Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on April 26.

To coincide with the NFL draft, WWE began its own version on Friday to determine who would move between Raw, SmackDown and NXT.

We are also just over a week away from the company's first-ever premium live event in France, so there was also time devoted to setting up the May 4 show.

In addition to some draft picks and pay-per-view hype, we got the usual array of blue brand Superstars competing in matches.

Let's take a look at what happened on Friday's episode of SmackDown.

Contract Signing

Before we got to any real action or draft picks, Paul Heyman was shown saying Roman Reigns removed himself from the draft.

Back in the arena, Corey Graves oversaw the contract signing between Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles for their match at Backlash next weekend.

Styles spoke about how he and Rhodes are about to mix it up for the first time. He also said he was annoyed by LA Knight but now he is back to normal. He even said he respects Rhodes because they followed similar paths.

The Phenomenal One said he learned a lot from Dusty Rhodes about how to be a champion. Rhodes said everyone respects Styles, but that goes out the door at Backlash because he has to win. They shook hands and ended the segment peacefully.

Honestly, this was kind of boring but actually made sense. Keeping Rhodes and Styles apart until the match is the best way to go, but it led to this segment being uneventful.

Grade: C+

Triple H came out and revealed the first draft picks for each brand.

• SmackDown drafted Bianca Belair
• Raw drafted Jey Uso
• SmackDown drafted Carmela Hayes
• Raw drafted Seth Rollins

Notable Moments and Observations

• Rhodes was shown standing up and leaning over to sign autographs. That has to be uncomfortable after a few minutes. 
• Styles' new entrance music is a step in the wrong direction. 
• It almost felt like Styles was trying to shed his heel persona here. 

Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio vs. Angel and Berto

Hayes came out and said he wanted a shot at Rhodes. The American Nightmare played coy before accepting the match.

After the break, Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio were teaming up to take on Angel and Berto. Lee and Berto started with a quick pace right away. Lee hit a few high-flying moves within the first minute.

The match didn't go too long past the break and ended with Mysterio and Lee winning clean. Santos Escobar and Elektra Lopez came out and said he was serious about not being the one to attack Lee.

We saw footage of Carlito attacking Lee, which he did again after the reveal. Carlito ran through the crowd to escape Mysterio. The reveal was telegraphed and the match was too short to be anything more than a few fun exchanges.

The turn by Carlito will likely be addressed next week, but it doesn't look like he is joining Legado based on how this played out.

Result: Mysterio and Lee defeated Angel and Berto

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Lee makes a simple move like a crossbody look great because he adds a little flavor to it. 
• It was strange to see more members of the LWO at ringside but nobody from Legado Del Fantasma. 
• Angel had a delayed response when Rey sent him into the ropes. 

Bron Breakker vs. Cedric Alexander

Bron Breakker defeated Cedric Alexander in less than 30 seconds. There's not much to say. He hit a Spear and won. That was it.

Result: Breakker defeated Alexander

Grade: Incomplete

Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson presented the next round of draft picks.

• SmackDown drafted Randy Orton
• Raw drafted Bron Breakker
• SmackDown drafted Nia Jax
• Raw drafted Liv Morgan

Notable Moments and Observations

• Breakker pulled his straps down before the bell rang, so you knew this would be over quickly. 
• Bubba Ray could be seen in the SmackDown war room. 

Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi

Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga were shown arriving backstage and speaking with Paul Heyman. Kevin Owens attacked them from behind to send us into a break.

Belair was giving and interview when Asuka, Kairi Sane and Jade Cargill showed up. These teams will battle for the women's tag titles at Backlash. KO and Tonga ended up brawling into the arena after that. Sikoa and Orton arrived later to turn it into a two-on-two fight.

The Dudley Boyz presented the picks for Raw and SmackDown's third round.

• SmackDown drafted LA Knight
• Raw drafted Ricochet
• SmackDown drafted Sikoa, Tonga and Heyman
• Raw drafted Sheamus

The next match saw Naomi take on Tiffany Stratton with Bayley sitting on commentary. Naomi went right after Tiffy with a Thesz press to start the match.

This may not have been for a title shot, but Tiffany beating the No. 1 contender would give her a good argument to be next in line.

Jax attacked Bayley from the crowd and Naomi tried to help before she was driven into the ring post, causing the ref to call off the match in the process.

The non-finish and limited time hurt this, but what we saw was good. Tiffany and Naomi work well together. The finish protected Tiffany but it isn't ideal.

Result: No contest

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• KO coming from out of nowhere to attack Sikoa and Tonga was unintentionally hilarious because of how it was framed. 
• Owens hugging Orton was a nice moment. 
• Naomi and Stratton had a couple of hard hits. 
• Bayley and Michael Cole's feud will never end. 

Carmelo Hayes vs. Cody Rhodes

JBL and Teddy Long were on hand to read off the fourth round of draft picks.

• SmackDown drafted AJ Styles
• Raw drafted Chad Gable, Otis, Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupri
• SmackDown drafted Andrade
• Raw drafted Kiana James

This week's main event saw Rhodes take on Hayes after the new SD Superstar challenged him earlier in the show.

They started with a quick lockup and some fast-paced offense. The former NXT champion hit a nice springboard attack, but Rhodes took him down and made Hayes retreat a bit as the show cut to a break.

This was a fantastic showing for Hayes and a great main event to cap off the first night of the draft. After both men missed a springboard move, Rhodes quickly won with his finisher. He was selling a shoulder injury at the end and showed Hayes respect at the end.

Styles showed up and had a staredown with The American Nightmare to end the show.

Result: Rhodes defeated Hayes

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Karrion Kross and AOP were shown attacking New Catch Republic backstage. 
• James gave a quick interview after being drafted and seemed genuinely surprised. She was almost acting like a different person. 
• Aldis announced Bayley vs. Tiffany vs. Naomi for Backlash before he let Long announce Orton and Owens vs. The Bloodline. 
• Hayes makes everything look so effortless. He can certainly improve in some areas, but he is almost the complete package already. 

The Final Word

The first night of the draft featured several predictable but logical picks, but James being brought up from NXT was a genuine and welcome surprise.

Most of the matches unfortunately suffered from a lack of time due to the draft segments needing to much, but the main event was definitely worth watching.

Hayes is definitely a star in the making and gave us a great performance, but WWE needs to make sure it follows up on that now. He is one of those talents who can be a potential top star if WWE books him right.

Monday's Raw will continue the draft with even more picks for both brands. With a lot of big names still on the board, WWE's two flagship shows may look very different after next week.

Grade: C+