WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from March 18

Friday night, 20 years to the day after an explosive debut introduced him to the WWE Universe, Brock Lesnar vowed to confront Roman Reigns following the brutal attack that left The Beast lying in a bloody heap in Madison Square Garden. 

That confrontation headlined a broadcast that also featured the latest in several WrestleMania feuds, including the women's tag team title picture, Drew McIntyre's vendetta against Happy Corbin and a suddenly personal feud between New Day and Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch.

What went down, and how did it affect the Road to WrestleMania 38 just over two weeks before the biggest extravaganza of the year?

Find out now with this recap of the March 18 episode.

• Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns face-to-face
• Kofi Kingston vs. Ridge Holland
• Drew McIntyre and The Viking Raiders vs. Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss and Jinder Mahal
• Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan

Roman Reigns commanded attention as he and The Bloodline hit the ring for the night's opening promo, a smiling and self-congratulatory recap of his beatdown of Brock Lesnar in Madison Square Garden two weeks earlier.

Paul Heyman interrupted, revealing The Beast shook off a weather-related travel delay and was on his way, prompting The Tribal Chief and The Usos to head for the back, showing cowardice in the face of a potential confrontation with the pissed-off WWE champion.

A vengeful Lesnar, after a vehicular assault with a forklift backstage, marched to the ring with a truck door like a total badass and issued a warning to the Universal champion: "I'm coming for blood. See you in two." 

This was a great promo segment to kick off the show in that it did not waste a ton of time and it allowed Reigns and Heyman to show off their character work, which has been important to the feud and the main event creative of the blue brand over the last year. 

It also portrayed Reigns as a coward despite his hubris; a scared champion aware of the reality that awaits him in Dallas.

Lesnar is in his best form ever at this point, an engaging and charismatic babyface who is equal parts lovable and devastating. He is fun, entertaining and allowed to showcase his enormous personality. Hopefully we see more of him even past WrestleMania because he is finally the top babyface the company hoped he would be two decades ago.

Grade

A+

Top Moments

• "You would have smashed him! You would have bled him all over the ring, just like in Madison Square Garden. I'm so sorry," Heyman said. His faith in The Head of the Table is always one of the most entertaining elements of a show.

• Lesnar gleefully driving a forklift into Reigns' SUV was a nice bit that harkened back to the days of Steve Austin's Attitude Era vehicular assaults.

• After the break, The Bloodline recovered and escaped in a truck, but not before The Beast ripped the door off the vehicle.

• "You'll have to excuse me. I'm a little riled up," Lesnar said as he engaged the crowd before warning Reigns that he is coming for blood in two weeks.

With their WrestleMania 38 match with The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships official, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs battled Los Lotharios in a competitive, fun and energetic tag team match that saw the top contenders put away The Lethal Lovers.

Boogs and Nakamura remain the team that had no plausible reason to work but has. They are over, Boogs is finding himself as an explosive powerhouse between the ropes and Nakamura is exactly the veteran presence to help him evolve as a performer.

They may not have a realistic shot at dethroning The Usos in Dallas, but based on the fans' reaction, the Showcase of the Immortals is definitely the time to pull the proverbial trigger if WWE is as much as considering a switch.

Grade

C+

Top Moments

• Boogs' power is freakish. His repeated gorilla presses of Humberto, followed by the curling Angel ahead of the Boogs Cruise, was great stuff and exactly the sort of babyface work that will help him connect with the audience beyond his guitar intro.
• Pat McAfee has been incredibly influential in getting Boogs and Nakamura over on commentary. He was again here, really putting over Boogs' performance. 

Drew McIntyre has dominated his feud with Happy Corbin on the Road to WrestleMania, and Friday night was no different as The Scottish Warrior partnered with Erik and Ivar of the Viking Raiders in a victory over Corbin, Shanky and former WWE champion Jinder Mahal. 

The match saw the babyfaces overcome a concentrated assault on Ivar to win on the strength of the Claymore to Shanky.

Corbin haplessly watched as McIntyre stared him down, the message ahead of their WrestleMania match clear: He does not have a chance in hell against a guy who many believe will challenge Roman Reigns after the sports-entertainment spectacular. 

