WWE Smackdown 4/3/2026

WWE Smackdown 4/3/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/03/wwe-smackdown-3272026.html

We are in St. Louis, MO. Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive and hang out.

Randy Orton comes out and gets a big reaction. He says he still calls St. Louis home and says next time, he will have world title #15 around his waist. He says he's not doing it for the fans or the city, he's doing it for his family in the front row. He says Cody is going home from Wrestlemania empty handed. 

He says Cody is listening to the voices and says Stephanie McMahon wasn't lying when she said Cody can't beat him. Orton says Cody isn't a killer. He says he can't put back to bed what he woke up inside of him.

Cody Rhodes comes out and they fight. Cody hits boots and punches in the corner. Pat McAfee comes in and kicks Cody in the crotch. Orton and Pat hug then Pat stomps Cody. Orton chairs Cody in the gut. Pat rips the local sports teams. Nick Aldis and officials come down. Pat says Orton said this isn't his home anymore and it's a tough night for St. Louis.

Orton chairs Cody. Pat says we might wonder why he's here. Pat says he was doing a Q&A a month ago and was asked when he would return. Pat said he said the business passed him by. He says he couldn't watch it because it was absolute sh!t. He says Orton called him and said the business didn't pass him by - it went in a direction they didn't like. Pat says that fans is The Attitude Era fan. Pat says those fans have been forgotten about.

Pat says he wonders why when he turns on the TV, he has to watch two 5'5 guys do a 45 minute iron man match 10 weeks straight for no rhyme or reason when Orton is around. He asks why he has to turn on Netlflix and see the people in the gorilla position circlejerk themselves when Orton is around. He says tickets to Mania are somehow available when Orton is around. He says Smackdown is coming off the worst rating of all time and has a puppet for a champ that represents everything they hate. Orton chokes Cody on the ropes and Pat says to "kill him".

Pat says he's the one on the phone telling Orton he needs to kill everything. He says the business Cody is leading is terrible. He says Orton will save the f*cking business. Orton drops the belt on Cody. Pat and Orton leave together.

Thoughts: I didn't see that one coming. There was a segment of fans online who haven't been happy with Cody lately, saying he's kind of boring, robotic and a shill and this seemed like a response to that. I wouldn't have brought up some of the stuff like low ratings. Pat being the one Orton was talking to was unexpected. This is definitely an attempt to get people excited for Mania as most people aren't that hyped for it. I don't think it'll work. Ticket prices were the big issue and those weren't addressed. Injuries were also a huge problem. 

Pat and Orton head to the back and Cody starts to get up in the ring. 

Pat tells Orton that was mission accomplished and Orton agrees. Pat says you gotta remind people that they are in the GOAT conversation and spot. They then drive off. 

Rhea Ripley vs Michin

RR superkicks her and hits shots to the gut. RR hits corner spears. RR fallaway slams her twice and Jade Cargill comes down. RR is distracted and Mich germans RR. Mich hits mounted punches.

We go to PiP break and return. Mich dropkicks her. Mich hits kicks. RR suplexes her. They trade shots. RR hits short arm lariats. RR superkicks her then drops her chest first on the mat. RR low dropkicks her in the head. 

Mich headbutts her and RR headbutts her back. Mich helps RR hit a razor's edge on her and Mich lands hard on her neck. RR sliding knees her for 2. Mich pulls her down by the hair and buzzsaw kicks her. Mich misses a corner cannonball.

Mich poisonrana's her then hits soul foot for 2. RR back body drops her. RR submits her with a stretch muffler and wins.

Thoughts: RR won as expected. Mich gave her a decent run for her money near the end of this. I would have liked to have seen RR work the legs or back a bit more for her finisher. Mich having to help RR on the razor's edge was a bad look.

B-Fab attacks RR after and RR headbutts her down. Jade gets on the apron and Mich clips RR. RR is ganged up on. Iyo Sky comes out. Iyo thwarts the heels then her and RR hit stereo dropkicks.

Matt Cardona is in the doctor's office. Aleister Black and Zelina Vega come in. Black says Matt should have listened to them. Matt challenges him for tonight. Black says Matt is a big fan of making bad decisions.

