WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results
April 12, 2024
Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI.
Commentary: Corey Graves and Wade Barrett
Results by: Roy Nemer of Wrestleview.com
The new WWE “Then, now, forever, together” video plays.
WWE SmackDown kicks off with the ending of WrestleMania 40 on Sunday and Cody Rhodes pinning Roman Reigns to become the new WWE Undisputed Champion.
Live in the arena, out comes the new WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes. The fans chant “Cody” and cheer with him raising the title in the air. They chant “you deserve it”.
Cody asks Detroit what they want to talk about and smiles. He says on Monday he was interrupted by The Rock and a loud “Rocky sucks” chant breaks out. Cody says while The Rock was walking down, he though “Who the hell told you tonight is open night mic, bitch”. Cody says The Rock placed something in his hands, it was something he had gifted to The Rock. It was uncomfortable, awkward, but he believed him when he said he was going off to Hollywood and even more when he said he would be coming back here and look for him.
He tells The Rock that he does not have to look very far, he will be standing right where he is. He says in three weeks, he is going to fly to Lyon, France and he is going to face one of the six competitors from tonight. Santos Escobar, Rey Mysterio, LA Knight, AJ Styles. He says he and AJ are the both NWA and WWE champions. And there is Bobby Lashley and his friend Kevin Owens.
Cody says Kevin thinks he is better than Cody and he thinks he is better than Owens. But there is only one way of finding out. He says it’s not lost on him that they are very sold out tonight.
He says he is no longer the hunter but the hunted. His message to them is if you come to the king, you best not miss. For those on SmackDown who claim to be unfamiliar, his name is Cody Rhodes. Once undesirable, become undeniable and now the Undisputed WWE Champion. Cody’s music hits as he waves to the crowd and leaves the ring.
We cut backstage and see Bayley entering the arena and another shot of REy Mysterio and the LWO entering.
Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman are walking backstage and they see a door written “American Nightmare” on it with Cody’s logo. They’re angry and in comes Kevin Owens who enters through the door. Solo tells Heyman that he will handle him. Heyman tells him that if they want the locker room back, they have to win the title back and that’s by order of the Tribal Chief.
A good opening segment from Cody Rhodes. This does feel like a new era. He's now the face of the company and he did a great job playing to the crowd and the two triple threat matches. #SmackDown
— Wrestleview.com (@wrestleview) April 13, 2024
-Commercial Break-
A video airs announcing that Sheamus will be returning to WWE Raw on Monday.
Highlights of WrestleMania 40 airs.
Triple Threat Match – Bobby Lashley vs. Santos Escobar vs. LA Knight
The bell rings and we are under way. LA Knight and Lashley double team Escobar but Lashley throws LA Knight to the outside. LA Knight drags him and both men fight on the outside of the ring. Santos Escobar with a suicide dive onto both men.
-Commercial Break-
Back from commercial, LA Knight goes for a superplex off the top rope on Escobar but Lashley with a powerbomb onto LA Knight with Escobar also falling onto the mat. He goes for the cover but Escobar kicks out. LA Knight rolls Lashley up but Escobar breaks it up. He hits a double knee onto Lashley and LA Knight with a powerslam onto Escobar. Angel and Humberto attack LA Knight from behind. They hit him with a triple power bomb.
Lashley gets in the ring but Angel and Humberto double team him. Out come The Street Profits who take Angel and Humberto down to the outside. Elektra Lopez gets in the ring but B-Fab hits her with a big boot. Dawkins to the outside but Angel and Humberto take him down. Ford with a senton onto both men on the outside. Lashley with a flat liner onto Santos. He goes for the spear onto Escobar but Escobar moves out of the way. LA Knight hits Santos Escobar with the BFT. He goes for the cover and gets the pin.
Winner: LA Knight
Kayla Braxton is backstage with Rey Mysterio and the LWO. She tells Rey that Santos Escobar denies that he attacked Dragon Lee. They all laugh and Rey tells her that the truth will surface but tonight his focus is on AJ Styles and Kevin Owens. Rey tells her that he believes that he has another run as WWE Champion.
Out come Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman to the ring.
-Commercial Break-
Back from commercial and The Bloodline are in the ring. Paul Heyman introduces himself and he says by orders of the Tribal Chief, the Bloodline offers no excuses about what happened at WrestleMania. They don’t blame John Cena, The Undertaker or Jey Uso. Accountability is a very big word on the island of relevancy and Roman has ordered that they accept accountability.
Heyman says at WrestleMania 39, Roman Reigns entered the ring focused, strategic, unemotional. Cody Rhodes took his eye off the ball for one second when he saw Solo and just like that, Roman took advantage and beat him.
