Before the start of this match on Smackdown, a backstage promo was shown where Matt Riddle and the WWE Undisputed Tag Team champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were seen standing. Riddle cut a short promo on there 6 man tag team match at Backlash and he address the Bloodline. Riddle bro you seriously need to stop painting your nails, it looks so gross.
Next, WWE presented a promo package on all the NXT wrestlers that were drafted to Friday Night Smackdown. They hyped the incomings of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, Cameron Grimes, Pretty Deadly, and of course Grayson Waller.
WWE Smackdown 05.05.2023 Ratings & Analysis Part 6
Cameron Grimes made his main roster debut in a backstage segment tonight where he confronted Adam Pearce. He expressed his happiness on being promoted to the main roster and getting to work on Friday Night Smackdown. Pearce promised him a great future in the blue brand of WWE.
Baron Corbin interrupted them and compared his free agent status with Brock Lesnar who is also a free agent just like him. He said that just like Brock Lesnar he was so good that no brands could settle the score on who ended up getting him. Pearce said the story was actually different. Nobody actually wanted to have him on their brands.
Corbin expressed His anger on this statement from Adam Pearce and he pointed to Cameron Grimes by saying how could he got drafted to SmackDown and not him. Grimes challenged Corbin in a match on Smackdown as Pearce liked the idea and made the match official for next week. Of course Baron Corbin is a jobber now. So he is just another Chad Gable now. To promote a new star, they give them free victories over Corbin these days, just like Chad Gable is used.
WWE Undisputed Universal Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns had been announced for next week of Friday Night Smackdown. This is going to be his first appearance in more than a month. They also reminded of the tournament that are going to be held on both RAW and Smackdown from next week onwards.
Next up was the main event of the night. It was a mixed tag team match between LWO and The Judgment Day. The match was already made official during the first segment of the night. You might see this match as a promotion for Backlash, but was it really a total promotion?
Of course there were some promotion materials for Backlash, but it was mostly booked to appese the home crowd. The first promotion material for Backlash was the involvement of both Rhea Ripley and Zelina Vega. It helped promoting their SmackDown Women’s championship match that is going to take place tomorrow.