“WWE SmackDown” is back in Europe tonight — Friday, May 29 — inside the Olympic Arena in Barcelona, Spain. The Clash in Italy go-home show kicks off the start of the company’s two-leg European tour, setting the stage for what’s to come on Sunday.
Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE title defense against Gunther will be the marquee match from the blue brand on Sunday. Last week, Gunther stood tall over the champion, as Sami Zayn watched his friend get choked to sleep — after Zayn’s loss to Rhodes in their match, thanks to Gunther’s interference. Surely, there will be more to the seeds planted between those two on Friday’s latest “SmackDown.”
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The Women’s Championship will also be on the line this Sunday in a rematch when Rhea Ripley attempts to score a second win over Jade Cargill. In their stellar Saturday Night’s Main Event trio’s tag match, Cargill got the last laugh, standing tall over Ripley. Somehow, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss will continue to fit into this, thanks to all the intersecting being done with the women’s division.
As things currently stand, “WWE SmackDown” is only advertised for two matches, pitting Axiom against The Miz after their interaction backstage last week. In the other, Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints rematch after their initial encounter two weeks ago. The Friday shows typically feature six matches, so expect more to come live from Spain.
Check out the full “WWE SmackDown” lineup below, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network in the U.S. (on tape delay) and at 2 p.m. ET live below:
Chelsea Green def. Nia Jax
Ricky Saints vs. Carmelo Hayes ends via double countout
Sami Zayn def. Matt Cardona
MFT (Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga) def. Damian Priest and Royce Keys
Jade Cargill vs. Alexa Bliss
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For complete coverage of “WWE SmackDown” on USA Network, follow along with Uncrowned’s live blog below:Live42 updates
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:53 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Gunther says Rhodes is a mark for himself rather than a champion. Rhodes counters by calling Gunther a liar because everyone wants the attention he’s talking about. Rhodes highlights everything he has, from the song to the posters. Rhodes knows Gunther wants it all, otherwise he’d be talking to a 300-pound indie darling. Rhodes mentions Paul Heyman telling him all the things he should be afraid of in the past, but more worrisome was what Heyman didn’t tell him.
Rhodes calls the title addictive, and he knows Gunther is as sick as he is. Well, yeah — Gunther has been a long-reigning world champion. That’s when you two first wrestled, remember?
Rhodes then tells Gunther he’ll show him he’s not on his level — as in a technical level, something the latter prides himself in. Gunther reminds Rhodes that he promised to choke out all the legends he retired — and that he did exactly that. Thankfully, he went back to mentioning those massive story beats from his past year. Then, Gunther promises to do the same to Rhodes — minus the retirement part.
And the show ends eight minutes early. Wild. Nonetheless, an overall solid promo battle geared toward Sunday’s match.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:48 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Gunther says he’s there to tell Rhodes what he thinks of him. Obviously, dude. He says the show always has to be all about Rhodes, and that Rhodes will make about himself if it’s not already. Gunther adds that Rhodes is just a product of the culture he was created in. He notes that Rhodes is the perfect example of the “crumbling American dream” — if you want to be something, leave home and go to America to achieve it all, Gunther said. Everything was “one phone call away” for Rhodes, he adds. He even highlights Rhodes’ AEW stint as an example, then calls him a little entitled brat.
Rhodes needs approval, unlike Gunther, says the “Ring General,” as he receives an ovation. He wants to protect the sport from “people like Rhodes,” which gets another cheer. Interesting.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:43 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Gunther immediately interrupts Rhodes as he hits his catchphrase. No time to waste.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:42 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Appropriately, the world title participants are closing SmackDown. Cody Rhodes makes his entrance first, getting showered in song with Spain singing “Kingdom.”
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:37 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
A brief Lash Legend distraction gets Green caught with a Samoan Drop, as she looks for the Anhialator before Tiffany Stratton comes out to help out and smack Jax with her title — while the ref is distracted by Legend. The state of the finish booking, folks.
