Welcome to the Fightful.com live discussion & coverage for the 4/8/2022 edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. We will bring full results and breakdowns for every match and segment on the show. Follow Fightful on Twitter.com/Fightful and Facebook.com/FIGHTFULONLINE
- The broadcast began with a video recap of the 2022 edition of both nights of WrestleMania 38, which occurred on April 2 and April 3, 2022, in Dallas, Texas, highlighting Roman Reigns becoming the WWE Undisputed Champion. Michael Cole and Pat McAfee welcomed the audience to the show, caring live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Kayla Braxton introduced Ronda Rousey for an in-ring interview. After Braxton showed a video of Charlotte Flair tapping out to Rousey's armbar, Rousey said that she still lost the match when it mattered. Rousey said that she wants a rematch with no loopholes, challenging Flair to an "I Quit" Match. Flair was showing in a live feed on the Titantron, saying that she does not quit. Flair stated that she was starting to believe that The Baddest Woman of The Planet was a myth. Flair rejected Rousey's challenge and told her this: "Get to the back of the line, BITCH!". Rousey ended the segment by saying that the fight was still going to happen.
- Backstage, Sheamus told Butch to leave a bruising on Xavier Woods. Butch pushed both Ridge Holland and Sheamus in excitement and strolled to the ring for his match.
Xavier Woods (w/ Kofi Kingston) vs Butch (w/ Sheamus & Ridge Holland).
Before the match, Xavier Woods mentioned that he does not have a WrestleMania win, which Kofi refuted by saying that everybody won, so he has a win (which is not how it works). Woods told Butch that he contacted his aunt to tell him he was going to whoop his "rabies infested ass".
The match began with Butch catching Woods with a series of strikes. Butch hit Woods with a forearm strike before being sent to the middle corner. Butch hit an inseguri on Woods before doing a modified armbar, which was let go after Woods got a rope break. Woods did a Russian Leg-Sweep. Woods went for a middle rope dropkick outside, but Butch caught him with an X-Plex onto the apron before going to a commercial break, while showing Butch with blood on his face.
After the commercial break, Butch hit Woods with the Ten Bells to the chest, before doing an arm-lock stomp on Woods. Butch hit a series of forearm strikes for a near fall. Butch continued to add pressure to work on his arm Woods, but Woods hit a series of strikes to escape the move before hitting a spinning forearm. Woods hit a mule kick, followed by an inseguri kick of his own. Woods went for the middle rope tornado DDT- but he was caught by a forearm from Butch before he got stomped on his hands and kicked in the head for a near fall. Butch went for a kick to the head of Woods, but Woods escaped before catching Butch with a Small Package, now named the Backwoods for the pinfall victory.
Butch slapped and headbutted Sheamus and Holland in anger before calming down in the top corner.
Winner: Xavier Woods (w/ Kofi Kingston).
- After the commercial break, there was a video recap of the match between Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn from Wrestlemania 38, where the Jack-Ass forever cast got involved to give Knoxville the win. Zayn was seen backstage with Adam Pearce complaining about the proceedings of the match. Zayn told Pearce that he was going to embarrass the next person to walk out of the door of the Men's Locker Room. The person who walked out of the door was Drew McIntyre, with Adam Pearce making the match official. Pearce received a letter from a WWE employee. Pearce told the employee to cancel his meeting with Ronda Rousey, as he has important matters to attend to.
- Ludwig Kaiser, the man formerly known as IMPERIUM's Marcel Barthel, was introduced on the ramp. Kaiser introduced Gunther to the ring, making his official Main Roster debut.
Gunther (w/ Ludwig Kaiser) vs Joe Alonzo
The match began with Gunther tossing Alonzo to the corner. Alonzo slapped Gunther, but Gunther chopped Alonzo twice before hitting a big boot on Alonzo. Alonzo hit another Chop on Alonzo, followed by a fist hit to the chest. Gunther hit another chop on his chest of Alonzo, which was followed by a body slam. Gunther hit a final chop before connecting a powerbomb for the pinfall victory. A dominant victory for the former NXT UK Champion.
Winner: Gunther (w/ Ludwig Kaiser)
- Kayla Braxton introduced Raquel Rodriguez, formerly known as Raquel Gonzalez, who stated that no one had seen someone like her. Los Lotharios introduced themselves to Rodriguez by asking Rodriguez for a kiss. Rodriguez rejected them, and they left respectfully. Rodriguez asked Braxton if they were always annoying, and Braxton shook her head.
- A not-so-happy Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss made their way to the ring for Happy Talk, with Moss celebrating winning the 2022 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Pat McAfee asked "is Bum-Ass Baron Corbin back?" before the broadcast went to a commercial break.
After the commercial break, Corbin said that this segment was supposed to be the happiest Happy Talk ever, saying that these low points reveal the kind of man he was. Corbin said that he did some self-reflection and realized that Madcap Moss was to blame for distracting him during his match against McIntyre in WrestleMania 38. There was an audible chant for Madcap Moss, which was followed by Corbin that the only job Moss was to tell a joke. After telling two jokes that did not amuse Corbin, which led to Corbin ran down on Moss for his low-quality of jokes. Moss said a joke that insulted Corbin, which led to Corbin and Moss brawling in the Happy-Set. Moss hit a series of strikes before they brawled outside. Moss slammed Corbin's face to the announce table sending him back in the ring and clotheslining Corbin to the outside. Moss stomped on Corbin's hat.
- After Jinder Mahal demanded Adam Pearce to give him a match against Ricochet due to his accolades, Ronda Rousey came in and asked Pearce to give her the "I Quit" Match against Charlotte. Pearce told Rousey that she will get an answer on Saturday April 9, 2022.
Drew McIntyre vs Sami Zayn.
The match began with Zayn rolling out of the ring to warm up against McIntyre. Zayn rolled out of the ring again, but McIntyre got him outside and threw Zayn onto the barricade. McIntyre hit two Overhead suplexes on Zayn before hitting a chop on Zayn. Zayn rolled out of the ring again, but McIntyre held Zayn in a Fireman's Carry Position to throw him onto the announcer's table. Zayn tried to walk out of the match, but McIntyre attacked him from behind and carried Zayn in a Fireman's Carry Position to the ring. Zayn got out of the match into the crowd stands to lose by countdown. McIntyre pointed his sword towards where Zayn was located, possibly teasing a rematch between the two.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
- After the commercial break, there was a video package showcasing Pat McAfee vs Austin Theory, Vince McMahon's first wrestling match since 2013 against Pat McAfee. The package also showcased "Stone Cold" Steve Austin hitting a stunner on Theory, McMahon, and McAfee to the roar of the Dallas, Texas crowd on WrestleMania 38. McAfee stated that he was still hungover from WrestleMania, but that he will forever remember that moment.
- There was a segment showing Lacey Evans talking about a story about her early-childhood where she talked about the struggles she and her mom went through, including leaving her dad at her young age, her experience as a US Marine, and having motivate herself to be the best version of herself. Evans stated that she went through a lot and that she will prove that she is better than everyone on the SmackDown roster.
Sasha Banks (w/ Naomi) vs Liv Morgan.
Before the match, Morgan revealed that she was on SmackDown to beat Sasha Banks, later stating that Rhea Ripley did not come with her. She said that her and Ripley will become the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions on the April 11, 2022 edition of Raw.
The match began with Banks and Morgan locking up before Morgan got a roll-up on Banks for a near fall. Banks hit a chop before hitting an arm drag on Morgan. Morgan hit a foot-backstabber on Banks before slamming Banks to the corner. Morgan hit a top-rope missile drop kick. Banks hit a Back-stabber to send Morgan outside the ring before the commercial break.
After the commercial break, Banks hit the Three-Amigos Suplexes on Morgan before doing a Frog Splash on Morgan for a near fall. Morgan hit Banks with a step-up inseguri kick. Morgan went for a codebreaker, but Banks went for multiple near fall attempts. Banks kicked Morgan int he head, but Morgan caught Banks with a single-knee codebreaker. Morgan hit a series fo kicks on Banks. Morgan hit a running knee on Banks. Morgan went to the top rope, but Banks caught Morgan with a Superplex. Banks tried to do a roll-over for a Falcon-Arrow, but Morgan caught the leg of Banks to do a Small Package for the pinfall win.
- There was a video recap showing the injury Rick Boogs suffered during his match against The Usos on WrestleMania 38. It was revealed that he was going to get to surgery.
- After a video package showing what happened in the Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar match in WrestleMania 38, where Reigns won with a spear. Reigns asked the Milwaukee crowd to acknowledge him, which the crowd obliged. Reigns revealed that he and Paul Heyman discussed that the Universal Championship was not enough, so he went for the WWE Championship. Reigns said that The Bloodline still has a lot to do. Reigns said that it was time to unify to also unify the Raw Tag Team Championships with the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, stating that The Bloodline was going to have all the gold soon. Shinsuke Nakamura interrupted Reigns, with the crowd singing along to his theme song, but Reigns interrupted Nakamura. Reigns said that he understood Nakamura's frustration, comparing the injury of Boogs to the injury Jimmy Uso went through for the majority of 2020. Reigns hugged Nakamura before The Usos superkicked Nakamura, with The Bloodline standing tall to end the show.
