SmackDown Results and Recap: Carbon Hoofprint

Kimberly Schueler
Charlotte, Asuka (source: WWE)

With the TLC pay-per-view days away, WWE SmackDown LIVE was firing on all cylinders on December 11, 2018. The eventful episode included a first-time ever match between WWE Champion Daniel Bryan and 205 Live’s Mustafa Ali, a WrestleMania rematch between Charlotte Flair and Asuka, a rap battle, and more.


The episode opened with the entrance of WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, who decided to cut a promo on the Las Vegas audience before his scheduled match with 205 Live’s Mustafa Ali. He apologized to sheep for calling the WWE Universe “sheep” last week, because sheep—who aren’t destroying the planet, as there’s no such thing as a “carbon hoofprint”—didn’t deserve that. Bryan instead called the booing audience “parasites” and started in on his TLC challenger, AJ Styles, until he was finally cut off by Ali’s music.

Bryan told Ali that they shouldn’t have their scheduled match because the audience would be too “mindless, xenophobic… consumed by their own consumption” to remember it. But Ali instead asked Bryan what happened to him, to the underdog hero that inspired Ali and most of the other wrestlers on 205 Live to become WWE Superstars. Bryan didn’t respond to Ali’s declaration that “the old Daniel Bryan, he would want to fight. And that’s what I want, a fight,” but he was moved to violence by Ali telling him that he drove an SUV. Bryan slapped Ali in the face and called him “ignorant,” and the match was on.

Ali hit his signature Spanish Fly on Bryan during a commercial break but couldn’t capitalize and was trapped in a Yes Lock. Ali managed to make an offensive comeback, but Bryan brutally worked his legs against the ring post and then tapped him out. After the match, Bryan attacked Ali again on the entranceway in a similar way to how he attacked AJ Styles last week, targeting his leg and knee with a heel hook and stomps.


The New Day, The Bar, and The Usos—the participants in Sunday’s SmackDown Tag Team Championship triple threat match—entered the ring for a rap battle. The hosts, The New Day, revealed that the Bar—clad in matching tracksuits and chains that might cause LL Cool J to sue them for gimmick infringement—requested this. The Bar cut an extremely old-school diss rap in the style of “Ice Ice Baby” that almost cracked the other teams up. But The Usos delivered some bars more reminiscent of slam poetry, and the crowd got into their insults a lot more. The champions got so worked up by this rap that they attacked The Usos. However, The Usos kicked them out of the ring and squared off with The New Day; but The Bar, reminding everyone they’re way better at beat-downs than beat-boxing, ended up taking out both teams.


After a commercial break, we saw The Miz in the ring holding the “Best in the World” trophy. He said it was Shane McMahon’s week for custody of it, but he was holding it hostage until Shane got in the ring and listened to what he had to say. Once the SmackDown Commissioner was in the ring, The Miz said this was about something more, and he then called for a referee.

It looked like we might see Shane McMahon vs. The Miz, but the A-Lister revealed they would face “Las Vegas’ finest, Chip and Chad.” A pair of local wrestlers entered the arena, danced briefly on the ring apron, and then attacked Shane from behind. Shane, still in street clothes and clearly unprepared for a match, had to fight off both men. But Once he had started fighting, Shane committed to the match and won it without ever tagging in his partner—in fact, he tapped out an opponent with a triangle choke.

Backstage, the Vegas Brothers gave Paige an unofficial contract from The Miz saying they would get $5,000 if they attacked Shane McMahon. (She did not appreciate that.)

Later, Shane McMahon confronted The Miz about paying off the wrestlers. The Miz said he only did it because he knew Shane’s fighter instincts would kick in. He explained that their “Best in the World” status meant so much to him because, despite all of his achievements, he was never considered one of the best until Shane McMahon won the World Cup in his place. The Miz held his hand out to shake, but Shane, still hurt by the deception, walked away.


Randy Orton entered the ring to cut a promo about his upcoming chairs match against Rey Mysterio at TLC. He said he doesn’t understand why Mysterio is okay with facing him in this match, because: “Rey is my victim and victims don’t get revenge.” But Mysterio interrupted Orton’s monologue by attacking him from behind with a chair. After eating a 619, Orton left the ring while Mysterio brandished a chair, looking ready for Sunday’s match and not at all like a victim.


A pair of heroic allies (Jeff Hardy and Rusev) faced some villainous rivals (Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura) in a tag team match with a meaningful result. After Hardy spent the first portion of the match trapped in Joe and Nakamura’s corner, Rusev was finally tagged in—to huge cheers—against the United States Champion. He won the match by pinning the man he recently challenged.


Backstage, earlier in the show, we saw a pre-recorded promo from Asuka about how Charlotte Flair is not ready for her. Separately, Flair countered that “The Queen doesn’t break. She breaks undefeated streaks.” We also saw a brief interview with Becky Lynch backstage, who said she didn’t think her opponents facing off will give her an advantage in her first match back from injury at TLC, but she would be scouting from ringside during the show’s main event.

Like their WrestleMania 34 match, Flair vs. Asuka II was hard-hitting and extremely good. Neither woman held anything back, delivering submissions, high-impact moves, and trash talk. It looked like Asuka might lose the same way she did back in April when Flair was able to lock on a Figure Four, but “The Empress” reversed the submission before Flair could bridge into the devastating Figure Eight. Flair tried to weaken Asuka’s legs by attacking them against the ringpost—similarly to how Bryan had attacked Ali at the beginning of the show. However, Asuka wouldn’t stay down, and an Asuka Lock after some Kawada kicks looked like to might be the end of the match… but this time Flair escaped her opponent’s death-sentence submission.

Both women ended up outside of the ring, near Lynch on commentary. At this point, Flair snapped and grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring. She proceeded to beat Asuka with it and get herself disqualified, just like in her match with Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series. Asuka and Flair are now 1-1, but with Asuka’s win caused by her opponent, no one could imagine this really satisfies the former NXT Women’s Champion.

After Lynch said something to her, Flair then attacked both “The Man” and Asuka with the stick. Lynch gained control of the weapon, but it was Asuka who ended the episode standing tall. She threw Lynch over the announce table, beat both of her TLC opponents, and held the stick high, cheered on by the crowd.

cartchevron-leftchevron-rightemail-share-iconfacebook-share-icongoogle-share-iconlinkedin-share-iconlocked megaphone play-signshirtstartvtwitter-share-iconunlocked user-signuserCrossed Legs Ronda Rousey Pointing