WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From March 14

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE SmackDown on March 15.

We are just a few weeks away from WrestleMania 40, so WWE is in full planning mode to get the card set up for both nights.

Here is a look at what WWE advertised heading into Friday's show:

• The Rock appears
• Bayley vs. Dakota Kai
• Randy Orton vs. Grayson Waller
• Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar
• Pretty Deadly vs. New Catch Republic
• Rey Mysterio returns

Let's look at everything that happened on this week's episode of SmackDown.

The Rock Does Rock Stuff

The Rock came out solo to open SmackDown to a massive ovation and Rocky chants, which actually seemed to make him pause and appreciate the crowd as Dwayne Johnson for a moment before snapping back into Rock mode.

He spoke a bit about his past before sitting down with a mic to sing a song. He had two guys playing guitar and harmonica as he sang a song about Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

The song was the usual array of jokes you would expect from Rocky. He made some sex puns, called Rhodes a mistake and mocked Rolling for having a successful wife.

Once his song was over, The Great One showed some clips of Rhodes slapping him and crying while talking about his mom.

• Was this entertaining? Yes, especially if you like The Rock.
• Did it need to be over 20 minutes? Absolutely not.
  
• Did it add anything to the story? Not really.
  
• Did the live crowd have fun with it? Definitely.
  

This segment was decent, but it's just another in a long line of Rock segments that could have accomplished all the same things in half the time.

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The shirts and vests Rocky has been wearing lately may be a callback to his original run in WWE, but they are also perfect for his current egotistical boss gimmick. 
• There aren't enough famous harmonica players anymore. 
• The Rock is entertaining, but singing is not his strongest quality. He's not awful, but he sounds more like your uncle singing karaoke than a guy who is supposed to lead a Disney musical. 
• The Rock called himself The Final Boss. 

LWO vs. LDF

Angel and Humberto took on Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde in a WrestleMania qualifier to see which team would get to compete in the Six-Pack Challenge for the tag titles.

These four men not only know each other well from the LWO vs. Legado Del Fantasma feud, but they are also four of the most versatile high-flyers in WWE.

This was a fast-paced bout with a lot of fun moves and moments sprinkled in. This was strong from start to finish and ended with Angel and Berto getting the win after Berto propelled Del Toro into the air so Angel could kick him on the way down.

This is the kind of tag team wrestling that will help get the division back on track.

Result: LDF defeated LWO

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Del Toro's hurricanrana looked awesome.
• Wilde almost went past Humberto with a dive out of the ring because he flew so far. 
• First, he lost his last name Carrillo, and now Humberto is just called Berto. By 2025, he will simply be known as B. 
• The double press slam from the middle rope from Angel and Berto was a great spot. Dol Toro sold it perfectly. 

Randy Orton vs. Grayson Waller

WWE

Randy Orton, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory.

Waller had Austin Theory in his corner for a singles match against Orton on Friday's show.

Before the match, Logan Paul asked Nick Aldis to punish Orton for attacking his business partner last week. As the match was about to begin, Paul came out to watch in person.

His presence definitely helped distract The Viper so Waller could get in some cheap shots early on and slam his head into the announce table when they took the fight out of the ring.

While everything they did looked good, this bout felt a bit paint-by-numbers. You could almost predict each move before it happened. This isn't uncommon in pro wrestling and does not mean the match was bad. It just wasn't especially exciting either.

Orton got the win with his patented RKO but his celebration was over quickly. Theory took him down with a chop block and held him so Paul could attack, but KO ran down to make the save before Orton took the hit.

KO and Orton almost had a miscommunication but ended up working together to take out Theory. The match itself was nothing special, but a few fun moments helped make the segment better.

Result: Orton defeated Waller

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• LA Knight challenged AJ Styles to a match at WrestleMania. Styles attacked him with a chair and accepted the match. 
• We only got one match in the first hour. This began right at the start of the second hour. 
• The way Theory took a Stunner and an RKO right in a row looked awesome. 

Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar, Pretty Deadly vs. New Catch Republic

WWE

Dragon Lee and Santos Escobar.

Legado Del Fantasma was back at ringside to watch Escobar take on Lee in what was immediately a high-energy contest from the moment the bell rang.

Lee was all over the place hitting high-flying moves for about a minute, but Escobar just needed one move to put him away and score the win.

What started as a bout that seemed like it could steal the show turned into the quickest match of the night. It's a little hard not to be disappointed to see it end so quickly after such a strong start.

Carlito and Mysterio both showed up to defend Lee from LDF to end the segment.

Result: Escobar defeated Lee

Grade: C

After we returned from a break, we saw Pretty Deadly and New Catch Republic already wrestling, so their entrances and the start of the match took place during commercials.

The first part of the contest was brief before we got another commercial break. Both teams got in some offense, but Pretty Deadly having a significant size advantage led to them controlling most of the pace.

All four men did a great job making this feel like a competitive fight even with some time restrictions. Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne were able to win, which got them one step closer to WrestleMania.

Result: New Catch Republic defeated Pretty Deadly

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• So why does the rest of LDF accompany Escobar but he wasn't there for their match?
• Lee's springboard looks so effortless. 
• Bate and Dunne have a great tag team finisher. 
• How much do you want to bet The Rock went long like he always does and time had to be cut from both of these matches? 

Bayley vs. Dakota Kai

WWE

SmackDown.

This week's main event saw former teammates-turned-enemies do battle when Bayely and Kai stepped into the ring.

These two went from being best friends to bitter enemies, and with Bayley facing Iyo Sky for the women's title at WrestleMania, Kai was looking to soften her up.

Damage CTRL got involved a bit, but Bayley still managed to overcome the numbers game. Kai ended up being disqualified and Naomi showed up to try to make the save.

Naomi's efforts were for nought and Damage CTRL held Bayley up by her arms and legs so Sky could hit a suspended moonsault to end the show.

Most of this was solid pro wrestling, but the DQ finish is not the ideal way to end a main event.

Result: Bayley won by DQ

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• It's so nice to see Bayley getting cheered again. She was an outstanding heel, but she is too likable to keep her as a villain forever. 
• Kai's gear looked really cool. 
• The "Whoop that Trick" chants throughout the show were fun. 
• Bayley hit a running knee that looked stiff in a good way. Kai sold it well. 
• Bayley's counter into a powerbomb was a good spot. 

The Final Word

This week's SmackDown was one of those shows that was likely a great live experience but had a few issues that came through on the broadcast.

The Rock taking up so much time whenever he is on screen is becoming an issue. Sure, he is entertaining and gets reactions, but you can see where matches are being trimmed to make up for it.

The bout between Escobar and Lee could have been a show-stealing performance, and the tag match between Pretty Deadly and New Catch Republic started abruptly during a commercial.

But on the plus side, we got some storyline developments, some solid wrestling action, a few entertaining non-wrestling segments, and another RKO for Orton to add to his ever-growing highlight reel.

This was a hard show to grade because most of what we got was great, but the negatives were a bit too big to ignore.

Grade: C+