WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights Before Backlash 2026

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of the go-home SmackDown before Backlash.

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

Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair vs. Fatal Influence

Tiffany Stratton vs. Kiana James (Women's United States Championship)

A funeral for The Gingerbread Man

Damian Priest vs. Talla Tonga

Jacob Fatu kicks off the show

Gunther addresses his attack on Cody Rhodes

No, we're not kidding about that last one. Let's take a look at what happened on this week's SmackDown.

The Rise of Jacob Fatu

Melina Pizano/WWE via Getty Images

Like every week, SmackDown opened with shots of various Superstars arriving and walking around backstage as Joe Tessitore gave us a quick rundown of what was to come on the show.

After a video to recap what happened on Raw with Roman Reigns, Jacob Fatu made his way to the ring to hype their upcoming match this weekend at Backlash.

He gave a promo about how everyone always saw Reigns as the future when they were young, while he was seen as nothing. It didn't take too long before The Usos came to the ring to respond.

Jimmy said part of him is rooting for Jacob, but the other part of him is worried about what happens if he loses. Jey said Fatu is like him and doesn't always think things through, which was both funny and self-aware.

Fatu issued a warning for them not to interfere or he will burn the whole family tree down. This segment might not be very memorable in the long run, but it was an effective promo from the challenger. His character is one of the few in WWE who has truly felt consistent in its presentation.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

It looks like WWE brought in a bunch of local talent to act as attendees of the Gingerbread Man's funeral.

The crowd organically getting behind Fatu has been a fun ride. He has never felt forced and feels like he belongs in main events.

Tiffany Stratton vs. Kiana James

Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Tiffany Stratton defeated Giulia (SD, April 24), Kiana James lost to Tiffy (SD, March 13)

The first match of the night saw Tiffany Stratton defend her United States Championship against Kiana James. Giulia accompanied her partner.

Tiffy initially took control, but James got the upper hand by targeting her leg with an attack against the ring post. She maintained a position of offense throughout the break, and we returned to see her using a single-leg crab.

James and Stratton are both great athletes, but they did not get enough time to show what they can do together. The commercial break took up most of the time they spent in the ring. If they had five more minutes, this could have been great.

Giulia inadvertently cost James a chance at a pin by distracting the ref, which allowed Tiffy to hit her finisher for the win.

Result: Stratton defeated James

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Fatu and Royce Keys had another backstage conversation. Keys hyped him up for his title match.

Chelsea Green sent in a video to wish Stratton luck in her title defense, but it was more of a warning that she is coming for the belt when she is back.

Stratton has slowly been changing her gear, and the new look suits her.

The commercial break felt very early in this match.

Talla Tonga vs. Damian Priest

Michael Marques/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: MFTs defeated Usos (SD, May 1), Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated Fraxiom (SD, May 1)

Damian Priest was looking for retribution against Talla Tonga in the next match after The MFT's attack last week left R-Truth with an arm injury.

Priest didn't even wait to take off his jacket before going after Tonga the second he got to the ring. They took the fight to the ringside area, where Tonga rammed Priest into the ring post to get the upper hand.

Solo Sikoa watched with glee as Tonga slammed Priest onto the announce desk. After the break, The Archer of Infamy began building up a head of steam.

Powerhouse vs. powerhouse matches can often feel slow, but they did a good job keeping the pace up. Things were a little clunky in places, but it didn't feel like they had any major botches. They just didn't have a ton of chemistry as opponents.

Tama Tonga showed up to provide a distraction, so Truth came out to help. Priest helped him take out Sikoa and Tama, but it allowed Talla to take advantage and hit a chokeslam for the pin.

Result: Tonga defeated Priest

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

The mini argument between Ripley and Flair during their backstage interview felt so forced. It was like Flair was saying Ripley was only in this for herself when she said the exact opposite a few seconds before about the three of them getting revenge.

Sikoa is always hilarious when he is pretending to be scared of someone.

Much like the previous bout with Stratton, it felt like the commercial break happened way too early.

The series of kicks from Priest after the break was a fun sequence.

The American Nightmare Wants a Fight

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Gunther was shown about to sign his contract for a WWE title shot backstage when Cody Rhodes made his way to the ring. Gunther said this was supposed to be his time, and he didn't do business like this before he handed it back to Aldis.

The American Nightmare called Gunther out, which led to Paul Heyman showing up to say he is there to solve a problem. Rhodes cut him off and said he wanted a fight right away. Heyman revealed that helping Gunther get a title shot was the favor he owed him.

Heyman said it's not up to Rhodes to get Gunther to sign the contract for their title match in Italy. The Ring General tried a sneak attack, but Rhodes saw him coming. He sent Gunther out of the ring and told him he isn't scared of him.

After Gunther got the better of him in their last two encounters, having Rhodes thwart his attack made sense. This was a decent segment to hype their match in a few weeks.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Danhausen had a funny backstage moment with Kit Wilson and The Miz.

WWE photoshopped the Gingerbread Man into a few historic WWE moments to show that he has been around a long time.

Matt Cardona vs. Ricky Saints

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Matt Cardona lost the Andre Battle Royal (SD, April 17), Ricky Saints lost to Cody Rhodes (SD, May 1)

Matt Cardona was in action this week against SmackDown's newest Superstar, Ricky Saints.

Cardona had a slight power advantage and used it to back Saints to the corner, but The Absolute One pie-faced him to show that he wasn't intimidated.

Saints is looking to make a good impression on the main roster, and Cardona is looking to prove WWE was right to bring him back, so both guys brought a lot of energy to the ring.

Cardona hit a Rough Ryder, but he couldn't get the pin. Saints recovered and hit his finisher to get the win. This was the third match in a row that felt like it needed more time to live up to its potential, but it had a bit more time than the others.

