WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - April 26th, 2024

[Kemo]

The 2024 WWE Draft kicks off tonight on SmackDown

The 2024 WWE Draft has returned, and the landscape of the squared circle will never be the same. It all begins on SmackDown with the first four rounds of draft picks being announced. Each round will consist of SmackDown and Raw making two picks apiece for a total of 16 picks. What surprises await? Who will be the first Superstar selected from SmackDown and Raw? With NXT eligible, which competitors will be joining the main roaster?

– We kick off tonight's show LIVE inside the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH. where Corey Graves and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show.

– We see a look at the podium set up on the entrance stage for the 2024 WWE Draft and then the rules for this year's draft flash on the screen as Graves and Barrett talk us through them. Backstage, Kayla Braxton is standing by with Paul Heyman.

– Now we shoot to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando where Jackie Redmond is with a packed house full of fans chanting "NXT! NXT!" as she talks about the excitement in the air.

– Back inside the Heritage Bank Center, we see Corey Graves standing in the ring, which is set up with two tables, a carpet and the rest of the usual contract signing trimmings. Graves hypes up the WWE Universal Championship showdown between Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles for WWE Backlash: France.

From there, he introduces AJ Styles and out comes the challenger for Rhodes' first defense of the Universal title. "The Phenomenal One" settles inside the ring and takes a seat at one of the tables. Graves then introduces the reigning and defending champion, and out comes "The American Nightmare."

Styles begins by standing up and saying before he signs this, he's got some stuff to say. He talks about his beef with LA Knight and how he got under his skin. He says that's why he lost at WrestleMania XL. He says he gained his composure after that and realized he is phenomenal and got back on track.

AJ goes on to offer the obligatory praise to Cody's late father, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. Cody talks next and says there isn't a locker room in the world where every single person in it will have something good to say about AJ. He says AJ has earned that respect. Things stay respectful, the two sign and shake hands.

Cody's music hits and he walks off. As he makes it half way up the ramp, his music cuts off and the familiar sounds of Triple H's theme plays. Out comes the WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque. Triple H brings Cody over to the podium with him for the first draft announcements.

Rhodes reads the first pick of the 2024 WWE Draft, which sees SmackDown selecting "The EST of WWE" Bianca Belair.

With the second overall pick, Raw selects "Main Event" Jey Uso. The second pick for SmackDown is former WWE NXT World Champion Carmelo Hayes. The final pick of the first round sees Raw select Seth "Freakin'" Rollins.

Carmelo Hayes' theme hits and out he comes, walking over to Cody and Triple H. He tells Cody that he hears him say since capturing the Universal title that "if you come at the king, you best not miss." He says that's good because "When I shoot, I don't miss." He then says who better to take his shot against than Cody. Cody reacts and makes a match between them tonight.

Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Angel & Humberto

Backstage, we see Carlito and Zelina Vega walking with Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee as they prepare to head to the ring for our first match of the evening. On that note, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, the iconic sounds of Rey Mysterio's theme hits and out he comes with Dragon Lee for opening tag-team action. The Legado Del Fantasma duo of Angel and Humberto come out and then the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. After some back-and-forth action, we head to a mid-match break.

As we settle back in from the break, we see Mysterio fire up on offense and hit his trademark 6-1-9 spot. Dragon Lee follows up with his Project-Dragon finisher for the pin fall victory.

Winners: Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee

– Once the match wraps up, we see Carlito and Zelina Vega join Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee in the ring for their post-match celebration. The music cuts off and out comes Santos Escobar, who says he's a lot of things, but a liar is not one of them.

He says he has the footage of who really attacked Dragon Lee. We see the footage and it was Carlito. As it airs, Carlito attacks Dragon from behind and runs off through the crowd. After this, we head to another commercial break.

Bron Breakker vs. Cedric Alexander

As we return from the commercials, we learn that Carmelo Hayes vs. Cody Rhodes has been confirmed for tonight's main event. The theme for Bron Breakker hits and out comes the former WWE NXT World Champion for our next match of the evening.

Already in the ring is Breakker's opponent, Cedric Alexander. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Literally seconds later, after a huge spear, we see Breakker pick up a super quick squash match victory.

Winner: Bron Breakker

– We see footage of Tiffany Stratton attacking Naomi and Bayley during their WWE Women's Championship match last week on the show. Backstage live, we see SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis emerge from his office. Tiffany approaches him.

Aldis informs her that tonight she will be squaring off against Naomi, and whoever wins will challenge Bayley for the title at WWE Backlash: France. She asks who came up with that dumb idea. Bayley appears and says "Ding-dong!" and reveals it was her idea.

