WWE SmackDown results: Kevin Owens replaces Adam Pearce

The storyline between Adam Pearce and Roman Reigns continued heading into another night of WWE action on SmackDown. 

Roman Reigns has continued to terrorize Friday Night SmackDown. After finishing off Kevin Owens, he’s set his sights on Adam Pearce, who is now the number one contender to Reigns’s Universal Title. This Friday’s edition of the show continued that storyline and others with another night of WWE action.

The night started with a singles match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Jey Uso. Nakamura went on a run last week during the Gauntlet Match that almost resulted in a title shot for the former Royal Rumble winner. That was, until Reigns and crew stepped in, leading to the match that kicked off this week’s show.

Nakamura took out his frustration on Uso early, kicking and stomping him all over the ring. While he was in control of much of the match, Cesaro made his way down to the ring in an apparent moment of support for his tag partner. Cesaro’s presence was getting under Uso’s skin but that didn’t stop him from beating up on Nakamura at the same time. Both men continued to show moments of control, but neither could get the finish when it counted.

The finish came when Nakamura counted the big splash from Uso but missed on the next attack. Uso tried to roll up Nakamura using the ropes, but the referee caught him in the act. But Nakamaura capitalized on that moment, catching Uso with the Kinshasa for the win.

Singles action for the women was up next. Liv Morgan was out next to take on Natalya. Morgan attempted to match power for power with Natalya early but that didn’t work out too well for her when Natalya dropped her over the top rope. Morgan would take back over in the match, even stomping Natalya down in the corner.

Billie Kay called herself helping but her presence did the exact opposite. She ran in the ring trying to escape Tamina, causing the distraction that allowed Natalya to roll up Morgan and get the victory.

Baron Corbin has continued to torment the Mysterio family, this week taking on Rey in a one-on-one match. Corbin’s power was easily too much for Mysterio, tossing him around the ring and even planting him outside with a nasty clothesline. Mysterio tried to turn things around in his favor, but Corbin remained one step ahead of him at every moment.

The finish came off a distraction, when Rey was attempting to keep his son out of the ring. Corbin used that moment to catch Rey with the End of Days to earn the victory.

Daniel Bryan versus Cesaro is a PPV worthy match that went down on Friday. The two men started out grappling early, with Bryan getting the advantage. Cesaro countered with his power game, making this a nice mix of styles. Cesaro was able to ground Bryan, stomping on his leg over and over. While Cesaro focused on the legs, Bryan kept attacking Cesaro’s arms to take away some of his power.

Bryan even tried to go for high risk moves but was countered off the top, eating a vertical suplex instead. For a moment it looked like Bryan was going to pick up the victory, but someone Cesaro countered, hitting the Neutralizer and pinning the former champion in the middle of the ring.

Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews met in singles action on Friday. This was a fast-paced match, with Crews showing off a new-found aggression in the ring. Crews looked like he was on his way to the victory, but Zayn took a few short cuts to stay alive in the match. Crews then took a page out of Zayn’s very own book, rolling Crews up and hooking the pants to keep Zayn pinned to the mat.

WWE SmackDown results

• Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jey Uso via pinfall
• Natalya defeated Liv Morgan via pinfall
• Baron Corbin defeated Rey Mysterio via pinfall
• Cesaro defeated Daniel Bryan via pinfall
• Apollo Crews defeated Sami Zayn via pinfall