Layin' da SmackDown - SmackDown Live recap for April 17, 2018

"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles shows up to start tonight's show. Styles says that you can tell a lot about a man through his failures, and that we have learned all we need to know about "The Artist" Shinsuke Nakamura. He says that he dreamed about their WrestleMania match, and in the end, he succeeded and Nakamura failed, and that Nakamura showed his true colors and proved himself a con artist after the match. Last week, he should have been celebrating, but all he had on his mind was retribution against Nakamura. He was also presented with a real dream match against Daniel Bryan. During the match, Nakamura then showed his true colors again and ruined that match. He refuses to let it go, and he will not leave the match until he confronts Nakamura. He says that Nakamura may have conveniently forgotten how to speak English, but he is here for a fight, not a conversation. Instead of Nakamura, however, Styles gets Aiden English and Rusev. Aiden English sings that he knows it is not them he wanted, and that Nakamura is not here tonight. He then raps that if Styles wants a fight, he can have it with Rusev. Styles then says that since it is Rusev Day and Nakamura has no spine, they might as well fight right now. This starts a match that ends as quickly as it began after Aiden English interferes. As Rusev and English stomp Styles, Daniel Bryan runs into the ring and helps even the odds for Styles.

Backstage, Commissioner Shane McMahon is met by General Manager Paige, who makes a tag team match between the team of Rusev and Aiden English and the team of "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan official for tonight. Shane also confirms that The Miz is coming back to SmackDown Live "by Daniel Bryan's request."

Shelton Benjamin - now without Chad Gable due to Gable being moved over to Raw during the Superstar Shake-up - shows up. Last night on Twitter, Shelton says he called Gable "an inspirational partner" and that he sees a bright future for him. He also says his Twitter account got hacked and that he would not say anything like that as he never needed Chad Gable; instead, Gable needed him. Benjamin says he needs the respect he deserves and championship opportunities that he is owed, as he is one of the biggest threats on SmackDown Live. He has asked General Manager Paige to send him some big competition. Big competition comes to Shelton Benjamin comes in the form of Randy Orton. Orton stops halfway down the ramp, however, and he is accompanied by Jeff Hardy, who officially brings the WWE United States Championship from Raw to SmackDown Live. Orton is beside himself, as Hardy ends up getting in the ring with Shelton instead of him.

Jeff Hardy beats Shelton Benjamin.

We hear from The Miz. He says Daniel Bryan directed a tweet at him asking how long he has to wait to punch Miz's face. After asking the crowd if they want to see it, he then says he is in Los Angeles with Maryse and his daughter Monroe Sky. He then announces he will make his SmackDown Live premiere next week, and if Daniel Bryan tries to troll him again, he will kick his ass. After Maryse warns him about his language in front of his daughter, Miz says next week will be awesome.

Harper beats Jey Uso. After the match, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) attack The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso). They are about to hit Jimmy with their mallets when Naomi runs down to the ring to protect him. The Bludgeon Brothers decide to leave Jimmy and Naomi alone and slowly walk backwards up the entrance ramp.

Samoa Joe beats Sin Cara with the Coaquina Clutch in his SmackDown Live debut. After the match, Samoa Joe says SmackDown Live is more like "the land of hand-outs" than "the land of opportunities," as everyone has had it easy on SmackDown Live in his absence. He says the blue brand has been coddled, catered to, and convinced they are better than they are before saying that this all changes now and that he will put Daniel Bryan to sleep, defang Randy Orton and emasculate and decimate "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles. He then says if there are any non-believers, he will make them believers at Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash, and he will promise that whatever is left of Roman Reigns after Brock Lesnar beats his ass again will be shredded and put out to pasture for good. However, if by some miraculous happenstance, Roman Reigns is victorious, then he will bring back his newly-won Intercontinental Championship and tear the Universal Championship from his waist. He then ends by saying "Believe that.".

SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain, Nikki Cross) is coming to SmackDown Live!