Tiffany says she just had a "Tiffany Epiphany" and that is that Bayley should sit ringside and see Tiffany do what she couldn't do, which is beat Naomi. "Toodles!" she says before doing an arrogant hair-flip and walking off.

– We see Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson backstage getting ready for round two of the WWE Draft. On that note, we shift gears and head into another commercial break. When we return, we see an ad for combo tickets for WWE Clash at the Castle: Scotland and SmackDown in Glasgow in June.

Back inside the arena, McCool and Wilson are introduced. McCool starts off and reveals that SmackDown's next pick in the draft is Randy Orton. Wilson announces Raw's next pick in the draft is none other than Bron Breakker.

Nia Jax is announced as the next pick for SmackDown in the draft by McCool after we see locker room reactions from Raw and SmackDown executives to Breakker moving from SmackDown to Raw. Wilson reveals that Liv Morgan is the next pick for Raw.

– We are shown footage from last week's show of Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga savagely attacking Kevin Owens, who was left laying in a pool of his own blood after the vicious assault at the hands of the new version of The Bloodline.

– We also see Nick Aldis showing Paul Heyman the aftermath of a car crash that Tama orchestrated to injure Owens, and Aldis warning Heyman that losing isn't the only thing that warrants consequences. Back live, we see Paul Heyman watching as a vehicle arrives to the building.

As the car pulls up, Heyman approaches the door and is super apologetic before anyone says anything. Solo pops out and Heyman continues to apologize. He says next time he'll get the door for him when he arrives. Solo asks Heyman if The Bloodline has been drafted. Heyman says not yet.

Solo tells Heyman to give him the details right now. Heyman explains that Roman Reigns removed himself from the draft pool and that because Solo is adding new members, no one knows what they are getting if they draft The Bloodline.

Up comes Tama Tonga and Heyman looks scared. Kevin Owens emerges from behind and attacks Tama and Solo, prompting a ton of officials and security to immediately rush to the scene to break them up. On that note, we shift gears and head into another commercial break.

– When we return, Bianca Belair comes out for an interview and is confronted by Damage CTRL. As this is happening, we see Owens and The Bloodline come out through the back and continue brawling on the entrance stage. The Bloodline start beating down Owens until Randy Orton comes out for the save.

– After that wild scene wraps up, we shoot backstage where we see Bully Ray pop out with the SmackDown selections for the next round of the WWE Draft. He begins walking the halls. Out of the other room pops his longtime partner from The Dudley Boyz, D-Von Dudley, who has the Raw picks. We head to a break.

– When we return, The Dudley Boyz make their way out to the podium as fans chant "ECW! ECW!" Bully announces that SmackDown selects LA Knight as their first pick in the third round. D-Von announces Raw has selected Ricochet as their latest pick in the draft.

The Bloodline is the second pick of the third round for SmackDown. For Raw, the final pick of the third round sees them select Sheamus. That wraps up the third and final round of night one of the 2024 WWE Draft. The Dudley Boyz head to the back as we move on with tonight's show.

WWE Women's Championship Eliminator: Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton

The theme for Tiffany Stratton hits and out she comes pointing to her wrist, indicating that it is, in fact, "Tiffy-Time." As she heads to the ring for the WWE Women's Championship Eliminator for WWE Backlash: France that was announced by Nick Aldis earlier tonight, we see Bayley introduced on special guest commentary.

Tiffany settles inside the squared circle and her music wraps up. The theme for Naomi hits and out comes the popular women's wrestling veteran to the ring for this high stakes showdown. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

After some early back-and-forth action, we head to a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see things pick up between Stratton and Naomi, with Tiffany dominating the action. Naomi hits a big drop kick and then a bull dog on Stratton to the turnbuckle in the corner.

Immediately after that, we hear some chaos breaking out at ringside, with Graves and Barrett reacting to something. The camera pans over to show Nia Jax has emerged through the crowd and is attacking WWE Women's Champion Bayley. Naomi notices this from the ring and heads out to help out, but Nia levels her as well.

As soon as Nia makes contact with Naomi, the referee sees this and throws the match out. Although normally Naomi would win via DQ since she was attacked, but presumably this means no one wins and thus, no one is officially set for Bayley's next challenger for the title at WWE Backlash: France. After Jax finishes up her attack, Stratton stacks Naomi on top of Bayley and hits her Prettiest Moonsault Ever.

