE title contract signing, Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair, Carmella promises to unmask Asuka, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JUNE 5
Full moon is rising, the sky is black. I heed your call, I’m coming back. The road is straight cast, wind’s in my eyes, the engine roars between my thighs. From desert plains I bring you love, and from this here pro wrestling show I bring you a full-service liveblog, folks.
The show opens with commentary hyping up a six-man tag featuring all of SmackDown’s Money in the bank entrants, a mixed tag, and Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for tonight.
Carmella makes her entrance. She demands everyone get on their feet and shower her with the praise she deserves as champion and they... do not. She admits that tonight isn’t about her, but rather about her opponent at Money in the Bank, Asuka. She felt like everyone around the world deserves to know the truth, and Asuka isn’t who we think she is, and thus we get a video package covering Asuka’s career and her many victories.
Mella continues, talking about how terrifying and poised she was, but now she’s going to remove the mask and face the truth together with us. A video plays covering Asuka’s career since her streak ended and Carmella says the truth is the loss shattered Asuka and she hasn’t been the same since. Hence, she has no fear, and the Age of Asuka is over.
Asuka was undefeated, but now she’s just defeated. It used to be “no one is ready for Asuka”, but now, like, everybody’s ready for Asuka. She asks the crowd who’s ready for Asuka and a good number of hands go up, but when Asuka’s music hits and she makes her entrance, Carmella goes quiet, as if she is perhaps not ready for her.
Before anything further can happen. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville make their entrance. Mandy says Carmella didn’t have to go through the trouble because Asuka is a shadow over her former self. Sure she beat her last week, but she’s a shadow of her former self and now that Rose knows the truth she knows she can win tonight. Sonya says Mandy did exactly what she was supposed to do and left just enough Asuka for her, and tonight it’s her turn.
Carmella stirs the pot and says the undefeated Asuka would have taken both of them on, but now that she’s defeated she might as well call an Uber and get out of here.
Enter Paige. She says no one speaks for her and she makes the matches around here, thank you very much. She says Asuka has unfinished business with both of them, so she’s giving her the choice. Asuka’s into it and snatches the mic out of Carmella’s hand to demand both! Paige is into it and makes it official as a handicap match, happening after the break.
Asuka vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville (Handicap Match)
Sonya starting, Asuka backs away from a double leg with a spring in her step and they trade probing leg kicks. Collar and elbow, Asuka shoves her back and asks for the tag. Mandy obliges, circling, fakeout into a kick and a double leg into the corner but the Empress of Tomorrow evades and Deville tags in. Locking up again, wristlock applied, reversed, reversed again, Sonya with a punch into a waistlock takedown but Asuka reverses to a kneebar!
Deville breaks, off the ropes, Asuka slides away and hits a dropkick! Sonya back up, big forearm strike and she taunts her before dragging her to their corner for the tag. Quick tags as the erstwhile Absolution put boots to her, Rose with a snapmare into a reverse chinlock. Sticking on it even as Asuka tries to get out, quick cover, back down into the hold, to her feet, shot off but Asuka absorbs the shoulder block and fires up!
Running hip attack, another in the corner, the Empress of Tomorrow heads up top and hits the missile dropkick but Carmella chooses this moment to leave commentary and start jawing. Tag made, Deville with a cheap shot into repeated stomps and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Asuka and Mandy are slugging it out with forearms. Asuka ducks a lariat, dropkick connects, catch the leg, German suplex! Charging into an uppercut, tag made, reverse roundhouse for Rose, hip toss into a knee strike for Deville, cover broken up by Mandy! Sonya with a schoolboy pin, no good, they each block a roundhouse from the other and then clobber themselves with stereo roundhouse kicks!
Both women down and out, referee Jason Ayers counts but they’re both up in time. Deville blocks a kick with her forehead, off the ropes, big spear... NOPE! Knee strikes to the face, off the ropes, Asuka catches her, looking for an armbar, reversed and reversed and the Asuka Lock is on! IT’S OVER!
