WWE SmackDown Results Coverage, Reactions and Highlights for March 22, 2024

It’s Friday night, and you know what that means! WWE SmackDown will go down tonight, and Ringside News has got you covered with live play-by-play results coverage for the March 22, 2024 episode.

The start time for WWE SmackDown is 8:00 PM EST. Match-by-match highlights and results from the show will take place on this very page. Feel free to leave any reactions in the comment section below.

WWE SmackDown Lineup (3/22/2024):

• Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes come face-to-face
• WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match: The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) vs. A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller and Austin Theory)
• WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match: The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. AOP (Akam And Rezar)
• Singles Match: LWO’s WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio vs. Legado Del Fantasma’s Santos Escobar
• Singles Match: Damage CTRL’s IYO SKY vs. Naomi

WWE SmackDown Results (3/22/2024):

The show opens up with Corey Graves welcoming us. We then see “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes and Damage CTRL walking backstage. We then get the entrances for the first match of the night.

Singles Match: LWO’s WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio vs. Legado Del Fantasma’s Santos Escobar

The match starts off with Rey Mysterio wasting no time in going after Santos Escobar and launching an assault on Escobar. Mysterio then delivers a flurry of strikes on Escobar. Mysterio then goes for a springboard, but slips and delivers a glancing blow on Escobar. Mysterio then goes for a rope walk, but slips again. Mysterio then delivers an elbow strike and a springboard rana on Escobar and Escobar goes to the corner. Mysterio then delivers a baseball slide to Escobar’s nether region. Escobar then tries to get back in the match and hits a basement dropkick on Mysterio. Mysterio then responds with a head scissors on Escobar that sends Escobar flying out of the ring. Mysterio then hits a sliding splash on Escobar.

Escobar then starts working on Mysterio, but Mysterio tries to get back in the match and sends Escobar out of the ring. Mysterio then hits a dive off the ring post on Escobar and delivers a crossbody on Escobar. Escobar then goes for a sunset flip, but Mysterio rolls through and hits a dropkick on Escobar. Mysterio then hits a springboard moonsault on Escobar, then kicks out of a pinfall attempt from Mysterio. Mysterio then sends Escobar into the ropes for a 619. Escobar then stops Mysterio from hitting the 619 with a superkick and Mysterio kicks out from a pinfall attempt. Escobar then calls Mysterio a pathetic old man and that fires up Mysterio, which leads to Mysterio knocking Escobar out of the ring. Mysterio then hits Escobar with the top of the announce desk. Mysterio then runs, jumps off the announce desk and lands a senton that sends Escobar flying over the barricade into the timekeeper’s area.

Mysterio then goes for another springboard, but a person wearing a Mysterio mask jumps the barricade and pulls Mysterio’s leg. Mysterio then turns around and the person takes their mask off and it is “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio. Escobar then hits Mysterio with a 619. Escobar then hits Mysterio with his Phantom Driver finisher and gets the win.

The winner of the Singles Match, Santos Escobar!

After the match, Escobar and Dominik smile as they leave the ringside area together.

We then head to the back, where Bayley and Naomi speaks with each other. Bianca Belair then shows up and Belair confronts Bayley about attacking her for the past two years. Belair then says Bayley wasn’t sorry and she deserves everything coming her way. Bayley and Belair then starts shouting at each other and Naomi walks away with Belair to calm things down.

We then see “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes signing posters backstage and Naomi and Belair walks past him still bickering. Naomi says everything Belair said was valid, but there is nothing Naomi can do about it now. Naomi then just walks away from Belair.

We then get the entrances of the next match, which is a WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match.

WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match: The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) vs. A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller and Austin Theory)

The match starts off with Gallows and Anderson tossing Theory and Waller all over the place. Anderson then hits a dive on Waller. Waller and Theory then start working on Gallows’ knee. Gallows then hits a thunderous lariat on Theory. Anderson then tags in and clears the ring. Michin then hits a hip toss on Waller. Waller then breaks up the Magic Killer and Gallows sends Waller out of the ring. Theory then rolls up Gallows with his feet on the ropes with Waller’s help for the win.

The winners of the WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory!

Video footage of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns on the Pat McAfee show from earlier today then airs.

Naomi then makes her way down to the ring for the next match. Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane then appear on the stage, but IYO SKY is nowhere to be found. We then see IYO SKY on the big screen beating up Bayley backstage. Referees and officials then eventually pull SKY away. SKY then finally makes her way down to the ring for the next match.

Singles Match: Damage CTRL’s IYO SKY vs. Naomi

The match starts off with Naomi beating SKY into the corner and delivering a few stomps on the Women’s Champion. SKY then fights out of the corner and eventually hits a diving rana off the top rope. Naomi then hits a bulldog on SKY for a near fall. Naomi then delivers a crossbody on SKY. Naomi then hits a basement dropkick on SKY then follows that up with the corner split splash, but SKY kicks out. SKY then hits a springboard dropkick on Naomi then goes up top. Naomi then cuts her off and hits a superplex on SKY with a float over for a near fall.

