WWE SmackDown Live Results – December 18, 2018

WWE SmackDown Live Results – December 18, 2018

03:02am

Mustafa Ali just pinned WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in the main event of SmackDown.

If that doesn’t make you happy, you should probably… cheer up or something.

But yeah, that was a fantastic match. As I said earlier, the guys looked like they were really into it which lends itself to engaging viewing.

Almas tried to knock Ali off the top rope, but AJ stopped him and hit the Phenomenal Forearm, which allowed Ali to land the 054 on Bryan for the win.

A good opening and a great finish, with a bit of meh in between. Overall, I’d still consider it a good show though.

I’ll leave you with a reminder that Ali was just a last resort backup replacement for the Cruiserweight Classic two years ago and was eliminated in the first round by Lince Dorado. Good night!

02:50am

Been a really good match so far this.

They’re all clearly really enjoying it, and that translates to the viewer experience too.

Ali and AJ go into presumably the final commercial break with the momentum.

02:30am

Announced for the Christmas night episode next week:

  • Miz TV with Shane
  • Nakamura v Rusev for the US Title
  • Hardy v Joe

A little admin – we won’t be doing live coverage next week because… it’s Christmas, but we will have spoilers for the tapings (it’s being taped tonight) up on the site tomorrow morning.

Back to the show, and it’s time for what should be a class main event. Bryan and Almas vs. Styles and Ali.

02:24am

A weird backstage promo from Nakamura, who plays some highlights of Rusev from Total Divas.

And then says that Rusev isn’t a US Title contender… he’s a Total Diva.

Oh.

02:20am

That was a pretty good match, and it looked like the Usos had it in the bag, but the Bar came out to distract them.

Jimmy still landed the splash on Anderson, but before the ref could start the count, SAnitY (yes they still exist) storm the ring and ambush the Usos and Good Brothers.

After Young, Wolfe and Dain leave, the Bar take the opportunity to get in the ring and batter them too.

It looks like we may be setting up for the Bar vs. SAnitY at some point.

02:07am

The Usos come to the ring and point out that they didn’t get pinned at TLC so they deserve another title chance.

They are cut off by Gallows and Anderson, who haven’t been on SmackDown since August, and are sick of the same three teams (Usos, Bar, New Day) getting all the coverage.

Greg Hamilton announces that the McMahons have sanctioned this match. Usos vs. Gallows and Anderson, up next!

01:58am

Graves recuperates himself from getting… rather excited about Mandy looking at him, and confirms that Mustafa Ali is now a permanent full-time member of the SmackDown roster.

Good. Ali is the absolute business.

01:56am

Miz comes to the ring, and his partner for tonight is… Mandy Rose. Oh. Please don’t do a love triangle with these two and Maryse. Please.

And there are opponents are the winners of the MMC and Royal Rumble #30 entrants, R-Truth and Carmella. Truth reminds us that they have an all expenses paid vacation to WWE HQ.

He also says he’s looking forward to this match against Miz and Maryse. He is the absolute best and I love him very much.

To confirm, it’s Miz and Mandy taking on Truth and Carmella.

I haven’t even finished typing this bit, and the match is now over. Mandy ate a Superkick form Carmella, but the distraction allowed Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Truth for the win.

Graves is absolutely losing his mind here.

01:47am

Joe comes out and says that this isn’t an apology, it’s an intervention.

Jeff says that he’ll never go back to his past, and says that Joe is just hiding his own insecurities, such as not winning one championship during his two years in WWE.

This causes Joe to lash out, but Jeff counters and hits a Twist of Fate to close out the segment.

01:42am

Rusev does a backstage interview with Kayla, and he points out that he is a massive hunk, and that Nakamura – who he’ll presumably face for the US Title at some point after pinning him last week in a tag match – looks like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Banter.

Jeff Hardy coming to the ring next. Apparently we’re due an apology from Samoa Joe.

01:32am

That was a fantastic opener, and it’s Asuka who picks up the win with the Asuka Lock after a great close match.

Charlotte and Becky were looking on at ringside, but didn’t get involved. Excellent match, but the winner was always a cert really.

