With the WWE Draft one week away, tonight's SmackDown takes place at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends his title against Xavier Woods tonight. After Woods defeated LA Knight last week, he interrupted Gunther's meeting with Imperium. Woods demanded a title shot since it could be his last chance because of the Draft.
The WWE Women's Tag Team titles will also be on the line as Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan defend against Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green. Deville and Green interrupted Rodriguez and Morgan's celebration last week, leading to tonight's contest.
Ricochet and Braun Strowman are out for revenge when they take on The Viking Raiders. Last week, The Viking Raiders attacked Ricochet and Strowman backstage.
A no DQ match between Matt Riddle and Solo Sikoa will headline tonight's show. The feud between the LWO and Judgment Day will also continue as Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar take on Finn Balor & Damian Priest.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– Michael Cole and Wade Barrett ran down the lineup for tonight.
– They recapped Damien Priest attacking his former friend Bad Bunny.
Judgment Day (Damien Priest & Finn Balor) defeated LWO (Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar) (11:29)
Priest and Balor defeated Mysterio and Escobar in a fun opener. The focus was on Bad Bunny's appearance this Monday on Raw.
Mysterio was in control until Priest blocked a moonsault. Judgement Day took over, isolating Mysterio on their side of the ring. Balor slowed the pace down with a chin lock. Mysterio fought back with a bulldog, tagging in Escobar. Escobar was firmly in control, sending Priest into Balor. Escobar and Mysterio worked together to clear the ring.
Mysterio missed a splash to the floor. Escobar set up for a dive, but Balor wiped him out with a clothesline as they went to a break.
Escobar and Priest traded stiff shots. Priest took over with a kick to the head. He slowed the pace with a chin lock. Escobar tried to fight back, but Priest recovered. Escobar rocked Priest with a dropkick, and Mysterio got the hot tag. Mysterio ran wild on Balor with a senton and middle rope crossbody for a near fall. Mysterio sent the legal man Priest to the floor. Instead, Mysterio caught Balor with the 619, allowing Escobar to hit a splash. Priest sent Mysterio into the ring post and hit South of Heaven on Escobar for the win.
After the match, Priest addressed Bad Bunny appearing on Raw this Monday. He hopes it goes better for Bad Bunny this time.
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– Cole and Barrett recapped Solo Sikoa beating Matt Riddle and hitting the spinning Solo onto the announce table last week.
– Zelina Vega approched Adam Pearce. Like everyone else, she doesn't know where she will end up after the draft. Vega demanded a title shot against Rhea Ripley at Backlash. As a Puerto Rican, she deserves the chance to beat Ripley in Puerto Rico.
– An excellent video package looked at Shinsuke Nakamura.
Karrion Kross addressed Nakamura backstage. He noted it wasn't his fault he hurt people; it was the cards. He discussed everything he took away from Drew McIntyre, Madcap Moss, and Rey Mysterio. Next, he's going to take away Nakamura's honor.
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Ricochet & Braun Strowman defeated The Viking Raiders (w/Valhalla) (10:14)
These two teams never disappoint when they face off. Everyone worked hard and had the fans on their feet by the end of the match.
Strowman and Ricochet had the early advantage. The Raiders made a blind tag, isolating Strowman in their corner. Strowman fought back and tagged in Ricochet. He threw Ricochet at the Raiders, but it looked like it hurt Ricochet more. Ricochet cleared the ring and wiped out the Raiders with dive.
During the break, Valhalla caused a distraction, allowing the Raiders to take over. Ricochet broke free, tagging in Strowman. Strowman took out Ivar with a shotgun dropkick. The Strowman express ran over Ivar and Erik at ringside. Valhalla caused another distraction, giving the Raiders the advantage. Ivar hit a huge splash for a close near fall.
Ricochet tagged in and rocked Ivar with a kick to the head and a jumping knee. Strowman threw Ricochet into Ivar and sent Erik to ringside. Ricochet then hit a Swanton bomb off Strowman's shoulders for the win.
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WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan defeated Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green to retain the titles (6:08)
The champions retained the titles in a solid match. Deville and Green weren't credible challengers, but they're entertaining. They managed to tell a pretty good story about water.
They recapped Chelsea Green throwing water on Liv Morgan on Monday's Raw.
