The September 4th, 2018 edition of WWE SmackDown Live took place at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI.
– Renee Young is in the ring to kick off SmackDown, and she introduces Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella. They make their way down to the ring for an interview as the crowd chants Daniel Bryan’s name. Renee shows them a recap of the attack on them last week, and footage of The Miz and Maryse challenging them before SmackDown started. Bryan says they’re here now and now is the time to fight, and Brie calls out Miz and Maryse to come face them right now. Renee informs them that while Miz and Maryse were here earlier, they left. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega come out next to interrupt. Almas and Zelina cut a brief promo, and then Zelina informs Bryan & Bella that they are going to do the same thing they did last week, right now. It looks like we have Bryan and Almas in singles action up next.
– Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas: We’re told that Paige made this match official during the commercial break. The opening bell sounds and Bryan and Almas trade holds on the mat evenly in the opening moments. Bryan looks for the Yes Lock early on, but Almas reaches the ropes to break the hold. The fight spills outside where Almas turns things around. Back in the ring, Almas looks for a running knee strike in the corner, but Bryan dodges it and Almas falls out to ringside again. Bryan looks for a cross-body off the apron on Almas on the floor, but Almas blocks it with a dropkick. Back in the ring, Bryan turns things around and hits a series of kicks in the corner before a running dropkick to the face. Bryan looks for a back-superplex, but Almas elbows him away. Almas follows up with a moonsault for a two count. Bryan comes back with more Yes Kicks, but Almas ducks one and face-plants Bryan into the middle turnbuckle. Almas hits the running double knee strike and Bryan is hurt. Almas wants the hammerlock DDT, but Bryan escapes, and Bryan also escapes a spinning back elbow attempt. Bryan comes back with a running knee to the face for the three count.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
– After the match, Brie attacks Zelina and hits a running knee to the face. As Bryan and Bella are celebrating, The Miz and Maryse appear on the big screen to interrupt. Miz says they’re taking the night off to go on a date at the best restaurant in Detroit, but they shut it down so they don’t have to eat with anyone from Detroit. Miz says they were there earlier, but since Daniel and Brie weren’t, they’ll have to wait until Hell In A Cell to get their shot at them. Miz and Maryse sign off, and Bryan and Bella head to the back.
– Back from the break, Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella are shown exiting the arena with their bags. They say they’re going to get dinner now at the same restaurant as Miz and Maryse.
– Charlotte and Becky Lynch now join the broadcast team via camera for an interview, from separate locations in the building. Becky gets the loudest reaction from the crowd. Charlotte says she knows Becky thinks she deserved the Women’s Title, but Charlotte wasn’t going to just lay down for her, and Becky lost. They exchange words and Charlotte says Becky has been blindsiding her, and she wants Becky to try coming after her face to face. Becky says she’s done asking and she’s starting taking. Becky trashes Charlotte, and Charlotte says at Hell In A Cell she’s going to prove Becky is second best. The broadcast team informs us that Charlotte vs. Becky in a Women’s Title match has been officially booked for Hell In A Cell.
– Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton at Hell In A Cell has also been officially booked, and coming up later tonight will be a video package looking at Jeff Hardy’s career.
– Naomi vs. Peyton Royce: Peyton and Billie cut a brief promo on the ramp before the match. The opening bell sounds and Peyton wastes some time, so Naomi goes right after her with an elbow to the face. They trade strikes now and Billie Kay hits a cheao-shot from ringisde behind the ref’s back. Peyton talks some trash and goes for a kick, but Naomi ducks and connects with a kick of her own. Naomi takes out Billie at ringside and then kicks down Peyton. Naomi springboards over the top rope from the apron into the ring with a sunset flip on Peyton for the three count.
Winner: Naomi
– The bell rings after a short match, and The Iiconics both immediately begin beating down Naomi. Asuka’s music hits and it looks like she’s coming out for the save. Asuka runs down the ramp and beats down Peyton and BIllie. Asuka hits some suplexes and then a Shining Wizard on Peyton. Asuka then checks on Naomi at ringside.
