WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Drew McIntyre ruins Roman Reigns' celebration of two years as champ

McIntyre delivered a Claymore to Reigns ahead of Reigns' celebration of two years as world champion

One night before Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales, WWE aired a pre-taped edition of SmackDown. Throughout the night, storylines were advanced, both specific to SmackDown and the upcoming pay-per-view.

In the final segment of the show, Drew McIntyre fired his final shot ahead of his clash with undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns. The night was built around celebrating Reigns' two years as world champion but before he could even set foot in the arena, Reigns tasted the boot of McIntyre, who then took out Reigns' entourage of The Usos and Sami Zayn.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Drew McIntyre ruins Roman Reigns' celebration

Throughout the night, video packages aired, discussing Roman Reigns' more than two years as world champion. This would lead to the final segment of the show, where Sami Zayn and The Usos were in the ring -- despite Zayn wanting to wait for Reigns -- waiting to celebrate the reign of "The Tribal Chief." After Reigns arrived at the arena in an SUV, he exited the vehicle only to be immediately hit by a Claymore from Drew McIntyre. McIntyre then stormed to the ring, hitting Zayn with a headbutt on the entrance ramp before tossing both Usos from the ring and hitting a flipping dive onto the trio. McIntyre threw chairs into the ring and hit a Claymore into the chair, driving it into Zayn's face. Jimmy Uso was put through a table by McIntyre, who then speared Jey Uso through the ringside barricade. McIntyre grabbed a microphone and told Reigns to understand that he will "never, ever stop."

There wasn't too much to the segment that was built to throughout the night, but it was effective in the final pre-pay-per-view segment building up the world title challenger as a true threat to the champion. The intention was to show that Reigns was traveling to the challenger's corner of the world to face a dangerous and determined foe. Given our grading scale revolves around how effectively a segment accomplishes its intentions, it's hard to argue that this did not do that, even if there was nothing earth-shattering. Grade: B+

What else happened on WWE SmackDown?

• The Viking Raiders def. The New Day via pinfall after putting Xavier Woods through two tables with Ragnarok. The match was a "Viking Rules Match" with no disqualification and falls counting anywhere.
• Shayna Baszler was interviewed backstage when she was interrupted by Liv Morgan, who vowed to rip Baszler's arm off at Clash at the Castle.
• Karrion Kross def. Drew Gulak via submission with the Kross Jacket. Kross cut a promo on Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns before the match.
• WWE official Adam Pearce confirmed that Ronda Rousey has been reinstated. Pearce said Rousey had paid her fines and did not deserve to be arrested for attacking other officials. He then said that were it up to him, Rousey would have been fired. Pearce then called Rousey "the single biggest b---- I've ever met," leading Rousey to lock him in an armbar.
• Hit Row def. Maximum Male Models via pinfall. After the match, Los Lotharios helped Maximum Male Models attack Hit Row until The Street Profits ran out to make the save.
• Shinsuke Nakamura def. Happy Corbin via pinfall after hitting a Kinshasa. The match came about after Corbin cut a promo and issued an open challenge, which Nakamura answered.
• Butch def. Ludwig Kaiser via pinfall with the Bitter End. After the match, Gunther entered the ring and Sheamus got ready to brawl with the man he will face at Clash at the Castle, but Kaiser was able to talk Gunther down.