Both women then trade strikes and SKY hits a double stomp on Naomi. After a series of reversals, Naomi hits SKY with the Heat Seeker. Naomi then goes for her moonsault, but Damage CTRL makes their way to the ring. Naomi then fights them off, but ends up being on the receiving end of an Over the Moonsault by SKY and SKY gets the 1-2-3.

The winner of the Singles Match, IYO SKY!

After the match, Damage CTRL beats Naomi down and Naomi tries fighting back, but Asuka spits blue mist into Naomi’s face. Bianca Belair’s music then hits and she makes her way down to the ring to make the save. Belair hits Dakota Kai with a forearm and sends her into the ring steps, then hits a spinebuster on Sane and delivers right hands on Asuka. Belair then knocks Sane down into the mat and looks to hit her with a KOD, but the rest of Damage CTRL begins attacking her.

A video vignette of Jade Cargill then airs and it is announced that she will make her first official appearance as a SmackDown Superstar next week.

We then see “The EST Of WWE” Bianca Belair and Naomi trying to make things better backstage and Tiffany Stratton just walks through.

SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis and Kevin Owens were then shown talking backstage and Pretty Deadly interrupts them. Pretty Deadly tells Owens that he was living in the past. Owens then challenges Pretty Deadly to a match next week with a partner and that partner was Randy Orton. The match was then made official and Kevin Owens punches both members of Pretty Deadly.

A video of AJ Styles at his home was then shown. LA Knight shows up and the two got into it in Styles’ front yard. Police then shows up and arrests LA Knight. Knight then warns Styles that he will be back.

We then get the entrances of the next match, which is a WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match.

WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match: The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. AOP (Akam And Rezar)

The match starts off with Dawkins delivering left and right hands. Akam and Rezar then double team Dawkins, working on him on their side of the ring. Ford then gets a blind tag and The Street Profits deliver a series of kicks on both members of AOP, sending them out of the ring. Ford then goes for a dive, but is caught by Akam and Rezar. Dawkins then tries to make the save, but Ford gets powerbombed into him as he jumps off the ring steps.

AOP are then taking turns working on Ford, but Ford manages to tag Dawkins in. Dawkins then clears the ring, then rolls out of the ring and pounces Rezar. Dawkins then hits a silencer. Akam then escapes the Blockbuster attempt and delivers a viscous boot to Ford’s head. AOP then lands the Last Chapter on Ford, but Dawkins breaks up the pin. Akam and Rezar then go for a double powerbomb, but Dawkins breaks that up. Ford then rolls Akam up for the win.

The winners of the WrestleMania XL Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match, The Street Profits!

The lineup for next week’s episode of WWE SmackDown is then announced.

We then head to the back, where Paul Heyman calls “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns and tells him that Cody Rhodes is at SmackDown alone. Reigns is then shown walking alongside Heyman as they are about to head to the ring.

Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman then make their way down to the ring.

Reigns starts off by saying he is a man of his word. Reigns then says he is here alone and now it’s time for Cody Rhodes to come to the ring and acknowledge him.

Rhodes then makes his way down to the ring and joins Reigns and Heyman. Reigns then tells Rhodes that he came alone. Rhodes then says if Reigns came alone, he came alone as well. Reigns then calls Rhodes a fool. Reigns then says from his perspective Rhodes isn’t fit for this job because he is an idiot. Reigns then takes a shot on Rhodes for aligning himself with Reigns’ “little brother,” Seth Rollins.

Reigns then says Rollins was nowhere to be found when Rhodes needed him last week. Reigns then reminds Rhodes that Rollins stabbed him in the back when they were in the Shield. Rhodes then asks the crowd if they think he can trust Seth Rollins and the crowd responds. Rhodes then says that Rollins may hate his guts, but Rollins hates Reigns even more. Rhodes then says that Reigns should be worried about his tag team partner, The Rock. Reigns then mocks Rhodes for making promises he can’t keep as all he will ever be is number two. Reigns then says he is number one forever and Heyman holds up his championship behind him.

Rhodes then puts over Reigns, but says when it comes to defeating Reigns at WrestleMania, he isn’t number two, he’s the one. Rhodes then offers Reigns a handshake. Reigns then laughs at Rhodes and shakes Heyman’s hand instead. Reigns and Heyman then leave the ring. Reigns then snaps his fingers and Solo Sika and Jimmy Uso appear in the crowd. Rhodes then looks concerned as they circle the ring and join Reigns on the ramp, but Rhodes’ mood quickly changes when “Main Event” Jey Uso and World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins make their way down to the ring through the crowd to join him. All six men then stare each other down as the show comes to a close.