Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 17, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Randy Orton Addressed Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Finally! Where the hell has this been in recent weeks? I know we heard from Orton right after he turned heel last month, but not as much once he aligned with Pat McAfee. Speaking of McAfee, he was shown on this show (albeit backstage), but Orton was on his own in this segment and thank God he was. It may be too late, but I thought he did an effective job recapping his history with Rhodes and getting the focus back on the two of them.

The MFTs (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, JC Mateo and Talla Tonga) def. The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis and Erick Rowan) in a Street Fight

It's the feud that will never end... until now (or so I hope, anyway). You'd think they waited all this time to blow it off at WrestleMania 42, but I have no issue with it being relegated to the SmackDown before 'Mania instead because this was not worthy of the WrestleMania stage. That said, it was a fun Street Fight for what it was, even if Sikoa pinning Howdy felt like a deflating finish.

Jacob Fatu Addressed Drew McIntyre

Fatu coming out in a cop car and then standing on top of it to cut his promo was an awesome visual. Fatu's a talented talker anyway, but that made this much more impactful than if he just spoke in the ring or in vignette form. I'm looking forward to seeing what he and McIntyre will do in the "unsanctioned" environment because the build for their bout has been excellent.

WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth def. Grayson Waller and Kofi Kingston

I could probably count on one hand the amount of televised matches Waller has had in recent months, if I could even remember them. That's not good. He's a talented dude, and while Kingston's obviously had a super decorated career, he's gaining absolutely nothing from hanging around The New Day. This match was fine, but it felt random and pointless, aside from getting these guys on a WrestleMania weekend show.

Rhea Ripley Confronted WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill

A majority of what we've gotten from these two since their WrestleMania match was announced has done nothing for me personally, but to their credit, they had one of their stronger segments here. The promos from both women were solid and it didn't end in the usual physicality. I hope they can bring it when the bell rings because their chemistry on the mic has been nearly nonexistent.

Tiffany Stratton def. Jordynne Grace in a Women's United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Grace has been gone for I believe the last two months with an injury (specifically a concussion if I'm not mistaken), so the fact that she was back here without it being advertised a week or ago came out of nowhere. And she lost clean, so that wasn't exactly ideal. The match itself was one of Stratton's better bouts as of late. They may as well put the Women's U.S. title on Stratton because it's not like Giulia is doing a damn thing with it these days.

United States Champion Sami Zayn Attacked Trick Williams

Oddly enough, Lil Yachty wasn't out there with Williams, and he wasn't underneath the gingerbread man costume, either. As far as I know, he'll still be at WrestleMania in Williams' corner. At any rate, the gingerbread thing here was stupid, but the mic work from Williams and Zayn was decent. It wasn't an amazing sell for their 'Mania match, but it accomplished what it needed to.

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria Ended in a No Contest

The last match these two teams had against each other a few weeks ago on SmackDown was great, but this didn't quite measure up. It was well wrestled while it lasted, but the interference finish with The Irresistible Forces attacking everyone and standing tall was predictable and lame. For what it's worth, The Bella Twins were once again conspicuous by their absence, which isn't an encouraging sign for their WrestleMania status.

Royce Keys Won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Every Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal blend together for me, so I can't say this was any different than previous installments. For all intents and purposes, it was a basic Battle Royal with the lower-card competitors you'd expect to be a part of it. As most fans figured, Keys formally debuted last week so he could win the trophy this week and I'm totally cool with that. Now let's get him going with something meaningful, please.

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk Confronted Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

As much as I wanted one more verbal exchange between Rhodes and Orton without McAfee involved before WrestleMania, this turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Punk and Rhodes have long been established as allies in WWE, so I liked that they talked about wanting to walk into and out of WrestleMania with their titles. It was a bit too happy-go-lucky, but it was better than anything they could've done with McAfee on this show.

Overall Show

There were so many SmackDown shows in the past that were completely inconsequential before WrestleMania and it was painfully apparent that WWE was phoning it in. Despite the three hours being a drag, I didn't get that same vibe from this episode. The stunning lack of McAfee was refreshing and the rest of the last-minute hype for WrestleMania was largely enjoyable. There was some other stuff that wasn't relevant to WrestleMania, but only the tag title match felt like filler.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews