WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Apr. 26, 2024) with a live show emanating from Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Backlash premium live event scheduled for early next month in France.
Advertised for tonight: It’s night one of the WWE Draft! You can check out the official rules right here. 16 draft picks will be made tonight from a pool of talent that includes stars like Randy Orton, Bron Breakker, Bianca Belair, The Bloodline, Seth Rollins, LA Knight, Sheamus, and Jey Uso
Also on the card: WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles will have a contract signing to make their title match at Backlash official, and more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on FOX. It will be below this line here. (Note: Links to illegal streams are prohibited. Pics and GIFs are allowed.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR APR. 26
Oh when they torture you, it’s like standing on a dragon’s tongue. They flashed your pretty nightmare on the sky when I was playing your card, but now I’m liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with some B-roll of superstars doing pre-show business and commentary explains this year’s draft rules and we see each brand’s war rooms, staffed with legends and everything.
Paul Heyman is interviewed backstage.
He explains that Roman Reigns has withdrawn his eligibility for this year’s draft because he’s not going to hog the #1 draft pick when he’s not coming back anytime soon, and now the pressure is on Nick Aldis to have to think about who his first pick is in order to make history in a brand new era, and Paul E is intrigued.
We stop in at the Performance Center to take the temperature of the NXT roster on draft night and they are all very excited.
Corey Graves is in the ring to preside over the contract signing for our title match at Backlash.
AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes make their entrance.
Styles gets on the mic and says they’re two Georgia boys getting ready to mix it up for the first time for the biggest prize in the game, He accepts the boos and says he doesn’t like LA Knight and he got under his skin but he got his composure back and realized he is phenomenal and beat Knight to earn the right to fight Cody at Backlash.
Unlike LA, he respects Cody, and they haven’t crossed paths yet but they’ve been down the same roads and had to prove themselves outside of WWE. He bets they got advice the same guy as to how to stand on their feet and go their own way, and that man is the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.
He says he learned a lot from Dusty and he was a good man. He taught him how to carry himself and how to carry the weight of a champion and he looks at the title and says he knows that the weight of the belt is more than just leather and gold, and at Backlash, he’s going to carry it.
Styles signs the contract and Cody takes over the mic.
He asks Cincinatti what they want to talk about and says there’s not a locker room on earth that doesn’t respect AJ Styles. He respects him and he respects the path he’s walked on, but that respect goes by the wayside at Backlash. He can hear it in AJ’s words, he doesn’t think he can carry that weight, but the man that trained him told him it’s not about winning the title, it’s about keeping it.
When he puts pen to paper and puts Cody in front of that last name it’ll be a match that’s never happened before, but it’s not a dream match for him, it’s a must-win.
Rhodes signs the contract and stands up, offering a hand for AJ to shake. Styles says it was beautiful to see him finish the story, but it’s a shame his reign will end at Backlash, and then he shakes Cody’s hand and leaves the ring.
As Rhodes goes to leave, Triple H makes his entrance and shakes his hand before raising it and they stand together at a podium on the stage to announce the first round picks of this year’s draft.
Cody announces SmackDown’s first pick, Bianca Belair. Hunter announces Jey Uso for Raw’s first pick. For SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes is coming to the main roster! For Raw, Seth Rollins concludes round one.
Hayes makes his entrance and gets on the mic right away!
He says when they talk about who’s next up and the hottest out, they call him Carmelo Hayes, and he tells Cody ever since he’s won the title he’s been saying if you come for the king you best not miss, because one thing about him is when he shoots he doesn’t miss, and he can’t think of a better way to shoot his shot on SmackDown than to shoot it against him.
Rhodes waves HHH off and grabs the mic and says fortune favors the bold but nobody wants to see him in action tonight do they? What if he forgot his gear? Oh that’s right, he didn’t forget his gear, and this right here for him means absolutely 100% Hayes is on.
They shake on the match and Cody says he’ll see him out there.
We see Latino World Order walking backstage to send us to break.
Latino World Order (Dragon Lee & Rey Mysterio) vs. Legado del Fantasma (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo)
I come back a minute or two late and Lee is fighting Carrillo, Garza low-bridges him to the floor and we go to break!
Back from commercial, hot tag, Mysterio taking it to Garza! Tijeras, a boot, off the top with the seated senton, off the ropes, pass under, front kick, Yoshi Tonic... CARRILLO BREAKS IT UP! Angel with a front kick, underhooks, Rey counters with an arm drag, tag to Lee!
619 connects, Dragon lines him up...
Latino World Order win by pinfall with Operation: Dragon from Dragon Lee on Angel Garza.
Post-match, Santos Escobar and Elektra Lopez come down the aisle and Santos tells them to stop the celebration and he’s many things, but he’s not a liar and when he says he didn’t attack Dragon Lee before WrestleMania XL, he meant it. Elektra has been working for weeks to find the security footage from the building, and he thinks Rey Mysterio will find it very, very interesting.
The footage indeed shows Carlito beating the hell out of Dragon Lee. Colon looks frustrated as the footage continues to show him leaving the room and coming back to check on Lee all fake-worried. Carlito panicks and shoves Lee into Mysterio before hitting a Backstabber on Dragon and running for the hills!