Grade

C+

Top Moments

• McIntyre feeds off the audience, and in turn, the crowd gives him their all. His late-match surge, culminating with an uber-impressive falcon arrow to Shanky, was the stuff of a top-tier, championship-worthy babyface.
• Backstage, a fuming Sami Zayn challenged Johnny Knoxville to an Anything Goes Match at WrestleMania, a gimmick that will help mask any in-ring shortcomings the Jackass star may have while all but guaranteeing a high spot.

There may be no real story to speak of in the women's tag team title feud, but it sure as hell is brimming with talent, which was on full display in a competitive bout pitting Naomi and Sasha Banks against Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley. 

Champions Carmella and Queen Zelina watched from ringside as their top contenders delivered a strong match between two babyface tandems that excelled despite both teams' statuses as fan-favorites. 

The damn good match came to an abrupt end when Natalya and Shayna Baszler attacked the combatants, not-so-subtly announcing their intentions to enter a WrestleMania title match that did not need another team. Still, WWE is at least putting effort into propping up the tag titles, something it has failed to do for far too long.

Grade

B

Top Moments

• Morgan hanging with Banks early proves she is ready and able to compete with the top stars in the women's division, something we saw on full display earlier this year against Becky Lynch. She is a star begging for the opportunity to shine.
• The brief exchanges between Banks and Ripley should have all fans salivating at the potential for a Match of the Year candidate between the two. 
• Michael Cole informed Pat McAfee that Mr. McMahon had summoned him to his office, setting up some sort of "apology" to Austin Theory.
• After the break, Sonya Deville added Natalya and Baszler to the tag title match at WrestleMania, which was a totally predictable development.

After a backstage meeting with Mr. McMahon, Pat McAfee made his way to the ring, recalled seeing pro wrestling for the first time and knew it would be his lifelong dream to be involved in the business. Austin Theory, selfie-taker and all-around swell guy, interrupted and egged the former Indianapolis Colt into apologizing.

McAfee did...for Theory being a "punk bitch," among other things. Theory, living up (down?) to expectations, snapped a selfie before shoving his WrestleMania opponent and running away.

Grade

A

Top Moments

• McAfee keeping the Raw vs. SmackDown rivalry alive by taking a shot at USA Network is part of what makes him so good at what he does.
• "I'm sorry for beating your ass last week!" 
• The smug-yet-clueless Theory snapping a selfie despite being verbally obliterated was true to his character and exactly what one would hope for out of that heel.

WWE recapped the very real injury suffered by Big E as the emphasis for the intensely emotional bout between Kofi Kingston and Ridge Holland that saw the former WWE champion unload on his opponent, only for the heel to score the win in a perfectly acceptable wrestling match with his Northern Grit finisher.

The bigger takeaway was the character work from Pete Dunne's Butch. Twice Sheamus had to restrain him, preventing him from getting involved at one point and stopping him from beating down a fallen Kingston after the bell.

If WWE is not careful, Butch will get over as a tenacious, wolverine-like competitor that unloads when unleashed.

Grade

C

Top Moments

• Michael Cole softened the heat on Holland by putting over his apology to Big E and the respect he has for the former WWE champion. It was a nice touch by a veteran commentator who knows the difference between building a television heel and an unlikable man. 
• Sheamus restraining Butch after the match, preventing him from beating on Kingston, went a long way in explaining what this new character is all about.

Charlotte Flair returned to The Queen City Friday night, greeted with a hero's welcome, before cutting a scathing promo on her WrestleMania 38 opponent Ronda Rousey. The Baddest Woman on the Planet marched to the ring and a fight ensued, with Flair producing a kendo stick to negate the fury of her rival before putting her through the announce table with a powerbomb to end the show.

The intensity on display was certainly welcome while Rousey's stubborn refusal to tap out gave way to her demise via commentary table. It was an effective sprint of a segment that did not overexpose the program but, instead, continued to hint that Rousey will not give The Queen the satisfaction of making her submit.

Expect that story to dominate the main event of WrestleMania Saturday.

Grade

B

Top Moments

• Flair producing a kendo stick to thwart Rousey was a great callback to their Survivor Series 2018 match, where Charlotte brutalized the then-Raw women's champion with the weapon. 
• The nasty, scary bump Rousey took to the floor could have threatened a significant head injury to one of the WrestleMania headliners.
• The cowardly Flair, after using a weapon and neutralizing Rousey with the help of the announce table, placed her foot on her fallen foe as if to claim a victory she did not earn.