Asuka wins by submission with the Asuka Lock on Sonya Deville.
Carmella comes in the ring and Mandy Rose tries to attack Asuka from behind but gets taken out... and that gives Carmella a chance to clobber her with the cheap shot with the belt! She lays the Empress of Tomorrow out with a few more shots and holds the title high to close the segment.
In the locker room, Miz is practicing Miz-jitsu when he nearly takes Mr. Bootyworth’s head off with a chop. New Day roll up on him and apologize for being jerks about who’s going to be in Money in the Bank and they want him to know they’re taking it very seriously. Kofi Kingston says he gave them a reality check and Big E points out that’s a move Miz does.
He made them confront some harsh truths, so they want him to help them reveal their member to the WWE Universe. Er, show us who’s going to compete. All he has to do is reach into Mr. Bootyworth’s hat and pick the name of the member who will be in the ladder match so your boys the New Day can become Mr. Moneys in the Bank. The A-Lister obliges but New Day insist he be blindfolded with his bandana.
They swap the hat for one that’s full of pancake batter and Miz realizes he’s been tricked. He says it’ll be real funny when Samoa Joe puts them to sleep, Rusev Machka Kicks them, and he beats them with Skull-Crushing Finale. He turns and leaves in a huff, wiping his hands on Mr. Bootyworth.
Commentary hypes up our WWE Championship contract signing and we go to break.
Back from commercial and we have a match!
Karl Anderson vs. Luke Harper
Harper explosive at the bell, backing Anderson into the corner and clubbing away. Sliding elbow, getting Karl into the corner again to beat on him, stepping on his head, raking at his eyes, drawing him up for the big right hand after. A second time, whip across... TRUCK STOP! Anderson sidesteps a superkick...
Karl Anderson wins by pinfall with a schoolboy.
We go backstage with Jimmy Uso and Naomi. Naomi says last week Lana tried to bust a move on her but that’s not happening at Money in the Bank. Jimmy says first things first, Rusev Day’s gonna find out which husband and wife run SmackDown tonight and they welcome them to the Uso Penetentiary to send us to break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances.
Jimmy Uso & Naomi vs. Rusev Day (Aiden English & Lana) (Mixed Tag Team Match)
Aiden and Jimmy to start, collar and elbow, English with a side headlock and a song, shot off but he reverses into a whip and Uso comes back at him with a shot to the throat, distressing him thoroughly. Lana gets in the ring and checks on him, they try to attack but get caught with tandem enzuigiris from husband and wife... NAOMI TAKES THEM OUT WITH A SUICIDE DIVE! She and Jimmy celebrate the spot and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lana ducks a series of roundhouse kicks but gets caught by a knee to the face! Naomi wastes time running Aiden English off and gets caught from behind and kicked in the head. Cover only gets two, Lana taunts and English cheerleads for her as she chokes Naomi over the middle rope. Running knees to the back of the head, cover made, again just good for two.
Choke in the corner, into a half nelson chinlock and then a standing surfboard stomp that puts Naomi’s face into the turnbuckles. Naomi with a dropkick, crawling, Lana drags her back over and drops repeated elbows into a nearfall before going back to the half nelson chinlock. Jawbreaker escape, Naomi reaching for the tag, Lana pulling back on her ar and her hair, waistlock, countered into a victory roll!
Neckbreaker drop hits and both women are down and out... TAGS MADE! Uso in with lariats, a low kick, a chop to the throat, Samoan drop countered, English catches the boot but eats the rebound kick! Running hip attack, Lana breaks the pin up! Jimmy gets in her face, she slaps him, Naomi gets Gallow Thrown into a Lou Thesz Press to equalize things!
Aiden has Uso down and out in the corner, he’s fired up, charges in... AND GETS TAKEN OUT BY A DIVING CROSSBODY FROM NAOMI! Jimmy capitalizes...
