WWE Smackdown Live Match Ratings And Notes For 5/15/18 From Sean Ross Sapp

Opening segment

• I thought for sure I was done with this goddamn Kid Rock song.
• No surprise, but Daniel Bryan gets an amazing reception. The crowd won't even let Renee Young speak. 
• Daniel Bryan says he was happy to just be back, but that's not enough anymore, and he will become WWE Champion.
• Big Cass comes out and says the only reason he tapped out to Daniel Bryan was so he could get up and beat Bryan up again, and Bryan will never shake his seven foot shadow.
• Cass cut what I thought was a really good promo calling Bryan a loser, saying Brie wears the pants and Bryan should retire.
• Bryan beats the living shit out of Cass, punching him in the face and attacking the knee. To be honest, babyface Daniel Bryan working like a heel would be great.

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Money in the Bank Qualifier
New Day (w/ Kofi Kingston) defeated The Bar
6.25/10

• Miz is on commentary.
• Xavier Woods immediately gets a nice tope con hilo. Cesaro counters the inverted Infrared with BRUTE STRENGTH. Then the Bar hit a back suplex/flying double axe handle.
• Big E is such a great talent. A great talent that gets double DDT'd. Sheamus then gets sent into the ring post, while Big E is in an extended Sharpshooter.
• Xavier goes outside-in on a DDT, then gets that inverted Infrared.
• Miz is really putting over everyone on commentary.
• YOLO DIVE. Ropewalk elbow drop, pin!

Backstage Crappenings

• Paige tells Carmella via phone she can't get a horse drawn carriage. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville are given a qualifying match against Becky Lynch. I thought all three did great in this segment.  
• Renee Young interviews AJ Styles about the stipulation he'll pick if he wins. Nakamura pretends he can't speak English, and says he'll beat Styles. Confused why they're having a match to have another match.
• I like the "Superstar Facts." Telling us things commentary should be.
• Rusev and Aiden English are backstage hanging out and singing in their private locker room. Lana shows up and says she's got a MITB Qualifying Match next week against Billie Kay.
• Samoa Joe hardly discriminates, and informs Big Cass via selfie promo he's going to whip his ass. IIconics aren't as hip to the selfie promo, but still cut a good one. 

Andrade 'Cien' Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Jake Constantino

• Andrade 'Cien' Almas is a breath of fresh air that this show needs.
• He gets an overhand chop and double knees in the corner. Hammerlock DDT. Pin.
• Ah, they wrote for Zelina. Womp womp womp. 

Mellabration

• Carmella has Queens Guards and everything.
• Carmella's transformation into Ariana Grande is nearly complete.
• We get a bunch of dumb royal references. At least Carmella is really good at delivering the lines.
• "HELL, I'M BETTER THAN TRISH STRATUS AND LITA COMBINED." Who wrote this?
• Paige comes out and announces Asuka as Carmella's Money in the Bank opponent. She comes out and dances.

Money in the Bank Qualifier
Becky Lynch defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville
4/10

• Man Sonya and Mandy both have shitty music.  
• This is where I'll put over Sonya Deville's strikes. They're some of the best around.
• Mandy tries to roll up Sonya. You know. Just like almost every match we've seen so far. We go to commercial on that.
• Sonya clocks Mandy before the commercial is over. Questionable decision.
• There's a mushroom stomp style knee from Sonya. Once she works on that, it'll look really good. 
• Mandy Rose hits Angel's Wings, but Sonya stops the pin.
• Becky dropkicks Mandy, who has Sonya on her shoulders. This looks shitty.
• Deville's kicks and knees don't look shitty, and are maybe the most convincing thing of the match. Again, she's great at them.
• Mandy accidentally knees Sonya, and Becky submits Rose. 
• This was a rough watch.

Winner picks MITB stipulation
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated AJ Styles
7.5/10

• Styles flies over the top rope with a forearm, but Nakamura kicks Styles on the apron and drills him with a knee. 
• Nakamura connects with a great flying kick and a dragon sleeper.  Styles gets out and runs a sliding forearm into Nakamura's face, and follows with a sloppy inverted powerbomb that was more Nakamura's fault than anything.
• Nakamura fires back with an ankle wheel kick and the Landslide for two. 
• This is developing into the best match these two have had since Wrestle Kingdom. They're going back and forth with stiff strikes, and Styles gets tripped up on the top rope by Nakamura. 
• Shinsuke avoids a Styles Clash, only to get Ushigoroshi'd.
• Nakamura with a Kinshasa, but Styles kicks out at two. Nakamura goes for another, but a Styles spinning heel kick hits. 
• Nakamura fakes being punched RIGHT IN THE PENIS, and gets the pin after a reverse exploder and Kinshasa !