WWE SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Apr. 10, 2020) with a show moved to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There won’t be any fans in attendance, but we will see Braun Strowman kick off his reign as Universal champion. Also advertised for the card is Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defending the Women’s tag team titles against the Kabuki Warriors, in a rematch from WrestleMania 36.
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on Fox. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR APR. 10
I grew up here on this street where nothing moves, just a strange breeze in a town full of worthless memories. There’s a shadow in my backyard, I’ve got a house full of things that I can’t touch, well all those things they won’t do me much good now, because I’ve got to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you folks.
The show opens with Braun Strowman.
He gets in the ring and on the mic and says when opportunity knocks on the door, you answer it, but he did more than answer it, he knocked it off its hinges. He took everything Goldberg had to dish out and he refused to stay down. He got back up and put Goldberg down for good, and now he’s the new Universal Champion. And to have it happen at WrestleMania, it’s the greatest moment of his career—
Enter Shinsuke Nakamura.
He gets in the ring and Braun asks what he wants, to which his answer is “knock, knock.” He explains how knock knock jokes work briefly before saying he’s knocking on Strowman’s door. He talks about his WrestleMania moment, but the last time they met, he and his boys beat him. Braun tells him to cut the crap and let him enjoy his night as he knock knock knocks the crap out of him.
Nakamura tells him to be careful what he wishes for and he recites an old Japanese proverb before translating— the weak are meat and the strong eat. Braun offers up his own proverb— later tonight, Shinsuke is gonna get These Hands. Strowman turns around and throws Cesaro (who had snuck up behind him) out of the ring, but Nakamura decks him with a kick!
The heels leave as Braun paces in frustration.
Commentary hypes up the rest of tonight’s show, including an infuriating rematch, after the break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of the version of this next match that we got at WrestleMania.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) (WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship)
Sane and Bliss to start, Kairi with the advantage and the heels start working the champs over. Alexa gets a flash pin nearfall on Sane, they trade strikes until Kairi stomps her toes in and regains control. Asuka legal, clear the apron, back to working Bliss over. Action to the floor, Asuka rejoins the commentary team briefly, Nikki Cross brawls with her on the table and Alexa is able to yank the Empress face first into the table!
Cross dives on her and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Asuka is legal it’s Nikki Cross’ turn to get beat down. Sunset flip gets two on Kairi soon enough, elbow cuts her off and gets two of her own. Sane drawing her up, mocking Bliss, dragging Nikki over, another tag. Cross gets a bulldog out of desperation and the tag! Kairi tags in as well, Alexa takes her out with lariats, a dropkick, she’s fired up, Insault to Injury but the moonsault comes up empty!
Sane with a spear, cover for two, the match breaks down and all four women are in the ring. Uraken takes Cross down, Kairi sidesteps the charge, tag made, kick to the back, the Empress with a powerbomb lift... DOOMSDAY DEVICE FOREARM INTO A CROSS ARMBAR! Nikki reverses to a cover for two but Asuka shifts to the Asuka Lock! Bliss breaks it up and Sane takes her out!
Off the top, nobody home, Cross gets the tag! Kairi ducks an uraken, kick to the midsection, DDT... ASUKA PULLS KAIRI OUT OF THE PIN AND TO THE FLOOR! Nikki comes off the apron into a knee from Asuka, Alexa up top... TWISTED BLISS OFF THE TOP AND TO THE FLOOR! Back inside, up top, Kairi rolls away, Cross with the blind tag. Trading shots, Nikki slips in...
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross win by pinfall with a fisherman neckbreaker from Cross on Kairi Sane to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Elias joins us from the balcony he got thrown off of, guitar in hand.
He put an end to King Baron Corbin at WrestleMania and sings us a song about beating Corbin as recap footage of the match plays.
A recap of Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis Dozovic follows.
Dolph and Sonya Deville storm the commentary desk and scream about doctored footage and identity death.
Tucker Knight makes his entrance, microphone in hand.
He’s sorry to interrupt Ziggler’s meltdown and he’s got some pictures Dolph deserves to see. They are, of course, of Mandy Rose and Otis hanging out and sharing bananas. He says he and Ziggler have unfinished business, and they’ll be in action after the break.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Tucker Knight
Knight on the offensive, charging in and putting boots to Ziggler. Action to the floor, Tucker’s righteous rampage follows but a distraction from Sonya Deville lets Dolph catch him! Laying in wait, Knight recovers and slams Ziggler into the announce table! Back inside, huge powerslam... NOPE! Up top, crossbody... STILL NO! Dolph is ready...
Dolph Ziggler wins by pinfall with the superkick.
We get a recap of the finish to the singles ladder match for the tag titles and go to break.
Back from commercial we get some hype for next week’s edition of WWE Backstage.
The Miz and John Morrison are in the ring for the Dirt Sheet.
They talk about retaining the tag titles at the most talked about WrestleMania ever and run down the highlights of the show before shifting into promoting their song, Hey Hey, which they’re gonna perform live right now.
They get interrupted by the Usos.
They try to drive a wedge between Miz and Morrison seeing as how Johnny had to defend the titles by himself, but the champs see the wedge and refuse to be split. Miz still isn’t clear, so they go to leave—
Enter New Day.
