WWE SmackDown is live tonight (May 15, 2026) from the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, and tonight’s show is all about the fallout from last weekend’s Backlash.
Advertised for tonight: GUNTHER has to make his decision as to whether he’ll switch brands to SmackDown to challenge Cody Rhodes for his WWE Undisputed Men’s Championship!
Plus, Trick Williams has a homecoming that I’m sure no one will try to disrupt! Get ready with our preview here!
Come right back here back at the normal start time of 8 pm ET. That’s when the SmackDown live blog will kick off in the space below once the show starts on USA.
WWE SmackDown RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR MAY 15
No lyrics today, folks, I’ve been out celebrating my beautiful wife Josie’s birthday with her, so on with the show!
The show opens with a flyby of Columbia, South Carolina.
Thence we go into the usual montage of talent arriving at the arena.
A recap of Backlash follows.
Trick Williams makes his entrance to thunderous “Whoop that trick!” chants, with Lil Yachty accompanying him, as well as a sports mascot of some kind.
He gets in the ring and gets on the mic and talks about returning to Columbia and the schools he went to here. He says he grew up on the streets and remembers driving up Trick Notch Road and turning to go to his favorite tricken and waffles restaurant, chicken wings so good you gotta eat ‘em standing up.
He’d get those wings, and he’s a big guy, 6’5”, 250 pounds, and he’d bite in and the sauce would drip down past his chains and his abs and onto his shoes. And he said oh no, from this day and from now on, those shoes would be known as the lemon pepper steppers. He’s had good days and not so good days, but his family’s here.
His mama told him he’s a king created by god almighty and to remember where he comes from and that they can never break him. So from chicken and waffles to mama, look at the star you’ve created.
Enter the Miz, flanked by Kit Wilson.
The A-Lister says between Yachty and the mascot Williams is surrounded by characters that look like they should be at his daughter’s birthday party, and he and Kit get in the ring to confront him directly. Lil Yachty says disrespecting Trick and his people like this is the reason he’s cursed, which the Miz responds to by saying he’s not cursed.
Yachty says he SOUNDS cursed, and Wilson says clearly they’re not understanding the master so he’ll speak in a language they understand– SLAM POETRY. He recites a poem about how Trick wouldn’t last a day on the streets he grew up on and he and Yachty are two egos Miz will never stroke. This town is full of bros and nasty jocks, only to be united by their love of their toxic Game Cocks.
Lil Yachty asks if he can take a crack at it, Williams tells him to hit ‘em with it. Yachty recites a verse about how Kit will be better known for assisting the Miz but his tan is yellow like the road on the Wiz, and so on and so forth, before seguing to a bit about how Miz has tiny balls.
Kitty reassures the A-Lister that his balls are massive. Sure. Miz fires back by talking about how if he lived here he’d ask to move to Tennessee, and calls for a referee because he’s gonna whoop Trick’s ass in front of his mama. Wilson gets in Williams’ face about it, Trick slaps him and quickly cleans house of the Miz to boot.
We go to break ahead of the match actually happening.
The Miz vs. Trick Williams
Feeling out, Williams quickly in control, right hands, whip reversed, big knee lift from the Miz, off the ropes with a boot! Trick back with a jumping neckbreaker, right hands in the corner, big chop, putting boots to the A-Lister in the corner! Williams back suplex, Miz lands on his feet, Trick with a snapmare, the A-Lister scrambles away from a boot and ducks to the floor!
Williams out after him, cutting him off on a dropkick and throwing the Miz into the barricades at the base of the ramp and then back inside! Kit Wilson rushes in with a cheap shot and acts casual as Lil Yachty comes over to defend his buddy. Wrecking ball dropkick from the Miz, getting in Yachty’s face, and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Trick in with kicks, a bodyslam, wristlock, pulling Miz up into a Book End… NOT ENOUGH! A-Lister with a punch for some breathing room, Skull-Crushing Finale countered with a victory roll, front kick from the Miz sets up the basement DDT… NO DEAL! Schoolboy, flapjack, Williams kips up, fired up, laying in wait but Kit runs interference!