The MFT's talk. Solo says he's not letting the lantern out of his sight after they lost the tag titles. He says he needs someone to step up and take care of Howdy. Tama asks why they are fighting for the lantern. Tama says it's been nothing but problems for all of them, especially Solo. Solo says he should go out there and fight for the lantern. Tama says he will handle Howdy and is going out there alone. Solo tells him not to mess this up.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are interviewed by Cathy. Rhea says Jade has proved she can't do this on her own and didn't think they had a backup plan. Rhea says Jade has followers but she has friends. Iyo says "best friends". Iyo says she will have her back. Rhea says she will walk out the new women's champ at Mania.

Uncle Howdy vs Tama Tonga

Howdy goes for the claw and is stopped. Howdy knees him in the gut then boots him in the gut. Tama pounds on him and headbutts him. Tama pulls Howdy's throat into the top rope. We go to break and return.

Tama does a trapezius hold on Howdy. Howdy hits back elbows in the corner. Tama lariats him. Tama stomps him in the corner. Howdy catches him with the mandible claw in the corner. Solo Sikoa comes down. 

Tama hits Howdy from behind. Solo goes to use the lantern on Howdy. Tama and Solo argue over it. Howdy hits sister abigail on Tama and wins.

Thoughts: It was an average and basic match and not a lot of excitement going on. I kind of saw the finish coming before it happened.

Solo tells Tama he was trying to help him. Tama says he's not helping anyone. Tama grabs the lantern and tells him they don't need it. Howdy then grabs it.

Kit Wilson tells Miz he's worried about Danhausen's curse. He says things were toxic this week. Miz says there's no curse. They run into R-Truth. Truth is still trying to buy stuff for the Judgment Day clubhouse. He says they are not taking any new memberships to Miz and Kit. Miz says Truth takes nothing seriously and everything goes his way. Miz says he wants him to master something and zone in. Truth says challenge accepted. He says Miz open challenged them for the tag titles and he says he will talk to Nick Aldis before he changes his mind. Kit is loving it and Miz is confused. Kit asks if they got a title match. They then say, "Master, Inspire, Zone-In".

Jacob Fatu does a promo. He says it's him and Drew 1v1 on Mania in an unsanctioned match. He says his life has been a rollercoaster. He says when you come from the gutter, you are a product of the environment. He says it's about survival. He says there's no rules and no one to stop him or break things up at Mania. He says no one can tell him what to do or not do to his punk @ss. He says Drew is in his world and says let's see if he can make it out.

Sami Zayn talks to Nick Aldis in the back. Sami apologizes about last week. Nick says he didn't give him anything, Sami made a spot for himself. Nick tells him to talk to the people. Trick Williams' music hits.

Trick comes out with the rapper Lil' Yachty. Trick says he came out to celebrate his match Mania match. Trick says they are bringing out all the stars so he brought out Lil' Yachty. He says Mania is for legends in the making and that's what he is. Trick says he didn't bring him out here to celebrate. He says they go way back. Trick asks if Yachty will be at Mania with him. Yachty says he thought he would never wait. 

Trick says he's not taking lip off no ginger bread man. Yachty says he's being disrespectful. Trick then says to hit his pyro as he runs SD.

Sami Zayn then comes out. Sami says this is so Trick Williams. He says Trick has the presentation down. He says pageantry has never been his thing. He says his thing is what happens between the ropes. Sami says Trick will learn at Mania that all the fur coats and music won't save him as he will be in the ring with one of the best to ever do it. Sami says he will humble his @ss. Trick says ginger snap is upset. He says Sami only has the US Title and is only going to Mania because of him. 

Carmelo Hayes comes out. He says he can't watch this go down like that. Melo says he and Trick have a long history and he will get his receipt. He says he will spin the block on him and he knows the perfect place to do it. Melo says the way Sami won last week doesn't sit right with him. Melo says he carried SD and the title on his back for months. He says Sami took the title when he had it at the one yard line. Melo says the fans want him and not Sami.

Melo tells Sami to give him his rematch. Trick and Yachty laugh. Sami says he thinks the world of Melo and says he carried SD for 9 weeks. He says Melo deserves this. He says Melo had an open challenge and he beat him. He says he punched his ticket to Mania and is sorry it came at his expense. He says he will give him the match but it's after Mania.

Trick says nobody wants to hear that. Sami says Trick has a point. Sami says Trick got involved. Sami says he doesn't feel good about it. Melo tells him to do the right thing. Sami agrees to a rematch tonight. Sami asks if they are good and Melo says he is. Trick says they could have saved time if he said that a long time ago. Sami lariats Trick over the top. Yachty shakes his head at Sami.

