WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from May 2

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on May 2.

With Backlash right around the corner on May 10, WWE has a lot of work ahead of itself to set up the rest of the card and sell us on the feuds.

Friday's show continued the buildup for the premium live event while also advancing some blue brand-specific storylines.

Aleister Black made his return to WWE last week following WrestleMania 41, and he had his first match Friday night against The Miz.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Friday's episode of SmackDown at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Damian Priest got into a scuffle backstage with Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu as LA Knight walked right past him and toward the ring. He gave a promo and actually showed some respect to his opponent for the night.

The Archer Of Infamy came out and said he had to get revenge against Drew McIntyre last week, so that is why he got involved. Knight still blamed him for how things went down.

Things got a little more tense as they started throwing blame around, so they agreed to have their match right away instead of later in the show. A ref ran to the ring as the show cut to a break. We returned to see the match already in progress.

Priest was in control until Knight countered Old School and hit a side suplex. This was a solid match, but if you know how these two work, then you could almost predict every spot as it was about to happen.

This bout felt like it followed a pattern, which wasn't a bad thing but still kept it from feeling as competitive as it should have felt. It got better as it went, but Sikoa interfered and caused a DQ to ruin the end. Knight and Priest worked together to take him out. Fatu showed up to even the odds and take out his rivals.

Result: Sikoa caused a disqualification

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

—It was hard to hear what Knight said into the camera backstage because Priest and Sikoa were yelling at each other.
—Someone in the crowd had a giant cat poster.
—It seemed like Knight missed a move and they had to improv on the fly since he didn't go down when he should have.
—Knight showed some impressive power when he popped Priest up for a powerslam.
—Knight climbing back up the ropes so Priest could hit the Razor's Edge was very awkward.

Elton Prince and Kit Wilson were in action this week against SmackDown's newest duo, Nathan Frazer and Axiom.

The high-flyers had the upper hand at first, but Wilson and Prince eventually found a way to use their size advantage to take control.

Both of these teams rely heavily on double-team offense, so we got to see a lot of two-on-one spots throughout the match.

Pretty Deadly had a good showing, but this match was all about making Fraxiom look good, and it accomplished its goal. Frazer hit a phoenix splash to get the pin for his team to cap off a fun and fast-paced match.

Result: Fraxiom defeated Pretty Deadly

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

—It sounded like the new announcer said Ethan instead of Elton.
—Frazer's speed while running the ropes is wild.
—Frazer's springboard backflip into a DDT was executed beautifully.

Nia Jax came out to give a promo that ripped into Tiffany Stratton, who came out to interrupt her right away. It didn't take long for Naomi to come out and stake her claim at a title shot. Jade Cargill came out and chased Naomi into the ring.

As they began to brawl, so did Tiffy and Jax. Nick Aldis eventually came out and booked a tag match for later in the show.

Up next was Black's first match since returning to WWE, but he didn't just have The Miz to handle. Carmelo Hayes was also in The A-Lister's corner.

Black almost ended the match right away with a spinning kick, but The Miz ducked it. He tried to use a cheap trick but Black quickly managed to counter. After The A-Lister got in a couple of hits, the Dutch Destroyer began to get more aggressive.

The Miz swung Black into the LED apron as we went to a break. He controlled the pace through the break, but Black began to make a comeback a couple of minutes after we returned.

A lot of people probably expected Black to get an easy win for his first match, so it was a little surprising to see him have such a competitive fight against someone like The Miz, but that is not a negative. The Miz is a former world champion, so he shouldn't be jobbing to anyone anyway.

The Dutch Destroyer cartwheeled out of the Skull Crushing Finale and hit a spinning knee to knock Miz off his feet. He hit Black Mass after surviving a distraction from Hayes to get the win.

Result: Black defeated The Miz

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

—The exchange between Naomi and the fan in the front row was funny.
—Aldis made a reference to Teddy Long when he booked the women's tag match.
—The Miz talking about how long he lasted in a company that just fired a bunch of people earlier in the day might not have been the best decision.
—The Miz trying to kick Black only for him to look totally unimpressed was hilarious.

