Friday Night SmackDown Review - April 3, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Randy Orton and Pat McAfee Attacked Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Man, where does one even start with this segment? Needless to say, McAfee being revealed as Orton's mystery caller was absolutely awful and made zero sense. He and Orton have no history, McAfee is beloved by most WWE crowds so I'm not convinced he'll work well as a heel, and above all else, adding him to the story was so unnecessary. His promo about the Attitude Era was just complete nonsense and it sounded like the crowd didn't know how to react to any of this. What a waste of time.

Rhea Ripley def. Michin

This was a logical match to do after Ripley faced B-Fab last week and I had no issue with it being more competitive since Michin is more credible than B-Fab. The match was perfectly passable while it lasted. Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab attacking Ripley and IYO SKY seems to suggest we're getting a tag team match soon. That's fine, but I hope we're still getting SKY vs. Asuka at WrestleMania 42, too.

Uncle Howdy def. Tama Tonga

It's April and The Wyatt Sicks are still feuding with The MFTs. I'd say it was an April Fools' joke, but that was on Wednesday. There was nothing technically wrong with this match, but I have no idea who this crap is even appealing to at this point. What's worse is that it doesn't look like they're getting added to the WrestleMania card in any capacity, so why not just end it? Howdy regained the lantern afterward, but I doubt the rivalry is over just yet, unfortunately.

Trick Williams, United States Champion Carmelo Hayes and Sami Zayn Interrupted Each Other

This was the most amount of boos I've heard for Zayn in years. I was against the idea of turning him heel previously, but now feels like the right time and his character is clearly trending in that direction. This was a solid segment to set up Zayn vs. Hayes for the United States Championship later in the night. All three guys played their roles really well. Granted, Lil Yatchy was annoying, but I assume that was intentional.

Aleister Black def. Matt Cardona

Between Orton, Zayn and now Cardona, Black has racked up his fair share of wins as of late. It hasn't been enough to get him a match at WrestleMania, but at least he's being protected. Plus, Cardona had the out after being targeted by Orton in the last few weeks. This was more of an angle than a match, but they utilized the time well. We'll see if this actually leads to anything for either of them.

Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair def. Lyra Valkyria and Bayley

In an alternate universe, this would've been the WrestleMania match, but I get wanting to include more teams. The division has been booked extremely well for the better part of the past nine months, but the build to the Fatal 4-Way tag team matchup at 'Mania has been beyond lazy. That said, this was great stuff from these two teams and the clean finish was a pleasant surprise.

WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth def. The Miz and Kit Wilson

Miz and Wilson have both been cursed by Danhausen within the last month, so I liked the idea of them experiencing even more bad luck here and falling short of winning the WWE Tag Team Championship together. Sure, it was overbooked to shit, but I thought it was entertaining, especially with Danhausen factoring into the finish. None of this had anything to do with WrestleMania, mind you, but I honestly didn't hate it.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Addressed Randy Orton and Pat McAfee

Rhodes came out immediately following the tag team match and laid out Wilson. I understand WWE was trying to do damage control by rushing Rhodes out to the ring to bury the opening segment, but all it did was make the company look bad because they're basically admitting it was terrible. In that case, why even do it? This was excellent fire from Rhodes and I appreciated his passion, but in one night, they managed to do a lot of damage to what will likely be the Night 1 main event of WrestleMania.

United States Champion Sami Zayn def. Carmelo Hayes

A small part of me hoped the finish would be booked in a way where Hayes would somehow get screwed again and that would result in him getting added to the U.S. title match at 'Mania to make it a Triple Threat, but no such luck. If this is means Hayes is missing the event despite carrying SmackDown so far this year, that's a massive mistake. It was an entertaining main event and I'm still looking forward to Zayn vs. Williams, even if it remains one-on-one.

Overall Show

While this wasn't the worst SmackDown I've ever seen, it certainly won't be remembered for anything other than that atrocious, atrocious segment. The rest of the show lacked life and left me wondering why the creative effort is so drastically different between Raw and SmackDown. The blue brand improved at the beginning of the year, but it's been all downhill since the Royal Rumble. The road to WrestleMania on the SmackDown side has been abysmal, but I'm holding out hope the event will deliver, regardless.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews