April 11 (UPI) — WrestleMania week officially came to a close Tuesday on Smackdown Live where WWE had a number of surprises for the blue brand.
Commissioner Shane McMahon, after having banished Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn from Smackdown after he defeated the best friends at WrestleMania with Daniel Bryan, made the announcement that Paige would be joining him as Smackdown’s new general manager in place of Bryan who is now a full-time competitor.
Paige had announced on Raw on Monday her retirement from in-ring competition. She will now be helping McMahon run Smackdown and will announce matches every Tuesday.
The two-time Divas Champion, in her first order of business, announced a blockbuster match pitting WWE Champion AJ Styles against Bryan.
Bryan, despite having only had his first match in three years on Sunday, appeared to have no ring rust and took the fight to Styles using his signature Yes Kicks and a variety of submission holds.
A highly-competitive bout, both Superstars gave it their all as the crowd gave dueling chants in favor of both Bryan and Styles.
Shinsuke Nakamura, who Styles defeated at WrestleMania, intervened, however, right when the match really started to heat up. The King of Strong Style ended the match in no-contest and struck Bryan with a Kinshasa to the back of the head before he focused on Styles.
Nakamura delivered two low blows to the WWE Champion and a Kinshasa, similar to what he did after he lost to Styles at WrestleMania.
Also on Smackdown, Charlotte Flair discussed her WrestleMania match with Asuka before she was interrupted by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce of NXT who were making their main roster debut.
Kay and Royce proceeded to viciously attack Flair outside the ring where they threw her into the steel steps and delivered a Powerbomb onto the floor.
Carmella, as Flair was knocked out in the middle of the ring, quickly entered the arena and finally cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase which made a championship match happen right then and there. Flair, barely able to stand, was quickly defeated by Carmella who struck The Queen with a kick to the face for the three count to become the new Smackdown Women’s Champion. Carmella then had a lengthy celebration with her new title while Flair looked on in disappointment.
Other moments from Smackdown included The Usos defeating The New Day to earn a Smackdown Tag Team Championship match against The Bludgeon Brothers at the Greatest Royal Rumble; Naomi defeating Natalya; and Randy Orton defeating Bobby Roode and Rusev to earn a United States Championship match against Jinder Mahal at Backlash.
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