Damian Priest

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 22nd, 2026 Results & Recap: Gunther Leaves Cody Rhodes Lying, Jade Cargill Drops Rhea Ripley & TrickMeloGang Rivalry Starts Heating Up

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown had enough story progression to matter, but it also exposed the exact problem fans have been pointing out with WWE’s current three-hour TV rhythm: too much time, too many recaps, too many talking segments, and not enough urgency to get talent in the ring. This was the go-home SmackDown … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 15th, 2026 Results & Recap: Gunther Earns Cody Rhodes Clash In Italy Title Match, Trick Williams Gets Loud Columbia Homecoming

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown from Columbia, South Carolina felt different because I was not just watching it through a screen. I was inside Colonial Life Arena, surrounded by a loud crowd that stayed active for almost the entire three-hour experience, from the pre-show action to the Main Event taping to SmackDown itself. The … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 8th, 2026 Results & Recap: Tiffany Stratton Retains, Jade Cargill Returns And Trick Williams Turns The Gingerbread Man Funeral Into A Backlash Ambush

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown was the final stop before Backlash, and for better and worse, it felt like a true go-home show with two different versions of WWE fighting for control of the episode. The best parts of the night had real stakes: Jacob Fatu warning The Usos that he is willing to … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 1st, 2026 Results & Recap: Gunther Chokes Out Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu Wrecks MFT & Fatal Influence Puts The Women’s Division On Notice

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown was a busy, important and uneven stop on the road to Backlash — the kind of episode where WWE moved a lot of pieces forward, but also exposed some of the same creative habits that keep holding the product back. Cody Rhodes returned to the ring, Ricky Saints made … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown After Mania April 24th, 2026 Results & Recap: Fatal Influence Arrives, Tiffany Stratton Wins Gold, Jacob Fatu Destroys MFT

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The SmackDown After Mania should have felt like a reset. Instead, it felt like a company trying to convince itself it had momentum while terrible WWE release news hung over the entire night. As mentioned in my LNC Wrestling article on the WWE releases, that news broke right before SmackDown went on the air last … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown April 3rd, 2026 Results & Recap: Pat McAfee Revealed as Randy Orton’s Mystery Caller, Sami Zayn Retains Over Carmelo Hayes

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Two weeks before WrestleMania 42, last night’s SmackDown should have been about tightening the blue brand’s biggest stories, raising the stakes, and making the road to WrestleMania feel urgent. Instead, it often felt like a show working against itself. The headline angle gave Randy Orton’s mystery caller reveal to Pat McAfee, who low-blowed Cody Rhodes … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown March 13, 2026 Results & Recap: The Viper Strikes as Randy Orton Bloodies Cody Rhodes

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Last night’s SmackDown was a show that spent most of its two hours flirting with frustration before finally finding its bite. For long stretches, this was a serviceable WrestleMania build built on shaky character logic, rushed contender decisions, and storylines that too often feel like they are moving in circles instead of building with purpose. … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown March 6th, 2026 Results & Recap: Cody Rhodes Regains the WWE Title as Randy Orton’s WrestleMania Main Event Takes Center Stage

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Less than seven weeks before WrestleMania 42, WWE had a chance on Friday night to make SmackDown feel urgent, focused, and impossible to ignore. Instead, the March 6 episode felt like a show torn between big headline developments and deeply frustrating creative habits. On paper, this was a monumental night: Cody Rhodes regained the Undisputed … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Feb. 20th, 2026 Results & Recap: Trick Williams and Kiana James Qualify for Elimination Chamber, Aleister Black Stuns Randy Orton, Rhea Ripley vs. Giulia Collapses Into Chaos

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SmackDown didn’t just “continue” the Road to Elimination Chamber — it weaponized it. Drew McIntyre spent the night doing what the most dangerous champions do best: influencing outcomes without wrestling, turning the building into a pressure cooker for Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu while quietly steering the main event into a finish that protects him … Read more

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Jan. 24th, 2026 Results and Recap: Drew McIntyre Controls the Chaos, Sami Zayn Breaks Through, and AJ Styles Delivers a Classic

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WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event arrived at a critical junction on the Road to Royal Rumble, and rather than offering tidy resolutions, WWE leaned into escalation, consequence, and momentum. From an opening segment defined by chaos and unfinished business, to a women’s tag title match that advanced multiple intersecting storylines, to a masterclass in professional … Read more