WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 2

Every week on Bleacher Report, I take an in-depth look at WWE SmackDown to recap the action, offer analysis and grade the matches, segments and anything else that takes place on the show. I also provide some predictions on the direction of storylines.

We are almost one week removed from a record-breaking WrestleMania, and things are starting to get back to normal.

Raw was the night when a lot of storylines were wrapped up, but there were a few that have continued through to Thursday's SmackDown that will likely end up being featured at Extreme Rules.

Sheamus finally returned to action in a match against Daniel Bryan that saw the leader of the Yes Movement end up with several stitches in his head. Needless to say, it wasn't a good night for the intercontinental champion.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's SmackDown.

Seth Rollins Opens the Show

The new WWE world heavyweight champion, Seth Rollins, opened the show with Big Show, Kane and J&J Security. He talked about winning the title, going on The Today Show and flying back to Raw within 24 hours.

He said Brock Lesnar only has himself to blame for being suspended because they could have had their rematch on SmackDown, which is a great heel tactic. To act like you are willing to fight when you know the other person can't is a classic bad-guy line.

Randy Orton came out and mentioned that he defeated Rollins at WrestleMania before Rollins became champion. He says he is still owed a rematch, and that makes him the No. 1 contender.

Kane booked Orton in a match with Big Show, with Orton possibly getting his title shot if he wins. This was a solid opening segment. It wasn't amazing, but it did a good job of establishing Rollins as champion and setting up a possible match with Orton at Extreme Rules.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights:

• Rollins missed a golden opportunity to use the most iconic A-Team quote.
• Orton calling Kane "Little Red Riding Hood" felt like a line John Cena would deliver.
• Big Show's name hasn't been inscribed on the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy yet.

Randy Orton vs. Big Show

It took all of two minutes before this went from being a match to being a five-on-one attack. Orton tried to get his hands on Rollins, but he was chokeslammed by Big Show.

Ryback made the save, and the two drove off all five men with their respective finishers, with Rollins being the only person who escaped.

While it might have come off good to the live crowd, this felt like something we have seen dozens of times before. It gets old seeing The Authority so easily dispatched by a smaller group of babyfaces.

Grade: D+

Notes and Highlights:

• Hitting the rope-hung DDT on Big Show is always impressive.
• It looks like Big Show isn't going to get a significant push following his huge win at WrestleMania. It's too bad. WWE should be using him as a monster, not a lackey.
• Did Ryback steal one of Hulk Hogan's weightlifting belts?

Natalya vs. Naomi

The Bella Twins were on commentary for this bout. It wasn't as long as some of the other Divas matches we have seen in recent weeks, but they looked good.

Naomi's finisher is especially entertaining to watch. It's unconventional and unlikely to work in a real fight, but it looks painful enough to put someone down.

Grade: C

Notes and Highlights:

• It's nice to see these two women get some attention without Kidd, Cesaro and The Usos taking attention away from them.
• Nikki Bella misheard Naomi's promo. She thought Naomi said, "I can beat the Divas champion" twice when she actually said "I can be the Divas champion" the second time.
• Wouldn't Natalya's spiked gloves be considered a weapon?

The Miz vs. R-Truth

The Miz took on his former Awesome Truth partner in a singles match. It didn't take long for The Miz to hit his finisher and pick up the win.

The real story here was Damien Mizdow getting a little revenge for being attacked on Raw. He came out after the final bell and hit the Skull-Crushing Finale on his former boss.

The crowd was really behind Mizdow, as they should be. It's about time he finally branched out on his own. He ended the segment by stealing The Miz's sunglasses and posing for the crowd.

While it was nice to see Mizdow get the upper hand, it felt like this the whole segment was booked by someone lazy. It was the exact same thing we saw on Raw, they just switched roles.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights:

• If Byron Saxton is trying to be a heel announcer, he isn't very good at it.
• Is Mizdow ever planning on using his own ring gear again?
• Who else wants to see him return to being the intellectual savior? He could easily transition the gimmick to only insult heels instead of the crowd.

John Cena Lays out an Open Challenge for Every Week

John Cena came out and talked about winning the United States Championship on Sunday before saying he wanted to defend the title every single week.

He said he would fight anyone who wanted a shot, including The Bushwhackers. As anyone could have predicted, Rusev came out with Lana to interrupt him.

