WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From April 3

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage for WWE SmackDown on April 3.

We're just a bit over two weeks away from WrestleMania 42, so the roster is doing everything it can to hype all of the matches set for the PLE.

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

Cody Rhodes looks to ruin Randy Orton's homecoming

Rhea Ripley addresses Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab

A look at the feud between Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre

Let's take a look at what went down on this week's episode of SmackDown.

The Viper is Ready for WrestleMania

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

After the usual shots of Superstars backstage and the recap video showing what happened last week with Cody Rhodes and Stephanie McMahon, we went live in the arena for Randy Orton's entrance.

He spent a long time letting his music play as he paced in the ring. His hometown crowd still wanted to cheer for him despite being a heel, and he couldn't help but smile when they started chanting his name.

He pointed out his family in the front row and said he is doing all of this for them in what came across as more of a babyface promo than anything else. He tried to add some heel lines, but all it did was make the crowd cheer louder.

As expected, Rhodes came out and got into a fight with him. In a surprising turn, Pat McAfee showed up and kicked Rhodes below the belt before helping Orton continue the assault. He gave a heel promo while The Viper continued to keep Rhodes grounded with a steel chair.

There was a lot of speculation about who Orton has been talking to on the phone, but McAfee was probably the last person anyone expected it to be. Unfortunately, that is not always a good thing. Their alliance feels random and does nothing to help an already established Orton look like a bigger threat to the title.

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

Stephanie should take it as a compliment that she's not like her father.

The way WWE's cameras focus during a closeup makes all of the fans in the background look like NPCs in an old video game.

McAfee running down every St. Louis team to get some cheap heat was kind of funny.

McAfee has always been a big cheerleader for WWE, so hearing him run the company down felt forced for this story.

Michin vs. Rhea Ripley

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Michin lost to Jade Cargill (SD, March 13), Rhea Ripley defeated B-Fab (SD, March 27)

The first match this week saw Rhea Ripley battle one of the women who turned on her last week, Michin.

After a couple of minutes, Ripley was in control, but got distracted when Cargill showed up at ringside. This allowed Michin to hit a German suplex as the show cut to a break.

The Eradicator eventually made a comeback and used her Prism Trap submission to get the victory. She wouldn't let go of the hold until B-Fab attacked her. It took some help from Iyo Sky to send Cargill and her friends packing.

Even though the outcome was extremely predictable, this was a solid back-and-forth match. It's definitely the best Michin has looked in quite some time.

Result: Ripley defeated Michin

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

Michin is easily the most underused, misused and underappreciated woman in WWE. The fact that she has never held a single title in WWE or NXT is ridiculous.

It looked like Cargill skinned a yellow muppet to make her jacket. It was the brightest yellow ever.

Ripley's version of the Razor's Edge looked nasty. Michin sold it perfectly.

Michin's poison rana looked good.

Uncle Howdy vs. Tama Tonga

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: The Wyatt Sicks defeated The MFTs (SD, March 13)

Tama Tonga had some harsh words for Solo Sikoa about why they are fighting over a lantern, so Solo told him to go fight Uncle Howdy. Tama was up to the task, but said he wanted to do it alone.

The commercial break came quickly, but Tonga was firmly in control at that point. Neither man had their respective stable with them, so it was a fair fight for once.

This was a pretty physical match, but it felt like something was missing. There was no sense of urgency to anything. It felt more like they were going through the paces than having a brutal grudge match, which is how this should have felt.

Howdy had Tonga locked in the Mandible Claw when Sikoa showed up and tried to interfere with the lantern. The ref caught him and Tonga told him he wanted to do this alone before turning right into a Sister Abigail to give Howdy the win.

After the match, Tonga ripped the lantern out of Solo's hands and allowed Uncle Howdy to reclaim it. It looks like the MFTs have some internal problems to deal with.

Result: Uncle Howdy defeated Tama Tonga

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

Skipping the entrance for Uncle Howdy was a weird decision since it's one of the cooler entrances WWE has right now.

The way Howdy sold when Tama yanked him into the top rope was great.

Trick Williams and Sami Zayn Hype WrestleMania

Rich Wade/WWE

Sami Zayn was talking to Nick Aldis backstage before his scheduled promo, but Trick Williams' music hit and he came to the ring with Lil Yachty by his side.

They proceeded to give a speech about how Williams will win the U.S. title at 'Mania from Zayn. Williams called for some pyro, but it led to Zayn coming to the ring instead.

The champ told Trick Willy that he is in over his head because he is about to step in the ring with one of the best. The crowd was behind Williams more than Zayn, which made this segment even more awkward.

Carmelo Hayes showed up and said he is upset with how things went down last week. He and Zayn went back and forth about what happened until Melo talked him into a rematch for tonight.

Zayn ended the segment by clotheslining Williams over the top rope. This segment started off weak but it finished strong with the addition of a title bout to the card.

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

Fatu gave a promo directed at McIntyre in a pre-recorded video.

Zayn was getting booed a little, likely due to how he beat Hayes for the belt out of nowhere.

Williams made too many ginger jokes. It stopped being funny almost immediately.