– We go to a video package looking at the feud between Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy, including footage of some of Jeff’s biggest dives and spots. Jeff says he has taken more risks and defied more limits than anyone in WWE, and he has always done it to defend his honor. He says he’s never had a reason to do it inside the Hell In A Cell, until now, and for the first time ever at the pay-per-view, he will soar higher than the heavens.
– The Miz and Maryse are back at the arena, and they step into Paige’s office. Paige lets them know that Daniel and Brie left, and Miz acts surprised. Paige says now that Miz is back, he will have to compete in a match tonight, against anyone who wants to face him. Miz tries to talk his way out of it, but Paige says if he doesn’t compete tonight he’s fired.
– We see a promotional video for the upcoming May Young Classic 2018.
– R-Truth is walking backstage with his sunglasses on, when he spots who he thinks is Carmella. She turns around to revel that it’s Maryse, who says she can’t believe Truth mistook her for that “Staten Island trash.” Miz walks over and asks what’s going on. Truth says he’s trying to book a match with Carmella, but she can’t handle the truth. Miz asks Truth not to speak to his wife like that, and Truth seems confused that Miz is married to Carmella. Miz trashes Truth and says he hasn’t been relevant since they teamed together 7 years ago, and says he’s a joke. Truth says he doesn’t know what Carmella sees in Miz, and he walks off.
– Samoa Joe’s music hits, and the broadcast team seems confused by his presence as he makes his way out to the ring. Joe gets on the mic and says that AJ isn’t here tonight, so that means the Styles family is taking his threats seriously. Joe says last week he said he would go to AJ’s house, so they’re probably locked down fearing of a home invasion. Joe says that’s not going to happen because Joe is not a monster, and he says he did AJ’s wife a favor by making AJ stay home on a Tuesday night. Joe says his actions have forced AJ to care about his family. Joe says at Hell In A Cell he’s coming to take AJ’s Championship and put him to sleep. AJ Styles appears on the big screen and calls out Joe for threatening his family. AJ’s music hits, and Joe looks confused. AJ comes out from behind the curtain and stares down AJ from the stage. AJ runs down the ramp and hits the ring, and they go at it. Joe takes control early with a series of strikes, but AJ turns things around and pummels on Joe in the corner. The fight spills out to ringside, where Joe whips AJ into the ring steps. Joe grabs a steel chair, but AJ comes leaping off the ring steps with a Phenomenal Forearm to drop him. AJ picks up the steel chair and swings, but Joe ducks and it hits the ring post. Referees run out and hold AJ back as Joe hobbles up the ramp. AJ runs through the ring to hit a springboard suicide dive off the top onto Joe and some referees. Paige and more referees come out to haul off AJ.
– R-Truth is backstage going over strategy with Tye Dillinger. Truth is still searching for Carmella. Tye points her out and Truth walks over. Truth asks her if she’s seen Carmella, and she points out that she is Carmella. Truth asks if Carmella will call a truce with her to walk him out for his match with Miz tonight. Truth tells her that “other Carmella” called her Staten Island trash. Carmella gets mad now and says she’s going to rip apart Maryse, and she walks off. It appears Carmella will be accompanying Truth to the ring later tonight. Truth tells Tye he just gave him a lesson on how to get yourself into the main event on SmackDown Live.
– Tom Phillips informs us from the broadcast table that Paige has officially booked R-Truth vs. The Mi for tonight’s main event.
– We go to a video package looking over Randy Orton’s career next, including his Hell In A Cell matches.