Big E says WrestleMania didn’t go as planned, and since one guy competed for the tag titles there, the other guy should get to compete for those lickable, kissable titles. And Kofi Kingston says they’ve consulted with everybody from WWE officials to Freddie Prinze, Jr. they’ve confirmed it’ll be Jey Uso vs. the Miz vs. Big E in a triple threat for the tag titles next week!
Commentary hypes up the debut of the Forgotten Sons, after the break.
Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake) vs. Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado)
Cutler and Dorado to start, whip across hard elbow, quick tag to Blake and Lince hits a quebrada for the tag. Metalik in with a falling splash, tag back to Dorado and he goes for an armbar takedown. Denied, tag to Steve, butterfly backbreaker, choking him in the ropes before tagging back to Wesley for a double-team Rock Bottom backbreaker! Knee ot the back, rear chinlock.
Tags made, Gran in hot, whip reversed, handspring sidestepped, duck the forearm, springboard back elbow! Step-up dropkick, cover... CUTLER BREAKS IT UP! Match breaks down, Dorado in, back body drop to the floor, Metalik with a superkick but Wesley with a schoolboy roll-through that gets an enzuigiri in return! Catch the handspring, Gran slips out, drop him with a lariat, tag to Cutler!
Up to the second...
Forgotten Sons win by pinfall with a Russian legsweep / diving stomp combo on Gran Metalik.
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross are backstage celebrating their win and talking about how they feel unbeatable when Carmella and Dana Brooke roll up and challenge them for the tag titles. They accept!
Sasha Banks makes her entrance, followed shortly thereafter by Bayley to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Bayley gets on the mic.
She says just three weeks ago they were standing in this very ring when Paige tried to ruin her WrestleMania and their friendship with an elimination match, but she didn’t. So anyone that thinks they can touch her, well, ding dong— you can’t, because she’s beaten everyone. But she does have to say, in her humble opinion, that her greatest moment yet was defying all odds at WrestleMania.
And how did she do that? She’s the best. No, they’re the best, the ultimate role models, and if you think their friendship was gonna get ruined like that, they’ve got two simple words for you— screw you. Sasha Banks says nobody from the past, present, or future can touch them.
Enter Tamina.
Bayley talks about how great she smells and how happy she is that Tamina is here and they wanted to congratulate her on such a dominant performance at WrestleMania— Snuka tells her to shut up and nobody beat her at WrestleMania. It took all four of them to eliminate her, so Miss Role Model, why not be a great example and fight her one-on-one for the title?
Banks says she’s sorry but Tamina just came back from whatever coconut shell she spent the last year in and she’s gonna make demands? Bayley holds her back and says she likes to be fair, so Tamina can have her match, if she can beat the Boss. Sasha is less than thrilled but Snuka accepts the challenge and tells her that her bestie just screwed her.
Commentary promises us a look at Jeff Hardy’s career and we go to break.
Cal Bloom vs. Sheamus
Bloom with a strong start, clubbing blows, but Sheamus cuts him off with a forearm and puts boots to him. Well in control...
Sheamus wins by pinfall with the Brogue Kick.
Sheamus gets weirdly intimidating in front of the commentary booth but doesn’t do anything.
Our promised Jeff Hardy retrospective follows to send us to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up next week’s show, including a qualifying match for Money in the Bank between Daniel Bryan and Cesaro, as well as one between Dana Brooke and Naomi.
Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura in with probing kicks, but Strowman cuts him off with a boot. Headbutt follows, he biels Shinsuke across the ring and follows it up with a facebreaker and some trash talk. Dumping the King of Strong Style to the floor, following after, distraction from Cesaro but the champ prevails and throws Nakamura back inside. Back outside, he catches Shinsuke on a charge and Hot Shots him into the barricade to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Strowman presses the attack, Stinger Splash, duck a kick but Nakamura catches him with the rebound and follows it up with a Kinshasa... NOPE! Reverse chinlock, back and forth, another tight nearfall off a knee, lining the big Kinshasa up but Braun has him scouted and turns him inside out...
Braun Strowman wins by pinfall with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam.
Firefly Fun House begins.
Bray has a whiteboard with “The History of John Cena and Bray Wyatt” written on it and says he has to rewrite a little history. He literally rewrites the word history and we get a quick recap of the match.
Wyatt moves on to Braun Strowman. He talks about how he created Strowman and all the puppet pals chime in about how stinky he is, except for Rambling Rabbit, who thinks he’s a good guy. But Bray’ll forgive his son if he just apologizes, to which Braun says he’s not playing these games. Wyatt tells him he’s too focused on getting These Hands rather than learning These Manners, and his next lesson is about sharing.
He’s got something Bray wants back, right there on his shoulder. As one circle closes, another begins again, and since he brought Strowman into this world, he has to take him out. Bye!
Braun gets on the mic and asks Bray to wait. Before he goes, he wants Wyatt to know that any time he wants, he’s ready to let him in!
Bray leans in real serious and it’s Braun’s turn to give out a real cheery “Bye!”
That’s the show, folks.