Miz knocks on Vince McMahon’s door, and asks if he can team with Shane, to which Vince obviously says no. However, he does say, that if Miz can find a partner tonight, he can have a tag match to prove if he’s good enough for Shane.

Who will Miz pick, and who will they face?

01:19am

Asuka is defending against Naomi RIGHT NOW.

Also tonight, this is happening.

HOLY SHMOKES MAGGLE!

01:15am

Becky says that she wasn’t in Shane’s meeting because she doesn’t care for corporate waffle. This is why we love her.

She says her piece about TLC but is quickly cut off by Charlotte, who claims that had Ronda not interfered, she would have become an eight-time champion.

And then the new champion Asuka enters the fray. She tells everyone to forget Ronda because she is the champion.

Charlotte and Becky call her a paper champion… and VINCE McMAHON comes onto the stage. He congratulates Asuka and has a go at Becky and Charlotte for moaning and making excuses. He points out that it was a TLC match so there were no DQs and tells them to get over it.

Vince announces that Asuka will defend her title tonight against… Naomi!

01:05am

SmackDown opens with a weird backstage meeting with Shane and the roster.

Shane recaps the whole “new era” shtick and tells the wrestlers to work to put on the best shows for us as fans.

And also, Paige isn’t GM anymore, which is stupid.

And now to open in front of the live audience, former Women’s Champion Becky Lynch makes her way to the ring to address Ronda Rousey’s interference at TLC that led to Asuka winning the title.

It’s a new era, everyone! Apparently.

Vince, Steph, Shane and Trips all opened Raw last night by admitting that they hadn’t been listening to the fans recently but those days are over and now the fans are the authority.

The show itself did show glimpses of that. Lucha Dumb Rules were abolished, as were contractual championship rematch clauses. The Revival won a wrestling match, Tyler Breeze answered an IC Title open challenge, six NXT call-ups were confirmed, and Michael Cole and Renee Young sounded like actual human beings . . . for the most part.

There were, however, a lot of instances that made the phrase ‘more of the same’ spring to mind. Bobby Lashley showed us his bum and got attacked by Elias, Finn Bálor faced Dolph Ziggler and they both got ambushed by Drew McIntyre, and Ronda Rousey and Natalya had a nice cuddly hug despite the fact they have a title match against each other next week.

The reason I’ve recapped all of that (besides just trying to get my brain to make sense of it all), is because it will be interesting to see how the red brand’s transition is mirrored – or not so – by SmackDown Live.

It seems General Manager Paige is also wondering the same thing…

Unlike Raw, Team Blue have actually been putting on good shows of late, so to play about with it just because Raw is doing badly would seem odd. That being said, the quality of shows aren’t replicated by the TV ratings, which is a cause for concern with the looming deal with Fox set to begin next year.

If we now turn our minds back to Sunday at TLC, It was Asuka who made the headlines when she won the TLC Triple Threat main event to become SmackDown Women’s Champion thanks to interference from Ronda Rousey.

Due to the aforementioned new era we’re in, it seems Becky won’t be automatically owed a rematch for the title, so it will be interesting to see how she and Charlotte Flair react to Rousey costing them the match, and to Asuka for taking advantage.

Two other title matches also took place on Sunday, with the Bar fending off New Day and the Usos to defend the SmackDown Tag Titles, and Daniel Bryan retaining his WWE Title over former champion AJ Styles.

With Royal Rumble on January 27 being WWE‘s next big event, it will be interesting who we start to see emerging as challengers as there aren’t too many names that immediately spring to mind.

Besides AJ, the top babyfaces on the blue brand at the minute that could pose a challenge to Bryan are Jeff Hardy, whose beefing with WWE‘s ‘drink responsibly’ advocate Samoa Joe; Rey Mysterio, who seems to be embroiled with Randy Orton currently; and Rusev, who looks likely to challenge for Nakamura’s US Title some point soon.

With all that in mind, it will be very interesting to see how the next few weeks play out. Join us from the start of the show for full live coverage.

What are your thoughts and predictions heading into SmackDown Live? Let us know your thoughts and predictions by following us on Twitter, and joining our Discord server!

5 years ago by Liam Winnard

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