No Contest

– We shoot backstage and we see former SmackDown General Manager and WWE Hall of Fame legend Teddy Long emerge with the latest SmackDown draft picks. From another room emerges fellow WWE Hall of Fame legend JBL, who has the Raw picks. We head to another commercial break on that note.

– After returning from the break, we immediately see a beat down going on backstage, with The Final Testament striking as Karrion Kross sends a message directly into the camera, warning that wherever they end up in the draft, they will continue to create chaos.

– Back inside the arena, JBL and Teddy Long are introduced. Long announces that AJ Styles is the next pick in the draft for SmackDown. For Raw, JBL announces Chad Gable, Akira Tozawa, Maxxine Dupri and Otis, collectively known as Alpha Academy. Long announces Andrade as the next pick for SmackDown.

Finally, JBL names Kiana James from NXT for Raw. Following the last pick, Graves and Barrett introduce a video package to inform fans more about the NXT Superstar Kiana James. We then check in with Jackie Redmond at the WWE PC, where Shawn Michaels is with Kiana James, who is interviewed about the big draft to Raw.

– Following the fourth round of night one of the 2024 WWE Draft, we return inside the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH., where we see former WWE NXT World Champion Carmelo Hayes walking the halls, as his main event against WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes is up next. We head to another commercial break.

– Upon returning from the commercials, we see footage of Kiana James' reaction from the WWE PC upon learning of her draft to Raw. Backstage, Nick Aldis reveals Bayley will defend her WWE Women's Championship against Tiffany Stratton and Naomi at WWE Backlash: France. Teddy Long then announces The Bloodline vs. Kevin Owens & Randy Orton for WWE Backlash: France.

– Back inside the arena, Graves and Barrett react to the WWE Backlash: France announcements just made by Aldis and Long. They then announce the first-ever RKO Show with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens for next week's SmackDown. Also scheduled is Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles going face-to-face ahead of WWE Backlash: France, New Catch Republic will collide with Authors of Pain, and A-Town Down Under will defend the WWE Tag-Team Championships against The Street Profits.

Cody Rhodes vs. Carmelo Hayes

We return inside the building where we hear Carmelo Hayes' theme. Out he comes for our final match of the evening. He settles inside the squared circle and his entrance tune wraps up. The theme for Cody Rhodes hits next and out comes "The American Nightmare."

They tie up and Cody with a throw, then they hit the ropes and Cody with a kick then a right hand. Hayes with a cross chop then a springboard attack. Clothesline from Cody to drop Hayes and then we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.

We are back and Cody with a side head lock. Hayes with a head scissors and Cody escapes. Hayes with a chop and he pie faces Cody. Cody with forearms and Hayes with a back elbow. Hayes with a kick to the midsection. Hayes with chops and kicks. Hayes chokes Cody in the ropes. Cody misses a punch and Hayes with a chop. Cody with a chop. Cody with an Irish whip and a back body drop. Cody with a running forearm and he floats over but Hayes with La Mistica into a facebuster. Hayes with a springboard DDT for a near fall. Hayes with a front face lock. Cody gets Hayes on his shoulders but Hayes escapes and sets for a reverse DDT. Cody counters with an inside cradle for a near fall.

Cody with Beautiful Disaster for a near fall. Hayes with a head butt and Cody with forearms. They go back and forth and Cody gets Hayes on his shoulders again. Cody sets for a power slam and he hits a running power slam for a near fall. Cody sets for a Cody Cutter and he hits it but Hayes kicks out. Cody sets for a belly-to-back suplex but Hayes lands on his feet and he hits a Codebreaker. Hayes comes off the turnbuckles but misses and rolls through. Cody with a super kick and both come off the turnbuckles and miss but Cody lands awkwardly. Hayes takes too long and Cody with CrossRhodes for the three count.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

– After the match, Cody kneels down next to a dejected Carmelo Hayes and offers him some words of encouragement. Hayes exits the ring and Cody continues his celebration in the corner. He hops off the ropes and turns around to see AJ Styles staring at him. The two have a tense face-off as fans break out into various chants in the background. Corey Graves promotes their showdown at WWE Backlash: France and night two of the WWE Draft on Monday's Raw as this week's show goes off the air.

[LionDen]

[LionDen]

NXT people are also ready for the draft, these are the qualifiers for tonight.

[LionDen]

Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles signing ahead of Backlash France.

[LionDen]

Triple H and Cody Rhodes will be in charge of picking the Superstars in this first round draft.

[LionDen]

First round draft

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Carmelo Hayes comes to SmackDown

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Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee defeat Garza and Humberto

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Bron Breakker defeats Cedric Alexander

[LionDen]

Second round draft