The April 25th edition of WWE SmackDown is airing live on the USA Network from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa and is the go-home show for Payback on Sunday.
SmackDown opens up with Renee Young in the ring, who introduces the artist known as Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura comes out for his in-ring interview to kick off the show, but before he can answer the first question Dolph Ziggler comes out to interrupt. Ziggler sends away Renee and says he’ll interview Nakamura instead. Ziggler says if Shinsuke wants to play interview, they’ll play interview, and he asks a pile of superficial questions all at once only to cut him off immediately, explaining that the people don’t understand Japanese but he was talking about how Dolph was his favorite and put him over in a myriad ways.
Next question, what’s going through your mind when you do your wacky dance moves? Shinsuke just sort of leans back, silent, and Dolph says he must be intimidated being in the ring with his hero before saying Nakamura isn’t who you think he is. His name is actually Michael and he grew up in Gary, Indiana and traveled the world singing and dancing with his brothers and sisters, you know, Latoya, Tito, Janet, and so on. Somehow Shinsuke proved to be the biggest weirdo of them all, with a ferris wheel in the back yard, a guest appearance on the Simpsons, his best friend is a monkey named Bubbles, but somehow he dipped into obscurity and re-emerged in Japan under the alias “Shinsuke Nakamura”.

Ziggler says that translates, per Google, to “petty, pathetic, overrated freak”. Nakamura yanks the mic away and says it’s his turn to ask the questions, asking Dolph what his problem is. Dolph starts to answer and Shinsuke yanks the mic away, “translating” for him same as he got back before, only into Japanese, but he finishes, clearly, by calling him a jackass. Dolph fires a kick off, tunes up the band, Shinsuke catches the leg, inverted exploder suplex! Charging in for Kinshasa, Ziggler bails and he and Nakamura have a stare-down, ramp to ring.
Back from commercial Byron Saxton thanks Papa Roach for their song “Born for Greatness” as being the official theme for WWE Payback.
AJ Styles def. Baron Corbin: Kevin Owens is on commentary for this one. Baron pie-faces AJ away after the opening bell, but AJ quickly gets him in a side headlock and won’t let go. Corbin finally fights out, but AJ throws a leg kick and puts the headlock back on. Corbin fights out again and this time he kicks AJ out to the floor at ringside. Corbin takes control from here and works on AJ on the mat. Corbin takes AJ up top for a superplex, but AJ slides out between Corbin’s legs. AJ kicks Corbin’s legs out from under him, then hits a Pele kick to the head. AJ follows up with a flying clothesline and some more strikes for a two count. Corbin blocks a Calf Crusher attempt, but AJ stuns him with an elbow to the face. AJ sets up for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Kevin Owens runs over to him and AJ has to kick him away. Corbin dodges the Phenomenal Forearm, but AJ is still able to roll him up in a sunset flip for the win. Owens and Corbin beat down AJ after the match until Sami Zayn comes out for the save. Owens runs away and Zayn starts going at with Corbin. Zayn punches Owens off the apron, then hits the Heluva Kick on Corbin. Owens takes the opportunity to hit Zayn from behind and beat him down. Owens grabs AJ next and hits the Pop Up Powerbomb on him. Owens holds up the US Title over AJ then heads to the back.
We go backstage where Charlotte does an interview, she says gold runs through her veins, and she’s been women’s champion four times, did everything she can on Raw and now the Queen needs a new kingdom to rule. The drive for five is completed tonight and she’ll prove to Naomi and the WWE Universe that she’s the greatest superstar in WWE history.

Beat The Clock challenge – American Alpha def. The Colons: This one is to determine the #1 contender for the Tag Team Titles. American Alpha and The Colons start things off. Epico and Primo get several pin attempts on Gable early on. Primo hits a springboard senton bomb on Gable and a leg drop for a two count. Primo follows up with a leg drop and a couple unsuccessful submission holds. Primo knocks Jordan off the apron but when Jordan gets back up he hits the Grand Amplitude with Gable on Primo for the first pinfall at 5:17. Later tonight, Breezango will take on The Ascension, and one of them will have to get a pinfall before the 5:17 mark in order to get a title shot.
Back from commercial we get a New Day vignette, reminding us that they are coming soon.
We then go to Rusev’s Interview. Where he says that he doesn’t like Daniel Bryan or Shane McMahon and he doesn’t approve of the Superstar Shake-Up. So the only way he’s wrestling for SmackDown is if he gets a title match at Money in the Bank, or he’ll pack his bags and go right back home to Bulgaria.

