The post-WrestleMania 42 world continues to shake out on Friday night with the first episode of SmackDown since the two-night spectacle. WWE champion Cody Rhodes, who defeated Randy Orton in Night 1's main event, is scheduled to make an appearance on Friday to discuss what happened then and what comes next.

On a night that saw Fatal Influence steal the show, here are three things we hated and three things we loved from the 4/24/26 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"

Cody Rhodes addresses the "outside forces" that meddled in his WrestleMania plans on tonight's WWE Friday Night SmackDown.

WrestleMania 42 is in the rearview mirror — and WWE is wasting no time reshaping its roster. In the days following the company's biggest event of the year, WWE has moved on two fronts simultaneously: releasing a wave of talent while also promoting seven NXT stars to the main roster.

The WWE SmackDown after WrestleMania 42 saw declines in both average overall viewership and the key demographic ratings.

WWE SmackDown date, time and preview for April 24, 2026 from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, covering Cody Rhodes' status, the Bloodline shuffle and Trick Williams.

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of the go-home episode of SmackDown before this weekend's WrestleMania PLE.

WWE has finalized three major matches for Backlash 2026, including Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu for the World Heavyweight Championship, as SmackDown prepares to revert to its two-hour format. The runtime change, driven by USA Network scheduling, is expected ...