WWE SmackDown Live Review, May 22, 2018 – Stipulation Abomination

WWE SmackDown Live Review, May 22, 2018 – Stipulation Abomination

So, you know last man standing matches, the ones where if someone doesn’t beat a 10-count then they lose?

And, you know the Backlash match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura when neither man beat a 10-count, and we were then promised a match where there would definitely be a winner?

So, why has the last man standing stipulation been added to their 64th match in a month? That doesn’t mean there’s going to be a clear winner.

In fact, had the Backlash match been a last man standing match, then both men would have lost. There are so many different stipulations that would have to result in a single winner, but they’ve chosen one of the few that might not.

As it’s a bigger pay-per-view, you would expect them to finally end the feud, but given their recent record, this will all culminate at Wrestlemania 42 in an I Quit match.

Shinsuke has had the upper hand in the last two on-screen encounters, which suggests AJ will retain, but I for one hope Shinsuke carries on his momentum and wins so we can all have a fresh start and AJ can focus on something else for a while.

Speaking of fresh starts, was last night one for Gallows and Anderson?

Two of the most poorly booked members of the entire roster, only missing out on the top spot due to the existence of the Revival and Becky Lynch, Gallows and Anderson took the tag division by storm when they debuted.

But since then they’ve become jobbers, and despite numerous teases that some sort of Bullet Club alliance between them and Finn or AJ was being formed, nothing has materialized.

But now suddenly, having not been on TV for weeks; they are the new number one contenders for the Bludgeon Brothers’ tag team titles.

I don’t think they’ll win. There’s been zero build and regardless of their win, they have next to no momentum. However, it’s nice to see them on TV because they’re a great team and deserving of so much more.

The show itself opened with Miz TV, which was basically a drawn out way of promoting Miz’ new TV show, Miz & Mrs. Yet another show I will not be watching.

Anyway, his guests were The New Day, who would not reveal who was in the Money in the Bank (MitB) ladder match, despite numerous teases. It seemed, briefly, that Big-E was the man to enter (he probably still will be), but they were instead saying he would be facing The Miz in a match right then.

Miz tried to retreat out of the arena, but Paige forced him back out into the ring and the match began.

It was a decent match, which really came alive when The Bar interfered. If you haven’t seen it already, go and watch Kofi’s spot in which he uses Cesaro as a springboard to attack Sheamus. I love Kofi.

Anyway, off the distraction, Miz picked up the win, which means next week Big-E will win against the Miz. 50/50 booking forever.

The final thing of note in the show was the main event, which had to be altered due to Big Cass being injured… again.

Instead of a Cass vs. Samoa Joe match to qualify for MitB, Daniel Bryan faced off against United States Champion Jeff Hardy to determine who would face Joe next week in a new qualifier.

You have to feel sorry for Cass if this is a genuinely bad injury. He’s been back for a couple of months and has just been used as a sharpening block for Daniel Bryan’s return.

Bryan picked up the victory after a very solid TV match, locking Jeff in the heel-hold after targetting Jeff’s leg for the duration of the bout.

I still fully expect Joe to win next week as it would be wrong to give him another loss. Bryan could lose every match for the next year and still have plenty of credibility to be quite frank.

6 years ago by Andy Datson

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