WWE Friday Night SmackDown: Results and highlights as WWE prepares for WrestleMania 40

Friday's WWE SmackDown event was the final event before WrestleMania XL this weekend in Philadelphia. The Wells Fargo Center played host to a full match card with lots of WrestleMania implications.

Cody Rhodes and Seth "Freakin" Rollins' late appearance capped off an otherwise ho-hum night of action inside the ring. Instead, tonight was more about building storylines ahead of WrestleMania tomorrow and Sunday night.

Rhodes took the microphone to tell the raucous crowd in Philadelphia that he, Rollins, and Jey Uso would emerge victorious at WrestleMania. Uso needed their help after his brother Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa were set for a beatdown.

Here's the highlights and grades from tonight's action:

Cody Rhodes calls out The Bloodline

To close out the night, Rhodes - flanked by Rollins and Jey Uso - promised to end The Bloodline and their story of dominance.

Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa grade

Like Vega vs. Lopez, the best part of this match was the extracurriculars after the bell but this family feud was a bit more entertaining.

Grade: B.

Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa

Roughly 24 hours before fighting his brother Jimmy, Uso took to the ring to take on his other brother Sikoa.

Uso avoided a slam in the corner from Sikoa ahead of a rally with multiple hands to the jaw. Sikoa threw Uso across the ring but quickly recovered to take him to the floor with a series of kicks. Sikoa went with a Samoan super kick but Uso avoided it and slammed him to the ground. Uso hit a Uso Splash to win the match.

Jimmy Uso made a surprise entrance to help Sikoa and land some hits on Jey.

In response, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes sprinted to the ring to defend Jey Uso and knock down Sikoa and Jimmy. Rhodes brought out his American Nightmare belt to land some more hits on Jimmy and set the tone ahead of WrestleMania.

LA Knight calls out AJ Styles ahead of WrestleMania

A week after a disguised Knight took out Styles in the ring, LA Knight took to the stage to tell Styles all the ways he's going to take him down in WrestleMania XL. The crowd chanted his name in support as he dropped the mic.

New Catch Republic vs. Theory and Waller grade

This match was the best of the night as New Catch Republic took the win after a back-and-forth fight.

Grade: A-.

New Catch Republic vs. Theory and Waller

Theory and Waller made it back to the Wells Fargo Center after chasing Orton and Owens to take on the Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate duo.

Bate got a grip on Waller and slammed him to the floor. Both were dazed after the move as Dunne tagged in to the ring. He went on a tear against Waller and Theory, landing a suplex on the latter. Dunne pinned Waller and went to break his fingers only for Theory to swoop in and save him.

New Catch Republic got the upper hand and took the win before The Judgment Day stormed the ring to assert their dominance.

Andrade agrees to join Rey Mysterio in the ring for WrestleMania

After Dragon Lee was attacked before Vega vs. Lopez, Andrade switched allegiances to stand with Rey Mysterio against Dom Mysterio and Santos Escobar.

Jade Cargill returns afters signing her SmackDown contract

Cargill joined Naomi and Bianca Belair in the ring to talk smack on Damage CTRL, thanking the group for giving her a chance to show the WWE universe what she can do. The new trio will take on Damage CTRL in WrestleMania XL.

Zelina Vega vs. Elektra Lopez grade

This fight was easily overshadowed by Andrade's changing allegiance. Lopez deserved to win but the match was far from the best of the night.

Grade: C-.

Zelina Vega vs. Elektra Lopez

Vega took a few minutes but took the upper hand with a glancing blow on Lopez. Vegas tried for a dive only to see Lopez catch and slam her to the floor.

Vega hit Lopez with a DDT before "Dirty" Dom Mysterio distracted the referee. Lopez took control again and knocked Vega down en route to victory.

Logan Paul vs. Owens and Orton grade

This was the most drawn out match of the night, taking plenty of time to get into some action. Once the trio were in the same ring, Paul couldn't hold his own.

Grade: B.

Logan Paul sneaks into Wells Fargo Center

Paul entered the arena to boos from the crowd while insulting Philadelphia before getting to the ring to insult Owens and Orton.

He revealed that Grayson Waller and Austin Theory followed Owens and Orton to Lincoln Financial Field. Neither Theory nor Waller could find them, only for the lights to come on in the Wells Fargo Center to reveal that both Orton and Owens made their way back to the ring.

Multiple stunners came his way before a RKO to set the tone for WrestleMania. This fight isn't over.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal grade

In a fitting tribute to the Eighth Wonder of the World, the biggest wrestlers were the last ones left in the ring. Reed's clothesline took The Viking out of the ring to secure his win after a wild and sloppy melee.

Grade: C.

Bronson Reed wins the Battle Royal

Reed avoided a Viking sault and recovered to gain the upper hand and knock Ivar out of the ring.

Omos eliminates himself from the Battle Royal

Despite quickly gaining the upper hand in the scrum, Omos left the ring and took himself out in order to take down the Creed brothers.

Two of the bigger wrestlers in the battle made it far with Otis taking the upper hand, and doing the worm, before getting thrown out of the ring by Ivar. Bronson Reed was left as the final challenger to Ivar for the winner.

André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal begins

Ricochet made his way to the ring full of 25 challengers first before Omos entered the ring.

The battle royal continued in earnest with wrestlers flying out of the ring.

"The KO Show" pursues Logan Paul

Orton and Owens were talking about WrestleMania XL before Logan Paul interrupted the feed to trash talk the duo from across the street at Lincoln Financial Field.

Owens found a golf cart outside the Wells Fargo Center and Orton hopped on the back to find Paul.

Randy Orton joins "The KO Show"

The Viper walked out to join Owens in the ring for tonight's show.

Kevin Owens gets the night started

Owens entered the ring first on Friday night.

Match Card for WWE SmackDown, April 5

There are five events on tonight's official SmackDown card. Here's the confirmed matches for April 5:

• Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa

• "The KO Show" with Kevin Owens featuring Randy Orton

• André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal featuring more than 20 wrestlers

• Zelina Vega vs. Elektra Lopez

• New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) vs. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory

How to watch Friday Night SmackDown

When: 8:00 p.m., ET

Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cable: FOX

Streaming: Peacock, Hulu, Watch on Fubo

How to watch Smackdown: Watch all WWE events with a subscription to fuboTV

Highlights from SmackDown March 29

• Logan Paul fled from Randy Orton

• Jade Cargill signed a contract with SmackDown

• Austin Theory and Grayson Waller defeated The Street Profits

• Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio challenged Santos Escobar and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio to a WrestleMania match

• New Catch Republic defeated Legado del Fantasma

• LA Knight blindsided AJ Styles

• Bianca Belair defeated Dakota Kai

• Jade Cargill singlehandedly took down Damage CTRL

When is WrestleMania 40?

WrestleMania XL is Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7.

How to watch WrestleMania 40

When: April 6-7, 2024

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT (both nights)

Where: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Streaming: Peacock (U.S.), WWE Network (Rest of world)

Watch WrestleMania: Stream the biggest WWE event of all-time with a subscription to Peacock

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WWE SmackDown: Results, winners from Friday night's WrestleMania kickoff