Friday Night Smackdown – Apr 28th 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… Oh, and no, I’m not including the draft results in this one!
Match #1: LA Knight def. Butch
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In the height of a tough-as-nails showdown, LA Knight overcame Butch of The Brawling Brutes with Blunt Force Trauma.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: The Street Profits def. Braun Strowman & Ricochet and LWO’s Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
When order completely broke down in the final moments of a fast-moving Triple Threat Match, Angelo Dawkins dropped Ricochet to the canvas and set up his partner to leap into the heavens and give SmackDown’s newly drafted tag team a huge victory over The One and Only & Braun Strowman and Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro of The LWO.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #3: Zelina Vega def. Sonya Deville
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Moments after Zelina Vega rolled up Sonya Deville for the three-count, SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley launched a sneak attack from behind and took out Deville in the process. Nevertheless, her attempt fell short when her WWE Backlash challenger turned the tables and treated the titleholder to the taste a wicked DDT.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #4: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. The Usos
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In an extremely hard-fought WrestleMania Main Event rematch pitting Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn against The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships, Solo Sikoa emerged on the ramp. Before he could make his way to the ring, however, Matt Riddle came out of nowhere and attacked The Bloodline’s enforcer. Although The Original Bro neutralized Sikoa, Jimmy and Jey Uso took Sami Zayn out of action and looked as if they would reclaim the titles in Roman Reigns’ name. Before they could, though, Zayn dragged Jey out of the ring and hurled him into the steel steps. This paved the way for Owens to hit a Stunner on Jimmy. A revitalized Sami then finished him off with a Heluva Kick to give the reigning titleholders the huge victory.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
This week’s Smackdown gets the benefit of the doubt due to the heavy Draft aspect of the show. What we did get was good, especially considering the wrestling was probably more of an afterthought. The tag match was a well-fought, solid match but I don’t get what the hell happened with the women’s match though… Vega picks up the win then Rhea Ripley attacks – bearing in mind Ripley has been booked as a machine recently – and Vega takes out Ripley! As for the main event, well like everything attached to the Bloodline/Roman Reigns it delivered. It will be interesting to see how the aforementioned Draft affects this particular storyline going forward – will it give Reigns and co. more opponents or take them away?
