WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights After WrestleMania

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of the post-WrestleMania SmackDown on April 25.

WrestleMania saw a handful of titles change hands, but John Cena winning the Undisputed WWE Championship to become the top dog on SmackDown was the biggest story coming out of the premium live event.

The WWE tag titles were absent from the 'Mania card, but they were well-represented this week with a Triple Threat TLC match featuring The Street Profits, DIY and Motor City Machine Guns.

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

The three teams who will compete in a TLC match later in the show were shown arriving at the arena before we got a WrestleMania recap video. When we went live to the arena, John Cena made his way to the ring to a chorus of boos and cheers. Some fans in Texas were still pro-Cena, but most were against him.

Before the 17-time champion could say a single word, Randy Orton's music interrupted. Orton gave Cena some advice, but in the end, he told him he needs to have some kids so he could get back to who he really is.

Cena said he doesn't have kids because he has spent 25 years raising everyone else's kids. He made fun of a kid at ringside who flipped him off to prove his point.

They talked for quite some time and Cena dug his heels in. He mocked the crowd for not being loyal and labeling him as an outcast for not focusing solely on WWE. The Viper challenged him to put the title on the line right then and there, but Cena said no because it should happen at Backlash.

Cena ended up tossing the title at Orton to distract him so he could attack. Orton ducked another shot from the belt and hit an RKO. He posed with the title to end the segment.

Seeing Cena and Orton interact is nothing new. In fact, we have seen them fight more than almost anyone else in WWE, but seeing them work with a different dynamic like this was interesting. Orton as the good guy and Cena as the villain made it feel fresh. This was better than Cena's promo on Raw by a decent margin.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

—Joe Tessitore confirmed the third hour would be commercial-free.
—Cena made WWE's new ring announcer give a different introduction once he got to the ring. Cena stood right in front of him as he gave the new intro.
—Orton describing what Cena's kids would look like was hilarious.
—Cena's line about Orton being frozen at 14 title reigns makes no sense because it was never just one world title in WWE while he was a champion.

The first match of the night saw Angel and Berto take on Nathan Frazer and Axiom, who were looking to rebound after dropping the NXT tag titles at Stand and Deliver.

Frazer and Axiom took control right away and used their high-flying offense to maintain the upper hand, but Los Garzas turned the tide in their favor as the show cut to a break.

We returned right as Frazer got a hot tag and started going on a rampage. Angel hit a superkick when Frazer was attempting a moonsault to stop his momentum.

The crowd chanted "This is awesome" as the two pairs of aerial artists did what they do best. This was an exciting match that showcased the abilities of all four men well. Almost every single thing they did was executed perfectly.

A combo Spanish Fly and 450 splash scored Fraxion the win in what Joe Tess called their SmackDown debut, so it looks like we might be seeing more of the former NXT tag champs in the future.

Result: Fraxiom defeated Los Garzas

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

—The way Axiom fell out of the ring when Angel low-bridged him looked painful.
—Angel's superkick as Frazer was going for a moonsault looked awesome.
—Both of these teams are really great at timing spots so they look the best that they can.

After a break, Tiffany Stratton came to the ring to celebrate her win over Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 41. It didn't take long for Jade Cargill to interrupt her.

She said beating Charlotte only put a bigger target on Tiffy's back, and now that she is done with Naomi, she wants a shot at the WWE women's title. They ended up agreeing to have a match right away, so a ref came down and it got started after a break.

Cargill had a slight size and power advantage, but not by much. Tiffany is a strong competitor and made sure to let Jade know she was not going to be pushed around.

These two have a little experience working together but you could see that lack of chemistry in a few places. They still made most of what they did look good, but the things that didn't work stood out a bit.

Sometimes when two people are getting used to working together, a lack of smoothness can make things look more competitive, which happened a few times here.

Stratton almost tripped when going for her signature moonsault, but she saved it. Unfortunately for her, Cargill avoided the impact. A minute later, Naomi ran down and attacked Jade to cause a disqualification. Nia Jax showed up to attack Tiffy a few moments later.

Result: Cargill won by DQ

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

—Stratton has done a good job playing a babyface without suddenly sucking up to the crowd out of nowhere. She is basically the same person she always was, but she is fighting heels instead of faces. It's for the best because she is not the kind of character who should be sucking up to the fans.
—It looked like Jade had trouble getting Tiffy up for a vertical suplex, so they abandoned it and went for a roll-up. It was a good recovery and looked almost intentional.
—The superplex spot looked good.

Jacob Fatu came out with Solo Sikoa after the break to celebrate his United States Championship win over LA Knight at WrestleMania.

Sikoa said nobody in his family wanted Fatu in WWE except for him. He took credit for Fatu not only being in WWE, but for his title win, too. The champ ripped the mic away from him and said he did exactly what he said he was going to do by winning.

Knight came out and gave him credit for beating him fair in the middle of the ring but said it won't happen again. Surprisingly, Drew McIntyre came out next. The former world champion bragged about beating Damian Priest and complained about Orton jumping the line ahead of him for a WWE title shot.

Nick Aldis came out and offered to book a match between Knight and McIntyre, with the winner getting a U.S. title shot. The crowd loved that idea.

This was an entertaining segment and set up a few potential directions WWE can go with Fatu's title reign. What we heard was very paint-by-numbers, but all four men made it work.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

—The crowd chanting Fatu's name after his music stopped was a cool moment.
—The fans were absolutely loving Fatu. WWE would be wise to play into this and build more tension with Sikoa before they have a match.
—Knight was especially funny in this segment. He has good chemistry on the mic with just about everyone.

We went from the men's U.S. title to the women's U.S. title when Chelsea Green defended the belt against Zelina Vega. Piper Niven and Alba Fyre were by Green's side, as always.

