WWE SmackDown after WrestleMania advertised the next step for Roman Reigns, Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss in a post-WrestleMania “Happy Talk,” and reportedly, the debut of Marcel Barthel as “Ludwig.” News broke earlier in the day from WrestleVotes about WWE’s “worst” name change yet, which turned out to be the new name for Barthel.
Last week’s broadcast of Friday Night SmackDown garnered 2.359 million viewers.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown Ratings—Last Five Weeks
- April 1, 2022—2.359 million
- March 25, 2022—2.180 million
- March 18, 2022—2.147 million
- March 11, 2022—2.226 million
- March 4, 2022—2.261 million
WWE SmackDown Ticket Sales
- WWE SmackDown Venue: Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- Tickets Distributed: 6,579
- Available Tickets: 560
Steve Austin’s WrestleMania 38 Return Led To Awful “What” Chants (Pro Wrestling Bits)
WWE SmackDown Total YouTube Viewership Last Friday: 2,871,341 (Down from 6,548,411)
- Most-Viewed: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (450,487 views)
- Least-Viewed: Andree the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Clip (62,094 views)
- Median Viewership: 354,976 views
WWE SmackDown Results | Friday, April 8, 2022
Ronda Rousey Kicks Off SmackDown
Fans popped huge at the notion of a Ronda Rousey rematch.
After being denied an “I Quit” Match against Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey sent Adam Pearce a paper message via some stooge.
Xavier Woods def. Butch
The New Day had an entertaining pre-match promo where Woods got over the term “reset!”
According to Woods, WWE records reset following WrestleMania, similar to how AEW record reset every year.
Pat McAfee slipped up and called Butch “Pete.”
Gunther def. Joe Alonzo
Marcel Barthel’s official new name is Ludwig Kaiser. Poor Fabian Aichner is the odd-man-out.
During a backstage segment, Sami Zayn received heat for saying he hates cheese.
There were fleeting chants of “WALTER,” which were describe by commentary as “Gunther” chants.
McAfee described Gunther’s chops as “big Will Smith bombs to the chest.”
Happy Corbin Turns on Madcap Moss
Happy Corbin launched into a predictable tirade against Madcap Moss.
There were loud chants for Madcap Moss, however when he told his jokes, they booed him. Then when Happy Corbin said Madcap’s jokes weren’t funny, the crowd booed.
The announce team laughed at Madcap Moss jokes. The crowd, however, did not.
Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn
Fans in the Fiserv Forum chanted “cheese!” at Sami Zayn.
This match was one long game of cat-and-mouse until Sami Zayn succesfully escaped through the crowd.
Following this match, Lacey Evans told her authentic story as a former marine and it was awesome. It was one of the rare comebacks/debuts where the Superstar didn’t have to change their name and it worked like a charm.
Liv Morgan def. Sasha Banks
Liv Morgan is the only person in this entire industry who doesn’t know Rhea Ripley is going to turn on her come Monday.
Michael Cole called Naomi & Sasha the first Black WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, and Naomi made him say it again. I loved that so much. The word "Black" is such a curse word in this industry (and country) sometimes, and Naomi was like "Say it with your chest!"
This might have been the biggest win of Liv Morgan’s career, only for it all to come crashing down in three days.
Roman Reigns is Challenged by Shinsuke Nakamura
Roman Reigns said he wanted The Usos to be Raw and SmackDown champions. It looks like The Bloodline is doing a belt collector/unification gimmick.
After The Usos beat RK-Bro, I’m afraid that will be the beginning of the end for that entertaining duo.
Fans were loudly singing along to Shinsuke Nakamura’s music, but I was surprised to see that he was the next challenger for Reigns.