Result: Saints defeated Cardona

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

It's a little disappointing that WWE brought Cardona back after all these years just to underutilize him again.

The dropkick Cardona hit through the ropes looked like it caught Ricky more than intended.

Something happened in the crowd with someone being kicked out, but it's unclear what it was. The crowd was definitely distracted by it for a moment.

The Champions Have Multiple Challengers

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Paige and Brie Bella came to the ring for a promo. They said this reign as tag team champions is not some nostalgia tour and that they are the best they have ever been.

Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid came out to remind them that they took out the champions the last time they crossed paths. Nia Jax and Lash Legend arrived to stake their claim at a rematch for the titles.

Fatal Influence watched as the former champions took out Paige and Brie. Since the six-woman tag was up next, Rhea Ripley made her entrance first. She had a brief staredown with Legend in the aisle.

This segment was about as down the middle as it gets. It set up some potential tag title matches, but not in a way that felt original or satisfying.

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

Danhausen stole a strand of Brie's hair backstage.

We got another video hyping the debut of Blake Monroe.

The crowd chanting for Trick Williams when Legend came out felt kind of disrespectful.

Fatal Influence vs. Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: WrenQCC defeated Fatal Influence (NXT, March 24), Rhea Ripley defeated Jacy Jayne (SD, April 24), Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair vs. Brie Bella and Paige ended in a no-contest decision (SD, April 24)

The next match featured Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss taking on Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid.

Bliss and Henley started for their teams. The Goddess quickly showed the newcomer that bragging after one takedown was a bad idea by hitting a series of strikes for a two-count.

Reid is a lot newer than the rest of these talents, but the other five have all had years to develop their skills in WWE, so most of them found their groove right away and showed some good chemistry as opponents.

The match followed the usual pattern of any six-person contest we see in WWE. Everyone got a little time in the ring on both offense and defense, and the heels controlled most of the pace so the babyfaces could make comebacks.

Jade Cargill ended up interfering by yanking Ripley off the apron when Bliss needed a tag, which led to Jayne hitting her finisher to get the win. Most of this match was alright, but the ending fell apart a bit.

Fatal Influence was happy to let Cargill continue her assault. As Flair was about to help her partner, B-Fab and Michin attacked her from behind.

Result: Fatal Influence defeated Ripley, Bliss and Flair

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Legend might be the first woman to make Ripley feel small, which is saying a lot.

We feel like a broken record at this point, but this is another match that would have benefitted from more time. WWE has three hours on Fridays. It shouldn't be hard to include some longer matches.

Tama Tonga vs. Royce Keys

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Royce Keys defeated Angel (SD, May 1), The MFTs lost to Priest and Truth (SD, April 24)

Royce Keys took on Tama Tonga in the next match on the card. Sikoa and Talla accompanied him to the ring, but Keys was solo.

The Andre Battle Royal winner took control immediately and started asserting his dominance with a few short clotheslines and a near-fall.

Talla and Solo mostly just stood in the same spot at ringside. When they had a chance to interfere, Solo held Talla back and said Tama has to figure things out on his own. Moments later, Keys hit a spinebuster for the win.

While this match was a little short, it was the only one on the show that felt like it didn't need more time to accomplish what it set out to do. Keys looked dominant, and they set up more potential matches with him and the MFTs in the future.

Result: Keys defeated Tama

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Tama got his face paint done pretty quick after appearing earlier in the show without it.

For a guy his size, Keys' endurance and explosivity are so impressive. He's not just a powerhouse. He's a well-rounded athlete who can do a lot.

The standoff between Keys and Talla at ringside was clearly planting the seeds for a future match.

Danhausen did some kind of experiment backstage to create a tag team partner. It was funnier than it sounds.

A Funeral For a Mascot Costume

Throughout the show, people had been shown paying their respects to the casket that contained the Gingerbread Man costume Sami Zayn apparently killed when he attacked it.

The final segment of the night was Trick Williams holding a funeral in the ring. There were flower arrangements and a small choir there to sing a song.

On a show that included Danhausen apparently trying to clone Brie to create a tag team partner for Backlash, this was somehow the dumbest thing we saw all week.

However, we do want to make one thing clear. The Superstars involved in all of this took this seriously and tried their best to make it work. Zayn and Williams both put 100% effort into all of it, but you can only rise so far above bad material.

This is also the kind of thing some people are going to find hilarious, and that is the great thing about opinions. Nobody is wrong. This can be stupid to some and brilliant to others. The crowd in the arena seemed to enjoy some of it, so it wasn't a total failure.

Zayn is supposed to be the heel, and having him be the only voice of reason is not an effective way to make that happen. At least he was funny with his rant about how much money Williams had to have spent on all of this.

Zayn ended up taking a cheap shot after saying he was going to disrespect and embarrass Trick Willy at Backlash. The Gingerbread Man sat up and revealed himself to be Lil Yachty. He attacked Zayn with a kendo stick, and Williams took him out with the Trick Shot to end the show.

Grade: C-

The Final Word

Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images

This week's SmackDown might not be the worst episode we have seen recently, but it was definitely lacking in several areas.

The majority of the matches we got felt rushed, and with commercial breaks in the middle of each one, there were some that had more ad time than ring time.

The funeral stuff had a couple of funny moments, but most of it was outright bad television. Williams and Zayn deserve better, and so do WWE fans.

Somehow, the antics with Danhausen backstage were the only thing that stood out as entertaining, which is even more shocking because if anyone else had been given that material, it would have been awful.

In many ways, this week's episode was the definition of mediocre, which is unfortunate for a go-home show before a PLE.

Grade: C