WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From May 17

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WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From May 17

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Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul.WWE

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on May 17.

We are just over a week away from the King and Queen of the Ring pay-per-view, so most of this week's segments were related to building up the card for that event.

Here is a look at what was advertised for Friday's show:

• Logan Paul and Cody Rhodes sign their title vs. title contract
• Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes (KOTR)
• LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga (KOTR)
• Tiffany Stratton vs. Bianca Belair (QOTR)
• Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax (QOTR)

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

Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton

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SmackDown.WWE

SmackDown opened with a video hyping the King and Queen of the Ring matches set for the show and showed several Superstars arriving for the show. Belair's music hit for her entrance when we finally went live in the arena.

Both of these women pride themselves on combining power and agility, so this match was very physical and featured a lot of fast-paced action that highlighted their strengths.

Stratton has continued to look more confident with each performance and Belair works well with almost anyone. The EST is as over as any babyface in WWE and Stratton always plays a great heel, so the crowd was reacting to almost everything.

This bout went back and forth with both competitors coming close to winning a handful of times before Belair hit the KOD for the win. She continued selling her injured leg after the match was over, so that will likely carry through to her next bout.

Result: Belair defeated Stratton

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• There were rumors on social media earlier on Friday that Belair was pregnant. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins had a lot of fun with those rumors. 
• Stratton really throws herself into her bumps. She makes her opponents look great. 
• Belair's scream when her knee hit the steel steps was so convincing. 

LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga

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SmackDown.WWE

The second match of the night was the KOTR quarterfinal bout between Tonga and Knight. Solo Sikoa, Tonga Loa and Paul Heyman were all at ringside.

Tonga tried to rush Knight after the opening bell, but The Megastar saw it coming and unloaded with some jabs.

Loa and Sikoa provided some distractions that allowed Tonga to take control. They made this look like a tough fight for Knight so his eventual comeback would get an even bigger reaction.

Despite being in control, Knight ended up losing when Sikoa distracted him long enough for Tonga to hit a flatliner for the win.

Result: Tonga defeated Knight

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Hayes and Knight had a funny interaction backstage before the match.
• It's hard to tell sometimes if Knight is over or if people just like chanting catchphrases, but this crowd seemed to love him.  
• Knight was bleeding from his shoulder at the end of the match, likely from being thrown into the ring post. 

Nia Jax vs. Jade Cargill

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SmackDown.WWE

During the contract signing with Paul and Rhodes, Paul ripped up the contract because it said his title would be on the line. They ended up signing a new contract for just the Universal Championship before Rhodes put one of Paul's friends through a table.

Jax gave a quick interview backstage before heading to the ring for her quarterfinal QOTR match against Cargill.

Jax took control early and brought the fight out of the ring. Jax tried to use a chair, but Cargill grabbed it and used it first, getting herself disqualified in the process.

They kept brawling at ringside, but the crowd was vocal about its unhappiness. This felt like a cheap way to protect Cargill without having her advance in the tournament and face Belair.

The post-match fight was kind of fun, but everything else about this was underwhelming to say the least.

Result: Jax defeated Cargill by countout

Grade: D

Notable Moments and Observations

• Paul's entourage freaking out about Nick Aldis making fun of them was hilarious. 
• Cargill's daughter was at ringside was acknowledged by the announcers. 

DIY vs. Angel and Berto

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Austin Theory and Grayson Waller sat with the commentary team to watch Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa take on Angel and Berto.

This was an unannounced match without much of a story behind it, but with the champions at ringside, it seemed like WWE wanted to set up the winners as the next No. 1 contenders.

The ref caught Santos Escobar and Elektra Lopez cheat and ejected them, but DIY won a moment later before they were even halfway up the ramp.

This was decent but nothing to write home about. DIY is a great team but needs more chances to have longer matches to remind everyone how good they are.

Result: DIY defeated Angel and Berto

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Legado Del Fantasma feels directionless right now. 
• Theory mentioned being in The Way in NXT, which only served to remind us of when he was easier to tolerate. 
• Gargano's slingshot spear looked great. 

Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes

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SmackDown.WWE

This week's main event was the KOTR quarterfinal bout between Hayes and Orton. Hayes had a couple of segments to hype the match and set up a feud with Knight.

This was an interesting matchup because it paired a newcomer to the main roster with one of WWE's mot tenured performers.

The Legend Killer became irate after Hayes smacked him in the back of the head, so he started asserting his dominance and throwing HIM all over the place.

This was an entertaining performance that made Hayes look like a future star, but he took one too many chances and jumped right into an RKO to give Orton the win.

Result: Orton defeated Hayes

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• AJ Style gave a quick interview and said he doesn't know what's next for him after the recent losses. 
• Melo smacking Orton in the back of the head was funny. The Viper's reaction was perfect. 
• Melo's springboard clothesline looked awesome.

The Final Word

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This week's SmackDown featured five matches and several non-wrestling segments, but the two best segments bookended the show.

Belair and Stratton opened the show with a fantastic performance, and Orton and Hayes closed the show the same way.

Rhodes and Paul kept their feud going, Jax and Tonga both advanced in the tournaments, and DIY scored a quick win over Legado Del Fantasma.

King and Queen of the Ring is just over a week away but WWE still has a little work to do building up the card. Let's hope it sticks the landing.

Grade: B-