WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (April 7, 2023) with a live show emanating from Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, featuring fallout from last weekend’s WrestleMania 39 extravaganza in Southern California.
Advertised for tonight: Sami Zayn and Jey Uso go one-on-one less than a week after Zayn & Kevin Owens ended the Usos’ historic Tag title reign, and new SmackDown Women’s champion Rhea Ripley will claim her throne after Triple H opens the show by addressing the WWE universe.
Tonight’s show also features Rey Mysterio teaming with Santos Escobar to take on his son Dominik & Dom’s Judgement Day partner Damian Priest, Imperium taking on Brawling Brutes in what’s sure to a BANGER of a trios match, and more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on FOX. It will be below this line here. (Note: Links to illegal streams are prohibited. Pics and GIFs are allowed.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR APRIL 7
Leave me alone, isolation bears hope. There’s something else waiting, a promised destiny freezing me. I feel restless and low, and it’s time to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you folks.
The show opens with a memorial graphic for Bushwhacker Butch.
A recap video for WrestleMania 39 follows.
Brawling Brutes (Pete “Butch” Dunne, Ridge Holland, & Sheamus) vs. Imperium (Giovanni Vinci, GUNTHER, & Ludwig Kaiser)
Back and forth early, Vinci finds himself on the wrong side of quick tags from the Brutes but quickly gets Holland in the corner and tags Kaiser in to turn the tide! Dunne in to try and rally, GUNTHER runs interference and Giovanni hits a brainbuster on him and we go to break.
Back from commercial, GUNTHER in control but Dunne wishbones his fingers! Tag out to Vinci, German suplex and tags to Holland and Kaiser! Back and forth, Ridge trapped in the corner and Imperium run the quick tags! GUNTHER running hot, shotgun dropkick, Tenryu Powerbomb… BUTCH BREAKS IT UP!
The Ring General applies a Boston Crab but Ridge tags in to Sheamus! Sheamus and GUNTHER trading heavy hands, whip across, lariat from the Celtic Warrior and a running powerslam connects! Beats of the Bodhran follow, back and forth, White Noise for two!
The match breaks down into “everybody do something cool” business, Orihara moonsault from Pete takes Kaiser out and Sheamus levels Vinci with a knee! Calling for it…
Brawling Brutes win by pinfall with a Brogue Kick from Sheamus on Giovanni Vinci.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of Raw’s main event scenario.
Commentary speculates that Brock Lesnar attacked Cody Rhodes because he was upset he had to go on first at WrestleMania, which is silly because we all know Brock likes to do his thing and get the hell out of the building.
Paul Heyman is interviewed backstage.
He does a quick Passover riff to dodge the question about Brock’s motive and say he wants to talk about the Tribal Chief and how the Bloodline main evented both nights of WrestleMania and Roman is now approaching 1000 days as champion.
Jey Uso rolls up to chat with Paul and asks if anyone’s seen Jimmy. Heyman says Jimmy isn’t here tonight because Roman wanted him to stay at home and watch TV as Jey takes Sami Zayn out all by himself.
Jey leaves and Paul tells Solo Sikoa that if Uso doesn’t come through he’ll have to solve their problems.
Ricochet makes his entrance and we go to break.
Ivar vs. Ricochet
Ricochet sends Ivar to the floor with a dropkick almost immediately, off the ropes, suicide dive, Warbeard catches him and throws him into the apron! Valhalla directs him to hit a freight train crossbody against the LED boards! Back inside, back elbows in the corner, sunset flip blocked, suplex denied, Ricochet lands a knee strike!
Ivar with a knee of his own, springboard right into a dropkick! Fireman’s carry but Rick’s back gives out! Handspring, over Warbeard’s back but he runs right into the reverse roundhouse… NOT ENOUGH! Up top, Ricochet cuts him off and climbs up with him, jockeying for position, Frankensteiner out of the corner!
Heading up top, Ricochet perches…
Ricochet wins by pinfall with the shooting star press.
Sami Zayn rolls up on Kevin Owens in the locker room.
Kevin says Sami’s match against Jey tonight is a good way to put their business with the Bloodline behind them and then be done with them. Zayn says something about all this feels off and he doesn’t know how to put it. What KO is saying is true but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s got to talk to Jey Uso, he feels a sense of obligation.
Owens says the Bloodline is crumbling but does he think that’s gonna bring Jey to the table? No, he’s gonna be more vicious and volatile, and Kev knows he can’t talk Sami out of it but he’s gotta tell him it’s a bad idea and he shouldn’t do it.
Zayn agrees and says he still has to do it, but it’ll be okay.
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez make their entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Natalya and Shotzi Blackheart get an inset promo about how they’re going to win tonight.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya & Shotzi Blackheart
Nattie and Raquel to start, blind tag from Shotzi, assisted dive wipes Rodriguez out! Back inside, Raquel blocks a DDT, Blackheart with a knee but Rodriguez reverses a tijeras and walks her into the corner for a tag and a dropkick! Tag to Neidhart, trading pinning predicaments, Nattie hits a German suplex and follows it with a discus lariat for two!
Shotzi takes Raquel out with a crossbody, the path is clear, tag made! Hart Attack blocked by Rodriguez, Liv with a tornado DDT…
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez win by pinfall with Oblivion from Liv Morgan on Shotzi Blackheart.
Backstage, Madcap Moss and Xavier Woods are playing video games with Emma in tow when LA Knight rolls up to mock them and complain about not being on the WrestleMania card and be mad at Xavier that he got to be on the show for Up Up Down Down reasons.
Woods says he’d rather complain than create his own solutions, and he worked instead of talked he probably would have made himself a spot on the card. LA says he won’t be playing video games, he’ll be playing his game, and he breaks X’s controller.