Becky Lynch is interviewed backstage about Charlotte’s arrival. She doesn’t approve of her tactics but she appreciates that she’s getting results, and Natalya, Tamina, and Carmella (with James Ellsworth in tow as always) roll up, Nattie asking her where she stands on the whole Charlotte situation. Either she’s with them, or against them, and grail knight Carmella tells her to choose wisely.
Randy Orton def. Eric Rowan: This one is a no DQ match. Rowan starts off in control but Orton quickly clotheslines him to the outside. They brawl around ringside early on where Orton back suplexes Rowan onto the fan barricade. Orton slams Rowan’s head off the announce table, then back suplexes him onto that too. Rowan comes back and whips Orton into the ring steps before rolling him back onto the mat. Rowan takes a kendo stick in the ring with him and starts teeing off on Orton. Rowan sets up a table at ringside and tries to suplex Orton off the ring apron through it, but Orton breaks free and nails Rowan in the head with the kendo stick. Orton bumps Rowan off the apron and Rowan crashes through the table. Back in the ring, Rowan starts fighting back but Orton plants him with a draping DDT over the middle rope. Orton goes for an RKO, but Rowan pushes Orton away and hits him with the kendo stick again. Rowan grabs a chair from ringside and sticks it between the turnbuckles in one corner. Rowan whips Orton into the corner with the chair in it, but Orton stops short of hitting the chair. Rowan charges towards Orton but Orton moves and Rowan crashes into the chair. Orton follows up with an RKO for the win.
After the match, Orton cuts a promo saying he doesn’t know what a House of Horrors match is, but he’s going to make it hell for Bray Wyatt. Before Orton can get out of the ring, Jinder Mahal interrupts and tells Orton it’s Jinder who he should be worried about. Jinder says he has more wealth, talent, class and culture than anyone in the arena. Jinder says Orton, like all of these people, disrespect him because he looks different. Jinder says at Backlash he’ll take the WWE Championship and the glory back to his people. Jinder informs us that he’ll now address his people in his language. Jinder starts speaking another language, and then tries to sneak a right hand on Orton. Orton blocks it and throws one back at Jinder before attempting a draping DDT over the middle rope. The Bollywood Boys run in and make the save before Orton can hit his DDT. They hold down Orton while Jinder stomps on him. Jinder picks up Orton and hits a Cross-face Chicken Wing Slam, then takes Orton’s WWE Title belt. Jinder holds the belt up, and walks back up the ramp with Orton’s Title belt in hand.
We see a clip from during the commercial break of Jinder riding off in a limo with Orton’s WWE Title belt.
We see another Lana Vignette.
Beat The Clock challenge – Breezango def. The Ascension: The Ascension double teams Breeze early on but Fandango breaks up the early pin attempt. The Ascension hits another double team combo, this time on Fandango, for another two count. This leads to Breeze superkicking Konnor and Fandango following up with the Falcon Arrow for the win just after the 2-minute mark. This earns Breezango a shot at the Tag Titles at Backlash.
We then get some hype for Talking Smack and then a promo from Neville for 205 Live, telling Austin Aries that he’ll learn that he’s not playing as he dismantles Jack Gallagher.
We then get a video package of Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton for their upcoming House of Horrors Match for this Sunday’s Payback.
Naomi is interviewed backstage about her match, saying that Charlotte has been a standout competitor and beat her fair last week, but she’s running her mouth about being the best and the greatest? Who does she think she is, Muhammad Ali? Where Naomi’s from, you gotta be on top to be the best, and it seems to her like she’s Ali in this case.
She’s gonna go out there and do what she does best and prove why she’s champion, and Charlotte will feel the glow.
Naomi (c) vs. Charlotte – No Contest: This is for the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship. Naomi drops Charlotte early on and causes the challenger to roll out to ringside. Charlotte grabs Naomi’s feet from under the ropes and swings her out to the ringside floor. Back in the ring, Charlotte controls the pace of the match with knee drops and submission holds. Naomi comes back with a series of kicks and a Stunner. Naomi follows up with a roundhouse kick to the head of Charlotte for a two count. More kicks from Naomi and a butt bump for another near-fall on the challenger. Naomi appears to attempt a Frankensteiner, but Charlotte reverses into a sit out powerbomb for a two count. Shortly after, the group of Tamina, Natalya and Carmella run in and ruin the match. They attack both Naomi and Charlotte, with Tamina hitting a superkick on Charlotte. Natalya orders Tamina to grab Charlotte again, and this time Tamina holds Charlotte up for a superkick from Carmella. Ellsworth climbs in the ring and celebrates with the group as Charlotte and Naomi are both down. They head up the ramp as Naomi and Charlotte recover at ringside as SmackDown goes off the air.