WWE SmackDown Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights After Money in the Bank 2026

We're still dealing with the fallout from the Money in the Bank PLE, but as of now, WWE is still preparing for Crown Jewel on November 7.

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

• Rey Fenix vs. Ricky Saints (AAA Cruiserweight Championship)
• Damian Priest vs. R-Truth
• Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton meet
• Paige vs. Nikki Bella

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

Ride or Die With the Last Real Good Guy

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This week's show opened with Sami Zayn coming out with Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Zayn began by asking the crowd who came to be ride or die for the last real good guy. The crowd did not seem to react much.

He said Penta should probably focus on Reigns with his Money in the Bank briefcase before Trick Williams' music interrupted him. The United States champion said every time Zayn sees him, he is reminded of how the crowd turned on him.

Zayn told him that he headbutted Williams the last time they saw each other because he was trying to teach him something, not disrespect him. He told Trick he doesn't have what it takes to be the WWE champion.

Trick dared him to take a swing, but before anything could happen, Gargano grabbed the mic and yelled at Williams. This led to Williams calling for a ref to kick off the first match of the night.

This is one of those segments that tried to stretch something simple out for way too long. This could have been wrapped up in five minutes. Everyone did their job, but there is only so much you can do when you have very little material.

Grade: C+

Johnny Gargano vs. Trick Williams

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The match between Williams and Gargano was already underway by the time the show returned from a break.

They traded a few counters before Williams began favoring his knee following a bad landing from a leap frog. Johnny Wrestling noticed and started going after the knee, but Trick didn't let him have control for too long.

The match was relatively tame until Williams turned up the intensity at ringside by slamming Gargano's head into the announce table a few times. From that point forward, things felt much more competitive.

Williams is a rising star, and Gargano is a celebrated veteran, and since this isn't a combo that has been done to death, this was a solid way to kick off the action on the show. Both guys looked good, but it definitely took them a little time to find their groove with each other.

Johnny Wrestling put up a great fight, but Williams hit the Book End for the win.

Result: Williams defeated Gargano

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Lil Yachty was not with Williams this week.
• Vic Joseph sucked up to Zayn a little on commentary.
• If you look at the way Williams works now and how he was when he first got to the main roster, you can see a clear difference. He knows when to do certain things to pop the crowd better than he used to.
• Trick's delayed vertical suplex was nice.

Paige vs. Nikki Bella

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Nikki Bella had a backstage confrontation with Nick Aldis and Chelsea Green before she faced Paige in the next matchup.

As soon as the ref called for the bell, Nikki ran at Paige and took her down by the waist. She took her former friend out of the ring and threw her into the barricade, but Paige returned the favor a moment later.

They did a good job making this feel like a personal battle. There may not have been a lot of variety in the offense they used, but they were convincing in their hatred for each other.

Paige used the AA against Bella, which the announcers called a personal shot at Nikki due to her past relationship with John Cena, but Nikki also used the STF, so both of them referenced him in a way.

Even though Nikki was the heel, Paige used the ropes for leverage when she got the pin. That likely throws a wrench into Nikki's plan to earn a title shot.

Result: Paige defeated Nikki Bella

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Aldis implied Roxanne Perez may have earned a title shot by pinning Green on Raw.
• The whole "Heel pretends they are going to walk out mid-match" shtick has gotten old. People need to stop doing it.
• Paige's German suplex looked good.
• Nikki raked Paige's eyes in clear view of the ref and there was no warning or repercussion.

R-Truth vs. Damian Priest

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Former tag team champions went to battle with each other this week when Damian Priest took on R-Truth. They have had a few backstage fights since their initial breakup, but this was the first time they had a chance to take out their frustrations on each other in the ring.

Truth took control right away, but he only had it for a moment. Priest drilled him with a kick to the face before stomping him into the mat.

In a very strange ending, Truth ended up hitting a missile dropkick, but then the ref called for the doctor. He must have had a bad landing, so the match was called off early.

