5 Takeaways From SmackdownLive - 6/26/18

This is my series, simply known as "5 Takeaways", where I will share my personal main talking points coming out of Raw and SmackdownLive.

These are all my opinion, so I may miss a nugget or two. If you have something to add to my list, or a list of your own, feel free to share in the comment section below!

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Other than WWE champion AJ Styles and Women's champion Carmella, the list of superstars who weren't on Smackdown this week included Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura (apparently due to injury), The Bar, Charlotte Flair, Asuka, and The Iiconics, among others.

It's interesting how WWE managed to make a decent (not great) episode of Smackdown while lacking all of that star power.

I said it once and I'll say it again. James Ellsworth is a great help to keep Carmella's character fresh and entertaining. He came out and talked smack on Asuka before Paige made their rematch official for Extreme Rules.

Ellsworth was put on the spot for coming out when he knows Asuka isn't there, but he thought Paige wanted to ask him on a date. Moments later, we learned Ellsworth's "date" will be next week... in a match with Asuka.

This was a great little segment, and hopefully we'll get to see a full-fledged beatdown by the Empress of Tomorrow. That would be very fun to watch.

After coming mere fingertips away from winning the Money in the Bank briefcase (she literally unclasped the handle), Becky Lynch has put together a nice string of victories. After defeating Billie Kay last week, Sonya Deville suffered the same fate on this episode.

The match was solid, and shows how well both of these women can work in the ring. I'm holding out hope this is for a storyline that will eventually lead to a Becky Lynch title run.

Seriously? After the long awaited arrival of the group known as Sanity, they lose their debut match... in an impromptu six man tag against Jeff Hardy and The Usos.

This makes no sense to me. If you want a group like these guys to be feared on the main roster, they should have won this match handily. For example, Jeff Hardy could have been "injured" and removed from the match, then The Usos should have been annihilated by the trio.

This way, you don't have the US champion take the pinfall, and Sanity is immediately taken very seriously.

The ending of Smackdown was a feel-good moment. After a rather average match between Daniel Bryan and Harper, Kane returned and made the save. After some hesitation, the former partners hugged it out.

Finding out that Team Hell No is back, and are getting a tag team title match at Extreme Rules was an awesome way to end the show. I am really excited to watch Team Hell No's final WWE run, and hopefully they recapture the tag titles in the process.