Miz with an O’Connor roll, reversed, kick out, Skull-Crushing Finale connects… SO CLOSE! The A-Lister goes to the floor and gets a kendo stick, Lil Yachty takes it away from him and tells him off! Miz furious, watching as Yachty beats Wilson with it and throws him over the announce desk!
Turning back to Trick, off the ropes…
Trick Williams wins by pinfall with Trick Shot.
Carmelo Hayes is interviewed backstage.
He says he’s been gone a month but he’s been watching Sami Zayn and Trick Williams making a mockery of the United States Championship, and he’s coming back for it.
“Absolute” Ricky Saints rolls up to complain that Carmelo didn’t introduce himself and Hayes says he’s not running for president, he’s the landlord and tonight Ricky’s rent is due. He says this place has a funny way of humbling people like them, and it might not be today or tomorrow for Saints, but it’s coming.
Ricky says Melo needs a lesson and he’ll teach him tonight. As he walks away, Hayes says he’s like looking in a dirty mirror.
Rey Fenix meets with Nick Aldis and says he’s back from being in AAA for a while and they shake hands.
Sami Zayn rolls up and says he did some bad things at Backlash but he thinks it’s a wakeup call and he’s going back to who he is, and he’s asking for a rematch for the title so he can prove that he can do it the right way. Aldis says he already had his rematch so now if he wants another he has to earn it.
Zayn complains that the last couple years of his career aren’t enough and says Nick is so quick to forget what he’s done but his ride or die fans haven’t forgotten and he’s looking to redeem himself for that. Aldis says he hasn’t forgotten but clearly Sami is dealing with stuff, and he needs to go deal with it, because all he’s getting from him is entitled.
Sami screams about being called entitled and Rey Fenix comes back to ask what’s up. Zayn says he’s still the same, it’s everybody else that’s changing, and Rey says he doesn’t even recognize him.
Back from commercial, Brie Bella and Paige are interviewed in Gorilla.
Bella says the division is competive and they love it but it feels like everybody wants a piece of them and on Monday they’re defending their titles against Judgment Day.
Irresistible Forces roll up to say they’re rooting for them to win tonight and on Monday because at Saturday Night’s Main Event they want to beat them to take back what’s theirs.
Brie’s music hits and the champs leave to make their entrance ahead of our next match.
They’re followed shortly thereafter by Giulia and Kiana James, as one would expect.
Brie Bella & Paige vs. Giulia & Kiana James
Bella and James to start, Kiana shoves her hard into the corner, circling, collar and elbow, go-behind, Brie ducks a kick and hits a side Russian legsweep. Tag to Paige, getting a quick cover in, tag to Giulia, Paige blocks a suplex so the Beautiful Madness kicks her into the corner and hammers her with elbows until referee Aja Perera admonishes her!
Snap suplex, Paige kicks out, lands a kick, tells us this is her house and goes out to the apron for knee lifts in the ropes! James pulls her off the apron, puts her into the ringpost face-first and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Giulia sets Paige up top, but Paige manages a sunset flip powerbomb to get out of her predicament! James tags in, Paige launches herself and tags Bella in! Missile dropkick, go-behind, front chancery knees back Giulia into the corner, Brie Mode activated, running knees back and forth followed by two-for-one chest kicks!
Giulia to the floor for a breather, she tags in, Codebreaker from Kiana, Giulia hooks her, hits the northern lights bomb… AND PAIGE BREAKS IT UP! James tags back in, front chancery, Paige runs in, Kiana accidentally passes her into Giulia! Schoolboy for two, James nails Brie with a superkick, standing moonsault… BUT THE KNEES ARE UP!
Tag to Paige, single knee facebreaker, she hits it…
Brie Bella & Paige win by pinfall with the capture DDT from Paige on Kiana James.
We get a recap of last week’s WWE Undisputed Men’s Championship segment, wherein GUNTHER did not sign a contract and Cody Rhodes told him he was easy to find and hard to beat.
“American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes is walking backstage with his unsigned contract to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Tiffany Stratton is interviewed backstage.
She says if she had to guess then she’d be like what is the– she gets distracted by Giulia and Kiana James arguing in the distance. She says if the other teams are like that, she’ll be fine on her own.