Jimmy Uso & Naomi win by pinfall with a superkick from Jimmy on Aiden English.
English clutches his injured throat as the winners celebrate on the ramp.
We go backstage with Paige for the contract signing between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles. She reminds us that the match will be a Last Man Standing and explains the rules, assuring them there will be a winner. AJ doesn’t have a question, but he does have a statement. He feels they’ve been at war forever and he understands why Nakamura does what he does now-- he knows he can’t beat him one-on-one straight-up.
That’s why he’s done all the low blows, but every dirty trick up his sleeve won’t work and Styles is walking out the same way he walked in, as WWE Champion. AJ signs the contract and passes it to Nakamura, who examines the pen and says it’s out of ink. He asks Styles if he can borrow his pen. He checks this one closely and says it’s broken and throws it at AJ.
Styles get hot and stands up, demanding Shinsuke be a man, and Dean Malenko comes from just off-camera to hold him back at first, but soon enough he slaps his challenger across the face and is escorted out of the room by Malenko and five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce. Nakamura then pulls a pen out of his pocket and signs the contract.
Commentary hypes up Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair and we go to break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances.
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
Circling, collar and elbow, Lynch flips Flair aside and they have a friendly standoff. Charlotte tries to pick the leg and Becky the arm but it’s Flair this time that flips her aside and Lynch goes to the floor. Back in, leg pick works this time, figure four blocked and Lynch takes her down into a grounded side headlock. Flair to her feet, side headlock of her own, shot off, drop down, cartwheel, leapfrog, victory roll headscissors and stalemate!
Leg trip, Lynch bridges up, Oklahoma roll, nope, Charlotte goes for a pin but she’s too close to the ropes and recognizes, breaking away. Tea time, stereo kicks caught and they set each other’s legs down at the same time. Lynch ducks a lariat but both women go for crossbodies at the same time and we go to break with them down and out.
Back from commercial, Becky’s in control with a grounded hammerlock but Charlotte rises to her feet and throws forearms. Off the ropes, tilt-a-whirl Dis-Arm-Her blocked, whip to the corner and here come the chops! Ducks one, uppercut connects but Flair gets a backslide for two and chops Lynch to the mat again after the kickout. Back suplex, kip-up, Charlotte’s fired up!
Boot to the face from the Lasskicker, she climbs up top but gets cut off and takes a Canadian backbreaker rack drop out of the corner! Spinning toehold, figure four countered and Becky follows it with a flying forearm. Headed up top again, diving leg drop... NOPE! Rising to her feet, picking the arm, stepping over, reversed to a schoolboy for a nearfall!
Forearm strike, off the ropes, Flair with the spear! Lynch rolls to the floor and gets caught with a plancha! She rolls Becky back in, perches herself up top... KNEES UP ON THE MOONSAULT! Lynch with a small package, no, leg pick, figure four attempt countered, a second countered again and into the Dis-Arm-Her...
Becky Lynch wins by submission with Dis-Arm-Her.
Backstage, Samoa Joe is interviewed. He turns it around and asks what you see when you look at him. A vicious man? A man with a backwards moral compass? Tonight New Day will learn that’s true, but that hurts him, because what he wants people to see is a man that keeps his promises. He said he’d put Daniel Bryan to sleep and he did. But not just that, he climbed the ladder and took the briefcase, and you know what he felt?
A collective shiver go down the spine of every SmackDown superstar, because they saw destiny manifest as flesh, and any man who calls himself WWE Champion is marked. What you see is what you get, and very soon, everybody gets.
And so to break.
Back from commercial, Big Cass is interviewed on the stage.
He points out how high Renee Young has to hold the microphone for him to speak into it. He’s big, unlike Daniel Bryan, and speaking of little he has a little story. Years ago in NXT he was backstage at WrestleMania 30 and after the show he walked down the long, long hallway to get his bag, and he just so happened to be walking behind Bryan, who had just won the WWE Championship.
