WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 14
Shinsuke Nakamura made his return to WWE SmackDown on Friday night on Fox, appearing for the first time since November, and The Artist wasted little time re-establishing himself as a contender on the blue brand.
His return headlined a broadcast that featured a championship celebration for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, the latest in the battle between the LWO and Judgment Day and a grudge match with origins in a broken PlayStation 5.
Find out what went down on the latest broadcast, how it graded out and what it means for the WWE Superstars involved with this recap of the April 14 episode from Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Match Card
1 of 7Announced in advance for Friday's show:
- Santos Escobar vs. Damian Priest
- Xavier Woods vs. LA Knight
- The return of Shinsuke Nakamura
- A special championship celebration for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
The Latest Between Sami Zayn, The Bloodline and Matt Riddle
2 of 7
WWE Undisputed Tag Team champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn kicked off the night's show with a promo in which they recapped their WrestleMania win over The Usos, only to have Jimmy, Jey and Solo Sikoa interrupt.
A verbal back-and-forth ensued, and The Bloodline teased a three-on-two physical altercation before Matt Riddle made the save and rocked Sikoa with a jumping knee. The Usos rescued The Enforcer before any further damage could be done.
This was a rather paint-by-numbers promo segment, but the crowd was red-hot for the babyfaces and reacted exactly as you would want them to for the heels.
Harmless creative that keeps the six-man tag team feud alive as the company likely sets up a big trios match for the Backlash pay-per-view on May 6.
Grade
C+
Top Moments
- "Y'all gonna do what you always do: fold under pressure," Jey told the champs.
- "You two are the ones who have to report back empty-handed to your daddy, Roman Reigns," Zayn taunted the former champions.
- "I wish I was as good at anything as Jey is at lying to himself," Zayn said, shutting down his former friend's insistence that there are no cracks in The Bloodline.
Xavier Woods vs. LA Knight
3 of 7
The rivalry between Xavier Woods and LA Knight escalated a week ago, and Friday night, they sought to settle their differences in one-on-one action.
Woods got the last laugh, avenging a broken PlayStation by fighting dirty and pinning his opponent with a rollup while holding a handful of tights.
The finish was clever, sure, but one has to wonder what and if there is an endgame to this Knight losing streak. The guy is mega-over, has the tools WWE always looks for in its stars and has proved his ability to stay over even when the creative support is not necessarily there.
Hopefully, Triple H has an idea of where that character is headed because fans will only tolerate so much losing before they start to question why they should invest energy into him.
Result
Woods defeated Knight
Grade
B
Top Moments
- "You touch another man's joystick, there's gonna be trouble," Wade Barrett said on commentary.
- Woods delivered a double stomp to the back of the neck of Knight, then followed with a leg drop for another two count.
- Referee Jessika Carr caught Knight with a handful of tights but failed to do so when Woods did the same, leading to the babyface victory.
Santos Escobar vs. Damian Priest
4 of 7
The rivalry between the LWO and The Judgment Day is, arguably, as hot as any in WWE right now, as evidenced by the reaction to the showdown between Santos Escobar and Damian Priest Friday night.
The crowd in Lincoln was red-hot for the match itself, thanks to Escobar's fiery comeback and the utter disdain it has for the heel faction. A good, physical match with escalation in the form of interference from teammates of both competitors, concluded with Priest picking up a tainted victory.
Rey Mysterio made the save for the babyfaces afterwards and ensured his feud with his son Dominik, and the Judgment Day, will continue on this road to Backlash.
This was a banger of a match, proof that Triple H's handling of this feud has been on-point, and evidence that the company may have something in the LWO. The reaction for Escobar, in particular, was really strong and should ease any hesitations critics may have about his ceiling on the main roster.
From his presence to his facial expressions, Priest looked like the intimidating force he should have been from day one on the main roster. Giving him promo time was also the right call and allowed him to show off in a way he has not really had the opportunity to as the muscle of the Judgment Day.
Result
Priest pinned Escobar
Grade
A
Top Moments
- Backstage, an altercation between Xavier Woods and Gunther led to an Intercontinental Championship Match between the two being set for next week's show.