We cut back to the draft rooms and we go to break.
Bron Breakker vs. Cedric Alexander
Alas, poor Cedric, he goes for an early Neuralyzer and Bron is ready...
Bron Breakker wins by pinfall with a spear.
Backstage, Nick Aldis runs into Tiffany Stratton and honestly I’m so distracted by the fact that she’s all but wearing a trans flag for her gear that I have trouble following the conversation but Bayley rolls up and Stratton tells her she’s just mad she couldn’t beat Naomi like she did.
Michelle McCool leaves the SmackDown draft room with their picks and Torrie Wilson has Raw’s as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson announce the round two picks— Randy Orton to SmackDown, Bron Breakker to Raw, Nia Jax to SmackDown, and Liv Morgan to Raw.
We get a recap of last week’s bloody Bloodline smash and beatdown on Kevin Owens.
Paul Heyman is in the back as Solo Sikoa rolls up. He falls overhimself apologizing for not getting the door but Solo demands an update as to if they’ve been drafted. Paul explains that Roman pulled himself from the draft and with all these new members the GMs don’t know what Bloodline they’re getting.
Tama Tonga gets out of the car to be threatening and Sikoa asks Heyman to repeat himself. Before he can, Kevin Owens rolls up and brawls with both of them! They get pulled apart and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Bianca Belair is interviewed onstage as the first overall draft pick.
She says she’s looking forward to winning the tag titles with Jade Cargill.
Kabuki Warriors come down to corner her, Jade Cargill evens the odds, and all four women bicker on the stage.
Kevin Owens and Tama Tonga come brawling out of the entry! Tonga runs into the ring and Owens double legs him into mounted punches, but Solo Sikoa is right behind to overwhelm him! Referees swarm, Tama drops Jamie Noble and a couple security guards, “Hurricane” Shane Helms feebly tries to restore order...
RANDY ORTON MAKES THE SAVE AND SENDS THE BLOODLINE PACKING!
We see Bubba Ray Dudley leaving SmackDown’s draft office and D-Von Dudley leaving Raw’s, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, the Dudley Boyz put on their glasses and announce our next round of picks— LA Knight to SmackDown, Ricochet to Raw, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Paul Heyman to SmackDown as the Bloodline, and Sheamus to Raw.
Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton
Bayley is on commentary for this one.
Naomi takes Stratton to the floor, smashing her into the apron, climbing up top, nobody home on the dive, Tiffany slingshots her into the ropes and follows it with a running hip attack, taking control to send us to break.
Back from commercial, whip across, mule kick from Naomi sets up the headscissors driver... NOPE! Off the ropes, both women go for facebusters and spin out, down and out on the mat! Naomi with a front kick, elbows, Stratton cuts her off, enzuigiri, Tiffany gets bulldogged into the corner as Nia Jax attacks Bayley at ringside!
Naomi distracted, goes after Jax, gets shoved into the post and referee Dan Engler has to call it...
Naomi wins by disqualification.
Post-match, Nia runs Bayley over again, Tiffany throws her and Naomi both into the ring and stacks ‘em up... PRETTIEST MOONSAULT EVER!
B-FAB and the Street Profits are interviewed backstage about their title match against A-Town Down Under next week.
B-FAB says it doesn’t matter where they get drafted because they’re gonna win the tag titles and cash a ticket right back to SmackDown. A-Town Down Under roll up to talk some trash.
Teddy Long is show leaving the SmackDown draft office and John “Bradshaw” Layfield the Raw office, and we go to break.
Back from commercial Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux are in the loading bay and they go over to wear the Authors of Pain are beating New Catch Republic down.
Kross vows that the Final Testament will continue the violence wherever they go.
Teddy Long and John “Bradshaw” Layfield announce the next round of picks. AJ Styles to SmackDown, Alpha Academy (Chad Gable, Otis Dozovic, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa) to Raw, Andrade el Idolo to SmackDown, and for the final pick of tonight’s draft, Kiana James to Raw.
We get a Kiana James hype reel and then she’s interviewed down at the Performance Center and talks about how excited she is to show the main roster her talent.
Carmelo Hayes is shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Nick Aldis is interviewed.
He’s excited for the draft and he announces Bayley will defend against Tiffany Stratton and Naomi in a three-way at Backlash. And he steps aside to let Teddy Long announce a tag team match, playa— the Bloodline vs. Randy Orton and Kevin Owens!
Commentary hypes next week’s show up.
Carmelo Hayes vs. “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes
Off the ropes, Rhodes with the drop down slap, Hayes with a springboard shoulder block, Cody takes him down with a lariat and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Hayes chopping Rhodes into the corner, choking him, La Mistica, springboard imploding DDT... SO CLOSE! Cody comes back with a Beautiful Disaster for a deep two, scooping him up, running powerslam... NOPE! Cody Cutter for another nearfall, Melo with a Codebreaker, ducking and dodging, both men go for big springboards and come up empty!
Hayes pops back up first, but Cody reverses...
Cody Rhodes wins by pinfall with Cross Rhodes.
Post-match, Cody celebrates with the belt while Melo stews.
Rhodes turns around to see AJ Styles staring him down. After a long beat, AJ extends his hand and they shake.
That’s the show, folks.
