WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Highlights After Elimination Chamber

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on March 7.

Not only was this the post-Elimination Chamber episode, but it featured the fallout from John Cena's heel turn and betrayal of Cody Rhodes.

The American Nightmare returned to the blue brand to discuss what happened between himself, Cena and The Rock this week.

We also got some title action as Chelsea Green and Michin continued their feud with a United States Championship Street Fight.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Friday's episode of SmackDown.

The show opened with a shot of Drew McIntyre attacking Damian Priest backstage before we got the obligatory PLE recap video. When we went back to the arena, Randy Orton made his way to the ring. Surprisingly, his entire 10-minute promo went uninterrupted.

Following a successful showing at Elimination Chamber alongside Trish Stratus, Tiffany Stratton found herself back in the ring this week in a non-title bout against Piper Niven.

While Niven had the size and power advantage, Stratton is no weakling. She made sure Niven knew she could hold her own within the first couple of minutes.

Chelsea Green was not at ringside, so this was a fair fight instead of the usual hijinks we have come to expect from the United States champion and her bodyguard.

This was a solid match, but there wasn't much to it. Everything they did was executed well but nothing was especially surprising or stood out as exciting outside of the finish.

Stratton scored a clean win with her signature moonsault, but her celebration was cut short when Charlotte Flair hit a chop block and put her in the Figure Eight.

Result: Stratton defeated Niven

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Nick Aldis had a funny segment with Piper, Chelsea and Tiffany backstage before the match.
• It was nice to see Piper get a chance to shine without Green at ringside. The U.S. champion draws a lot of attention, which is not a bad thing but can be a distraction during other people's matches.
• Stratton has gotten very good at hitting the Swanton perfectly center.

A triple threat tag match took place to determine the next No. 1 contenders for the tag titles with Pretty Deadly, Motor City Machine Guns and Los Garzas.

Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley entered the ring first, Angel and Berto came out during the break, and Kit Wilson and Elton Prince made their entrance when we returned.

Angel tagged himself in to make sure MCMG were not in the match to begin, but he was immediately hit with a dropkick. All six men were brawling within a minute because everybody was trying to make sure they were the legal men.

In a bit of an upset, Pretty Deadly was able to get the win. They will face the winners of DIY vs. The Street Profits. This was an entertaining match with a few good moments and a surprising but deserved outcome.

The SmackDown tag team division has been fun to watch recently, so it's great to see every team getting some attention at the same time.

Result: Pretty Deadly defeated MCMG and Los Garzas

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Aldis explaining the tag team division's current storyline was interesting. It's not the kind of segment WWE does a lot, but it did a good job recapping all of the drama so far.
• The pyro for MCMG's entrance was just slightly off tempo.
• The Minecraft ads on the apron and barricade are a great example of how WWE has embraced more advertising. It's not great for the presentation but it is one reason why the company is so profitable.

Bianca Belair came to the ring to address winning the Chamber but also talk about Jade Cargill attacking Naomi. She asked Naomi point blank if she attacked Jade, but Naomi kept trying to deflect.

This led to Naomi dramatically revealing she indeed attacked Cargill, but much like Rikishi did it for The Rock, Naomi said she did it for Bianca. Naomi ranted and cried as The EST walked away from the ring with tears in her eyes.

Cargill arrived at the arena and marched to the ring. She got her hands on Naomi and proceeded to beat her down like she did at the Chamber.

This was a long segment for what it was, but they pulled it off well. Naomi and Belair sold the emotion, and Cargill's violence put a nice bow on everything.

Grade: B

Braun Strowman continued his feud with the new Bloodline this week when he took on Solo Sikoa in a singles match.

The Monster Among Men had the upper hand at first, but Sikoa sent him into the steel steps to stop his momentum in its tracks.

We returned from a break to see The Street Champ power Strowman up for a Samoan drop after struggling for a few moments.

For two guys known for their power, they had a surprising amount of speed and energy in this bout. It's just too bad Tama Tonga interfered and caused a disqualification. This could have been a great match, but the way it ended felt like the laziest booking decision possible.

Jacob Fatu showed up for a confrontation with The Monster Among Men. They battled at ringside and into the crowd. Fatu was put through some tables but didn't stay down for long.

Result: Strowman won by DQ

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• They played the moment Cody told Lex Luger he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame. It was a nice moment.
• The way Strowman hit the steps looked nasty.
• Fatu's suicide dive fell way short.

Chelsea dressed as Cactus Jack for her Street Fight against Michin for the U.S. title. Michin came out with a trash can full of weapons and the fighting began before she even got to the ring.

When we returned from a break, Green took a blast from a fire extinguisher right to the face, which gave Michin enough time to finally take a table out from under the ring.

The crowd chanted "ECW" as the challenger set up a table in the corner, but the champion hit a bulldog that stalled her plans. Once the table was set up, Michin hit Eat Defeat to put Green on top of it.

She climbed to the top rope and hit a senton to put Green through the table, but someone in a hoodie pulled Green out of the ring. Alba Fyre revealed herself to be the attacker after hitting a destroyer on top of some chairs.

She saluted as Green covered Michin for the pin and the win. She helped the champion to her feet and appears to be her newest bodyguard.

The ending was surprising, but not necessarily in a good way. It's great to see Fyre being used after Isla Dawn's release, but it's unfortunate that WWE felt the need to make Michin lose again in this way.

Result: Green defeated Michin

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Michin had an Eagles jersey for her attire.
• Green sold the hell out of the fire extinguisher.

Rhodes came out to address Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber. With a huge black eye, Rhodes said he is waiting for Cena to explain his actions. He delivered a passionate promo telling Cena to come get some.

The next match saw McIntyre take on Jimmy Uso, who came in hot and went right after The Scottish Psychopath as soon as he hit the ring.

Jimmy kept the fight competitive and never let the powerhouse dominate the pace, but one big Claymore put him down to give McIntyre the win. There wasn't much to this match and most of it took place during the break, so it was hard to get excited about anything that was happening, especially when it felt shorter than expected.

Priest got some revenge and attacked McIntyre to get back at him for the backstage attack earlier in the show. It took several officials to keep him off McIntyre.

Result: McIntyre defeated Uso

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Jimmy's music isn't nearly as catchy as Jey's. It's unfortunate.
• Drew did a good job selling his knee after the bad landing.

The main event this week saw Shinsuke Nakamura defend the United States Championship against the former champion, LA Knight.

Nakamura took control early and kept the upper hand for a few minutes. He hit a few signature moves like his sliding German suplex, but Knight recovered and hit a bulldog to take him down.

Charles Robinson ended up getting misted by mistake, but it didn't matter in the end. Another ref ran down and Knight was able to hit the BFT to win the U.S. title back and end the show on a high note.

This was a solid match with an ending that wasn't as easy to predict as expected, which is always a plus.

Result: Knight defeated Nakamura

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Nakamura's entrance is awesome but needs a little more light in him as he walks up the aisle. One red spotlight would make a huge difference.
• Nakamura's attire was giving Ken from Street Fighter vibes.

Friday’s episode of SmackDown did a lot of work wrapping up storylines from Elimination Chamber while setting up for WrestleMania 41, but the action on the show was lacking.

None of the matches felt like they had the level of aggression we have come to expect, and only one of them felt like it had any real consequences. 

Pretty Deadly winning a tag title shot was one of the highlights of the show, as was most of the Street Fight with Michin and Green, but it’s hard to say any of the matches stood out as memorable. 

The main event between Knight and Nakamura was the best performance on the card, but not by a big margin. All in all, it was a forgettable but passable week for the blue brand. 

Grade: C+