WWE Friday Night Smackdown results, recap and highlights: March 17, 2023

An
Intercontinental
Championship
qualifier
match
was
on
the
card
to
determine
a
tile
match
at
Wrestlemania
39.
Plus,
Smackdown
Women’s
Champion
was
in
attendance
to
get
into
a
brawl
with
her
next
challenger.

Check
out
the
recap
and
results
from
the
March
17
episode
of
Friday
Night
Smackdown
that
took
place
at
the
T-Mobile
Center
in
Kansas
City,
Missouri:

–
SmackDown
kicked
off
with
Cody
Rhodes
calling
out
Kevin
Owens
and
Sami
Zayn
to
the
ring.
Cody
wanted
to
be
a
moderator
for
the
duo
so
that
they
can
talk
it
out
and
be
on
the
same
page
against
The
Bloodline.

Sami
again
told
Owens
to
be
on
his
side
so
that
they
could
gain
strength
against
the
heel
faction.
However,
Kevin
said
that
he’d
been
listening
to
the
same
pledge
for
weeks
but
he
wasn’t
interested.

Damn
????#SmackDown
pic.twitter.com/CMUVqjuten

—
WWE
on
BT
Sport
(@btsportwwe)

March
18,
2023

–
Rhea
Ripley
and
Dominik
Mysterio
defeated
Zelina
Vega
and
Santos
Escobar
in
a
mixed
tag
team
opening
match
of
Smackdown.
Vega
was
focused
on
taking
out
Dom
as
Ripley
capitalized
with
a
Riptide
for
the
pin-fall
win.

After
the
match,
Dominik
again
insulted
Rey
Mysterio
but
Rey
still
refused
to
accept
Dominik’s
challenge
for
a
match
at
WrestleMania
39
by
saying
that
he
will
never
fight
his
own
son.

–
Liv
Morgan
&
Raquel
Rodriguez
defeated
Emma
&
Tegan
Nox
to
qualify
for
the
latest
announcement
for
Wrestlemania
39,
a
Fatal-4-Way
Tag
Team
Match
at
WrestleMania
39.

Raquel
hit
Emma
with
a
Fallaway
Slam
and
a
Corkscrew
Elbow
but
Nox
broke
the
pin-fall
attempt
before
Morgan
leveled
her.
Morgan
tagged
in
before
Rodriguez
delivered
the
Texana
Bomb
on
Emma.
Morgan
then
followed
it
up
with
Oblivion
for
the
pin
to
win.

Watch
them
at
WrestleMania!
????@YaOnlyLivvOnce
????

@RaquelWWE#SmackDown
#WrestleMania
pic.twitter.com/l2Ysx4A9by

—
WWE
on
BT
Sport
(@btsportwwe)

March
18,
2023

–
SmackDown
Women’s
Champion
Charlotte
Flair
and
Rhea
Ripley
came
face-to-face.
After
some
verbal
jabs,
the
two
got
into
a
physical
fight
and
the
officials
had
to
arrive
at
the
scene
to
separate
the
two
ladies.

MAYHEM!#SmackDown
pic.twitter.com/IgFncZzXWI

—
WWE
on
BT
Sport
(@btsportwwe)

March
18,
2023

–
Xavier
Woods
defeated
LA
Knight
in
a
short
match
via
a
roll-up.
After
the
match,
LA
went
to
Rey
Mysterio
and
said
that
if
Rey
won’t
fight
Dominik
Mysterio
at
WrestleMania
39,
then
he
will.

Knight
also
said
that
he
will
rename
himself
LA
Mysterio
before
throwing
more
verbal
jabs
at
Rey.
The
Master
of
619
got
upset
and
slapped
LA
in
the
face.

–
Drew
McIntyre
vs.
Sheamus
ended
in
a
No
Contest
after
Imperium
attacked
both
the
men
in
the
Intercontinental
Championship
match
qualifier.

WWE
Official
Adam
Pearce
then
announced
that
Gunther
will
defend
the
Intercontinental
Championship
against
both
McIntyre
and
Sheamus
in
a
Triple
Threat
Match
at
WrestleMania
39.

????
BANGER
ALERT
????#SmackDown
pic.twitter.com/bwjl63rhH5

—
WWE
on
BT
Sport
(@btsportwwe)

March
18,
2023

–
Sami
Zayn
and
Jey
Uso
had
a
Kansas
City
Showdown
in
the
main
event
of
Smackdown.
After
exchanging
furious
promos,
they
got
into
a
brawl.

Jimmy
Uso
came
out
and
The
Usos
eventually
started
ganging
up
on
Sami.
Kevin
Owens
then
appeared
from
behind
and
made
the
save
for
Sami
by
levelling
Jimmy
with
a
Stunner
and
Jey
with
a
Pop-Up
Powerbomb.

Stunner!
KO
is
cleaning
house!#SmackDown
pic.twitter.com/vUpyyIrFcR

—
WWE
on
BT
Sport
(@btsportwwe)

March
18,
2023

SAMI
AND
KEVIN
ARE
BACK
TOGETHER!!!

❤️
❤️
❤️#SmackDown
pic.twitter.com/QjqfYTRZst

—
WWE
on
BT
Sport
(@btsportwwe)

March
18,
2023

Owens
and
Zayn
then
stared
one
another
down
before
hugging
it
out
inside
the
ring.
Cody
Rhodes
was
seen
watching
on
from
backstage
as
Smackdown
went
off
the
air.