WWE Friday Night SmackDown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, Live on the USA Network | March 27th, 2026 — The Episode Recap:

Drew McIntyre & Jacob Fatu trade away on the microphone as the SmackDown General Manager, Nick Aldis, announced that at WrestleMania, both men will fight in an Unsanctioned Match. (Image courtesy of WWE)

The March 27th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — The Official Match Results:

The Opening Match: The Bella Twins (Brie Bella & Nikki Bella) defeated Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair in a Tag Team Match | via Pin-Fall — (09:33)

The 2nd Match: Rhea Ripley defeated B-Fab (with Jade Cargill & Michin) in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (00:30)

The 3rd Match: Jelly Roll defeated Kit Wilson in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (05:42)

The 4th Match: Sami Zayn defeated Carmelo Hayes (c) in a WWE United States Title Match | via Pin-Fall — (16:15)

The 5th Match: Giulia (with Kiana James) defeated Tiffany Stratton in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (09:44)

The Main Event Match: Randy Orton defeated Matt Cardona in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (06:26)

My Official Thoughts on the March 27th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown:

My Thoughts: Enough is enough. This brand is garbage. A draft is needed, swap the titles around, and bring some freshness. This was a hard three-hour watch of SmackDown. As a wrestling fan, I want to watch good matches, mixed with great segments. We’re on the road to WrestleMania, and this is what we get? Pricing out the fans just for them to spend 500$ on tickets to watch this garbage is hilarous, only one great match which was the man who carried SmackDown for months in Carmelo Hayes as he lost his WWE United States Title, and we got some unnecessary stuff tonight, garbage writing, garbage everything please put a WWE Draft we need it at this point please it’s getting so ridulcous.

The March 27th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — My Official Match Ratings:

The Opening Match: The Bella Twins (Brie Bella & Nikki Bella) vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair in a Tag Team Match | The Match Rating: ** — This match was not good. I knew once the bell rang, this wasn't going to end well. Noting that the Bella Twins have regressed so much because they are out of their prime, and really can't hang with today's talent. But I was quite surprised that they won because I would've had the better team win in Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair, who've been one of the best women's tag teams in WWE. But we got ourselves a Bella Twins win, after the match, we saw Bayley & Lyra Valkyria make the save as tension grows between all the teams.

The 2nd Match: Rhea Ripley vs. B-Fab (with Jade Cargill & Michin) in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: DUD — This was not needed. This was terrible. The whole segment was very crappy. This feud with Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley for the Women’s Title had the potential, but this is one of the worst feuds in recent memory, noting they clearly don’t like each other at all, but this was just garbage material.

The 3rd Match: Jelly Roll vs. Kit Wilson in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: * — The build for this was okay, I would hope this ends the feud, but knowing WWE, they might stretch this out until WrestleMania with Kit Wilson & The Miz taking on Danhausen & Jelly Roll in some Tag Team Match. Which I don't want to happen whatsoever. But this match lasted longer than it should have, and we saw the ending where Jelly Roll won his 1st Career Match and is now 1-1 as a wrestler, as Kit Wilson got manhandled.

The 4th Match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Sami Zayn in a WWE United States Title Match | The Match Rating: ****.50 — Another great match as we concluded the Carmelo Hayes WWE United States Title Reign with his 98 Day Reign. This was a great match. The chemistry that Carmelo Hayes can have with any wrestler is special. We saw where this is leading, as Sami Zayn is a 2x WWE United States Champion. We are going to get a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania. Now, WWE has opened the Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams story onto the Main Roster with what occurred. I can't wait to see where this goes.

The 5th Match: Giulia (with Kiana James) vs. Tiffany Stratton in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: *.75 — I expected this to be a very fun one, noting both are talented, but man, what is happening tonight on SmackDown, it's like, besides one of the six matches, everything is snake-bitten. I thought this was for the title, it wasn’t, but this match wasn't good, even the finish was very funky. Not happy with how everything has been going down tonight on SmackDown, these women can deliver a hell of a match. WWE needs to be more creative.

The Main Event Match: Randy Orton vs. Matt Cardona in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: *.75 — This wasn’t even a match that I can properly rate, in terms of storyline needs, it fit, as this is Cody Rhodes’s real-life best friend. So we saw Matt Cardona hit some offense as he hit a Rough Ryder. I don’t remember the last time Matt Cardona was involved in a Main Event Program, maybe when John Cena was feuding with Kane in 2012. But he did his part in this. I do expect him to make an appearance during Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton’s WrestleMania Match, but Matt Cardona got a Main Event Match on SmackDown, involved in the biggest program for SmackDown. I’ll say that’s pretty cool, but the match wasn’t good. I get it, Randy Orton had to dismantle Matt Cardona. Afterwards, Cody Rhodes returned as he pulled up on his bus. But the after-match segment was very okay; Matt Cardona being involved made sense for the story.

The March 27th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — My Match of the Night: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Sami Zayn in a WWE United States Title Match | The Match Rating: ****.50 — Now we know the direction for Carmelo Hayes, Sami Zayn & Trick Williams, as with Sami Zayn winning the WWE United States Title for the 2nd Time, he’ll most likely be defending the title in a Triple Threat Match at the Grandest Stage of them all.

The March 27th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — My Official Episode Grade: 1.50/10 (F) — This wasn’t good. Having six matches and only one delivering was very lackluster; there were some solid segments, but this whole episode was not good at all. I thought the matchmaking was very piss-poor, and with Road Dogg gone, it seems like the show has regressed a lot outside of Carmelo Hayes, Randy Orton, Trick Williams, and the Women’s Tag Division. This show is very unwatchable because the roster is outdated only salvage thing to do is a WWE Draft.