WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights After WrestleMania (2024)

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of the post-WrestleMania edition of WW SmackDown on April 12.

Even though Cody Rhodes just won the title on Sunday, WWE is already planning his next challenger. Two triple threat matches took place to determine which competitors would fight in a No. 1 Contender's match.

Here is a look at what was advertised for Friday's show:

Let's take a look at everything that happened during Friday's show.

SmackDown opened with footage from WrestleMania showing Rhodes beating Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship before The American Nightmare made his way to the ring.

Rhodes jokingly quoted his wife during his promo before saying he would be waiting for The Rock to come back from Hollywood. He addressed the six competitors who will fight for a title shot and said any of them would be good opponents.

This was a business-as-usual kind of promo. Rhodes is settling into his new role as the top dog in WWE. He didn't get emotional and he didn't break character. This is the Rhodes we can expect to see every week. It was a good speech to kick off his SmackDown run as the champion.

The best part was Rhodes didn't overstay his welcome. He talked for just long enough.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

The first of two triple threat matches featured Knight, Lashley and Escobar. The winner is set to face the winner of the second triple threat that takes place later in the show.

B-Fab and the Street Profits were with Lashley on the stage but didn't accompany him to the ring. Escobar also left Legedo Del Fantasma.

Escobar was the only competitor in this bout who did not win at WrestleMania, so he came into this looking to reverse his fortunes while Knight and Lashley wanted to continue their winning ways.

These are three very different wrestlers. Lashley is a powerhouse, Escobar is a technical high-flyer, and Knight is kind of a Jack of all trades entertainer. They mixed together well to give this match a little bit of everything.

Since there are never DQs in a triple threat, Angel and Berto were able to interfere unimpeded. The Profits ran down to fight them while B-Fab went after Elektara Lopez.

Knight ended up winning the match during the chaos. This was a fun, energetic opening match. Even all the interference didn't do much to take away from it because it was kind of expected due to the rules.

Result: Knight defeated Lashley and Escobar

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

Heyman, Sikoa and Jimmy Uso were in the ring to talk about WrestleMania. They said Reigns doesn't blame anyone who interfered in his match and wants The Bloodline takes full accountability.

Sikoa said losing has consequences and got in Jimmy's face. He gave him a hug and said he loved him before Tama Tonga attacked him from behind. Solo and Tama destroyed him before taking Heyman's phone and crushing it.

They put a chair around Jimmy's neck and Solo said he loved him again before hitting a running hip strike as Heyman screamed "Is this what The Tribal Chief would want? No!"

This was kind of unexpected. We all knew Jimmy would end up out of the group eventually, but having Tonga come in and immediately replace him was a nice surprise. It'll be interesting to see how long Reigns is away and what WWE does with the group without a title.

Sikoa demanding change is consistent with his character. This was a good way to keep the Bloodline interesting for a bit, but it needs to lead to more. Jimmy and Jey will likely reunite soon, too.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Bron Breakker took on Cameron Grimes in a singles bout this week. This was a quick squash that saw Breakker hit a few clotheslines and a Spear to get an easy win. It almost feels like WWE expects most of the audience to be unfamiliar with him and is debuting him like it would any new star for the first time.

Result: Breakker defeated Grimes

Grade: Incomplete

Bayley came out to a great ovation looking as happy as ever to be the women's champion again. Chants of "You deserve it" rang out as her music stopped.

She put over the locker room and the fans for being there for her during her entire career. She said she wanted to give someone an opportunity and that brought out Tiffany Stratton to answer her open challenge. Bayley said she wasn't offering an open challenge but wanted to give Naomi a title shot instead.

Naomi said she wanted to take on Tiffany before accepting Bayley's challenge. The match got going after a commercial break and a quick segment with Kayla Braxton trying to get a word with Heyman about Jimmy's condition, but it technically got started during the break, so we returned mid-match.

Bayley stayed at ringside to cheer on Naomi but ended up seeing Tiffy dominate her most of the time. This bout lasted through another break and eventually saw Naomi make a comeback and get the win.

The match was fine but seeing the crowd give Bayley such a warm reception was the best part.

Result: Naomi defeated Stratton

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Chelsea Green and Piper Niven were shown asking Nick Aldis for a match because they want to be drafted to SmackDown.

Green lost to Jade Cargill on Monday, so she wasn't happy to see Jade and Bianca Belair as her opponents for the night.

After a quick exchange from Belair and Niven, Jade quickly pinned Green after hitting her finisher. This was much like Bron's match earlier. It was just a quick squash that was only meant to get a star in front of the crowd, not deliver a memorable bout.

Result: Cargill and Belair defeated Green and Niven

Grade: Incomplete

Notable Moments and Observations

The main event from Friday's show was the triple threat between Mysterio, Owens and Styles.

Styles tried to go after both men but they ended up teaming up on him until he was out of the ring. These three former world champions did not waste any time making this a fast-paced affair.

This was the best thing we saw all night, but looking at who was involved, that shouldn't surprise anyone. The Phenomenal One hitting a Super Styles Clash with Mysterio onto Owens and perfectly rolling him into a pin was the best part.

The show ended with Knight and Styles having a standoff.

Result: A-

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

This show may have included two squash matches nobody will remember tomorrow, but everything else we got made for a pretty solid episode of SmackDown.

Rhodes' first speed as the top champion on SmackDown was a good piece of business, but the promo from Bayley saw the crowd respond much more passionately.

The best match of the night was the main event, but the main topic of conversation on social media will likely be the debut of Tonga as part of the Bloodline.

Haku's son is a former member of The Bullet Club and had a great run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so it's going to be fun to see how WWE uses him. He is one of the few signings in recent years to skip past NXT, so management must see a lot in him.

Grade: B+