👑 Crown score: 2/5 👑
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:34 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Green goes for a running attack only to get popped up into a reversal sit-down Powerbomb. Jax misses a follow-up leg drop. Jax goes for a Samoan Drop, but Green fights it off to land a Zig-Zag. Jax kicks out. Green gets backed into the corner and avoids a shoulder check to send Jax into the post. She follows with a big missile drop kick. Green finds the Rough Ryder, but can’t score the win.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:31 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Jax ends up tossing Green back in the ring over the rope before she goes to the lower corner and takes a hip attack. Green kicks out of the subsequent pin.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:30 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Jax starts the match by throwing Green around by the hair until she takes a big slap. She chases down Green go out of the ring and takes a big suicide dive.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:29 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Chelsea Green has been naturally converted to a face in the absence of Piper Niven and Alba Fyre — along with herself, as she dealt with an injury. She’s been over anyway, so it works. Stunningly, this is the main event match of the night.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:27 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Well, I sure didn’t expect that. A Blake Monroe vignette sees the main roster newcomer set her sights on Rhea Ripley. That’s the proper next move for someone of Monroe’s caliber, but believing WWE will follow through on it is a whole different story.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:21 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
This was extremely well done, told in “acts,” which strongly suggests that these two will have a trilogy. Lesnar will win on Sunday. I’m convinced. That’s unfortunate, but if it all goes how it now looks, they should have the trilogy at SummerSlam be a Hell in a Cell match or something special to really maximize the payoff of this — not that it even needed these extremes.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:18 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Saints finds a nasty modified Sister Abigail before he flies over the top rope via a Hayes pull-down. Hayes lands the senton over the top and gets sent over the barricade. He flies back with a diving Clothesline, and the ref counts them out as Saints goes headfirst into the steel steps.
This is the perfect set-up for that triple-threat, folks. Do it, WWE.
Saints continue to attack after the match, going for Roshambo only to take a First 48.
👑 Crown score: 3.75/5 👑
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:15 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Hayes goes back to the corner for a big diving DDT. That was beautifully executed. The crowd begins to rally behind Hayes, and they start to trade strikes. Hayes runs the ropes and finds a huge Dirty Diana to perfection. Saints kicks out.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:13 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
They get into a slap exchange starting on the ground before working to their feet. Saints halts it with a knee to the gut and a suplex. Saints brings Hayes to the top rope. Hayes shoves him off and goes for a huge Frog Splash. Saints gets the knees up and hits a Northern Lights Suplex with the bridge pin. Hayes kicks out.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:10 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Saints and Hayes bounce around the ring early, showing off their athleticism until Saints starts to take over. He gets the former U.S. champ to the outside and plays to the crowd. Hayes comes back in, taking stomps and a jumping knee drop. He kicks out of the pin attempt, taking more stomps before Saints brings him to the corner for an Old School and scoop slam. Another knee lands. Plus a kick-out.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:03 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
The segment ends with Trick slapping Saints, and the commercial sets up the match
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 1:00 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Trick props himself up, saying he’s done what’s best for business by taking out The Miz recently. Then, he does the thing. He completely undermines his status as the U.S. title by announcing he’ll be in the King of the Ring tournament to compete for a world title shot. Absurd, and Carmelo Hayes rightfully interupted to point it out.
Trick wound up repeating his promo roasting Hayes for being short, which Hayes called out, too. Kind of funny, as they’re both expectedly interrupted by Saints.
Can we get a triple-threat out of this? We were robbed of that at WrestleMania. This one would work wonderfully.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 12:54 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Williams is here, and so is Lil Yachty, still wielding the bedazzled kendo stick, which is now called the “Trick stick.” Sure.
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 12:44 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
They fight their way to the top rope. Zayn punches Cardona off before they jump to the other side. Cardona takes an exploder, and the Helluva lands. That’s a wrap. A clean, solid match. Another highlight of why Cardona should be getting more wins than he has recently — which is practically none.
👑 Crown score: 3.5/5 👑
Fri, May 29, 2026 at 12:43 PM PDT
Drake Riggs
Another Rough Ryder attempt gets caught by Zayn right into a sit-down Powerbomb. He wants the Helluva Kick — and this time runs into the Rough Ryder. Zayn gets his foot on the rope.