WWE Smackdown Review – April 5, 2024
Kicking off this week’s Smackdown with Kevin Owens says his guest tonight is an absolute legend of the wrestling industry and says it means a lot to him every time they get to share the ring then introduces Randy Orton and he makes his way down to the ring.
Owens says he & Orton sit together in the ring ahead of Triple Threat United States Title match against one another and Logan Paul on Sunday with a common hatred for Paul. He asks Orton how repulsive and unlikable he finds Paul on a scale of 1 to 10 and Orton says he is an eleven.
We then head over to see Paul on the WrestleMania set at the Lincoln Financial Field. He calls out Orton & Owens’ names and says while they’re acting like a couple of toddlers playing in a sandbox, he’s building empires. He questions what Orton & Owens are doing wasting their time on The Kevin Owens Show and says he’s thinking about his victory on Sunday when he retains his title.
Owens says Paul is talking a lot of trash for someone who is across the street and Orton asks Owens if they’re thinking the same think. Owens says he is and they leave the arena through the crowd as A Town Down Under emerge from under the ring. They then chase after Owens & Orton missing their cue to attack them.
After the break we see Owens & Orton drive out of the arena as A Town Down Under chase after them.
We then head over to a video highlighting the career of Andre The Giant.
25 Man Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Cedric Alexander vs. Ashante Thee Adonis vs. Kit Wilson vs. Elton Prince vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Sanga vs. Veer Mahaan vs. Brutus Creed vs. Julius Creed vs. Ivar vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Otis vs. JD McDonagh vs. Apollo Crews vs. Angel vs. Ricochet vs. Humberto vs. Bronson Reed vs. Karl Anderson vs. Omos vs. Joaquin Wilde vs. Cruz Del Toro vs. Luke Gallows vs. Jinder Mahal
Pretty Deadly look to immediately take out Omos but Omos overpowers them and tosses Kit Wilson out of the ring.
Elton Prince then hops over the top rope and onto the floor to eliminate himself.
Everyone then begins brawling with one another and Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde eliminate Angel & Humberto.
Angel & Humberto pull Wilde & Del Toro under the bottom rope to continue beating them down as Cameron Grimes is eliminated.
Jinder Mahal is then dumped out of the ring over the top before Veer Mahaan & Sanga eliminate Apollo Crews.
Creed Brothers then sneak up on Indus Sher and send them over the top rope and to the back.
Omos sends JD McDonagh crashing into the mat with a double chokeslam as we go to a break.
After the break Omos sends Creed Brothers crashing over the top rope but can’t hang on and eliminates himself in the process.
Bronson Reed eliminates Joaquin Wilde & Ivar sends Cedric Alexander over the top rope and onto the floor.
Ricochet hits a pair of enzugiris to Reed from the apron as Ivar dumps Ashante Thee Adonis over the top rope.
Reed & Ivar then begin brawling and level one another with crossbodies.
Ricochet looks to fly but Reed catches him before he sends him over the top and onto the apron. McDonagh pulls him off the apron from the outside to eliminate him.
Tozawa superkicks McDonagh out of the ring to eliminate him.
We are down to 4: Ivar, Reed, Tozawa & Otis. Reed & Ivar sandwich Tozawa between them but Otis lands a back elbow on Ivar and a clothesline on Reed.
He hits The Caterpillar to Reed but Ivar sends him over the top and onto the floor.
Tozawa goes after Ivar but Ivar levels him and dumps him over the top rope and onto Otis.
We are down to 2: Ivar & Reed & both men exchange forearms before Ivar lands a spinning back heel kick on Reed.
He ascends to the top rope and looks to land Doom Sault but Reed rolls out of the way and delivers a rolling senton.
He then clotheslines Ivar out of the ring to eliminate him.
Winner Of The 2024 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Bronson Reed
We then see Logan Paul walking around backstage at the Wells Fargo Center.