- Elsewhere, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn hyped up Matt Riddle ahead of his main event match against Solo Sikoa.
- Rhea Ripley took exception to Kayla Braxton mentioning Zelina Vega getting the best of her a week ago.
- Vega distracted Ripley, allowing Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde to attack Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio from behind.
- Escobar fired off a hot babyface comeback that led to chants of "Santos."
- LWO beat Dominik up to a huge reaction.
- Ripley interfered, and Vega sent her face-first into the guardrail.
Championship Celebration
5 of 7
In their first appearance since winning the Women's Tag Team Championship by defeating Trish Stratus and Becky Lynch Monday night on Raw, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez hit the ring for a Championship Celebration.
Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green quickly interrupted, and after a verbal exchange, a brawl between the two broke out, with the champions standing tall.
This was a particularly uninspired segment that felt about as lazy as the rest of the women's tag team division has been booked over the last two years.
Deville and Green just sauntered to the ring, complained about their spot on the card, and were named the next challengers to the titles by the champions themselves. It felt like a segment that five or 10 minutes of forethought went into and was aided only by the efforts of the women involved.
Morgan and Green did most of the heavy lifting, and the match should at least be fun if given enough time, but everyone involved here and the fans watching this segment deserve more out of this division.
Grade
C-
Top Moments
- Morgan told Green and Deville that, after she and Rodriguez talk to Adam Pearce, the heels will be their next challengers.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Madcap Moss
6 of 7
Shinsuke Nakamura made his long-awaited return to SmackDown Friday night, but a motivated, driven Madcap Moss stood between him and victory.
It was hardly a roadblock for the returning Artist, who squashed Moss in short order, running him over with the Kinshasa for the mostly uncontested victory.
This is how you reintroduce a guy who figures to play a much more prominent role in WWE under the Triple H regime. Michael Cole put him over hard on commentary, and Nakamura was allowed to definitively beat a guy in Moss who was pushed fairly hard by Vince McMahon.
The post-match video involving Scarlett and Karrion Kross sets up a program with Nakamura that could be a lot of fun, produce some really interesting in-ring matchups based on their styles and give both men something of substance to do.
This is evidence that a short, compact segment can still produce positive results.
Result
Nakamura defeated Moss
Grade
A
Top Moments
- Emma talked Moss up backstage, even insinuating that a win over Nakamura could make him the No. 1 pick in the upcoming WWE Draft. She has, apparently, never watched a WWE Draft.
- Scarlett appeared in a video package with a Nakamura tarot card, suggesting that the clock is ticking for The Artist and a showdown with Kross is inevitable.
Matt Riddle vs. Solo Sikoa
7 of 7
Matt Riddle's revenge tour rolled through Lincoln Friday night as The Original Bro battled rival Solo Sikoa in the main event of SmackDown.
The match was a solid example of the unstoppable force vs. the resilient babyface, but it featured one of the most mind-numbing finishes imaginable as Riddle was just seconds from winning the match but opted to take out The Usos at ringside instead and ultimately fell prey to the Samoan Spike as Sikoa won.
It was right out of the Jeff Hardy school of boneheaded moves that completely ruins the impression that the babyface is actively trying to win the match. Sikoa winning was to be expected, but there had to have been better ways to get there.
Beyond that, the match was fine, but nothing in particular was advanced outside of the continued presentation of Sikoa as a dominant badass.
Result
Sikoa defeated Riddle
Grade
B-
Top Moments
- Cole and Barrett recapped the events that led Riddle and Sikoa to this match, including the beatdown that sidelined The Original Bro last December.
- "The Tribal Chief is losing his patience with the two of you," Heyman seemingly warned Zayn and Owens in a pre-match promo, all while staring a hole through The Usos. The camera work was phenomenal, and the manner in which Heyman pulled this off continued to hint at Reigns' displeasure with his cousins.
- Referee Jason Ayers sent The Usos, Zayn and Owens to the back to ensure the match stayed one-on-one.
- The champions and former titleholders brawled back to the ringside area, where Riddle stupidly took his attention off of Sikoa and wiped The Usos out with a springboard moonsault.
- Sikoa drove Riddle into the announce table, and The Original Bro laid in a heap to close out the show.
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