We see Triple H walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial we get a social media hype reel for WrestleMania 39.
Triple H makes his entrance, to King of Kings.
He says there’s nothing like WrestleMania, the greatest athletes making history on the grandest stage of them all, where hearts are broken and dreams are fulfilled. This year’s shows exceeded all expectations. It broke every record, from viewership to gross to attendance, you name it.
Up to and including, on digital, almost a billion views this week alone. As great as it was, now it’s behind us and we look to the future, and that’s why he’s out here. In just a few short weeks it’s once again time for the WWE Draft, a night that changes the future and the destiny of every WWE Superstar in the back.
This year’s draft will be bigger than ever, with every single superstar eligible, and when it’s all said and done, this year’s draft will truly change the game. And speaking of changing the game, he wants to introduce us to somebody doing just that, fresh off her win over Charlotte Flair, it’s SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley.
She makes her entrance accompanied by the rest of Judgment Day.
Rhea gets on the mic and says April 1 2023 will go down as the night sports entertainment changed history because she did the impossible.
Finn Balor takes over and says Edge is a coward who had to split his head open and is nowhere to be seen while he’s here and he’s still standing.
Dominik Mysterio gets on the mic and tries to talk about WrestleMania but gets drowned out by boos. He says he decided not to show aggression towards his dad and responds to “you suck” chants by saying his dad sucks. He pulled his punches, he says, because he loves his dad and he couldn’t hurt him, but he couldn’t say the same for him.
When he stood in the middle of that ring, he saw the anger in his eyes, and as far as he’s concerned Rey Mysterio and the rest of his family can go to hell and take Bad Bunny and all his little friends with him.
We get a recap at length and are informed that Bad Bunny is “in a bad way” after the altercation at WrestleMania.
Damian Priest talks at Bunny in Spanish and says he hopes he can find it in his heart to forgive him, because he forgives him for making him do what he did to him.
The LWO make their entrance and we go to break.
Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) vs. Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar)
Priest working Mysterio over, tag to Dominik, he hammers his dad with body blows and poses! Disdainful slaps, drawing Rey up for clubbing blows and a straight suplex for two! Tag made, Escobar working Dom over, assisted tijeras sends Damian to the floor, stereo dives from the LWO and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Priest gets a nearfall on Escobar off a bodyslam and follows it up with a kneeling surfboard in the middle of the ring! Tag to Mysterio, front chancery keeping Santos down, tag to Rey! Michinoku Driver from Dom, cover for two!
Dominik set up, Rhea makes hte save but Zelina Vega takes her out with a diving Frankensteiner! Other side of the ring, the 619 connects this time but Damian had gotten the blind tag! Escobar gets caught…
Judgment Day win by pinfall with South of Heaven from Damian Priest on Santos Escobar.
We see Sami Zayn walking backstage looking for Jey Uso.
A crew member points him in the right direction and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for the return of Shinsuke Nakamura next week.
Jey Uso is pacing backstage when Sami Zayn rolls up.
Sami says maybe Kevin was right and he doesn’t want to talk but there’s one thing he has to say. It’s the same thing he’s been saying for months, and that’s that there’s a way out of this. Everything he’s said is coming true, the Bloodline is crumbling, Jimmy ain’t here, Roman’s mad at him, Heyman’s selling him lies and Solo’s ready to drop the hammer on him.
He’ll beat it into him if he has to, if that’s how it has to be, so be it, but that’s NOT how it has to be.
A clattering in the distance sends Sami running and someone’s attacked Kevin Owens, tipping a road case over on his knee! Paul Heyman watches from the shadows while Owens clutches his knee in agony and Jey Uso stares on.
Jey makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up next week’s show.
Sami Zayn is interviewed in Gorilla.
He says Kevin Owens is hurt and not available, and Kev was right, but Sami knows how to solve the problem in front of him.
Jey Uso vs. Sami Zayn
Into the corner, Jey with a shove, collar and elbow, struggling back into the corner, Uso breaks clean and they jaw at each other and then he piefaces Sami! Circling, back to the lockup, side headlock, shot off, shoulder block, Jey throws his one up.
Off the ropes, Zayn wipes him out, right hands, whip reversed, springboard up and over and a big forearm from Sami! Clothesline sends Uso to the floor, Zayn lines him up but Solo Sikoa walks down the ramp and Sami stops in his tracks and we go to break!
Back from commercial, jockeying for position in the turnbuckles, trading punches with abandon… SAMI ZAYN AVALANCHE EXPLODER SUPLEX! More punches, solebutt and a big right from Uso sets up an enzuigiri, charging in, boot up in the corner! Sami goes up top… AND DIVES RIGHT INTO A SUPERKICK!
Cover for two, Jey shoves him into the corner, Sami defiant… EXPLODER INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! Fired up, waiting for Uso to get to his feet but Jey ducks under the Helluva Kick and grabs a schoolboy for two! BLUE THUNDER DRIVER CAN’T PUT USO AWAY! Mounted punches, Sami goes up top again, wary of Solo at ringside and Jey clocks him with an enzuigiri!
Climbing up with him, jockeying for position and a headbutt knocks Zayn to the apron! Jey choking him in the ropes, referee Ryan Tran backs him off and Sikoa hits the Samoan Spike! Whip across…
Jey Uso wins by pinfall with a dropkick.
Post-match, Solo rains headbutts and punches down on Sami while Jey watches. Axhandles on axhandles, hammerfists, Uso clearly conflicted, Solo draws him up and goes for the spike again but Jey grabs his hand and stops him! They stare at each other for a long beat and Uso hits a basement superkick on Sami!
He tells Solo to get a chair but Matt Riddle makes the save and runs the Bloodline off!
That’s the show, folks.
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