The MFT's talk. Solo asks why Tama gave the lantern back. Tama says he had to and it's done. He says the lantern tore them apart. He says let's get to real business like taking over SD and taking all the titles. Solo says he's right. Solo says let's finish The Wyatt's then get back to business. Solo asks if he's good then looks behind his back at him.

Aleister Black vs Matt Cardona

AB trips him and grabs his arm. Matt side headlocks him then armdrags him. AB kicks him out of the corner. AB whips him down by the arm and stomps Matt's armcast. Matt knees him in the gut. AB armlocks him. 

Matt dropkicks him then lariats him over the top. Matt dropkicks him through the ropes. AB's head is banged off the apron and buckles. Vega distracts Matt and Matt is swept on the apron. We go to break and return.

Matt spinebusters AB. Matt bangs AB's face off the mat then corner lariats him. AB jumping knees him then Matt neckbreakers him off a suplex attempt. Matt hits a broski boot for 2. 

Matt takes a flapjack on the top buckle. Matt 2nd rope gordbusters him then 2nd rope dropkicks him. Matt hits a double underhook powerbomb for 2. AB suplexes him for 2. AB does an armlock and kicks the injured arm. AB hits black mass and wins.

Thoughts: Black worked Matt's injured arm some here which was nice. He also connected well with his spin kick as usual. Black nearly took a tiger driver '91 here. I thought it was average. I don't like jobbing out Matt again and again.

Bayley and Lyra Valkyria are interviewed by Cathy. Bay says Flair and Bliss will pay for taking their shot at the tag titles. Bay says they will get a taste of what they will do in Vegas. Lyra says it's about making everything they went through this year worth it.

R-Truth talks to Johnny Gargano and Candice LaRae in the back. Truth says he thought Johnny was dead. LaRae says he will be the new NXT N-A champ tomorrow. Johnny says Johnny Wrestling is back.

Damian Priest comes in and asks why Truth chose to defend against Miz and Kit. Truth says they got cursed by Asuka and thinks Danhausen is Asuka. Priest repeats what happened and Truth says he gets in. Truth says it'll be like taking candy from a baby. Priest says something bad will happen to them and Truth says to watch out for Asuka.

Drew McIntyre does a video. He says he had his moment in front of him and it was perfect. He says his family would see him walk into Mania as champ. He says that was stolen from him again by Jacob Fatu. He says he heard lies and excuses from Fatu. He says he's nothing more than a criminal. He says Fatu hasn't changed and will be nothing more than convict. He says he's here only because of his family. He says he will prove he is guilty as charged and says he will prove who Fatu really is. 

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs Bayley and Lyra Valkyria

All 4 fight to start. Flair chops Lyra and forearms her. Lyra crossbodies her then hits mounted shots. Lyra spinning heel kicks her for 2. Lyra step up enzugiri's her. Lyra takes a flatliner into the buckles. AB 2nd rope diving tornado ddt's Lyra.

We go to PiP break and return. AB blocks Lyra's tag. AB STO's her. AB double knee drops her then misses a rolling senton. Lyra 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Flair. Bay backdrops Flair. Bay forearms Flair. Flair is on the 2nd rope and Bay double knee drops her down. Bay sunset bombs her into the buckles for 2. 

Bay and Flair trade shots on the buckles. Bay top rope elbow drops Flair for 2. Flair takes a samoan drop + diving blockbuster for 2. Bay is caught off the buckles and is put in a figure eight. AB hits a hard shotgun dropkick on Bay. AB is caught off the 2nd rope by Lyra. AB punches Lyra down. AB's team hits stereo natural selections and wins.

Thoughts: They put in a bit more effort than usual. Bliss really stiff Bayley with a shotgun dropkick in the corner. Bliss' team were the favorites going in and pulled it of. It was acceptable.

Lash Legend attacks Lyra after then Nia hits the other girls on the floor. Bay is held in the air for a 2nd rope Nia legdrop.

Kit Wilson and Miz talk in the back about being cursed. Miz says how can they be cursed when they got a title match. Danhausen pops up behind them. Dan says he will come down with them so they can learn to be him. Kit says he's toxic. Dan says he can undo the curse if he comes down. Miz says he can shove the curse when they win but Dan is gone.

