Hi wrestling friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whatever you celebrated, or a nice restful Tuesday if you didn’t celebrate. Last night was the last Smackdown of the year, though technically it was taped last week. That’s a change I greatly approve of. I’m glad the superstars were able to have the holidays off to relax and spend time with their families before they get right back to the grind. So let’s take a look at what happened on the blue brand’s final show of 2018!
We started off with R-Truth and Carmella dressed up as Santa Claus and Santa’s Little Helper, respectively. They talked about how they made a special trip to Smackdown and R-Truth attempted to name all the reindeer. Out came Daniel Bryan to ruin all the fun by saying Santa Claus was the top of the list for materialistic issues. He called R-Truth a joke and the two went at it for a few minutes. I thought it was a fun opening to this holiday show and Daniel Bryan is still doing well with making fans hate him. A
Mustafa Ali vs Adrade “Cien” Almas
This was our first actual wrestling match on the episode. Zelina Vega was at ringside of course and was able to distract Ali once or twice to allow Almas to try and get the upper hand. Ali did some wonderful selling for a lariat and a double stomp in the corner. Ali hit a tornado DDT then followed up with the 054 for the win. Almas and Ali both looked great here and Ali’s momentum is still in full swing.
Grade: A-
Samoa Joe cut a promo and again brought up Jeff Hardy’s past troubles. He then said he was Jeff’s new addiction. The promo was pretty good and I like the way Joe is able to make his voice sound sinister, but the placement of the video was awkward and took away from the impact. B
The Usos and The Good Brothers vs The Bar and Sanity
The New Day came out to do special guest commentary. They had a special announce table and Christmas-colored pancakes. Big E also slathered his bare chest in baby oil to which Corey Graves exclaimed that it wasn’t appropriate for children. This was a solid match for the two teams. The ending was the better part as the match started to break down into chaos. The Usos hit double superkicks on The Bar and The Good Brothers ended the match with a magic killer on Cesaro. Following up from last week where Gallows and Anderson pointed out that the same teams always get opportunities, it was good to see them and Sanity getting some tv time. Also the New Day are fun on commentary.
Grade: B+
The Miz came out for Miz TV and invited Shane McMahon out as his guest. He went on to tell us how his dad never told him that he was proud of him. Miz said that his dad would be proud of him if he tagged with Shane McMahon. He asks the fans and since they were about it, Shane agrees to tag with The Miz, saying that the Miz better not screw him. They hug and The Miz calls their team the Best Tag Team in the World. Where in the world this is going, I haven’t the faintest idea but I’m all for it. A
Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe
The first official match in this Joe-Hardy feud was okay. Joe grounded Jeff a lot in this match, trying to take away some of that high-flying arsenal. Jeff got in some offense, but Joe escaped before he could hit the Twist of Fate. Toward the end the action spilled out of the ring and the match actually ended in a double count-out as the referee tried to stop the two competitors. Jeff threw Joe over an announce table but ended up getting choked out by Joe’s coquina clutch. I think this was the right decision here; a definitive win for either of the men would’ve halted the feud as it’s just getting started.
Grade: B+
The Usos discuss Christmas before parting ways. Mandy Rose points out that she and Jimmy are under the mistletoe and wants a kiss. Naomi puts a stop to that, throwing her shoe at Rose. The Fatus share a cute kiss under the mistletoe instead. I’m not a big fan of this Mandy Rose/Naomi angle but I like Naomi getting time to shine so it is what is. Jimmy and Naomi are super cute though! B
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Rusev
It was Christmas Day, Rusev Day, and Rusev’s birthday! Well, not really because this was taped last week but it was still a pretty fun concept. Rusev came off as a total babyface birthday boy and Shinsuke portrayed a good heel champion. This match was plenty of fun with lots of offense from both men and a few different near falls. Nakamura broke the Accolade and Rusev kicked out of a Kinshasa. Finally Nakamura ran into a Matchka kick and we crowned a new United States Champion.
Grade: A+
AJ Styles meets with Vince McMahon and McMahon says that he thinks Styles has become complacent. He slaps Styles, saying he wants to see the animal unleashed. AJ attacks McMahon, screaming and pulling his hair while the chairman looks pleased. Not sure if this counts as a heel turn or just a new change in Styles’ character. Either way, I’m excited to see where it goes. A
And that’s the last Smackdown of 2018! I thought it was pretty great and it segues well into the coming new year. 2019 is right around the corner and I can’t wait to see what happens on the blue brand.
Overall show grade: A- -Chancellor Wynter
