WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From March 29

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of WWE SmackDown on March 29.

We are just over a week away from WrestleMania XL on April 6 and 7, so practically every segment on the show was designed to help build the pay-per-view in some way.

Here is a look at what WWE was advertising for Friday’s SmackDown:

Let’s take a look at what went down on this week’s show.

Elton Prince and Kit Williams faced one of their biggest challenges to date when they took on two former world champions, Owens and Orton.

This match was booked after a backstage segment last week that saw KO knock out both members of Pretty Deadly with one punch, which he immediately bragged about to Orton.

Owens and Wilson started for their teams, but it didn’t take long for The Viper and Prince to replace them.

WWE tag matches usually have a pattern to them. You can often predict when tags, double-team spots and big moments will happen. They are often structured in a way that makes sense, but the repetitiveness can make things a bit too predictable sometimes.

Thankfully, all four of these guys are talented, so this was a solid encounter to kick off the show. Logan Paul showed up out of nowhere and knocked Owens out with some brass knuckles to give Pretty Deadly the chance to win.

The finish was somewhat surprising, but it led to a funny moment when Orton saw Paul scurrying under the ring during a replay. He pulled Paul out from under the ring and began beating on him. The Viper and Prize Fighter chased him out of the arena.

Result: Pretty Deadly defeated Orton and Owens

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Nick Aldis welcomed Cargill to the ring for her first official appearance as a SmackDown Superstar. She gave a very brief promo just to introduce herself. It was surprisingly short.

The next matchup saw Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins battle Theory and Waller for a spot in the tag title six-pack challenge at WrestleMania. Bobby Lashley and B-Fab promised the Profits champagne if they won, but they did not accompany the duo to the ring.

This wasn’t a one-sided encounter, but it felt like the Profits were definitely controlling the pace more often than not. Karrion Kross showed up on the big screen to provide a distraction, which allowed Theory and Waller to steal the win and earn a spot at WrestleMania.

This match was pretty uneventful except for one spot during the first half involving the announce table. Everyone looked good, but they didn’t get enough time. AOP attacked the Profits and were joined by Kross. Lashley came to the ring but was overwhelmed and taken down.

Result: Theory and Waller defeated the Street Profits

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Santos Escobar and Legado Del Fantasma welcomed Dominik Mysterio to the ring. LDF recruited him to be part of the feud with Rey Mysterio and the LWO.

Rey and the entire LWO came to the ring for a confrontation. Rey introduced Dragon Lee as the newest member of the group before a huge brawl took place.

Right after the fight, Angel and Berto had to take on Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate in a tag match to determine who would go into the six-pack challenge at ‘Mania.

Despite Angel and Berto being beaten up, they ended up having a competitive fight against the British Strong Style specialists, but they still ended up losing to Bate and Dunne.

This was another solid tag match that could have been much better with just a few more minutes. Bate, Dunne, Angel and Berto work very well together, so let’s hope we get to see more of them in the ring.

Result: New Catch Republic defeated LDF

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

After a quick backstage segment with Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso, AJ Styles came to the ring to talk about his upcoming match against LA Knight.

Knight planted someone in the crowd to distract Styles so he wouldn’t see him dressed as a member of the ringside crew. He attacked The Phenomenal One and ended the segment by giving a promo while standing on the announce table.

The main event of this week’s show featured Belair taking on Kai. The EST took The Captain of Team Kick down with a double-leg takedown to get things going.

They worked hard to make this feel like a more personal fight. Belair looked more aggressive than usual, and Kai was trying to use every dirty trick in the book.

The EST hit the KOD for the win, but Asuka and Kairi Sane ran down to attack her right away. Naomi showed up to make the save only to end up being beaten down alongside Belair. Cargill came out at the end to even things up.

After taking out all of Damage CTRL, Cargill posed with Belair and Naomi. We might just get a six-woman tag match at ‘Mania with these competitors.

Result: Belair defeated Kai

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

This week’s SmackDown managed to do a lot in terms of setting up more matches for WrestleMania while also furthering feuds that have already been booked for the PPV.

Cargill, Naomi and Belair will likely take on Kai, Asuka and Sane, Lashley and Kross will probably put their stables against each other, and the same can be said for LDF and LWO.

We also got some decent wrestling this week. None of the matches on Friday’s show felt unnecessary, and a couple of them stood out for good reasons.

Belair and Kai put on a fun main event, but Pretty Deadly vs. Orton and Owens was probably the biggest highlight. New Catch Republic vs. Angel and Berto was also worth watching.

Even though a couple of matches could have used some more time, this week’s SmackDown didn’t have any segments that felt like they brought down the show.

Grade: B-