5 Takeaways from this week's WWE SmackDown Live (17 July 2018)
Five matches took place as WWE SmackDown Live emanated from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania this week.
The first match of the night saw Andrade “Cien” Almas produce his most impressive main-roster performance to date against AJ Styles. However, after failing to get the win with double knees into the corner, he was forced to tap out to the WWE champion following a Calf Crusher.
In the women’s division, Becky Lynch made Mandy Rose submit to win her seventh SmackDown Live match in a row. Following her victory, SmackDown GM Paige revealed that “The Irish Lass Kicker” will face Carmella next week in a non-title match which could have SummerSlam consequences.
Elsewhere on the show, Samoa Joe made Tye Dillinger tap in a singles match, SAnitY member Eric Young defeated New Day member Kofi Kingston, and The Miz held a ‘funeral’ for Team Hell No following their defeat against The Bludgeon Brothers at Extreme Rules.
In the main event, Shinsuke Nakamura looked in trouble in his United States Championship match against Jeff Hardy, only for Randy Orton to pull Hardy out of the ring to cause a disqualification before viciously attacking him at ringside.
Let’s take a look at five things that stood out to us from this week’s episode.
#5 Andrade “Cien” Almas was the star of the show
After defeating Sin Cara in a surprisingly entertaining match on SmackDown Live last week, Andrade “Cien” Almas showed exactly why he is the future of the blue brand again this week during his non-title defeat against WWE champion AJ Styles.
The youngest member of the men’s roster on Tuesday nights, Almas took “The Phenomenal One” to his limits during their opening match of the night, and the former NXT champion came across like a credible future challenger for the WWE Championship.
WWE fans are often critical of how NXT Superstars are positioned on the card when they make the step up to the main roster, but nobody can have any complaints about Almas’ gradual rise up the ranks over the last month.