SmackDown Live Report Card - June 12, 2018

Shinsuke Nakamura v. Jeff Hardy (also for the first time ever)

Jeff Hardy with a great reaction to Shinsuke Nakamura's shenanigans...

Next up on SmackDown Live was the third of three first-time matches when the WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy took on Shinsuke Nakamura head of his Last Man Standing Match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship Sunday.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I LOVE heel Shinsuke Nakamura! His heel brilliance (not to be confused with Broken Brilliance) was on display in this non-tile match against Hardy.

This 10-minute match was just a little taste of what these guys can do on a future pay per view (hopefully). At several points in the match it appeared that Hardy was going to go the upset, but just at the right time, Nakamura landed one of his patented low blows to cause the disqualification.

If Nakamura doesn't defeat Styles for the WWE Championship at Money In The Bank, I fully expect him to take the WWE United States Championship from Hardy next month at Extreme Rules.

GRADE: B+