Friday Night Smackdown – Apr 14th 2023: Results & Review
Welcome to this review of this past Friday’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, right here on Nerdly. Let’s see what went down on the show!
Match #1: Xavier Woods def. LA Knight
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Following last week’s backstage altercation, Xavier Woods went one-on-one with LA Knight. Knight attempted to use the tights to pick up the win and got caught by the official. When Knight turned to argue, Woods seized the moment and rolled up his opponent while also using a handful of tights to secure the three-count.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Damian Priest def. Santos Escobar
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
When order broke down between The LWO and the underhanded Judgment Day, Damian Priest hit South of Heaven to pin Santos Escobar. When The Judgment Day continued their assault on The LWO, Rey Mysterio charged the ring, took down Priest and threw down with his son before The Judgment Day pulled their cohort out of the ring.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #3: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Madcap Moss
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Shinsuke Nakamura returned to SmackDown and overcame Madcap Moss with the Kinshasa. When Moss got angry after the pinfall and attempted a post-match attack on The King of Strong Style, Nakamura quickly put his opponent in a post-match armbar.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #4: Solo Sikoa def. Matt Riddle
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
During a highly-personal main event match in which Matt Riddle was out for payback on Solo Sikoa, the already ejected The Usos returned to the ring and undermined the official’s authority. This brought Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn back to even the odds, which ignited a brawl at ringside. Riddle then made the mistake of leaping into the fray to take out Jimmy and Jey. Unfortunately, his action paved the way for Solo to hit The Original Bro with a match-ending Samoan Spike.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
The fact we got three good matches, a great squash match featuring a returning Shinsuke Nakamura just about managed to make up for the fact we only got four matches on the entire show. At least the majority of those four matches actually worked to further the current storylines in the WWE. Unfortunately, the show relied far too much on promos to do the rest of that work. In a surprise to the usual final comment, this week’s Smackdown was NOT better than Raw… They were even-stevens this week!