Deville and Green cut a promo on the way to the ring. Green pretended to throw water at Morgan as she did on Raw. Rodriguez had to hold back a furious Morgan.
Morgan caught Green with a dropkick at the bell. The champions were firmly in control as they beat down Deville. Deville briefly fought back. Rodriguez tossed Green around the ring. Green sent Rodriguez to ringside and went for a suicide dive. Rodriguez caught Green, but Deville took her out with a knee.
Morgan took out the heels with a dive. The heels quickly took over, cutting Morgan off from her corner. The heels kept trying to win with their feet on the ropes, but the referee caught them each time.
Morgan escaped, and Rodriguez got the hot tag. Rodriguez hit the Vader bomb-twisting elbow, but Deville broke up the pin attempt. Morgan caught Green with a backstabber, but Deville took her out with a boot to the face. The finish came when Morgan threw water in Green's face, allowing Rodriguez to roll her up for the win.
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– Kayla Braxton spoke with Matt Riddle. She wonders if facing Solo Sikoa a few weeks before Backlash is a good idea. He knows Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens aren't there, but he's not worried. He promised to beat Sikoa later.
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Intercontinental Champion Gunther defeated Xavier Woods to retain the title (10:36)
Gunther beat Woods in an excellent, hard-hitting match with a hot crowd. Gunther was awesome, like always, but Woods was impressive too.
They started slow trading moves back and forth. Woods had a brief advantage until Gunther took over with a chop. Woods tried fighting back, but Gunther destroyed him with more chops. Gunther slowed the pace with a sleeper. Woods tried to escape, but Gunther rocked him with another chop.
Woods fought back with forearm shots. He avoided Gunther, slid through his legs, and hit an elbow. Gunther rolled to ringside to get away. Woods wasted no time, hitting a dive to the floor. Gunther tried to slow Woods's momentum with a chop. Woods recovered, pushed Gunther down, and hit a giant leg drop off the top rope for a close near fall. The fans broke into a "New Day Rocks" chant.
Woods escaped a powerbomb and went for a series of pin attempts. Gunther kicked out of an O'Connor roll into the sleeper for the win.
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– A video package recapped Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens beating The Usos for the titles at WrestleMania 39.
The Usos Segment
The Usos entered the ring. They talked about losing the titles at WrestleMania. People kept asking them how they felt. Before Backlash, they have a rematch with Zayn and Owens next week. They promised to win the titles and bring them to the Bloodline and Roman Reigns. They introduced Solo Sikoa.
No Disqualification Match: Solo Sikoa defeated Matt Riddle (14:04)
Sikoa defeated Riddle in a fantastic main event. They beat the hell out of each other with kendo sticks and chairs. There was even an exploder suplex on four upright chairs. The fans were going crazy by the end of the match.
Riddle jumped Sikoa from behind during his entrance. Sikoa quickly took over and pulled out kendo sticks and chairs from under the ring. Riddle tried to use them first, but Sikoa cut him off. Sikoa beat Riddle with the kendo stick. The fans broke into a "We want tables" chant.
Riddle recovered and destroyed Sikoa with the Kendo stick. Riddle teased pulling out a table to a giant pop. Sikoa cut him off to loud boos. Riddle recovered and hit the bro-ton off the steps.
Back from the break, Sikoa hit a Samoan drop for a near fall. Sikoa put Riddle in the corner with the chair on his face. He went for the splash, but Riddle threw the chair in his face instead. Riddle sent Sikoa into another chair. He then kneed the chair into Sikoa's face. Riddle followed with an exploder onto four upright chairs. Sikoa rolled to the floor to recover. Riddle tried going after him, but Sikoa grabbed his leg, slamming him on the apron.
Sikoa tossed Riddle over the announce table and tried to flip it over like last week. Instead, Riddle used his leg strength to block Sikoa. Riddle regained control and turned the table onto Sikoa. That's when The Usos ran out, attacking Riddle. He fought them off, wiping them out with the floating bro.
Sikoa emerged from under the table. Riddle tried to cut him off with a flash knee. Riddle hit the ropes, but Sikoa hit a flying Samoan Spike for the win.
After the match, The Usos gave Riddle the 1 D through a table to end SmackDown.
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Next Week: The WWE Draft begins on next week's episode. In a WrestleMania main event rematch, Undisputed Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens defend their titles against The Usos.
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