WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Cesaro earns title shot at WrestleMania: Backlash, Jimmy Uso returns

Cesaro defeated Seth Rollins to earn a championship match against Roman Reigns

WWE universal champion Roman Reigns continued his dominance on last week's episode of SmackDown. Reigns beat Daniel Bryan in a title match when he was able to lock in the guillotine choke in order to record the win. As a result, Bryan was forced to leave SmackDown because he lost to Reigns.

In this week's installment of SmackDown, Cesaro had a huge match against Seth Rollins, who Cesaro defeated at WrestleMania last month. Cesaro was able to get the best of Rollins and used some outside interference from Jey and the returning Jimmy Uso to his advantage. With the win, Cesaro now will face Reigns in a universal championship match at WrestleMania: Backlash.

CBS Sports was with you all night, bringing you results and highlights from the ThunderDome inside Yuengling Center.

Cesaro earns title shot, stands tall

Reigns opened the show with an in-ring promo, stating that he was a man of his word as he defeated Bryan last week. In Bryan's absence, Reigns said that Bryan was replaced by someone else and Jimmy Uso made his return to SmackDown. This was the first time that Jimmy Uso had been seen on WWE programming since he appeared at Hell in a Cell in October of 2020. At Hell in a Cell, Reigns put Jimmy in a guillotine choke to get Jey to say "I quit" to win that match.

Cesaro came out and stated that Bryan can't be replaced, and he was followed shortly after byf ormer SmackDown general manager Teddy Long who revealed that he was given authority by WWE official Adam Pearce for the evening. Long said that if Cesaro defeated Seth Rollins, then he would be given a WWE universal championship match against Reigns at WrestleMania: Backlash.

Cesaro def. Seth Rollins via pinfall.  Before the match even began, Rollins and Reigns both landed cheap shots on Cesaro, which gave Rollins an early advantage. Later in the match, Jey Uso eyed up Cesaro when Cesaro was down outside of the ring. However, Rollins came over and said that he didn't need Jey's help like Reigns does. Rollins got into an altercation with Jey Uso and he shoved Uso. While the referee was distracted, Jimmy Uso connected on a superkick to Rollins. When Cesaro got Rollins back into the ring, Cesaro was able to hit a neutralizer and recorded the three-count.

Given Cesaro's push since WrestleMania, it certainly wasn't a surprise to see him earn a WWE universal championship opportunity if he beat Rollins. It was solid booking to have the Usos get involved and cause some tension between Jimmy Uso and Reigns. Now Cesaro will get a much-deserved universal championship match for the first time in his WWE career and stood tall on this week's SmackDown. Grade: B+

Reigns-Uso family drama continues

To close out SmackDown, Reigns wanted to know where Jimmy Uso's loyalties lie. Jimmy Uso came to the ring asked Jey where he stood and showed footage from Hell in a Cell in which Jey lost to Reigns in an "I Quit" match. Reigns wanted Jimmy Uso to acknowledge him as the head of the table and tribal chief. Jimmy didn't respond and left the ring. When Jey went down the ramp to talk to Jimmy, Cesaro saw a vulnerable Reigns and attacked him in the ring. Jey ran back in to help, followed several moments later by an obviously conflicted Jimmy. Cesaro was able to maintain the upper hand and put Reigns and both Usos down as the show went off the air.  

What else happened on WWE SmackDown?

• Sami Zayn approached Teddy Long in a backstage segment. Zayn attempted to tell Long about the conspiracy against him on SmackDown. Zayn also wanted an intercontinental championship match against Apollo Crews. Instead, Long pulled out his iconic line and stated that Zayn has a one-on-one match with The Undertaker. Since The Undertaker is retired, Long made a 10-man tag-team match in which Zayn would team up with Crews, Otis, Chad Gable, and King Corbin.
• Carmella def. Ruby Riott via submission. Carmella was able to lock in the Code of Silence and Riott was forced to tap out.
• Bayley conducted an in-ring promo in which she gave shout outs -- with backhanded compliments -- to previous WWE women's champions and also stated that Bianca Belair wasn't on her level. Belair came out and said that Bayley should be more worried about herself. Belair said that she will defeat Bayley at WrestleMania: Backlash and attacked Bayley. However, Bayley gained the upper hand by ripping at Belair's earring and slamming her to the mat.
• Dominik Mysterio def. Dolph Ziggler via pinfall. The original match was scheduled to be Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio, bu after hurling insults at Dominik, he took the challenge. Ziggler was in firm control out of the gate, but Mysterio was able to break out of an attempted suplex. Mysterio countered the suplex with a small package pin and got the three-count on Ziggler.
• Tamina def. Reginald via disqualification. While Reginald was down in the ring, Tamina went to the top rope. However, Shayna Baszler tossed Tamina off the top rope, which resulted in a disqualification. Baszler and Nia Jax took out Tamina and Natalya.
• Apollo Crews, Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Otis, and Chad Gable def. Streets Profits, Big E, Kevin Owens, and Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall. With the majority of the match's participants taken out, Nakamura delivered a kick to Zayn. As Nakamura attempted to take control of Zayn, King Corbin entered the ring and hit an End of Days on Nakamura since Nakamura didn't realize that Corbin was the legal man.