WWE SmackDown results, recap, grades: Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar contract signing gets chaotic

Reigns and Lesnar finalized terms for their champion vs. champion match at WWE WrestleMania

Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar put pen-to-paper for their WrestleMania 38 super-fight on Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown. Reigns and Lesnar sat across from each other under the watch of authority figure Adam Pearce to cement their champion vs. champion match on the grandest stage of them all.

Reigns and Lesnar emerged from Elimination Chamber as champions of the blue and red brands, respectively. Friday's marquee segment was the time-tested contract signing for a big-stakes match-up. Lesnar entered the fray solo; meanwhile, Reigns was accompanied by his special counsel Paul Heyman and SmackDown Tag Team champions, The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso).

SmackDown also set up three matches for next week: an Intercontinental championship clash, The Usos vs. The Viking Raiders for the SmackDown Tag Team titles and Ronda Rousey's first one-on-one match since March 2019. 

CBS Sports is with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Brock Lesnar cleans house after failed ambush at contract signing

One world champion sat across from one another for SmackDown's closing segment, a contract signing for WrestleMania. Lesnar insisted that he alone, not WWE security, was responsible for Reigns and Heyman's health. The WWE champion asserted that his patience is a consequence of knowing that he will get paid to beat up both Reigns and Heyman at WrestleMania 38. Heyman insisted that Lesnar would not make it to WrestleMania as champion, citing his impending WWE Championship title defense against a to-be-determined opponent at the Madison Square Garden house show on March 5.

Both parties signed the contract, securing their WrestleMania headliner. Reigns, Heyman and The Usos departed the ring. Reigns claimed that he was the star of SmackDown and everyone in the arena belonged to him. Cue the security guards, who turned around and surrounded Lesnar. "The Beast Incarnate" easily disposed of the guards, hurling a table, chair and human bodies around the ring. 

The Bloodline and Heyman watched in horror as Lesnar cleared the ring. 

I have so many questions. Why are Lesnar and Reigns signing contracts for a champion vs. champion match when Lesnar has a title defense before WrestleMania? More importantly, why would Heyman set up Lesnar to lose the WWE title at MSG? Lesnar earned his universal title shot by winning the 2022 men's Royal Rumble match. If Lesnar loses at MSG, he still gets a title shot against Reigns; however, Reigns will no longer be able to capture the WWE title. Why didn't The Bloodline join the security guards in attacking Lesnar? Surely their combined might would have felled the Beast. Such a head-scratching segment. The promos were good at least. Grade: D+

What else happened on SmackDown?

• Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville ambush Ronda Rousey. Rousey opened SmackDown by expressing her intentions to be a role model for her baby daughter. Flair interrupted the segment and Deville attacked Rousey from behind. Flair targeted the knee, but Rousey ended the segment by monkey flipping Deville. Later in the show, a Rousey-Deville matchup was set for next week.
• New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) def. Los Lotharios (Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo) via pinfall after creaming Garza with the Midnight Hour.
• The Viking Raiders ambushed The Usos backstage. Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso were conducting an interview with Sam Roberts about their feud, as well as the Reigns-Lesnar contract signing. A SmackDown Tag Team title match next week between The Usos vs. Viking Raiders was later confirmed by WWE.
• Xia Li def. Natalya via pinfall after scoring a crescent kick. Li expressed her nervous confidence in a pre-match interview.
• Johnny Knoxville challenges Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental championship. Knoxville answered Zayn's open challenge. The Jackass star ate a Helluva Kick for his gusto.
• Intercontinental championship match: Zayn vs. Ricochet confirmed for next week's SmackDown after authority figure Adam Pearce granted Ricochet's match request.
• Sasha Banks def. Shotzi Blackheart via submission after locking up the Bank Statement. Naomi, who was on commentary during the match, subsequently announced that Banks and Naomi have joined forces with hopes of capturing the Women's Tag Team titles.
• Drew McIntyre def. Madcap Moss via pinfall after flattening him with a Claymore Kick. The Elimination Chamber rematch was announced ahead of the show; however, it was changed to McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin. This was a ruse as the pair ambushed McIntyre pre-match, leading to the originally scheduled match.