Our WWE SmackDown results for tonight include Damian Priest & LA Knight teaming up to take on Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa, Jade Cargill and Nia Jax clashing in a WWE Women’s Championship #1 Contenders match, Aleister Black battling Carmelo Hayes, WWE Champion John Cena addressing the WWE Universe, final hype for WWE Backlash. Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.
WWE SmackDown Card:
- Aleister Black vs. Carmelo Hayes
- WWE Champion John Cena appears
- Damian Priest & LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa
- #1 Contenders match for WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax
WWE SmackDown Results
Damian Priest & LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa
Knight and Priest argue over who will start the match. Sikoa attacks Priest, kickstarting the match. Priest fires back with a few strikes, followed by a stage dive in the corner. Sikoa stumbles out of the corner into a leaping lariat from Priest. Priest walks the ropes and lands a crossbody. The crowd claps as Priest calls for his rebound lariat. Sikoa smartly rolls out of the ring. Priest follows and leaps off the ring steps into an ax-handle smash. Fatu gets in Priest’s face. Knight takes Fatu out with a dropkick through the ropes. Priest and Knight argue.
After the break, Sikoa and Fatu take turns working over Priest. Priest manages to tag in Knight. Knight sends Fatu into the ring post and lands a leaping neckbreaker. Leaping elbow by Knight. Knight calls for the BFT. Fatu escapes. Spinout slam by Knight. Knight sets up the LA elbow, but Priest tags himself in. Priest floors Fatu with his rebound lariat and calls for South of Heaven. Knight tags himself in. Priest and Knight argue. Sikoa attacks both men. Sikoa sends Priest out of the ring and sets up the Samoan Spike. Knight counters and hits the BFT for the win.
Winners- Damian Priest & LA Knight
After the match, Priest and Knight argue. Priest decks Knight. Both men brawl. Fatu lays out both men. Fatu flattens Knight and Priest with multiple running hip attacks. As Fatu celebrates in the ring, a wild Drew McIntyre appears and drops Fatu with a Claymore. McIntyre holds up the United States Championship as the rest of the field is laid out.
Grade: B-
This was a solid SmackDown tag team match that would ordinarily main event a go-home show like this. That said, the match itself was standard TV stuff, which led to McIntyre’s predictable laying out Fatu with a Claymore. Nothing to write home about here, but fun to watch nonetheless.
Women’s United States Champion Zelina Vega and Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven w/Alba Fyre
Vega tries to roll up Niven. Niven escpaes and tags in Green. Vega stacks Green and Niven in the ropes and lands a 619. After the break, Niven and Green are working over Vega. Vega tags in Bliss. Bliss clears the ring. Bliss lands Twisted Bliss. Niven breaks up the pin. Vega tries Code Red on Niven, but Niven puts on the brakes. Bliss superkicks Niven into the Code Red. Niven rolls out of the ring. Vega lands a Meteora off the apron to Niven. Bliss hits the Sister Abigail DDT on Green for the win.
Winners- Zelina Vega and Alexa Bliss
Grade: B
This was an interesting spot to re-debut Bliss. We haven’t seen her since Elimination Chamber. Speculating here, but having Bliss potentially tied up in the Women’s United States Championship picture is an interesting wrinkle and a needed one. Yes, these are midcard titles, but if you don’t have some of the bigger names compete for them, the championships will never reach their full potential. For the match, it was a fun affair that featured solid in-ring action, with a heck of a finish, with the assisted Code Red and nasty Sister Abigail DDT.
The Queen has Arrived
Charlotte Flair notes that she was off for over a year, and she took the WWE Women’s Championship to the limit. Flair’s match against champion Tiffany Stratton was the greatest women’s match in WrestleMania history. The crowd boos as Flair tries to announce her path back to the championship. Flair goes nuts and yells at the crowd for being disrespectful. Flair is the greatest wrestler of all time, and she deserves their respect. If they don’t respect her, Flair will leave and never come back. The crowd boos louder. Flair tosses the mic down and storms off. Jade Cargill‘s music plays. Flair and Cargill have a staredown in the aisle. Flair walks away. Cargill grabs a mic and tells Flair that she’s had her chance and she needs to go to the back of the line.
Grade: B
This was a great promo by Flair. Instead of letting the crowd trip her up, she played into the noise and used it to make herself even more insufferable. Well done, Flair.
#1 Contenders match for WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax
Before the match starts, WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton walks down to ringside to watch the match. Cargill drives Jax into the corner. Jax asks for a timeout. Stratton and Jax argue. Jax runs over Cargill. Cargill leaps over Jax and tries a shoulder block. Jax doesn’t go down. Jax runs over Cargill again. After a leapfrog, Cargill drops Jax with a flying shoulder tackle. Cargill attempts to lift Jax. Jax blocks it and crushes Cargill with a Samoan drop. Leg drop by Jax. Cargill kicks out.
After the break, Cargill manages to land a Samoan drop of her own. Jax fires back and tries a suplex. Cargill counters with a suplex of her own. Superkick by Cargill. Spinebuster by Cargill. Jax goes up top for a leg drop. Cargill press slams Jax off the top. Frog splash by Cargill! Jax kicks out! Jax crushes Cargill in the corner. Cargill explodes out of the corner and lands a pump kick. Outside the ring, Naomi attacks Stratton. Cargill gets distracted. Jax clobbers Cargill from behind. Senton by Jax. Jax flattens Cargill with the Annihilator for the win.
Winner- Nia Jax
Grade: C+
This was Cargill’s best match, probably ever. Cargill eating the pin here was shocking, but it makes sense based on the direction they seem to be heading. Jax is underrated at this point, as she manages to make her opponents look like killers when she sells their offense. Tonight was no different, as Jax let Cargill toss her around a bit, which helped Cargill look good even in a loss.