At WrestleMania 40, Cody flipped the script on Roman. Seth Rollins told Cody that he will be his shield. The one piece of unfinished business in Roman’s life. When Roman had a chair in his hand at WrestleMania 40 and he could have smahes Cody with it, legal, Bloodline rules, he didn’t. Because after 10 years of waiting for revenge on Seth Rollins, Roman gave in to temptation. He was distracted by his lust for revenge on Seth and took his eye off the ball. Cody Rhodes was prepared, strategic, focused and ready. And like that, it was over.
Heyman says your new Undisputed champion is Cody Rhodes. But like a phoenix, rising through the ashes and as he is speaking, Solo gets in his face. He tells Heyman that losing and winning matters. There are consequences to losing. That means consequences need change. Solo moves Heyman out of the way and he looks at Jimmy. He gets in Jimmy’s face and he hugs Jimmy. He tells him he is his brother and he loves him.
Solo walks away and Tama Tonga, the son of Haku gets in the ring in a black hoodie. He beats up on Jimmy and Heyman is standing in shock in the corner. Solo stops him and tells him to pick him up. Solo goes for the Soli Spike and Heyman yells no but Solo hits him with it. Solo hits him with four Samoan Spikes.
He grabs Heyman and they all raise the fingers in acknowledgement. Heyman says “Call Roman Reigns” but Solo takes the cell phone from Heyman, throws it and breaks it. Tama Tonga grabs a steel chair and they place it around Jimmy’s neck in the corner. Solo tells him he loves him and the fans chant “Yeeet”. Solo runs and slams into the chair, around Jimmy’s neck. He and Toma Tanga leave the ring with Heyman behind them in disbelief.
-Commercial Break-
Camerone Grimes vs. Bron Breakker
The bell rings and we are under way. Breakker with a waist lock take down. Grimes reverses it and goes for a head lock take down but Breakker blocks it. Breakker runs to the ropes and he hits him with a Steinerline. He runs towards Grimes but Grimes kicks him away. Grimes jumps off the second rope but Breakker slams him onto the mat. Breakker with a spear. He goes for the cover and gets the pin.
Winner: Bron Breakker
-Commercial Break-
AJ Styles cuts a promo backstage about how he will fix what went wrong at WrestleMania. He tells Rey and Owens that they are collateral in his path. He says he is going to demolish everything and prove a point. This is not personal, this is necessary. They are in the way of something much bigger than they realize. He tells LA Knight that he hopes he is taken notes because the damage he will cause tonight will be a taste of what he will do next week and it will be phenomenal.
Bayley’s music hits and out comes the new WWE Women’s Champion. The fans chant “you deserve it” and she tells them that feels good. The fans chant “Bayley” and she says she will soak it in. She says she feels proud to call herself the new WWE Undisputed Women’s Champion.
She says she has retained titles at WrestleMania, lost titles at WrestleMania but this one feels special. It is different and it represents the most talented locker room she has ever been a part of. She says it is different because of the fans. She swears from the bottom of her heart, the last 11 years of her career, the fans have been through everything. The ups, downs, injuries and set backs but they kept fighting for her. Online, live events or PLE’s, they never gave up on her and she thanks the fans.
The fans chant “Bayley” and she says she excited to start this new journey with them. And she wants to give an opportunity and out comes Tiffany Stratton. She tells Bayley it was a little rude how she was not given an opportunity at WrestleMania. Stratton tells Bayley she is building to some open challenge and she accepts because it is Tiffy Time.
Bayley says it is nice to meet her but she was not offering an open challenge. She had someone in mind and this person is Naomi. Tiffany tells Bayley that Naomi could not even win a title if it glowed in the dark.
Naomi’s music hits and out she comes to the ring. Tiffany tells her they were in the middle of something and she already beat her. Naomi tells her she is trying her on the wrong night. She tells Tiffany that she has earned every thing she has gotten in WWE and she doesn’t plan on stopping.
She tells Bayley she can’t accept her challenge just yet because first she wants to take on clueless Tiffany right now.
-Commercial Break-
Kayla Braxton is backstage in front of the doctor’s room. Out comes Heyman in shock. She asks him if Jimmy is okay and he shakes his head. Tama Tonga steps in and looks at Heyman. He tells Heyman by orders of the Tribal Chief. In comes Solo who looks at his thumb, laughs and leaves with Heyman asking what that means.
Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton
The match is already under way and Bayley is at ring side. Naomi attacks Tiffany’s left arm. A modified arm by Naomi but Tiffany pushes her into the corner and breaks it up. A clothesline by Tiffany and she spears Naomi in the corner. A right hand by Naomi and a knee to the face. She goes for the cover but Tiffany kicks out. Naomi runs towards Tiffany but Tiffany trips her onto the second rope. Tiffany with kicks onto Naomi. She goes for the cover but Naomi kicks out. She grabs Naomi but Naomi kicks her in the face. Naomi on the ring apron but Tiffany speaks Naomi and slams her into the ring post.
-Commercial Break-
Back from commercial, Naomi with a cross body. She hits Tiffany with a drop kick. Naomi hits her with a split legged moon sault. She goes for the cover but Tiffany kicks out. She grabs Tiffany but Tiffany hits her with back elbow and a double stomp. She goes for the cover but Naomi kicks out. She lifts Naomi on her shoulders but Naomi lands on her feet. Naomi goes for a leg scissor but Tiffany reverses it into an Alabama Slam. Tiffany goes for the Prettiest Moon Sault Ever, Naomi moves, Tiffany lands on her feet, Naomi gets her into a jackknife cover and gets the pin.
Winner: Naomi
A video package of Austin Theory and Grayson Waller airs. They talk about the artists who were at WrestleMania 40 that watched them win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. Theory talks about how Waller stepped into his first WrestleMania and won the Tag Team Championships. Waller talks about how Theory got the win against John Cena last year and this year won the title. Theory says they are the greatest undefeated tag team in history.
We see New Catch Republic and The Street Profits backstage with Nick Aldis. He tells them that he will find them challengers next week.
-Commercial Break-
Logan Paul cuts a promo from his home about how he won at WrestleMania. He says he entered, retained and remained champion. This was the biggest WrestleMania ever and it’s no surprise because he was there. He says there were 650 million impressions on WrestleMania and 200 million of them were because of him. He says it’s a new era and he is part of it.
Chelsea Green and Piper Niven vs. Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair
The bell rings and we are under way. Chelsea and Bianca start the match. Bianca with a spinebuster and Niven is tagged in. Niven points at Jade and Bianca goes to make the tag but Niven grabs her by the air and hits her with a powerslam. Niven with a cannonball in the corner. She climbs the second rope and goes for a splash but Bianca moves out of the way. Chelsea is tagged in and Bianca tags Jade in. Jade slams Chelsea onto the mat. She lifts her up and slams her onto the mat. Jade goes for the cover and gets the pin.
Winners: Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair
We cut backstage and Byron Saxton is with Kevin Owens. He asks Byron if he has seen those cool camera shots the last few weeks where people are backstage and they walk towards the ring, this is what he feels like doing. Owens grabs the microphone and begins to walk to the ring. He sees a Detroit Tigers WWE Championship belt and grabs it. He talks about his match against Rey and LA Knight. He walks through gorilla, his music hits and he makes his way down to the ring.
-Commercial Break-
Triple Threat match – Kevin Owens vs. Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles
The bell rings and we are under way. Owens with a clothesline onto AJ and AJ to the outside. Owens grabs Rey and slides him to the outside but AJ catches Rey and slams him onto the ring apron. Owens to the outside but Owens slams AJ on the barricade and he hits him with a barricade. Rey with a sitting senton onto Owens on the outside.
-Commercial Break-
Back from commercial, AJ slams Rey neck first onto his knee. He slams Owens face first onto the mat. AJ goes for the cover onto Owens but Owens kicks out. AJ places Owens on the top rope but Owens with a headbutt. Rey trips AJ up and he falls to the outside. Rey climbs the top rope but Owens slams him onto the mat. He goes for the cover but AJ breaks it up. AJ jumps off the second rope and goes for a moon sault but Owens moves out of the way, AJ lands on his feet, Owens goes for a pop up powerbomb, AJ lands on his feet and hits him with an overhead kick. Rey with cross body off the second rope onto AJ. Rey jumps off the second rope, AJ catches him, he goes for a German but Owens grabs AJ from behind and it’s a double German suplex. Owens monkeyflips Rey into AJ but Rey drops AJ onto the second rope and he hits AJ with a 619. Rey on the ring apron, Owens hits him with a Stunner. Owens goes for a swanton off the top rope but AJ gets his knees up. AJ climbs the second rope but Rey grabs his leg. Rey climbs the top rope and goes for a hurricanrana but AJ blocks it into a Styles Clash off the top rope onto Kevin Owens. AJ goes for the cover on Rey and gets the pin.
Winner: AJ Styles
LA Knight enters the ring after the match and both men are face to face with SmackDown going off the air.