After the break we head over to a video from Final Testament where Karrion Kross sends a message to Bobby Lashley ahead of the 6 Man Tag Team Street Fight between them & Street Profits & Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania.
United States Champion Logan Paul wishes a good evening to the people of south Jersey and says whoever had the idea to have him spend a weekend in Philadelphia is fired. He says when he looks around the crowd, all he sees are idiots and it makes sense that dummies would cheer for dummies like Kevin Owens & Randy Orton. He takes more shots at Owens & Orton then says A Town Down Under are across the street at the Lincoln Financial Field about to blindside Orton & Owens with an attack. He reveals that he has a cameraman over there to film the attack.
A Town Down Under can’t seem to find Orton & Owens and tell Paul such. Owens & Orton then emerge from under the ring back at the Wells Fargo Center and Paul tries retreating to the back when he notices them. Owens prevents him from doing so and gets him back in the ring. He lands a Stunner on Paul before Orton delivers an RKO to him.
We head backstage and see Carlito call for help after finding Dragon Lee laid out. Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega run in to check on him as do a medical official and Nick Aldis. Carlito tells them all he had no idea who did it but he has an idea in mind. Rey & Vega then leave to make their way down to the ring.
Zelina Vega vs. Elektra Lopez
Zelina Vega fires off forearm shots on Elektra Lopez then follows it up with a pair of Sling Blades and a running knee then hits a Meteora to Lopez and goes for a pin but Lopez kicks out.
Vega looks to fly off the middle rope but Lopez catches her and plants her with a spinning Sidewalk Slam.
She ascends to the top rope but Vega dials it up for a 619 to her knees and plants her with a Hammerlock DDT.
She pins Lopez but the referee is distracted by Dominik Mysterio on the apron.
Vega clocks him and Rey pulls him off opening the door for Lopez to hit Elektra Shock for the win.
Winner: Elektra Lopez
After the match Santos Escobar & Dominik blindside Rey and beat him down as Lopez forces Vega to watch. Andrade then clocks Dominik & Escobar betraying them. He clotheslines them out of the ring and hugs Rey.
Bianca BelAir says everyone knows about her long history with Damage CTRL. She says she fought against them time after time alone and it became exhausting. She says she wanted to give up until Naomi came around and helped her out. Naomi says Damage CTRL dragged BelAir around and BelAir says they did the same thing to Naomi. BelAir & Naomi then celebrate going to WrestleMania.
Naomi says they needed one another, but they were still outnumbered. Belair says Damage CTRL has been on top for so long and because of that, they’ve been too cocky. She says they took out everyone who tried helping her and the last thing they expected was for someone new to show up. She says lucky for them that person came in the form of their WrestleMania tag team partner in their 6 Woman Tag Team match against Damage CTRL. She then introduces Jade Cargill.
Cargill’s music hits and she makes her way down to the ring. Cargill thanks BelAir & Naomi then shouts outs Damage CTRL for giving her the stage to show the WWE Universe what she’s all about. She says the 3 of them will show why there’s no Damage CTRL then puts Asuka, Kairi Sane & Dakota Kai on notice. She tells them that they’re now in the eye of the storm.
We then head backstage and see an official inform Rey Mysterio, Andrade & Zelina Vega that Dragon Lee is no longer cleared to compete at WrestleMania. Andrade volunteers to be Mysterio’s tag team partner and Mysterio accepts.
Tag Team Match
A Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate)
Austin Theory & Pete Dune lock up to get this match started before They take turns locking one another in submission holds before Theory lands a forearm on Dunne.
Dunne hits a Dragon Screw stomps on Theory’s ankle then tags in Tyler Bate.
Bate flies off the middle rope with some assistance from Dune and dropkicks Theory into the corner. Waller tags in and Bate hits a hurricanrana to him out of the corner.
He then hits an Airplane Spin as Dunne begins brawling with Theory.
He looks to fly but Theory catches him with a right hand.