WWE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Fraxiom
Ford and Dawkins are still bandaged and banged up from the TLC match. Dawkins pounces Frazer into the commentary desk, and Ford lands a senton. Dawkins and Ford work over Frazer. Frazer manages to tag in Axiom, who clears the ring. After the break, Frazer misses a Phoenix splash. Dawkins tags in Ford, who destroys Axiom with a lariat.
Axiom breaks up the pin after the Street Profits land a doomsday blockbuster. Ford dives off the top. Axiom kicks Ford in his injured ribs. Axiom lands a Spanish fly off the top to Dawkins. Frazer follows that with a Phoenix splash. Ford breaks up the pin with a double stomp to Frazer into a leaping clothesline to Axiom. Outside the ring. Axiom blasts Dawkins with the Golden Ratio. Frazer and Axiom hit their version of Total Elimination for the win.
Winners- Fraxiom
Grade: B
This was a great, fun-paced match with a terrible finish. Never, EVER beat your champions unless it’s for the championship. All it does is make them look weak. Regardless of how injured the Street Profits are, losing to an NXT team (that’s what they are, sorry to be that guy) is just silly. Fraxiom could have beaten #DIY for a big win. What are we doing here?
Aleister Black vs. Carmelo Hayes w/The Miz
Black and Hayes trade headlocks. Black takes Hayes down with a headlock takeover. Hayes tries a springboard, but Black drops down and sits cross-legged in the ring, taunting Hayes. Hayes knocks Black into the corner. Hayes rolls out. Black lands a triangle moonsault to the floor. Hayes avoids a running boot from Black. Black gets hung up on the barricade. Hayes boots Black into the timekeeper’s area.
After the break, and a series of reversals, Black lands a nasty leaping knee to Hayes’ face. Black lands a flurry of strikes, followed by a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Hayes counters a suplex with a small package. Black kicks out. La Mystica by Hayes. Black responds with a brainbuster for a two-count. Hayes looks to be out. Black sets up Black Mass. Miz gets on the apron. Hayes rolls up Black. Black kicks out. Hayes accidentally knocks Miz off the apron. Black rolls up Hayes for the three count.
Winner- Aleister Black
Miz runs into the ring and immediately eats a Black Mass from Black.
Grade: B-
This match was good, but in a way, both men may have been holding back. This one had crisp action, with both men hitting their spots without issue, but both Black and Hayes seemed to be running at 3/4 speed. Also, the finish seemed to be designed to save Hayes from getting knocked out, but if that’s the case, why bother having the match at all? Or have a non-finish that protects both Black and Hayes, which could lead to another match down the line.
Rey Fenix and Andrade vs. Los Garza w/Santos Escobar
Fenix and Angel start the match. Fenix lands a few strikes and rolls Angel into a pin. Angel kicks out and drives Fenix into the corner. Berto and Angel stomp Fenix in the corner. Angel and Berto work over Fenix. Fenix tags in Andrade, who floors Berto with a clothesline. Andrade avoids Angel trying to high bridge him on the ropes, but Berto dropkicks Andrade to the floor. Fenix is sent flying out of the ring as well. Angel and Berto land stereo moonsaults to the floor.
After the break, Fenix gets the tag and bounces off the ropes while kicking Berto off the top and arm dragging Angel. Everyone lands a big move leading to the field being down. Fenix tries a rolling rana, but Angel reverses it into a pin. The refeee is distracted by Escobar, who is on the apron. Fenix kicks out. Adios Amigo by Fenix. Fenix dives over Andrade to take out Angel. Andrade hits The Message on Berto for the win.
Winners- Rey Fenix and Andrade
After the match, Berto decks Escobar and walks away.
Grade: B
This was a fun lucha-light tag match. Tons of high-flying and hard-hitting action in this one. Fenix is still being highlighted, which is the smart move. When Fenix reunites with Penta, the tag division will be better for it.
The Last Real Champ is Here
WWE Champion John Cena immediately calls the ring announcer into the ring to give him a proper introduction as the last real champion. Cena cuts the ring announcer off because someone threw a bottle into the ring. Cena tosses the bottle and tells the announcer to continue. The crowd boos as Cena says tomorrow the WWE Universe’s childhood dies. Cena rants about Randy Orton not being here tonight. The crowd doesn’t like that at all. Cena notes that Orton is taking his advice and spending this time with his family, preparing for the most important match of his life. Their fate has been intertwined since the beginning. You either like Cena or Orton.
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Tomorrow is the last time people will get to choose between the two of them. Cena goes on and on about how much Orton has wasted his potential, how his family is worthless, and how Orton has been riding Cena’s coattails. Tomorrow, Orton will kill the legend of Randy Orton. He’ll be just like his 2006 drug test: a failure. Cena promises to make history again and proclaims this is what a real world champion looks like. Someone in a mask tries to RKO Cena, but Cena counters and hits an AA. Cena celebrates. Orton appears behind Cena and drops him with an RKO.
Grade: B-
Nothing wrong with Cena’s promo here, but it’s just more of the same. Though biting commentary on Orton’s career, it’s all old hat at this point. Also, Orton leaving Cena lying in the ring every week is telegraphing the finish of the Backlash title match in the worst way. Cena has to do more than just talk and get laid out in the build to these fueds.
WWE SmackDown Review:
This week’s show was solid across the board, with no significant lows but also very few standout highs. It delivered compelling in-ring action (the Lucha tag match and the Street Profits vs. Fraxiom), key storyline progression, and a few returns and surprises that helped round out the episode nicely, even if the overall show never quite hit that next gear. Let’s see if Backlash can jumpstart what has been a so-so post-WrestleMania hangover.
Rating: B
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