Matt Cardona vs. Aleister Black

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Matt Cardona lost to Randy Orton (SD, Match 27), Aleister Black defeated Sami Zayn (SD, March 20)

After they had a run-in backstage earlier in the show, Matt Cardona and Aleister Black met for a singles match. Zelina Vega accompanied Black to the ring, as usual.

They started with some simple takedowns, but Cardona's injured arm was giving him some problems, and it became the main focus for The Dutch Destroyer.

It made sense for this match to become about Cardona's arm, but it also prevented them from having the kind of contest we know they could have had with no hindrances.

They did some decent work in this bout, but you could also see their lack of experience working together showing a bit. Both men are veterans, so it wasn't overly obvious, but if they have more matches, they will definitely improve on this one.

Black took the victory in this one, but there is a good chance this is just the first match in an ongoing feud.

Result: Black defeated Cardona

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

Cardona was still wearing a cast on his left arm.

Black's entrance continues to be a highlight every time we get to see it. It's one of the best produced entrances in the company right now.

Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair

Brien Adams/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Bayley and Lyra Valkyria lost to The Irresistible Forces (Raw, March 30), Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair lost to the Bella Twins (SD, March 27)

The next match on the card featured Lyra Valkyria and Bayley fighting Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss ahead of their Fatal 4-Way tag title bout at 'Mania.

All four of these women are babyfaces, but there is a lot of history between Flair, Bliss and Bayley, so there was enough animosity to make it feel a bit more personal.

Lyra and Charlotte ended up as the first legal competitors after Bliss and Bayley fought out of the ring. The show cut to an abrupt break with Bliss and Flair in control.

While most of this match was fine, the fact that Bayley and Lyra were booked to lose clean this close to 'Mania felt like a strange call. Booking one of the teams fighting for the titles to look weak this close to the PLE doesn't make much sense, but a clean finish is still better than interference.

Lash Legend and Nia Jax showed up and took out all four women, so the result felt meaningless anyway.

Result: Flair and Bliss defeated Bayley and Valkyria

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

R-Truth, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae had a quick backstage segment that was funny.

McIntyre responded to Fatu's video with one of his own that pointed out Fatu's criminal background.

The jumping tornado DDT from Bliss almost ended in disaster, but she and Valkyria recovered and made it work in the end.

R-Truth and Damian Priest vs. Kit Wilson and The Miz (Men's Tag Titles)

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated the MFTs (SD, March 20)

Kit Wilson and The Miz had their first match as partner this week, and it was a title bout against R-Truth and Damian Priest to boot. Before heading to the ring, Danhausen offered to remove the curse from Miz and Wilson, but The A-Lister yelled at him, so the curse was still in effect.

Wilson and Truth started for their teams, and it was immediately clear that this would be a comedy match at its core.

This week's show was pretty weak overall, and adding this match didn't do it any favors. They didn't do a bad job, but it was yet another predictable outcome.

Danhausen arrived and wanted The Miz to tag him in, which the ref tried to tell him wasn't legal. The A-Lister screamed at him to go away and tried to talk to the ref, so Truth tagged in Danhausen instead.

Miz tried to take out Danhausen with his finisher, but he disappeared. When it looked like The Miz was going to win, the ref suddenly had a problem with his arm due to Danhausen accidentally cursing him. Yes, you read that correctly.

Priest fot the win for his team, but the ref still acted like his arm was in pain. Some of this was funny, but most of it felt like a waste of time.

Result: Truth and Priest defeated Wilson and Miz

Grade: C-

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Notable Moments and Observations

Danhausen hasn't had a single WWE match yet, but the crowd clearly loves his shtick. It will be interesting to see how he is booked once he starts competing.

The Miz's selling ability is underrated. He makes everyone he fights look good.

Sami Zayn vs. Carmelo Hayes (Men's U.S. Title)

Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Sami Zayn defeated Carmelo Hayes (SD, March 27)

This week's main event was the United States Championship rematch between Sami Zayn and Carmelo Hayes that they agreed to earlier in the show.

They got started with about 13 minutes left in the show, so we knew this wouldn't be a very long match as soon as it began. They wasted no time locking up and trading holds.

Williams and Lil Yachty sat to watch the match next to the announce table. As the show went to its final break, Melo hit a huge dive and began selling a leg injury.

We all know how well these two work together after their previous matches, so it should come as no surprise that they ended up putting on the best performance of the night.

Both men hit each other with their best shots, but it was Zayn who emerged as the winner thanks to his Helluva Kick. Williams attacked Zayn after the match, and Yachty joined in to help him.

Result: Zayn defeated Hayes

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

Cody Rhodes attacked Wilson after his tag match and then ranted about Orton and McAfee.

Hayes might be the only person who can make mustard yellow look cool.

The Final Word

Friday's SmackDown had some highlights, but the show as a whole was one of the least memorable episodes in recent memory, which is saying something after last week.

This close to 'Mania, WWE has to deal with having most of the big matches already booked, which means it needs to find ways to fill the time between now and the PLE.

Sadly, it's a lot of repetitive storyline developments and predictable moments. McAfee joining Orton was genuinely shocking, but not necessarily in a good way.

If you only watch one thing from the show, make it the U.S. title bout.

Grade: C-