SmackDown Results and Recap: Can’t Handle The Truth TV

On the September 23, 2018 episode of WWE SmackDown Live, we saw an old team splinter, new teams bond, and a disturbing cliffhanger to the WWE Championship contract signing.

The show kicked off with the premiere episode of Truth TV, an in-ring talk show hosted by R-Truth (with the newly-brunette Carmella). Their first guest was Daniel Bryan, and Truth asked him about how “cathartic” it would be to beat the Miz for a shot at the WWE Championship.

After a surprise seven-second dance break, Bryan explained that it wasn’t enough for him to just come back to wrestling: He needs to fully come back as WWE Champion. Just as Bryan was about to discuss his feud with The Miz, the A-lister entered the arena. The Miz said that the reason fans love Daniel Bryan is the same reason he keeps beating him: Bryan fights fair and won’t do “anything it takes” to win, unlike The Miz.

Truth lightened up the heavy confrontation by banning The Miz from Truth TV “for life.” When Miz argued that this wasn’t even Truth’s show, the wrestler/rapper said he would fight The Miz for it “right now!” During another, longer dance break, Miz confronted Paige backstage about the talk show thievery, and the SmackDown GM told him to go out and fight for it.

The Miz was distracted by Bryan on commentary and Carmella at ringside during his match with R-Truth, but he ultimately scored a pretty dominant win. He locked eyes with Bryan as he locked on the Skull Crushing Finale and mockingly did the “YES” pose before he hit the running knee to win the match.

Before Big E vs. Sheamus, The New Day both insulted and complimented The Bar with a “Say Something Nice” Challenge. However, Cesaro cut them off, saying The Bar just wanted to fight, no joking around allowed. Sheamus defeated Big E in a hard-hitting match, one in which neither man had his usual size or power advantage. At one point, E was revived with pancake fumes.

After last week’s betrayal, it looked like the Rusev Day alliance of Rusev, Lana, and Aiden English was over for good. Their verbal confrontation this week confirmed that while also adding some soap opera intrigue: Rusev called for English to explain himself, and English said that he made fans care about Rusev… and Lana’s return ruined everything. He had evidence in the form of video montages, but Lana reminded English and everyone that she managed Rusev for a long time before Rusev Day and even got him a tank for a WrestleMania entrance.

English said Lana had not been totally honest with her husband and cryptically brought up “that night in Milwaukee” before dropping the mic and leaving. Rusev couldn’t stop thinking about what could have happened in Milwaukee, even as Becky Lynch trash talked Lana backstage and Lana prepared for a match against the SmackDown Women’s Champion.

Lynch brought that same ferocity with which she had attacked Charlotte Flair earlier in the day to her match with Lana and quickly tapped out the Ravishing Russian with the Dis-Arm-Her.

On the other hand, the new tag team of Asuka and Naomi has a relationship that is only getting stronger. Asuka stepped up to Mandy Rose backstage when she insulted Naomi’s hair.

Even with their Super Show-Down opponents The IIconics on commentary, Asuka and Naomi quickly defeated the team of former Absolution stablemates Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.

The Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tye Dillinger match for the United States Championship was thrown out after Randy Orton interrupted the bout, brutally attacking Dillinger. Nakamura was opportunistic about this, and rather than help Dillinger, hit him with a Kinshasa after Orton left. Backstage, Orton said Dillinger had no special significance for him; the “Perfect 10 crap” just makes him angry.

The night’s main event contract signing for the AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe’s No Count-out, No DQ Match for the WWE Championship took a disturbing turn. Joe, filming himself with his phone, revealed that he was at the Styles home instead of the arena. He made ominous remarks about AJ’s wife and children, and the episode ended abruptly as he rang the doorbell and said, “Daddy’s home.”