Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 26, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles Signed the Contract for Their Undisputed WWE Championship Match at Backlash

This was a pretty straightforward contract signing with both guys getting a chance to hype their upcoming championship clash. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but I appreciated that it didn't end in physicality as most wrestling contract signings do. It feels like most of Rhodes' rivalries feature a Dusty mention at some point, but Styles does have history with him from TNA and it would've been silly to not acknowledge that.

The LWO (Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee) def. Legado del Fantasma (Angel and Berto)

I know this was a different variation than what we've gotten before, but we've seen enough matches between these factions this year to last a lifetime. Hopefully one of the groups (preferably Legado) ends up on Raw in the Draft. It was a nice match while it lasted, but the focus was on the post-match angle with Santos Escobar revealing it was Carlito who attacked Lee backstage on the SmackDown before WrestleMania. Carlito turning heel was expected, but I'm glad they finally pulled the trigger. I'd like to say I'm looking forward to Carlito feuding with Lee and Mysterio, but it might get cut short if they end up getting drafted to separate shows.

Bron Breakker def. Cedric Alexander

Breakker has beaten Xyon Quinn and Cameron Grimes in the last month or two and both were released in the last week. If I was Alexander, I wouldn't pick up my phone for a few days. In all seriousness, this was exactly what it needed to be with Breakker winning in under 15 seconds. Total domination. We later learned that this was his SmackDown swan song now that he's been drafted to Raw. What a waste of Nick Aldis' efforts to sign him to SmackDown earlier this year.

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill Faced Off with WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors; Randy Orton Saved Kevin Owens From The Bloodline

Belair was briefly interviewed on the stage (compared to in the ring or backstage, which I thought was a nice touch) by Kayla Braxton before Kabuki Warriors confronted her and Cargill came out to join it. It was a short and sweet segment to announce Belair and Cargill vs. Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at Backlash. Orton coming to Owens' aid and fending off Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga was logical as it set up their Backlash tag team match as well.

Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton in a WWE Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Match Ended in a No Contest

This was along the same lines as their match from two weeks but not as good because a majority of it happened during the commercial break. The non-finish didn't help either, but it was the correct outcome to set up the Triple Threat match between Bayley, Naomi and Stratton for the title at Backlash. I thought it might be a Fatal 4-Way with Nia Jax because she attacked Bayley and Naomi at ringside, but apparently not. I'm not sure why this matchup was necessary when they could have just announced the Triple Threat after what happened in last week's main event.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes def. Carmelo Hayes (Non-Title)

Hayes was SmackDown's second pick in the first round of the WWE Draft, which is quite the encouraging sign for his future. Putting him in the main event with the Undisputed WWE Champion his first night in was also a hell of an endorsement. Aside from that one weird spot in the middle where they both went for springboard moves simultaneously and missed each other, this was an entertaining outing and Hayes being made to look credible in defeat was key.

Overall Show

This has been called a boring and uneventful show by many from what I've seen online and I can't blame them for having an opinion despite enjoying the episode, personally. A majority of the Superstars who were eligible to be drafted didn't switch shows, and although I was fine with the moves that were made, it didn't feel like the Draft was necessary at this juncture, at least so far. I'll have my complete analysis of all the picks up in a separate post on the site this weekend. Not much happened in the rest of the show, but there was plenty of hype for Backlash next Saturday with three new matches announced.

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