Priest looked like he wanted to attack him with a chair, but Fraxiom came out to stop him. This was all very strange and it was hard to tell if it was a work or real. If it was a work, it was a very odd booking decision. If it was real, we hope Truth is alright.

With the ending possibly being premature due to a real injury, it would be unfair to grade it the way we normally would.

Result: Match stopped early due to an injury to Truth

Grade: N/A

Notable Moments and Observations

• Aldis had a segment with CM Punk and Kevin Owens telling them to stay away from each other unless they are booked in a match.
• The way Priest throws someone when he suplexes them makes it look so much more effective.
• We would just like to point out that R-Truth is 54 years old and still hitting missile dropkicks.

The New Champs

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Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley came to the ring to celebrate winning the women's tag titles last week.

Predictably, Fatal Influence arrived to insult the women who beat them last week. Jacy Jayne was also upset that the crowd kept booing her even though she got injured trying to entertain them.

A small portion of the crowd was booking the entire time Jayne spoke, but not enough to make it sound like everyone hates her, so it just ended up being kind of awkward in the end.

The former champions attacked Bliss and Paxley, but they ended up being sent out of the ring. They escaped before all three women could team up on them.

There wasn't much to this segment. It's always nice to see effort being put into the women's tag team division, but there need to be more than two or three teams fighting over them at once for it to feel competitive.

Grade: C-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Gunther was shown walking into Aldis's office, but he found Danhausen instead. He said Danhausen was tougher than he expected because he showed up after the beating he took, unlike Finn Balor.
• It was hard to tell if there were audio issues or if Fallon Henley's mic was turned down to try to make the crowd appear louder.

Rey Fenix vs. Ricky Saints

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The AAA cruiserweight title was on the line this week when Rey Fenix put the belt on the line against Ricky Saints.

The two former AEW stars started their match in WWE over a AAA title with a lot of energy and quick moves. Fenix seemed to get the upper hand early, but Saints leveled him with a clothesline to turn things around.

As they fought through the break into the next segment, Saints continued to build momentum until Fenix hit a nice cutter out of nowhere for a two-count.

It was nice to see Saints back in the ring after a few months of not being used much, and he put on a great performance against Fenix, who has also been especially impressive recently.

Saints pushed the referee before hitting Fenix with his finisher, so the ref refused to count and ended up disqualifying him when Ricky got in his face.

This was the least exciting ending they could have booked for what was a really fun match up until the finish. This is obviously being done to set up a rematch, but it felt like a letdown.

Result: Fenix won by DQ

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Zayn was trying to get Fenix to reveal if Penta was going to cash in on him or not, but Fenix said he had no idea.
• Vic Joseph hyped the winner of this match facing Mini Vikingo for the title on AAA this week.

Cody Rhodes vs. Baron Corbin

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Aldis told Cody Rhodes he hadn't seen Randy Orton yet, but Rhodes went to the ring for the final segment anyway.

Cody said he wasn't leaving until Orton came out to face him, but Baron Corbin ended up showing up for some reason.

He talked a little trash before Rhodes sent him out of the ring. He said they had enough time for an impromptu match and asked for a ref as we went into the final break.

With less than 10 minutes left, and a commercial break being part of that, this bout never had a chance of being anything special.

The Nomad had The American Nightmare on defense for a few minutes, but Rhodes eventually made his comeback, as we all knew he would.

As we all expected, Orton showed up toward the end of the match to attack Rhodes, giving us our second DQ in a row. It looked like The Viper would get the better of him, but Cody fought back.

After Orton made his exit, Rhodes hit Corbin with a punt kick to send him a message.

Grade: C+

The Final Word

Friday's SmackDown had a lot of filler and matches that did not provide satisfying conclusions, but there were a couple of bright spots.

Mainly, the match between Fenix and Saints delivered the best action of the night, even if the bout did end with a disqualification.

The ending of Rhodes vs. Corbin was also a weak point, and the abrupt ending to Truth vs. Priest being caused by an injury was an unfortunate moment.

All in all, this is the kind of show you could skip and not feel like you missed much when you tune in next week, but you should check out Saints vs. Fenix if you have the time.

Grade: C+