SmackDown Results and Recap: Walk Beckwards Into Hell

Results for SmackDown LIVE – 9/11/18

• Jeff Hardy def. Shinsuke Nakamura, via Disqualification
• Charlotte Flair def. Sonya Deville
• Rusev Day (Rusev & Aiden English) def. The Bar, for the #1 Contendership to the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (at Hell in a Cell)
• Andrade “Cien” Almas def. R-Truth
• Brie Bella def. Maryse, via Disqualification

The September 11, 2018 episode of WWE SmackDown Live opens with an eleven-bell salute to honor the victims of the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. A “U-S-A” chant breaks out among the crowd, which turns into cheers as Jeff Hardy enters the arena for a non-title match against United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.

Before the match, Hardy cuts a promo about overcoming his demons to stand before the WWE Universe as a better man and calls Randy Orton his “most venomous demon,” who he will soon confront in The Viper’s “version of paradise, Hell In A Cell.”

Nakamura dominates the beginning of the match, but Hardy eventually gains momentum… only to be attacked out of nowhere by Orton while he’s setting up for a Swanton Bomb off the top rope. Orton brutally bashes Hardy’s head against the steps, then attacks him with a chair inside the ring, which commentary reminds us will be legal within the Cell on Sunday. Hardy manages to defend himself and take out Orton, retaliating with the chair and hitting a Twist of Fate and a connecting Swanton. These men seem pretty evenly matched going into Hell in a Cell.

Later in the show, we see a similar dynamic between the wrestlers in the upcoming SmackDown Women’s Championship match. Like Hardy, Charlotte Flair has the opportunity to gain upward momentum for her pay-per-view match against an old rival—although, for her, it’s Sonya Deville.

Flair and Deville have an entertaining, aggressive match, which Flair wins by tapping out the former Absolution member with the Figure Eight. She stops during her exit to take a selfie with fans but is attacked by another “fan” who turns out to be Becky Lynch in a wig and glasses. The Lass Kicker gets mixed boos and cheers for her quick and brutal assault on her former friend and saying she’ll take the title home with her on Sunday.

We don’t see either competitor in the upcoming WWE Championship match wrestle this week, but we do see pre-recorded promos from both AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. Styles, in the empty venue before the show, admits that Joe has gotten to him through his temper and his family, but when the bell rings, no one has the upper hand on the Phenomenal One.

Samoa Joe gets more creative, with a bizarre, sinister, rhyming promo about how when he defeats Styles he’ll become WWE Champion and “man of the house”—reiterating his threats about taking over “The House That AJ Styles” built and destroying his family.

The other important thing that happens outside of the ring on this episode of SmackDown is the formation of what looks like a new popular tag team: Asuka and Naomi. Despite the language barrier and a lot of personal differences, they seem to get along great, and hopefully we’ll see them in action next week.

Stakes are a lot higher for our previously established tag teams in the men’s division. Rusev Day defeats The Bar in a hard-hitting match to win the right to face the New Day at Hell in a Cell for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. The match ends with a great moment of teamwork and friendship when Aiden English shoves Rusev out of the way of a Brogue Kick and takes the blow himself, giving Rusev a moment to recover and pin Sheamus after a Machka Kick.

Before the main event, we get a short match in which Andrade “Cien” Almas (with Zelina Vega) defeats R-Truth (with Carmella). R-Mella enter the match as a very cute and fun future Mixed Match Challenge team, but they definitely have some tension by the end. Carmella pushes Vega out of the Tranquilo pose during the match, and Truth tries to grab Almas while this distracts him, but Almas counters for a quick rollup victory over Truth instead. It’s a smart victory for El Idolo, and hopefully—especially for fans of his work in NXT and Mexico—indicates bigger things in store for the lucha libre star.

The night’s main event is Brie Bella vs. Maryse, which is both women’s return to one-on-one competition after having children, and Maryse’s first singles match in seven years.

But it looks like Maryse doesn’t really want to fight. Instead, she taunts Brie and quickly exits the ring. Bella grabs a mic and calls her a coward, which leads The Miz to get offended and shout back. The Miz says Brie and the city don’t deserve this match, and the It Couple will just see their opponents at Hell in a cell Cell.

As Miz and Maryse start to exit, Bella attacks Maryse and rolls her back in the ring while Bryan fends off The Miz. Miz soon makes it into the ring and dodges a punch from Bryan, only to eat one from Bella. The stars of Total Bellas look like they have the upper hand going into Hell in a Cell as their conniving opponents—stars of Miz & Mrs.—retreat from the ring.