All he could think to himself was “Seriously, this pathetic little man is WWE Champion?” That night his victory at WrestleMania was a fluke, just like his victory at Backlash, but credit where credit is due, Dan packed a hell of a punch for a man with such a petite stature. A good big man will always beat a good little man, he says, and he plays footage of Joe choking Bryan out last week as “proof”.
Big takes the mic after and says he almost feels bad for Bryan but he brought that on himself when he asked to come back to WWE and got back in the ring. But little did he know that he’d have a seven foot shadow following him everywhere he went. He claims Bryan’s never been in the ring with anyone as big as him (Even though he’s wrestled Big Show, ya dork?) or a star of his magnitude (Uh...) or someone who holds a grudge like he does.
That’s why he’s going to dismantle Dan and beat him down and embarrass him at Money in the Bank and rip his scrawny arms off and beat him in the head like he’s a snare drum. He’s gonna snap his legs like twigs so he can’t put the heel hook on anymore, and after Money in the Bank he’ll have to look in the mirror, beaten and battered and come to the slow realization that pathetic little men like him will never survive in this big man’s world.
We toss to Sin Cara being interviewed backstage. He says he’s known Andrade “Cien” Almas since he was 14 and considers him like a brother but something happened. This get Zelina Vega to come up asking if he’s talking about her and she says she’s the best thing that ever happened to Almas. Andrade blames Sin for hiding him behind a mask for years, and Vega went to Paige and got them a match next week.
Cien blindsides Cara and tosses him around!
New Day make their entrance for our main event and we go to break.
Back from commercial in time for the rest of our entrances.
New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) vs. Rusev, Samoa Joe, & the Miz
Miz and Woods to start, collar and elbow and the A-Lister gets Xavier in the corner to put boots to him. Across, up and over, Woods ducking shots and he hits the rolling elbow for one! Snapmare, tag to Kingston, off the ropes with a kick and a sliding elbow and an elbow drop, tag to E in there and he comes off the ropes for the big splash! Joe in, off the ropes, the belly-to-belly suplex and a tag to Xavier, diving double axehandle.
Woods gets trapped in the heel corner and caught with an enzuigiri to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Miz is in control on Woods and grabs a reverse chinlock to keep him grounded. Xavier fights out but gets clocked with a huge knee off the ropes and gets put on the turnbuckles. The A-Lister climbs after him for a superplex but it gets blocked, Miz is knocked down, and Woods hits the missile dropkick! Tag to Joe, he clears E off the apron and Rusev blindsides Big and puts him into the steps!
Xavier with a low kick, Shining Wizard to knock Samoa down... tag to Kofi! He comes in hot on Miz, big diving crossbody... NOPE! Off the ropes, Boom Drop connects but Miz comes back, kick to the gut, basement DDT... NOT ENOUGH! Skull-Crushing Finale denied, tag to Rusev, back suplex but Kingston lands on his feet and tags E in! Belly-to-belly on the Bulgarian Brute!
Off the ropes, going for the spear but he gets caught with a knee strike! Joe tags in, huge Rock Bottom out of the corner... WOODS MAKES THE SAVE! Rusev with a forearm, he gets low-bridged to the floor and Xavier takes him out with a tope con giro! The A-Lister back in, Joe gets passed to the floor, full nelson on Big and Kofi hits a Coffin Drop on Joe!
BIG E SUICIDE SPEAR ON MIZ! THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! Up on his shoulders, thinking Midnight Hour but Joe takes Woods down in the Coquina Clutch! Machka Kick on Kingston when he tries to make the save! Miz directs traffic, gets his allies to hold Big up and he gets the tray of pancakes. Back elbow takes Kingston out again, Miz throws the pancakes and hits his teammates!
Machka Kick and a senton wipe the A-Lister out and the other heels take their leave. Tag made, E scoops him up again...
New Day win by pinfall with Midnight Hour on the Miz.
New Day celebrate with their fallen pancakes.
That’s the show, folks.