WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades and Highlights Before Clash at the Castle (2024)

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage of the go-home episode of SmackDown before Clash at the Castle in Glasgow, Scotland.

This was WWE's last chance to sell undecided fans on watching the PLE, so a lot of the big feuds were addressed. Here is a look at what WWE advertised for the show:

Let's take a look at what happened during Friday's show.

SmackDown opened with shots of Glasgow as Corey Graves welcomed us to the show. When we went live to the arena, Bayley accompanied Naomi to the ring for her match against Green.

The crowd serenaded Bayley as Naomi and Green began to fight. This was a classic heel vs. babyface dynamic. The fans were fully behind Naomi and popped for everything she did while jeering Green when she was in control.

This match won't be called a clinic or classic, but it was a perfect example of the WWE style of storytelling. The hero and villain each played their part and the excited crowd was along for the ride.

A good audience can make just about any show more enjoyable, which definitely impacted this performance. Even if you were unimpressed with the in-ring action, the atmosphere made it exciting.

Bayley prevented some cheating and gave Naomi the opening she needed to pick up the win.

Result: Naomi defeated Green

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory were out to host an episode of the Grayson Waller Effect with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa as their guests.

Gargano tried to plant some seeds of doubt in Theory's mind about Waller and tried to convince him he could be successful on his own. The segment ended in a fight that saw Theory take two shots meant for Waller to further build tension between them.

The next match saw Apollo Crews looking to get some retribution against Legado Del Fantasma for a backstage attack last week. His opponent was Santos Escobar, who immediately found himself being thrown with a belly-to-belly suplex.

Crews and Escobar can both do some incredible high-flying moves, but the former IC champion had a sizeable power advantage. Escobar was able to take control, but surprisingly, Baron Corbin came to Crews' aid and took out Angel and Berto.

The rest of the match was an even back-and-forth fight until Elektra Lopez tripped Crews on the top rope. Escobar rolled him up for the pin to end a solid match that is definitely going to lead to Crews and Corbin teaming up in the coming weeks.

Result: Escobar defeated Crews

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Rhodes and Styles had their scheduled confrontation, but Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were right beside The Phenomenal One.

The American Nightmare said he wanted to talk man to man, so Styles sent The OC away. They traded words and insults for a few minutes.

The next bout featured Jax and Yim taking out their frustrations with each other after they got into a fight backstage. Michin didn't even wait for Jax to get to the ring before diving into her.

Jax ended up winning in a very short contest that almost counts as a squash.

Result: Jax defeated Yim

Grade: C-

Notable Moments and Observations

This week's main event was the big showdown between Owens and Sikoa, a match many people probably expected to be on the card for CATC.

These are two men who pride themselves on hard-hitting offense, so it shouldn't surprise anyone to read that this was the best match of the night.

KO would have had the fight won if it wasn't for Paul Heyman putting Sikoa's foot on the bottom rope. Going after him was KO's downfall and two Samoan Spikes put him down for the three-count.

Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa immediately ran to the ring and attacked Owens until Randy Orton came out for the save.

Result: Sikoa defeated Owens

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

This week's SmackDown was the typical go-home show before a PLE, so it was a bit light on action in favor of selling a lot of the big feuds.

Naomi and Green had a decent bout, and Crews and Escobar were fine, but Owens vs. Sikoa is the only match you should go out of your way to see.

The Scottish crowd was as rambunxious as expected and if CATC has a similar audience, then we are going to get another show with some amazing pops and fun chants.

With five belts on the line this weekend, and three bouts with Scottish Superstars competing, a title change is a real possibility and makes this event a bit more unpredictable than usual.

Grade: C+