WWE Smackdown & WWE Draft Night 1 Results (Apr 28, 2023)

With the WWE Draft being promoted as the biggest it has been in years, we here at Wrestlebuddy felt it was needed to keep everyone up to date with round-by-round coverage, which officially began on the April 28th, 2023 edition of Smackdown.
Not only will we keep you up to date with each draft pick but all of the surprises that surrounded them as well below!

Triple H kicks off the show to welcome fans from all over the world and lay down the ground rules that will take place during this year’s draft.
– Every member of the Raw and Smackdown roster is eligible to be drafted.
– 50% of the draft will be selected on night one.  The other 50% will be drafted on Raw.
– Only SELECT superstars from NXT are available to be drafted.
– Roster moves will not officially take place until the May 8th edition of Monday Night Raw.

FIRST ROUND:
– Smackdown selects Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa & Roman Reigns (which means the new World Championship will be exclusive to Monday Night Raw
– Monday Night Raw selects Cody Rhodes
– Smackdown selects Raw Women’s Champion, Bianca Belair
– Monday Night Raw selects The Man, Becky Lynch
After the conclusion of the first round, the Usos are introduced by Triple H ahead of their big Wrestlemania rematch on the evening.  They congratulate Roman on being drafted #1 overall again before being interrupted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for a face-to-face confrontation.

LA Knight Vs. Butch

Next up, Butch, with Sheamus by his side, goes one on one against LA Knight.  They had a very competitive back-and-forth match that saw LA Knight pick up a much-needed victory!

Winner: LA Knight.

A backstage segment with The Bloodline, minus Roman Reigns, in which Paul Heyman lets it be known that the Uso’s can be drafted to the Island of Relevancy as Champions or the Ocean of Obscurity as ex-champions.  Paul then hands Solo Sikoa a roll of wrist tape, hinting toward the end of the Usos’ time in The Bloodline.

Rob Van Dam(Raw) and Michael Hayes(Smackdown) come out to make the second-round picks.
SECOND ROUND:
– Smackdown selects the Street Profits
– Monday Night Raw selects Imperium
– Smackdown selects Edge
– Monday Night Raw selects Matt Riddle

Street Profits Vs. Braun Strowman & Ricochet Vs. LWO.

The Street Profits come out after the second round to introduce themselves to their new home on Friday nights.  They are joined in the ring by Braun Strownman/Ricochet and LWO for a 3-way tag team match.  The Street Profits win a very fun and very competitive tag team match!

Winner: Street Profits.

Teddy Long(Raw) and JBL(Smackdown) come out to make the third-round picks.
THIRD ROUND:
– Smackdown selects The Almighty, Bobby Lashley
– Monday Night Raw selects Drew McIntyre
– Smackdown Selects The OC (AJ Styles, Good Brothers & Mia Yim)
– Monday Night Raw selects The Miz

Zelina Vega vs. Sonya Deville.

Zelina Vega goes one on one against Sonya Deville, with Chelsea Green in a warm-up match for her big title match coming up against Rhea Ripley at Backlash.  Zelina Vega steals a victory on a surprise roll-up after being dominated for most of the match.  During Zelina’s celebration, she is attacked from behind by Rhea Ripley as well as Sonya Deville.  Zelina is able to hit a tornado DDT out of a reversal on the Rip Tide.

Winner: Zelina Vega.

A backstage segment with Rey, Zelina, and Santos Escobar shows both men hyping Vega up for her match at Backlash.
The OC comes out with a returning AJ Styles.  They are interrupted by the Viking Raiders before AJ can address the fans.  AJ backs out and orders the OC to attack.  Mia Yim and the Good Brothers take out the Raiders and Valhalla.  “Smackdown, we have just started.”  AJ hits a Phenomenal Forearm before leaving.

Shawn Michaels(Smackdown) and Road Dogg(Raw) come out to make the fourth-round picks.
FOURTH ROUND:
– Smackdown selects Damage Control
– Monday Night Raw selects Shinsuke Nakamura
– Smackdown selects NXT Women’s Tag Champs, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn
– Monday Night Raw selects NXT Women’s Champion, Indie Hartwell

Isla and Alba are confronted at the performance center by Kacy and Kayden who demand a title shot this week on NXT.
Nakamura is interviewed and he is excited about moving over to Raw since he’s been on Smackdown for a long time.  He is attacked mid-interview by Karrion Kross.

Usos in the back are hyping each other up while Heyman and Solo watch on.  Solo has been ordered to stay back and give them all the spotlight because “tonight is the night.”

Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (c) Vs. The Usos – Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships.

Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs The Usos Tag Team Title match.  The Usos dominate a good portion of the first half of this match.  Sami Zayn gets a hot tag and evens things up for the tag team champions.  Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa are watching the match from the back and Roman Reigns calls Paul to let him know that tonight is Solo Sikoa’s night.  Solo leaves the room as Paul Heyman watches on with a devilish grin.  Jimmy Uso kicks out of a stunner from Kevin Owens!  Solo Sikoa starts to make his way out to ringside but he is cut off by Matt Riddle who attacks him and they disappear into the backstage area.  Sami Zayn picks up the win after hitting a Helluva Kick on Jimmy Uso to retain the tag team championships.  Solo watches on from the crowd and looks on with disappointment.

Winner: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

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