WWE Tag Titles - Damian Priest and R-Truth (c) vs The Miz and Kit Wilson

Kit his RT from behind. RT dances at him and his some shots. Miz boots RT in the corner. RT flying shoulders him. RT backdrops him. RT's throat is pulled down over the top. Kit flying euros him outside.

We go to PiP break and return. RT ducks a Miz lariat and tags out. DP hits shots on the heels then flapjacks Kit. DP lifting flatliners Miz then hits flying forearms on his opponents. RP rope walk crossbodies Miz. DP lariats Miz for 2.

DP corkscrew kicks Kit. DP jumps off the steps onto Kit outside. RT and Miz double lariat each other. Danhausen comes out. Dan asks Miz to tag him in. Miz stares at him and tells him to get out. Dan still asks for a tag. RT tags in Dan but totally misses his hand. Miz tells Dan he doesn't belong here and needs to get out. Dan tries to curse him but Miz puts the ref in the way. Miz grabs Dan and the lights go out. Dan runs away.

RT AA's Kit. Miz hits a skull crushing finale on RT. The ref goes to count and the ref's arm stars hurting. He can't count. Miz yells at him. DP hits a south of heaven on Miz and DP pins Miz.

Thoughts: This is where they went too far with the ref being unable to count due to Danhausen's curse. It's just not believable. They could have just shut the lights off again and gotten to the same place without the fake stuff. It's okay when you imply there's a curse, but when you make it look like there is, that's a  problem. I didn't like this. 

Cody Rhodes comes down and hits a cross rhodes on Kit after. Cody says we got all dressed up to figure out who Orton was talking to and it's Pat McAfee. He says that's like if Hall and Nash brought out Disco Inferno instead of Hulk Hogan. He says Pat is a human hat rack and says he will get his receipt. Cody says Pat and his friends an kiss his @ss. Cody asks what will they do - fire him? He says that sure worked out the last time. 

Cody says Orton had to make it personal and says Steph told him he needed to be a bad guy. Cody says he doesn't know if he knows how to do it anymore. Cody talks about setting Mania records. Cody says it's a match with 20 years of history with the 2 best wrestlers to do it. Cody says he's hearing the voices but you don't want to hear what he has to say.

WWE United States Title - Sami Zayn (c) vs Carmelo Hayes

Sami backs up Melo in the corner. Melo reverses a wristlock and side headlocks him. Melo hits a big dropkick. Melo hits chops in the corner. Sami hits chops and mounted corner punches. Melo then hits mounted corner punches. Sami lariats him for 1. Melo 2nd rope springboard twisting lariats him.

Melo hits a 2nd rope springboard blind legdrop for 1. Melo tope con hilos out and holds his knee. We go to PiP break and return.  Melo's knee seems to be okay. Sami chops him down. Melo chops Sami. Melo la mistica drops him for 2. Melo rolls him up for 2. Sami exploders him into the buckles. Melo superkicks him. Melo frogsplashes him for 2. Melo hits a first 48. Melo mises a top rope legdrop and holds his leg. The ref checks on Melo and Sami helluva kicks him to win.

Thoughts: It didn't quite get the time or the build to be anything too special. It was acceptable but not much more. Sami thankfully won here as Trick/Melo should be saved for another day when they have build behind it. I thought this was a weird choice for the main event.

Trick and Yachty come in the ring. Yachty congratulates him and calls him the gingerbread man. Trick nails Sami from behind. Trick hits a trick shot on him. Trick and Yachty celebrate to close the show.

Overall thoughts: I feel like Mania's not doing well enough and WWE's making some big moves to try and shake things up. I don't think what they did here worked. Pat McAfee turning on Cody was a random one and not one of the better picks for the mystery man Orton talked to. Danhausen is actually cursing people now which I don't like. They dropped the lantern thing with The MFT's but The MFT's/Wyatt's feud clearly won't end until Mania. Sami seems to be turning heel slowly and I don't think him vs Melo was the right choice for the main. A lot of stars were missing here as Orton, Cody, Drew and Fatu all weren't in action. Jelly Roll, Tiffany Stratton, Chelsea Green and Giulia weren't even on the show. I'd give this a 4 out of 10. The storylines weren't good and the matches were forgettable with a weak main. This is not the show they needed to bump up Mania interest. I wouldn't recommend it and thought it was a below average show.