– The Usos vs. Sanity vs. Rusev Day: As Sanity makes their entrance, Aiden English interrupts from off-camera. Aiden comes out on the stage and sings, then introduces Rusev with Lana. The opening bell sounds and Rusev Day and The Usos start this off trading tags and battling back and forth. Killian Dain gets involved from ringside and then Eric Young comes in and works over Uso. Young and Dain trade tags now and take turns beating on Jey Uso. Dain hits a fisherman’s suplex on Jey for a two count, then he applies a chin lock. Dain dropkicks Jey to the outside, then Eric Young tags and hits a flying elbow off the apron onto Jey on the ringside floor. Back in the ring, Jimmy Uso finally gets the tag and cleans house. Jimmy kicks Eric Young down and then hits the running hip attack in the corner. Rusev tags in now and he’s next to beat on EY. Rusev drops Young with a spinning heel kick, then looks for the Accolade. Alexander Wolf distracts Rusev from the apron, which leads to Eric Young hitting a neckbreaker on Rusev. Jimmy Uso gets a blind tag and comes flying off the top with a splash and covers, but Aiden English breaks up the ramp. Dain runs in and takes out English, then Jey runs in and drops Dain. Jey runs the ropes and hits a suicide dive on Sanity at ringside, and Rusev gets the blind tag off Jey’s back. Rusev runs the ropes now but Jey hits him from the apron. English hits a DDT on Jey on the apron, and then Young rolls up Rusev from behind, but English breaks it up. The distraction from English leads to Rusev hitting a big boot to the face of Young for the three count.
Winners: Rusev Day
– As Rusev Day and Lana celebrate in the ring, Sheamus and Cesaro come out to the stage to taunt the winners. The Bar faces Rusev Day next week, and the winners will face The New Day at Hell In A Cell.
– We see The Miz warming up backstage, and Corey Graves tells us on commentary that Carmella has now officially agreed to accompany R-Truth tonight. Tom Phillips then introduces a video package looking at their work with the Connor’s Cure group.
– They show a video package looking at the return of the Mixed Match Tag Challenge.
– The Miz and Maryse come down to the ring, and they’ve got microphones. The Miz reminds everyone that when his hand goes up their mouths go shut. The Miz shows us footage again of the attack on Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella last week, and says that Daniel Bryan is the one who is the coward now. Carmella comes out to interrupt, and then R-Truth comes out and they sing his entrance song on the way down to the ring. Our main event is up next.
– The Miz vs. R-Truth: Carmella and Maryse are both at ringside for this one. R-Truth starts off strong on this one and hits a leg drop for a two count. Truth pummels on Miz in the corner and then hits a spinning heel kick. The Miz comes back with a knee to the midsection, then he takes a moment to recover while Truth is down. The Miz stomps on truth and pins for a two count. The Miz follows up with a neckbreaker and backbreaker for another two count. Miz hits the “yes kicks” until Truth grabs his leg to stop them and rolls up Miz for a two count. Truth fires up with some clotheslines and a spinning forearm shot. Truth hits a splash in the corner and then he looks for the axe kick, but Miz dodges it. Miz hits a DDT for a two count. The Miz wastes some time imitating Daniel Bryan and then looks for the running knee strike, but Truth dodges it and hits a spinning heel kick. Truth looks for a back suplex, but Miz lands on his feet and takes out Truth’s knee. Miz looks for a Figure Four but Truth reverses into a pin. Miz immediately gets up and boots Truth in the face. As The Miz sets up for the Skull Crushing Finale, Daniel Bryan’s music hits for the distraction. This leads to R-Truth rolling up The Miz in a pin for the three count.
Winner: R-Truth
– Immediately after the match, Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella hit the ring. Bryan beats down Miz and Brie attacks Maryse. Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega come out next and attack Bryan and Bella. Bryan and Bella turn things around and they each put Almas and Vega in the Yes Lock. The Miz and Maryse watch on from the stage. The Miz looks like he’s about to hit the ring, but Bryan gets to his feet and Miz stops in his tracks and backs off. Daniel Bryan leads the crowd in a “yes” chant as SmackDown goes off the air.
