{"id":432535,"date":"2026-05-09T00:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T00:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/432535\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T00:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T00:12:10","slug":"wwe-smackdown-live-updates-may-8-results-grades-and-highlights-tonight-from-jacksonville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/432535\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SmackDown live updates (May 8): Results, grades and highlights tonight from Jacksonville"},"content":{"rendered":"

“WWE SmackDown” hits Jacksonville, Florida tonight \u2014 Friday, May 8 \u2014 inside the VyStar Memorial Colosseum for the WWE Backlash 2026 go-home show. “Raw” storylines<\/a> primarily occupy the shine on this weekend\u2019s PLE, but “SmackDown” continues its build toward its next Cody Rhodes program<\/a>, which was teased last week.<\/p>\n

Gunther returned to attack Rhodes after the latter\u2019s win over Ricky Saints on last week\u2019s \u201cSmackDown.\u201d<\/a> \u201cThe Ring General\u201d now appears firmly moved over to \u201cSmackDown\u201d to pursue the Undisputed WWE Championship, as he\u2019s advertised to appear tonight.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Only two matches are currently advertised for \u201cSmackDown\u201d in Jacksonville, starting with Tiffany Stratton\u2019s first U.S. title defense. Rather than rematching Giulia, whom she dethroned, Stratton will take on Giulia\u2019s partner-in-crime, Kiana James.<\/p>\n

The other currently booked match on \u201cSmackDown\u201d belongs to Rhea Ripley, who will align with forever-enemy Charlotte Flair and Flair\u2019s bestie, Alexa Bliss, in trios action. They\u2019ll take on the new incoming faction, Fatal Influence \u2014 Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reed.<\/p>\n

Although Randy Orton, Jade Cargill and Drew McIntyre did not appear last week when advertised, they are once again listed for tonight.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Check out the full “WWE SmackDown” lineup below, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network:<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s U.S. Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c.) vs Kiana James<\/p>\n

Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid)<\/p>\n

Damian Priest vs. Talla Tonga<\/p>\n

Appearances from Jacob Fatu, Gunther, Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Trick Williams, Drew McIntyre, Jade Cargill and Randy Orton<\/p>\n

For complete coverage of “WWE SmackDown” on USA, follow along with Uncrowned’s live blog below:Live11 updates\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 5:11 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 5:11 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

Fatu says he\u2019s not fighting Reigns tomorrow \u2014 he\u2019s taking the title. Reigns gets highlighted as the guy always taking the spotlight, while he got nothing. No protection, no belief, you name it. Then, The Usos interrupted, continuing to fight their cousin\u2019s battles for him.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 5:07 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

For SmackDown\u2019s proper kickoff, here comes Jacob Fatu. He\u2019ll look to claim the World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns tomorrow night at Backlash.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 5:05 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty insane timing for WWE to have a gingerbread man funeral the same week that Ted Turner dies. While a mannequin gets showcased with a full segment later on, Turner gets an opening graphic.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:55 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:50 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:45 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:41 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:37 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:33 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

\"DrakeFri, May 8, 2026 at 4:30 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Drake Riggs<\/p>\n

Jacksonville hosts the SmackDown go-home show for Backlash tomorrow in Tampa. The weekend\u2019s PLE is largely Raw-focused, so expect progressions tonight for storylines that stretch beyond what\u2019s directly around the corner. Here\u2019s what\u2019s on tap.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s U.S. Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c.) vs Kiana James<\/p>\n

Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid)<\/p>\n

Damian Priest vs. Talla Tonga<\/p>\n

Appearances from Jacob Fatu, Gunther, Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Trick Williams, Drew McIntyre, Jade Cargill and Randy Orton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“WWE SmackDown” hits Jacksonville, Florida tonight \u2014 Friday, May 8 \u2014 inside the VyStar Memorial Colosseum for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[202861,202860,24579,146,85,46,46953,179344,202863,41051,17689,202864,49141,202862,24577,161313],"class_list":["post-432535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-alexa-bliss","tag-charlotte-flair","tag-cody-rhodes","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jacksonville","tag-jade-cargill","tag-kiana-james","tag-randy-orton","tag-rhea-ripley","tag-ricky-saints","tag-tiffany-stratton","tag-vystar-memorial-colosseum","tag-wwe-championship","tag-wwe-smackdown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}