Zelina Vega just won the U.S. title last week but she didn't wait long to get back to action as she battled Piper Niven, the ally of the woman she beat for the title.

Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre were at ringside for support as Niven tried to use her power advantage to push the champ around.

Vega used her speed to avoid her grasp and hit any kind of offense she could. Niven took control after dropping Vega on her face. We returned from a break to see Vega trying to build some momentum only to end up getting hit with a senton.

This match wasn't perfect, or even close, but it was a surprisingly competitive fight that gave Niven more of a chance to shine than she has had in a long time. Sadly for her, Vega picked up the win after Green accidentally hit Niven when trying to interfere.

Result: Vega defeated Niven

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

—Green has been doing such a fantastic job making her title loss mean something.
—Niven's curb stomp into the turnbuckle is a brutal move that always looks painful.
—The announcers being annoyed with Green's screaming was funny.

Randy Orton came out to talk to the crowd about his feud with John Cena. He ranted for a long time about what a fake Cena is and promised not to let Cena retire with the title. The promo went uninterrupted and The Viper said Cena is just the latest legend he needs to put down.

The next match featured Rey Fenix taking on Santos Escobar, who has been on the sidelines for a long time serving as the manager of Los Garzas.

Escobar had approached Fenix earlier in the show and they ended up having a disagreement that led to this match. They locked up and Santos immediately went for a waistlock.

These are two men who know each other well and are the epitome of lucha libre in WWE, so they worked well together right from the get-go. Escobar kept trying to tell Fenix they should join forces while he was hitting chops.

They didn't use the kind of breakneck speed some people may have expected, but they kept the pace steady and sprinkled in the big spots throughout the match instead of just going for every big move they could. It gave the match a more logical flow.

Everything they did looked great and if WWE wants to extend this into a full feud, this should just be cracking the surface of what they can do. Fenix scored the win with a meteora from the top rope to end a fantastic performance.

Result: Fenix defeated Escobar

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

—There was a cute moment when a kid in the front row wanted a hug and Orton hugged him.
—Referencing the PG era in a promo feels weird.
—Escobar's feet hit the rope during his suicide dive but it didn't prevent him from making contact.
—It felt like forever since we last saw Escobar work. His last singles match was back in February, and before that it was December.

This week's main event was the tag match Aldis booked earlier in the show with Jax and Naomi taking on Cargill and Stratton.

The two sets of rivals paired off and began fighting as soon as the bell rang. The ref waited until Jax and Tiffy rolled out of the ring to declare Naomi and Jade the legal competitors.

Cargill had the upper hand at first, but Naomi turned the tables and began taunting her as she beat her down.

This match played out as expected. The rivals fought a little harder when they were in the ring with each other than they did against the other opponents to make those feuds feel more personal, and it worked for the most part.

This was a decent match, but it definitely fell short of being what should have been in the main event. The big moment when Jade powerbombed Jax for the win definitely closed it out on a high note though.

Result: Cargill and Stratton defeated Jax and Naomi

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

—It's still weird to hear Naomi's new music instead of her old song, which wouldn't have worked for a heel but was still a better song.
—The crowd gave Tiffy a big pop for her hot tag.
—Naomi attacked Cargill after the match while she and Tiffany were playing tog-o-war with the title. Naomi ended the show standing tall with the belt.

This week’s SmackDown was a pretty average episode overall, but there was a cloud hanging over the show.

This afternoon into the evening, several releases were announced that included a variety of names from NXT and the main roster, with two of the most surprising names being Shayna Baszler and Braun Strowman. 

It’s always hard to get into the mood to enjoy WWE on the same day as mass releases, but the people who were featured on the show tonight did a good job giving the crowd an enjoyable show.

Nothing we saw made any significant advancements to any storylines, but we did get one incredibly entertaining match between Escobar and Fenix.

It should also be noted that Fraxiom vs. Pretty Deadly was an enjoyable performance, but it’s hard to top two of the best luchadors in the world having a clean match. 

Having Black on SmackDown is going to be interesting moving forward. His feud with The Miz is not going to last long, so it will be fun to see if he pursues a title right away or if WWE has something else in mind for him.

Grade: B