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WWE SmackDown Results (5/1/26): Cody Rhodes' Backlash Challenger Teased & More

We are officially on the road to Backlash with tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown.
Matt Black|
Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes | WWE

Tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown took place at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It featured Ricky Saints' main roster debut, taking on WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Following the match, The American Nightmare's next challenger for the title was revealed.

This week's episode of WWE SmackDown kicked off with Cody Rhodes coming to the ring to speak with the WWE Universe. Rhodes announced after speaking with the medical staff this afternoon that he's cleared to compete, which led to being interrupted by former NXT Champion Ricky Saints.

They cleverly touch upon their history in AEW without naming the company. For those unaware, Saints was one of Rhodes' surprise open challenge opponents when he was the TNT Champion. These two will meet later on in the show.

Backstage, WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley offers assistance to Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss ahead of Flair's match with Jacy Jayne. Bliss is all for it, but Flair declines. This led to the opening contest, where, due to outside interference, Jayne picked up a win over Flair with the Rolling Encore.

Fatal Influence beat down Flair and Bliss following the match until Rhea Ripley got involved to even the odds. Flair and Ripley have a brief face-off, but the two shake hands, realizing they must team up to take down Fatal Influence. Backstage, we hear from Paige and Brie Bella, who hyped up their title defense against Nia Jax and Lash Legend later in the evening.

They then air a segment that took place later in the day, where a miscommunication between R-Truth and Damian Priest led to Fraxiom getting a shot at their titles. Elsewhere backstage, The Miz and Kit Wilson try to trap Danhausen with "human monies," but the trap malfunctions and activates on Miz and Wilson instead.

The WWE Tag Team Championship match was next and saw Damian Priest and R-Truth retain the gold over Fraxiom when Priest hit Axiom with the Razor's Edge to score the pinfall victory for his team. After the match, Solo Sikoa sent Talla Tonga into the ring, and he took out all four men by himself.

Solo Sikoa is upset about what Jacob Fatu did to The MFTs last week and says when Fatu arrives at the building tonight, he's a dead man walking. This brought out The Usos, who say Roman Reigns has a big problem with Fatu as well. Jey tells Solo they need to wait to get their revenge on Fatu until Roman is done with him. Sikoa doesn't respond well to this and has Talla take out both Usos.

Sami Zayn tries to speak with Cody Rhodes backstage about his comments last week. Zayn said being the golden boy isn't an insult and that they are the last of a dying breed. Calling them essentially the same person, Rhodes said they aren't the same and walked off. This led to Rhodes' in-ring return, where he picked up a non-title victory over Ricky Saints with the Cross Rhodes. Gunther attacks Rhodes after the match ends, choking him out.

Danhausen came to the ring and said he bought a lot of his merchandise with the "human monies" he found backstage and started tossing it out into the crowd. The Miz comes out, extremely frustrated with everything that's happened to him since Danhausen has come to WWE, and finally admits that he's cursed. Miz reluctantly agrees to be Danhausen's mentor.

Before they can shake hands, Kit Wilson comes out to plead his case. Miz shook Danhausen's hand anyway before it was revealed that it was a double cross, and Miz attacked Danhausen from behind. Wilson and Miz leave Danhausen lying, feeling mighty proud of themselves. We get another vignette for Blake Monroe, who is on her way to SmackDown.

Royce Keys wins a quick squash match against Angel. Backstage, Tiffany Stratton says she wants to host open challenges with the Women's United States Championship. Chelsea Green, Giulia, and Kiana James all interrupt. Stratton agrees to defend her title against James next week.

Royce Keys gives Jacob Fatu a pep talk backstage, touching upon their history together before WWE. As Fatu goes to leave, Talla Tonga attacks Keys and puts him through a table, and proceeds to lay out Fatu as well. Back in the ring, Sami Zayn cuts a promo in the ring alongside the Gingerbread Man costume, comparing himself to Bob Dylan. Zayn eventually snaps and beats up the costume. Trick Williams hits the ring and attacks Zayn, who quickly escapes through the crowd.

Backstage, Nia Jax and Lash Legend have their turn to hype up the tag title match with Paige and Brie Bella. That match happened next, with the champs retaining in a rather sloppy contest. Nick Aldis announced that at Backlash, Sami Zayn and Trick Williams will face off for the United States Championship, as well as Danhausen and a partner of his choosing taking on The Miz and Kit Wilson.

The main event of the evening ends with a disqualification when Jacob Fatu hits the ring and attacks both Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga, putting the latter through the announce table. Fatu tells The Usos to tell Roman Reigns he's going to dog walk his ass at Backlash as WWE SmackDown goes off the air.

WWE SmackDown quick results:

  • Jacy Jayne defeated Charlotte Flair
  • Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated Fraxiom to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
  • Cody Rhodes defeated Ricky Saints
  • Royce Keys defeated Angel
  • Paige and Brie Bella defeated Nia Jax and Lash Legend to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles
  • Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga defeated The Usos via disqualification
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Published
Matt Black
MATT BLACK

Matt Black got involved in the wrestling media industry over two decades ago, covering WWE video games released by Acclaim, THQ, and 2K. He has been covering professional wrestling for multiple digital outlets since 2019. He is the former Senior Editor of WrestleZone and has extensive knowledge of the entire wrestling industry. In his spare time, Matt enjoys cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He's also a diehard comic book movie fan and doesn't pick sides when it comes to the endless debates of Marvel versus DC.

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