 LA Knight and Damian Priest def. Solo Sikoa and United States Champion Jacob FatuThe booking of the United States Championship picture since WrestleMania 41 has been rather basic, but I say that as a good thing. It's been easy to follow and everyone has played their roles well. This was a solid opener that simultaneously served as a preview of the Fatal 4-Way for the U.S. title at Backlash. Sikoa eating the pinfall was logical since he won't be involved in said four-way. Drew McIntyre was absent last week, so I liked how he returned afterward to lay out Fatu. Alexa Bliss and Women's United States Champion Zelina Vega def. Chelsea Green and Piper NivenBliss being Vega's mystery partner was a cool surprise, especially with this show emanating from Ohio (where Bliss is from). I don't believe we've seen her on WWE TV since Elimination Chamber over two months ago and it was never confirmed why she's been gone, so hopefully she's here to stay this time. This was a nice opener. Will Bliss target the Women's United States Championship or start a storyline with Charlotte Flair, who she encountered backstage later in the night? Charlotte Flair Addressed the AudienceI would have been completely fine with Flair being gone for a little longer, but I understand she was already gone long enough while out injured. I was worried about what she'd say since she lost clean to Tiffany Stratton at WrestleMania, and sure enough, she make it clear her sights are still on the WWE Women's Championship. She was booed out of the ring by the crowd, so we'll see if that leads to a character change for her or if it was just their way of organically ending the segment. The face-off with Cargill as she was walking up the ramp was interesting, though. Nia Jax def. Jade Cargill in a WWE Women's Champion No. 1 Contender's MatchAfter Cargill pinned Jax in last week's tag team main event, most people were probably aware where this was headed, but they had a well-worked match, nonetheless. Naomi attacking Tiffany Stratton at ringside and that leading to Cargill losing keeps the Cargill vs. Naomi feud alive and Jax is a perfect opponent for Stratton for the time being. Everything played out the way it should have. Fraxiom Confronted WWE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits; Fraxiom def. Street Profits (Non-Title)Street Profits are still banged up from their TLC match two weeks ago, so they had an out for losing here. Don't get me wrong, though: This was an impressive win for Fraxiom, who remain undefeated since joining SmackDown. It was also a great match with the two teams having terrific chemistry. I'm looking forward to the eventual rematch with the titles on the line. Aleister Black def. Carmelo HayesBlack just beat The Miz last week, so I didn't think they'd rush into Black vs. Hayes this quickly. To my knowledge, they didn't announce it until the show had already started. Despite all of that, this was an enjoyable outing for as long as it lasted. I wanted this to be more than just a one-off, so I appreciated that Black won with a roll-up, which somewhat protected Hayes in defeat. Andrade and Rey Fenix def. Los GarzaI hated that the crowd was so quiet for this considering these guys were putting forth a hell of an effort. I've been digging the subtle story that's been told with Legado del Fantasma and Andrade while Fenix's involvement has also been logical. This was a fun match and it gave Andrade a much-needed victory. With Berto finally walking off on Santos Escobar afterward, I'm curious if they'll book him as a breakout singles star or if he'll remain lost in the shuffle with the rest of Legado. Randy Orton Attacked Undisputed WWE Champion John CenaI desperately want to be invested in Cena's heel turn, but truthfully, these promos of his have fallen flat for me. The material itself has been whatever, but it's more so the delivery in my opinion. He sounds like an angry 10-year-old and it's insufferable. The worst part is that this segment ended in lame fashion with Cena eating yet another RKO out of nowhere from Orton. Yes, there was a decoy Orton (whose identity was never revealed), but that didn't make this any less of an underwhelming closing segment. Fingers crossed they bring their A-game to their Backlash match, otherwise it's going to be a very disappointing main event for many fans. Overall ShowMan, this crowd was terrible. I understand some people aren't over, but they really should have been louder than they were for most of what they got. At any rate, this wasn't necessarily a bad episode as it had its fair share of highlights, but it certainly wasn't the most exciting go-home show for Backlash. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the three-hour format has a lot to do with it. I skipped through the commercials (I watched later in the night) and I still felt fatigued. All in all, this was a decent edition of SmackDown that lacked energy.
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