Winners, Live Notes, Reactions, Highlights After Backlash 2024

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of WWE SmackDown on May 10.

The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments continued this week with a handful of matches from both categories.

Here’s a look at what WWE announced for Friday’s show:

• Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles
• Angelo Dawkins vs. Tama Tonga
• Bianca Belair vs. Candice LeRae
• Jade Cargill vs. Piper Niven
• Naomi vs. Nia Jax

Dawkins replaced Bobby Lashley as The All Mighty was not medically cleared to compete. Let’s take a look at what happened on this week’s SmackDown.

After a recap video showing the events of Backlash, Nick Aldis introduced Cody Rhodes. Aldis informed him that his next challenger would be Logan Paul. The social media star made his way to the ring and had an exchange with Rhodes that ended without violence.

The first match of the evening saw Naomi take on Jax in a first round QOTR bout. After both women threw a few punches, Jax took Naomi down and began controlling the pace.

Most of this fight was Jax dominating the action with occasional brief returns from The Queen of GLOW. After a split leg moonsault and top rope hurricanrana failed to secure the win for Naomi, Jax hit The Annihilator for the win.

It was a relatively uneventful fight that was highlighted by some big spots from Naomi.

Result: Jax defeated Naomi

Grade: C+

Notable moments and observations

• For a six-match show, the opening segment lasted longer than expected.
• Alicia Taylor debuted as SmackDown’s new host this week.
• Naomi’s suicide dive looked great.
• The hurricane looked good but took too long to settle in.

After having a brief exchange backstage, Baron Corbin and Carmelo Hayes met for a KOTR bout.

Hayes used his speed to hit some kicks early on, but he turned his back on the former Golden Gloves fighter and paid the price.

These two worked really well together and did a lot of things to make each other look good along the way.

Even though he lost, Corbin probably impressed a few people who missed his recent run in NXT with this performance. Hayes earned the victory with a rollup to advance in the tournament.

Result: Hayes defeated Corbin

Grade: B

Notable moments and observations

• The way Hayes got into position for a Corbin slam suplex was so quick and helped make the move look good.
• Hayes’ springboard clothesline was about as perfect as it gets.

The next match featured half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions in action as Cargill faced Niven in another QOTR bout.

This was the first time Cargill faced someone who could match him in terms of power in WWE. So they started by trading shoulder tackles to see who could take down the other first.

This contest had a very simple layout and played at a slow pace during the first half, but there were some standout moments like Cargill taking Niven for an impressive slam.

Cargill managed to get Jaded to replace Niven and earned the victory to advance in the tournament. It was quick but the winner looked great. Bianca Belair came out and celebrated with her as she walked out for the next game.

Result: Cargill beat Niven

Grade: C+

Notable moments and observations

• Chelsea Green should be employee of the month.
• Green looking surprised at how hard she slapped Cargill was funny.

Belair and LeRae competed in the third QOTR match of the evening. Indi Hartwell was at ringside while Belair was solo.

EST managed to keep the upper hand despite Hartwell’s interference early on, but the knee that was being targeted gave out after a backflip, so LeRae lunged at it.

After just a few minutes, Belair hit the KOD for the win. Everything they did was solid, but they barely had time to do much of anything.

Result: Belair defeated LeRae

Grade: VS

Notable moments and observations

• The way Belair flipped LeRae into the barricade looked good.
• Belair having a shorter match than Cargill was rather surprising.

The Bloodline had a quick backstage segment that made it clear that Solo Sikoa would turn on Paul Heyman shortly before coming to the ring for Tonga’s KOTR fight against Dawkins.

Tonga was caught off guard by Dawkins and ended up taking a lot of damage. When Sikoa put on the apron, Dawkins knocked the taste out of his mouth and Montez Ford took it out with Tonga Loa diving.

As Dawkins watched Loa and Sikoa take out his partner, Tonga managed to hit his finisher for the win. The two minutes of action we got were great, but they were nowhere near enough.

Result: Tonga beat Dawkins

Grade: VS

Notable moments and observations

• Dawkins unfortunately gained entry as a jobber.
• Wade Barrett said that there was a time when WWE management didn’t touch Tonga Loa or Tama, which is actually true.

The main event of this week’s show was the first round KOTR match between Orton and Styles. They had the last 20 minutes of the show to work, so they took their time during their entrances.

Both veterans did a great job of providing a sense of competition while also highlighting what makes each one special.

Orton sold a knee injury like he was never going to walk again, and Styles was bumping all over the place for The Viper.

This was by far the best match of the night as they had enough time to do everything they wanted without rushing.

After a long struggle, The Viper hit his patented RKO to earn the victory and advance to the next round.

Result: Orton beat Styles

Grade: B+

Notable moments and observations

• We need to get Styles’ old music back. This new song just seems wrong.
• Styles jumping from the barricade to the commentary table seemed so unnecessary but led to a fun sequence.
• Orton only tiptoeing with his injured foot really helped his sales.

This week’s SmackDown featured six matches in the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments, but there was still plenty of time for a few non-wrestling segments.

The Bloodline drama continues to be a focal point for the blue brand, but WWE has done a good job of moving the world title storyline away so Rhodes can have new challengers.

Having an even split of three men’s matches and three women’s matches this week was great, but the women’s bouts could all have benefited from a little more time.

The match of the night was definitely Styles vs. Orton, but it’s worth noting that Hayes and Corbin put in a fun performance as well.

Cargill has improved by leaps and bounds since joining WWE, so it will be interesting to see how far she gets in the tournament.

Grade: B