Chelsea Green rolls up and Tiffany talks about how much she doesn’t want to be in a team. Green says she’s so right and that would never be them, and Stratton says they’re not a team and walks off, leaving Chelsea to nervously talk about how clearly Tiffy was joking.
“American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes makes his entrance and grabs an office chair from the commentary station and throws it in the ring.
He continues making his makeshift contract signing arena by grabbing another office chair from the timekeeper’s area and chucking it in the ring, before finally going under the ring for a table and sliding it in the ring as well.
Rhodes pops up into the ring and sets the table up and rights the chairs before asking Columbia what they wanna talk about. He says he’s got it all set up, a contract for GUNTHER to come to SmackDown and a contract for him to challenge him for the WWE Undisputed Men’s Championship at Clash in Italy.
He complains that Cody has managed to find a way to make this all about himself, like a typical American. He shouldn’t be surprised, he sees it on his neck every week, when the attention isn’t on him he cries and complains and finds a way to make it about him, but not this time. This is his deal, his contract, his title match, and it’ll be his title.
So, golden boy, all he wants is for him to be professional, address him nicely, and don’t forget to say please, it’s very simple.
Rhodes says he’s the one with a US flag on the side of his neck, sure, but GUNTHER is the one making it weird. He’s gonna make it simple, the contract is in the ring and that’s where he needs to sign it. You want him to say please, sure, please come sign the contract so you can be guaranteed to get your ass kicked in Italy.
GUNTHER says he feels Cody didn’t really mean it when he said please, so he insists he phrase it as “please, Mr. GUNTHER.”
GUNTHER berates him briefly and Keys says if he won’t sign it, he will and slams his mic into the Ring General’s chest before marching to the ring!
He’s face to face with Cody and the American Nightmare gives him a nod and the pen! GUNTHER slides in and yanks the pen out of his hand, Royce takes it back, the Ring General takes it back again! A shoving match breaks out!
He says this is quite a situation breaking out and GUNTHER is right, this whole process was supposed to be very simple, but the Ring General has overplayed his hand and now the title shot is up for grabs. So tonight Keys will face GUNTHER and the winner will be #1 contender and face Cody at Clash in Italy!
Rhodes says he’s proud of Royce and they’re friends, but he’s gonna tell him the same thing he told GUNTHER– he’s easy to find, and hard to beat.
Solo Sikoa is backstage giving Tama Tonga instructions, saying the tag titles can wait and asking if he understands the assignment.
He has to ask twice before Tama nods and Solo continues, saying Ron Killings isn’t cleared and he has to take Damian Priest out, and he and Talla Tonga are gonna go talk to Royce Keys.
Shinsuke Nakamura rolls up with straightened hair and talks to Tama but before he can make much of a point, Talla runs back over and beats him down, slamming him through some backstage clutter and sending us to break!
Back from commercial, GUNTHER complains to Nick Aldis, saying they had a deal.
Aldis says yeah they had a deal, but overplayed his hand, listened to Paul Heyman too much, and now he’s gotta earn his shot! The Ring General throws a tantrum about it as the general manager walks off.
Carmelo Hayes makes his entrance ahead of our next match, followed shortly thereafter by his opponent Ricky Saints.
Carmelo Hayes vs. “Absolute” Ricky Saints
Saints in with punches, whip across, drop down, leapfrog, trading arm drags, Hayes gets him into the corner with punches, whip reversed, Ricky with a front kick, clubbing blows, arm wringer! Melo passes him to the apron, front kick sets up Fade Away and Saints bails to the floor to recover! Off the ropes, huge tope con giro sends us to break!
Back from commercial, Hayes with a frog splash, falling into the cover in pain… NOPE! Codebreaker blocked, Saints with a vicious brainbuster… STILL NO! Trading kicks, front kick, crescent kick, springboard lariat, a nearfall for Hayes! Small package, reversed, block a kick, big front kick from Rick, Rock Bottom for a nearfall!
Saints starting to get mad, laying kicks in, front chancery, but he slips on the ropes and no DDT! Carmelo hits the Codebreaker… RICK KICKS OUT! This time the tornado DDT connects but Hayes won’t stay down! Fireman’s carry, Saints slips out, hard whip sternum-first into the turnbuckles, folding press, feet on the ropes but referee Charles Robinson catches him!