Bate then levels Theory on the outside but Waller takes advantage and hits a kick to his face through the middle rope before landing a tornado DDT to him on the apron as we go to a break.
After the break Theory lands a Blockbuster on Bate & Waller pins him but Bate kicks out and hits a delayed vertical suplex to Waller then tags in Dunne.
Dunne hits enzuigiris to A Town Down Under then hits more to them in the corners.
He takes out Theory and hits Waller with a German suplex then follows it up with a dropkick. Dunne snaps Waller’s fingers but Theory dropkicks him.
Bate levels Theory but Waller hits a jumping knee to him and follows it up with a right hand on him on the outside.
Waller looks to land the Rolling Stunner on Dunne but Dunne clocks him with a right hand.
He tags in Bate and New Catch Republic hits Birminghammer for the win.
Winners: New Catch Republic
After the match Judgment Day blindsides New Catch Republic and beats them down. Priest hits South Of Heaven to Bate and Razor’s Edge to Dunne. McDonagh then hits Devil Inside to Waller. Dominik Mysterio hits a Frog Splash to Dunne and Priest hits Theory with South Of Heaven. Balor follows it up with Coup De Grace.
We then head over to a video on Bayley & Iyo Sky reflecting on their friendship and feud.
After the break LA Knight tells Philadelphia he wants to talk to them then addresses his WrestleMania match against AJ Styles. He says he thinks Styles is phenomenal at running away and getting stomped out by him. He says Styles should be at home grabbing his crying towel because that’s all he’s done as of late. He says he should be thanking him and he’ll give the world plenty to talk about on Sunday when he beats him. He says when he does so, the world will know whose game it is with everyone saying his name.
We then head over to a video from The Pride sending a message to The Final Testament.
Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa
Jey Uso offers his hand to Solo Sikoa but Sikoa refuses to shake it and they begin brawling.
Jey lands an enzuigiri and hits a 2nd one from the apron then low bridges Sikoa out of the ring and looks to land a tope suicida.
Sikoa catches him with a right hand and chokeslams him on top of the ring apron as we go to a break.
After the break Jey rains down right hands on Sikoa before Sikoa levels Jey and goes for a pin but Jey kicks out.
Sikoa then fires off right hands on Jey and looks to land a hip attack but Jey moves out of the way and delivers a series of right hands to Sikoa.
Sikoa looks to land a flapjack but Jey catches him with a superkick.
He follows it up with an open palm strike and an enzuigiri then hits a hip attack to him in the corner.
Sikoa hits a Samoan Drop and sets up for Samoan Spike but Jey avoids it and lands a pair of superkicks.
He follows it up with a Spear and ascends to the top rope then hits Uso Splash.
Jimmy Uso appears out of nowhere and begins beating Jey down causing the DQ.
Winner By DQ: Jey Uso
After the match Jimmy rains down right hands on Jey and holds him in place as Sikoa sets up to hit Samoan Spike. 2024 Royal Rumble Winner Cody Rhodes & World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins run down to the ring to even the odds. Rhodes lands Cody Cutter on Sikoa. Jimmy tries escaping through the crowd but Jey catches up to him and tosses him back in the ring. Rhodes grabs his weight belt and tosses it over to Rollins before he hits Cross Rhodes to Jimmy. Rollins holds up the weight belt and whips it across Jimmy’s spine. Jey then hits Uso Splash off the top rope.
Rhodes grabs a mic and asks Philadelphia if they can feel 40 years of WrestleMania. He says himself and Rollins will slap The Rock so hard that his ego lifts out of his body like his soul and he remembers what it’s like to be The People’s Champion tomorrow night. He says they will shatter the foundation of The Bloodline and he will go on to dethrone Roman Reigns as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion the following night. He says he’s fighting for every moment that’s defined him and every fan that believed in him. He says when one good story ends an even better one begins. He stands tall with Rollins & Jey flanking him to close out this week’s Smackdown.
