Match Ratings For Smackdown Live 3/6/18 From Sean Ross Sapp, Plus Podcast Notes!

Opening segment

• Dasha Fuentes brings out Charlotte and Ruby Riott. Byron Saxton talks about how tough last week's attack was, which seemed about as tough as any Riott Squad attack.
• I'm a little indifferent of the Riott promo delivery. She uses the crappy "you see" line to set up stories, but for the drivel she's given almost never stumbles. She says she doesn't like that Charlotte has been handed everything, which Charlotte disputes.
• Riott Squad look ready to attack until Bobby Roode's music hits. Like, is he gonna beat them up? Oh, it's to start another segment. Even in storyline this show isn't timed out well.

Jinder Mahal (w/ Sunil Singh) defeated Randy Orton
4.5/10

• There is nothing special about this match until Sunil Singh gets Singh bombed on a table. This is standard procedure.
• Bobby Roode gets on the apron after he was taken out, and Jinder wins with a Khallas after running Orton into Roode.
• This wasn't fun. I can't imagine Sunday will be fun either. 

Backstage crappenings

• New Day and Usos video vignette. It's good stuff. I'm sure their match will be a banger on Sunday.
• Shinsuke Nakamura is backstage and says he hopes that AJ Styles wins Sunday. He's confronted by Rusev Day. Nakamura will face Rusev at Fastlane. Cool!

Becky Lynch defeated Carmella
5/10

• We don't get enough Carmella entrances. Also, I miss Ellsworth.
• This is Carmella's first televised one on one match since October 10, and it's not a pretty one starting out.
• Carmella is what she is in the ring. She won't be accused of being the most polished worker in the world, but she sticks to what she knows for the most part.
• Becky's sell of a Carmella kick is particularly good. So is her Bexploder. There's a great wheelbarrow headlock from Carmella that gets countered into Disarmher.
• Naomi is watching backstage. I don't know how or why she fits in here, but okay. Natalya comes in and delivers some really terrible dialogue. Naomi is pretty good here. Naomi & Becky will face Natalya & Carmella on Sunday. 

Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler
6.25/10

• Styles comes out and runs down the math of a six-way match. Ziggler interrupts and cuts one of his better promos about how he overcame being told he'd never be a champion in the company. Styles wants a match right now. 
• This is a good, back and forth match that sees Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn run in. So Shane McMahon adds Baron Corbin to the match and it becomes a fatal-5 way. 
• The match here is fine, too, but this is a problem with the creativity and WWE programming. By the time the PPV comes around, there's nothing special about seeing these guys wrestle one another. 
• Zayn hits a great Blue Thunder Bomb, and a series of false finishes go down. WWE usually hits the mark pretty well on matches with three or more people in it, and this is no exception.
• Zayn cracks KO with a Helluva kick! Pin! Interesting. This was a good match.