Renee Young interviews Daniel Bryan, who says he saved "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles because he respects him. He says that he has wanted to face AJ Styles in WWE, for he is the best. Daniel Bryan wanted to prove he had not lost a step against Styles, but "The Artist" Shinsuke Nakamura ruined the match. Nevertheless, he is glad to team with Styles, as they will face each other again. All of a sudden, Big Cass shows up, wondering what all the fuss about Daniel Bryan is about before calling Daniel "little man." He then leaves.

Carmella shows up for her SmackDown Women's Championship "'Mellabration." Carmella accuses the crowd of jumping on her bandwagon now that she is a champion when they never supported her to begin with, then says she is not "The Princess of Staten Island" anymore; instead, she is the Crown Princess of SmackDown Live. She then says she waited 287 long days to take her time and pick her moment to become SmackDown Women's Champion, and that she beat Charlotte Flair to do it. Carmella goes on to beat the woman who broke Asuka's undefeated streak all on her own, and that all she had to do is wait for Charlotte to be blinded by her own ego. She then says to be the woman, you've got to be the woman, and that she is indeed the woman. She calls her title win historic and says it will be the biggest moment not only in the Women's Revolution, but all of women's history. Carmella then shows a video package on the TitanTron that chronicles her road to becoming SmackDown Women's Championship from winning the Women's Money In The Bank briefcase to her title win last week. Carmella then admits she will miss her Money In The Break briefcase, affectionately named "Frankie," and says she will keep the SmackDown Women's title - which she calls "Cleopatra" - longer than she kept "Frankie." All of a sudden, Charlotte Flair shows up. She tells Carmella that her title reign is a lot like her memory - short - and that the only reason she had the briefcase was because of James Ellsworth and the only reason she has the title is because of The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce). She then says she knows "the dirtiest player in the game" and that "game respects game." After congratulating Carmella on her title win, she tells her it is much harder to stay on top than it is to get there, and she has something of hers. Suddenly, The IIconics show up. Billie tells Charlotte that it is pathetic that she is blaming them for her failure, then Peyton calls Charlotte "a big baby" as she mocks her. Billie says Peyton's mockery of Charlotte is spot-on, then asks what Charlotte is crying about as she asked for magic and they gave it to her when they made the SmackDown Women's title disappear from her waist. Peyton then says this moment will last forever, and it is all because of them. They then say Charlotte is looking at the future and that the future is iconic. Charlotte looks at Carmella form the apron, then gets down and tries to fight The IIconics off at ringsde. The numbers game takes over until Becky Lynch runs out and makes the save for Charlotte. Referees have to break up the brawl.

Carmella guests at the commentary table for the next match.

Charlotte Flair beats Billie Kay with the Figure Eight. After the match, Carmella attacks Charlotte from behind with the SmackDown Women's Championship. Becky Lynch goes after Carmella, but she is ganged up on by Carmella and Peyton Royce. Carmmella and Peyton continue to attack Charlotte and Becky until Asuka shows up. Asuka runs into the ring and quickly decimates The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) and Carmella along with Becky and Charlotte.

Gallows & Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) are officially coming to SmackDown Live.

We hear from Sheamus and Cesaro. They list off their accomplishments on Raw, then announce they are coming to SmackDown Live to raise the bar on the tag team division.

Backstage, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods) make fun of Sheamus and Cesaro when they run into R-Truth. All of a sudden, "The Perfect Ten" Tye Dillinger confronts R-Truth before they do their own custom handshake. R-Truth then says they are all together on Raw. He is quickly corrected, then R-Truth says "My bad," before saying he will see them all tomorrow.

We hear from Zelina Vega and Andrade "Cien" Almas. Vega announces they are taking over SmackDown Live.

It is announced that Rusev will face The Undertaker in a Casket Match at Greatest Royal Rumble.

"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan beat Rusev and Aiden English following a low blow to Styles by "The Artist" Shinsuke Nakamura and big boot to Daniel Bryan by Big Cass. Afterwards, Renee Young interviews "The Artist" Shinsuke Nakamura, who simply says "No speak English."

Here's the top 10 moments from tonight's show!