Carmelo Hayes wins by pinfall.
Ron “the Truth” Killings rolls up on Royce Keys backstage and thanks him for the help with the MFTs.
He says they’re building a new clubhouse for the new Judgment Day and says Keys should put in an application because he’ll make sure he gets in. Royce says he’ll think about it and walks off.
Damian Priest rolls up and asks what the deal is, and Killings says he’s just building Judgment Day 2000. Priest says Truth might trust Keys but the MFTs are taking everybody out yet and he can’t afford to trust him himself. Ron says he gets it and adds that Damian was right to ask him to stay back last week.
Priest tells him he’ll be staying back this week for sure because he’s not cleared, and Ron agrees, shouting “I love you!” after him to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Danhausen is shoving things over backstage like a cat.
He’s in his lab complaining that the Minihausens didn’t clean the place up and answers a call from someone, saying the experiment was a success but to never call again. He says it’s on to something bigger and better, Danhausen’s life’s work, and he wheels what appears to be a stretcher with a body under a sheet into the room and types away on.
Damian Priest makes his entrance ahead of his match, followed shortly thereafter by Tama Tonga.
Damian Priest vs. Tama Tonga
Tonga blindsides him before he takes his coat off, hammering punches in the corner, Priest throws him into the corner and unloads with windmill punches! Tama with an elbow, punch combinations, whip reversed, leaping back elbow connects! Arm wringer, whip across, front kick from Tonga, sunset flip for two!
Damian nails him with a roundhouse kick, kicks him to the floor, outside and playing to the crowd, around the ring but Tama nails him with a lariat off the steel steps to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Priest has him up for the Razor’s Edge, Tonga slips out and puts him in a sleeper hold and Damian backs him into the turnbuckles to break free! Trading kicks, dragon screw from Tama, jumping DDT, cover for two! Piefacing Priest, slapping him across the face, Damian blocks punches and throws right hands, whip reversed, leaping lariat from the Archer of Infamy!
Tonga catches a kick and gets his ears boxed, spinning roundhouse sets up the lifting reverse STO! Broken Arrow connects, only a nearfall! Action to the floor, Damian pounces Tama clean over the announce desk! Back inside, Tonga with a neckbreaker for a nearfall of his own, Priest goozles him and pulls him to his feet, back elbow breaks free, Damian clobbers him and the straps are down!
Damian Priest wins by pinfall with South of Heaven.
Post-match, Talla Tonga and Solo Sikoa hit the ring and beat Priest down!
Backstage, Sami Zayn monologues about how bad this place has changed and how entitled everyone is to a catatonic Johnny Gargano.
Candice LeRae rolls up and says this isn’t okay, it’s not gonna work, and if you wanna talk about entitlement, she’s entitled to a husband who doesn’t just lay around all day and y’know whatever, she says storming off.
Zayn says you gotta tune the noise out, remember who you are, and don’t let anybody take that away from you ever.
As he walks away, Johnny looks up and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of Jade Cargill’s return last week.
Jade Cargill, accompanied by B-FAB and “Michin” Mia Yim, makes her entrance and gets on the mic.
Cargill says everybody acts so tough when she’s not in the building, but when her music hits, everybody seems to get real quiet. Rhea Ripley found out last week, and at Clash in Italy, she busts champions, too. The WWE Women’s Championship is coming home with her, because she’s that–
Enter Charlotte Flair, joined shortly thereafter by Alexa Bliss.
Flair says they don’t want Bliss to talk, and Alexa says that’s because it’s Flair Country. Charlotte says Jade pissed her off last week and now she wants to play. Cargill calls them backup dancers and asks where Rhea Ripley is. Alexa says that’s funny and aren’t Jade’s own backup dancers supposed to make her look good?
Flair says they’re just there to do her dirty work, and everybody is tired of hearing Jade talk and they have a match, so take a seat and take some notes, wooo. Cargill calls for a ref and asks them to please entertain her because she’s getting quite bored with them.
But first, we go to break.