Tonight's episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown was the first of the blue brand's switch back to three hours, and since the roster was struggling already with a two hour show, the lineup was desperately in need of an influx of talent.
Thankfully, we've got some new signings, as well as some teases for some others. So let's break them down!
Kit Wilson has officially moved on from his Pretty Deadly teammate Elton Prince, who has been out with an injury. Wilson debuted new theme music that specifically refers only to himself, and is adopting a gimmick of redefining masculinity. His promo was interrupted by a returning Zack Ryder, with a graphic that changed over to Matt Cardona—his real name that he's been using on the indies since being released from WWE in April 2020. It was confirmed on commentary that Cardona is officially part of the SmackDown roster going forward.
Another star who is officially part of the blue brand now is former two-time NXT champion Trick Williams, who had been teased to join the brand last week, but had also been shown on Monday Night Raw talking to Adam Pearce. Trick came out to interrupt a promo Sami Zayn was cutting about wanting to go for the WWE Championship, saying that he would be winning a world title beore Zayn, who now plans on "humbling" him. Also crossing paths with Trick was Rey Fenix, who will face Williams next week on SmackDown.
Two other NXT Superstars who were teased to join the roster, but not made official, were Oba Femi and Jordynne Grace. In regards to Femi, he was given the same vignette treatment he got on Monday Night Raw, just with blue text this time instead of red. But Grace was actually on the show, having a few backstage segments where she interacted with Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre (as well as SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, who said he's hoping to sign her) and WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill, who Grace interrupted an interview of in order to scope out her potential competition and see which is the best place for her to sign, implying she'll likely be on Raw to do something similar before making a decision.
On top of that, we've also seen the return of Randy Orton, who has been missing in action since October. The Viper took out The Miz, who opened the show complaining about what happened to him in 2025.
What do you think about these Superstars joining SmackDown and returning? Should Grace and Femi go there, or to Raw? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!