WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights Before SNME 43

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on May 22.

This weekend marks another edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, which will be followed next weekend by Clash in Italy.

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

Gunther and Cody Rhodes set to appear

Rhea Ripley addresses Jade Cargill

Talla Tonga vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Carmelo Hayes has a message for Trick Williams

Tiffany Stratton holds open challenge for U.S. title

Let's take a look at what happened on Friday's SmackDown.

The Champ is Here

Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images

After a recap video showing what happened on last week's show, we went live in the arena where Rhea Ripley made her way to the ring.

She wasted no time getting right to business and suggested a title defense against Jade Cargill, which brought out Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to respond.

Bliss tried to be the peacekeeper, but Flair and Ripley got into an argument. Before anything could be settled, Fatal Influence came out to pour gas on the fire.

Flair issued a challenge for a tag match that was accepted, but nothing was settled with Ripley. This felt like half a segment without an ending. It wasn't bad, but it felt a little paint-by-numbers.

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

It seems like a lot of fashion from the '90s is making a comeback.

Jayne has already developed a great ability to control the crowd.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Talla Tonga

Rich WadeWWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Tonga defeated Damian Priest (SD, May 8), Nakamura lost the Andre Battle Royal (SD, April 17)

The first match on this week's show saw Shinsuke Nakamura take on Talla Tonga, who had Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga by his side.

Talla took control relatively quickly and used his size to dominate his opponent for a couple of minutes before Nakamura started making a comeback.

It was nice to see Talla get a chance to have a singles match again. He can move a bit better than most guys who are that tall, so he and Nakamura were able to create a couple of good spots.

However, the real highlight here was seeing Shin being treated like a real threat again. He didn't feel like an underdog despite giving up a lot of size.

Sikoa distracted Nakamura by getting on the apron, which gave Talla an opportunity to hit his finisher for the win. As Solo was preparing to hit him with a Samoan Spike, Tama stopped him so he could hit Nakamura himself.

Damian Priest ran to the ring with a chair to make the save.

Result: Tonga defeated Nakamura

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Royce Keys had some words for The MFTs backstage. Sikoa tried to play it off, but Keys was still upset about what happened last week.

Nakamura going so long without a match feels like an oversight. He is too good to keep on the bench this long.

Tonga's snap powerslam looked great.

Tiffany Stratton's U.S. Open Challenge

Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images

Last time in action: Stratton defeated Kiana James (SD, May 8)

Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn had a backstage segment with Nick Aldis. Zayn ended up angering Rhodes, which led to him issuing a challenge for a singles match. Back in the arena, Tiffany Stratton came out for her open challenge.

The woman who answered the call was Lash Legend. She and Nia Jax said before they regain their tag titles this weekend, Lash would win her first singles title.

With the women's division being more limited in size than the men's division, it's smart to have competitors chasing tag and singles gold at the same time, so Legend was a good choice to fill this role.

She easily overpowered Tiffy at first, but the champ didn't make it easy on her. Chelsea Green ran down to offer Stratton some words of encouragement as the show went to a commercial.

Both women brought great energy to the ring, but they had a couple of missteps that kept this from being as good as it could have been.

When Jax interfered, Green shoved her into the ring post. Legend got distracted and it led to Stratton rolling her up for the win.

Result: Stratton defeated Legend

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

The lights went out backstage but it was hard to tell if it was intentional or part of something else. It might be Danhausen's experiment.

Stratton tried a slingshot crossbody, but she got caught up on the top rope and it almost ended in disaster. Legend did a great job catching her and keeping her safe.

Legend's pump kick has gotten much better.