The Secret Hervice helped Green gain an unfair advantage before a commercial break, but Vega fought back and managed to take control after we returned.

Niven tripped her right in front of the ref, and then he caught Fyre about to attack her, so he ejected both of them from ringside. A couple of seconds later, Vega hit Code Red to get the pin and the win.

Vega escaped the ring before Niven and Fyre could get to her. She celebrated winning her first singles title in WWE in the aisle. This was a surprising title change, but that is what makes it good. If everything was predictable, it would be boring.

This wasn't a very long match, but they worked together to make every minute count.

Result: Vega defeated Green to win the United States Championship

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

—We don't talk enough about how Secret Hervice is a great name for Niven and Fyre as a duo. They have done such a good job taking minor roles and making them fun.
—Green did a good job getting over for the Code Red even though Vega wasn't able to get her legs under Green's arms.

The Miz came out and complained about how nobody respects him. He said Rey Mysterio went to someone he barely knows for help instead of him, and Orton did the same thing. He said he is sick of seeing people get opportunities when he isn't.

The lights went out and Aleister Black arrived with his old NXT entrance that brought him straight up from the floor.

The crowd chanted "Welcome back" as Black stood up and took off his jacket. He nailed The Miz with Black Mass without saying a word, and then sat in the ring as his music began to play.

This was as simple as it gets for a return segment, but it worked because Black's character has never been known as a big talker. If The Miz is his first real rival in WWE, Black will likely score an easy win next week or at Backlash.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

—The Miz wearing all white made for a nice juxtaposition with Black's dark gear.
—Black no longer had makeup around his eye, so it doesn't look like WWE will continue that storyline from his last run.

After Aldis made the match earlier, the third hour of SmackDown kicked off with Knight battling McIntyre for a shot at Fatu's United States Championship.

The bell rang as soon as we returned from a break, but they were slow to lock up. McIntyre had a significant size advantage and used it to take Knight down and brag about it. Knight took him down and bragged right back a moment later, which only angered The Scottish Psychopath.

The great thing about Knight is he is the kind of worker who can go at any pace and make it work. He can match speed with high-flyers and he can play the power game with guys like McIntyre. It allows him to work at any pace, which is a valuable skill.

They worked a methodical match and made sure the big moments and sequences stood out, but there were moments when it felt like they could have used to move a bit quicker to keep the crowd's energy high.

Sikoa showed up and hit Knight with a Samoan Spike while the ref was distracted. McIntyre looked mad that he was about to be helped by someone he saw as an enemy, but he was unable to take advantage of the moment because Priest showed up to pull him out of the ring and beat him up.

The Archer of Infamy put him through the announce table with a South of Heaven Chokeslam. Knight got in his face for causing a DQ, but both men were taken down by Fatu out of nowhere. The segment ended with Fatu standing tall.

Having multiple DQ finishes on the same show is never ideal, but this was clearly done to set up a multi-man match for the U.S. title, so we should find out next week what will happen at Backlash.

Result: No Contest

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

—Bianca Belair revealed in a backstage interview that she is injured and will be out of action for a little while.
—McIntyre's entrance took place in picture-in-picture during the final commercial break of the show.

This week's main event is arguably the kind of match that should have been on the WrestleMania card, but the SmackDown audience was treated to a triple threat TLC match between three of the top teams in WWE.

Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, and Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have had many encounters in recent months, so putting them all in the ring for a high-risk match like this was a great way to end the post-WrestleMania episode of SmackDown.

All six men began fighting as soon as the bell rang, but DIY came out ahead in the initial exchange. As they tried to get a ladder, Sabin and Shelley dropkicked it to knock them down.

This match was given a lot of time, and since there were no commercials, it felt like even longer. The bar has been high for TLC matches for a long time, but these three teams did an admirable job.

There was no standout performer in this one because all six competitors were giving everything they had. We saw some creative spots, especially when it came to how chairs were used. Ford even used a fan's prosthetic leg as a weapon at one point, which got a huge pop from the crowd.

It's hard to find a single thing to criticize because everything in this match worked and made everyone look awesome. All three teams had moments when it looked like they would win, but in the end, it was Ford who took down the belts to claim victory.

Result: The Street Profits defeated DIY and MCMG

Grade: A+

Notable Moments and Observations

—DIY's entrance music is nowhere near as good as it used to be. It's one of the bigger downgrades in WWE themes we have seen. The Profits didn't make out much better with their newest theme.
—Seeing Ciampa without a huge beard is going to be hard to get used to.
—Ford and Dawkins wore gear that paid tribute to Shawn Michaels, which was a nice touch in Texas.
—The way Dawkins ran Gargano's head into the ring post was nasty.
—The spot with Shelley's head being wrapped with a chair and Gargano hitting it with another chair was nuts.
—Dawkins putting a hanging Ciampa through a table with a spear from a ladder was the spot of the night.

The post-WrestleMania episode of SmackDown outdid Monday’s Raw in both in-ring action and storyline developments.

A handful of potential matches for Backlash were set up, Black’s return might have put his first feud into motion, Los Garzas and Fraxiom put on a fun show, Vega won the U.S. title in a surprising outcome, and Cena and Orton did a great job setting up their upcoming title match. 

However, the biggest highlight of the night was the main event TLC match with the Profits, DIY and MCMG. All six of these men are highly gifted performers, so it should surprise nobody to find out they put in a great match with a lot of fun spots.

In fact, the TLC match we got might have been better than everything we saw at WrestleMania this week in terms of excitement. The best match of the week capped off what might have been the best episode of SmackDown in 2025.

It felt like every segment mattered and advanced at least one storyline. This was the first time a three-hour episode of the blue brand felt like it used every minute effectively.

Grade: A-