It looked like Rusev was blaming Lana a little for losing his title, but they are still together. He said Cena should just surrender the title back to him before he gets hurt.

Rusev tried to get his flag to drop from the rafters, but Cena had it replaced with an American flag. The crowd popped pretty big when the Stars and Stripes fell from the ceiling.

The best part about this segment was that it didn't drag on longer than it needed to. Cena established himself as a fighting champion, and Rusev planted the seeds for a match at Extreme Rules. Overall, this was effective and decently entertaining.

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights:

• We all know SmackDown heavily edits the crowd's response, but it actually looked like the fans were cheering for Cena when he came out.
• Before I saw the picture of the U.S. title, I thought his shirt said, "The champ is here" and had an arrow pointing to his genitals. Just think about how much funnier it would be if that was the design.
• Did they really censor the word "douche"? It's a hygienic product, not a curse word.

Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose

This match came about after Kane caught Dean Ambrose using his executive bathroom and decided to book him against Luke Harper. Ambrose actually thanked Kane before walking away.

Ambrose took a huge bump through a ladder on Sunday, which makes it all the more impressive that he looked no worse for wear.

Harper and Ambrose have worked together plenty of times, so they were able to put together a good fight. And it was definitely a fight. These are not the kind of guys to focus on submissions and suplexes.

Both men took big tumbles over the top rope at different points. They really tried to make this a physical bout, and they succeeded. Harper ripped the announce table apart and powerbombed Ambrose right through it.

Apparently the match never officially ended since nobody rang the bell, but it doesn't matter. This encounter set in motion what could be an outstanding feud that culminates in a violent showdown at Extreme Rules.

Grade: B+

Notes and Highlights:

• Harper delivers one of the best big boots in the business. He actually gets a running start, which makes it look more brutal.
• Was the ref even counting when they were outside the ring? That's officiating 101.
• If these two have a match at Extreme Rules, it will probably be a Tables match.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Before this match got started, Sheamus gave a short promo about not knowing where all of the real men had gone and how he was going to crush the fans' dreams by destroying all of their underdogs. It worked to solidify his heel turn and make him someone you want to see get his butt kicked.

Bad News Barrett sat in with the commentary team to watch this match. Daniel Bryan got in some good shots early, but Sheamus quickly took over.

Bryan showed some serious aggression at points, but this was about making Sheamus look like a dominant monster who is not to be taken lightly.

These two have worked together enough times to build up some good chemistry. They closed out the show with a very competitive match that saw BNB help out Sheamus by hitting a Bull Hammer to Bryan behind the ref's back that caused him to be counted out.

Bryan was busted open when he was shoved off the apron and hit his head on the announce table. He was bleeding heavily within a second.

This was entertaining, but the fact that Sheamus looks like he hasn't lost a step during his time off is what was truly impressive.

Grade: A-

Notes and Highlights:

• Have they ever rebuilt a table after it had been broken before? It was weird to see someone putting it back together.
• The suplex where Sheamus just let go when Bryan was on his shoulder was really cool. However, it's a move that could lead to some injuries for sure.
• Sheamus' new theme song is so much better than his old one.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

SmackDown did a good job of addressing WrestleMania without focusing too much on the big event. New feuds were set in motion, but there was only two matches that were really worth taking the time to watch.

Sheamus' return to action was a breath of fresh air. He has been gone for what feels like forever, so seeing him still show the same level of skill and brutality was great.

The Miz and Mizdow have entered the stage in their feud where they start randomly attacking each other, Dean Ambrose was put through a table, Randy Orton is officially pursuing the WWE WHC, and John Cena claims he will defend the U.S. title every week.

One of the segment that didn't get its own slide that must be addressed is the Prime Time Players mocking The New Day. It looks like we could see a feud develop between the two teams, and it's one that will likely produce some fun moments.

Now that WrestleMania is over, it's time to start looking forward to Extreme Rules.

Predictions:

• Ambrose and Harper will have a Tables match at Extreme Rules.
• Orton will face Rollins in a Cage match for the title to keep out The Authority.
• Rusev and Cena will have a Last Man Standing match for the U.S. title.
• Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and Bad News Barrett will have a Fatal 4-Way for the Intercontinental Championship.
• Roman Reigns and Orton will have a match to see who faces Rollins at Extreme Rules.

What did you think of this week's SmackDown? 

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor.