WWE SmackDown
April 23, 2023
American Bank Center
Corpus Christi, TX
Welcome to our live coverage of WWE SmackDown. As always, we will have the results up immediately after every match. Refresh this page often to see updated results.
Tonight on WWE SmackDown:
– Night 1 of the WWE Draft
– Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles against The Usos
– Zelina Vega vs Sonya Deville
Our live coverage begins at 8PM EST
Triple H came out. Every Superstar on RAW and SmackDown are subject to the possibility of transferring to another brand. 50% of the roster will be drafted tonight. The other 50% will be drafted this Monday on RAW. Select NXT Superstars can also be drafted to RAW or SmackDown. The post draft rosters will go into effect on Monday May 8th after Backlash. The first round of picks are as follows. The first pick goes to SmackDown. They selected all 3 drafted as one, Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman. RAW drafted Cody Rhodes. SmackDown drafted Bianca Belair. RAW drafted Becky Lynch.
The Usos came out and again said they are dedicating tonight’s match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to Roman Reigns. Owens and Zayn came out. Zayn told The Usos that they should find it odd that Reigns has not talked to them since losing the tag team titles at WrestleMania and that Reigns, Sikoa, and Heyman were drafted together without them. Jey told Sami Owens will turn on him. Owens said he is tired of hearing this. He only cares about beating them tonight and keeping their tag team titles.
Bianca Belair said she is proud to be a member of SmackDown
Butch vs LA Knight
Butch got Knight in an armlock, but Knight got made his way to the ropes. Knight gave Butch the Blunt Force Trauma and pinned him.
===Winner: LA Knight
The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman were backstage. Heyman said tonight is the night The Usos will get drafted tonight the Island of Relevance as champions or they get drafted to the ocean of obscurity as ex-champions. Heyman told The Usos that Reigns wants them to know that success is their only avenue tonight because tonight is the night as Sikoa taped up his thumb.
Rob Van Dam and Michael Hayes came out to announce the 2nd round of the draft. Hayes announced that SmackDown drafted The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins). Van Dam announced that RAW chose Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, & Giovanni Vinci). SmackDown chose Edge. RAW chose Riddle.
Triple Threat Match:
The Street Profits vs Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs LWO (Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde
Strowman hit the Runaway Train on Ford outside the ring. Dawkins dove over the top rope onto Strowman. Ricochet dove over the top rope onto Dawkins. Inside the ring, Dawkins hit a Spinebuster on Ricochet. Ford gave Ricochet a splash of the top rope and pinned him.
===Winners: The Street Profits
JBL and Teddy Long came out to announce the 3rd Round selection in the draft. JBL announced that SmackDown drafted Bobby Lashley. Teddy Long announced RAW selected Drew McIntyre. Smackdown drafted The O.C. (AJ Styles, Michin, Karl Anderson, & Luke Gallows). RAW drafted The Miz.
Zelina Vega vs Sonya Deville (w/ Chelsea Green)
Deville kicked Vega in the head for a near fall and unleashed a fury of punches on her. She went for the Suplex, but Vega countered it and rolled her up for the pinfall.
===Winner: Zelina Vega
After the match, Rhea Ripley ran in and attacked Vega from behind. Deville pushed Ripley and Ripley headbutted her. Ripley went for the Riptide, but Vega turned it into a DDT.
Backstage, Santos Escobar told Vega he is proud of her. Rey Mysterio said he likes what she did out there. Vega said she gets to do this in front of her family at Backlash in Puerto Rico. Mysterio told her if she fight with her heart, she will leave Puerto Rico as the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
In the ring, The O.C. were in the ring.The Viking Raiders and Valhalla came in the ring right after them. AJ Styles said it’s 4 on 3, so he is just going to step back while Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and Michin can do their business. A fight broke out between the 6 of them. Michin hit the Eat Defeat on Valhalla. Gallows and Anderson gave Erik The Magic Killer. Styles said they have just started and gave Ivar the Phenomenal Forearm.
Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg came out to announce the 4th Round of the draft. Michaels announced SmackDown drafted Damage Control (Bayley, IYO SKY & Dakota Kai). Road Dogg announced RAW drafted Shinsuke Nakamura. SmackDown drafted the NXT Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn. RAW drafted the NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell.
Down at The Performance Center, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter challenged Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn to an NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship match this Tuesday.
Backstage, Karrion Kross attacked Shinsuke Nakamura.
The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman were backstage. Heyman told The Usos that Reigns wants the spotlight The Usos because tonight is the night as he looked at Sikoa.
Michael said because the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will be on SmackDown, the new World Heavyweight Championship will be represented by RAW. Wad Barrett said top Superstars from RAW and SmackDown will battle it out in a tournament with the final taking place at Night of Champions. Cole said there is a whole list of Superstars who were eligible to be drafted tonight. Since they weren’t, it will continue tomorrow morning on SmackDown Lowdown on Peacock. Night 2 of the Draft will be on Monday Night RAW.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Match:’
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (champions) vs The Usos (Jimmy & Jey)
In the middle of the match, they cut to the back to show Sikoa and Heyman watching the match on the monitor. Heyman’s phone rings and it was Reigns. Heyman told Sikoa that was the call and tonight is Sikoa’s night. Sikoa started to make his way to ringside, but Riddle cut him off and attacked him. Owens took multiple Superkicks from both Usos, but he kept kicking out. Owens hit a Stunner on Jimmy and made the tag to Zayn. Zayn hit the Helluva kick on Jimmy Uso and pinned him to retain the championships.
===Winners: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
