Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s live coverage for “WWE SmackDown” on April 17, 2026, coming to you live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada!

With one day remaining before WWE WrestleMania 42 takes place, the annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal is set to take place tonight. While no competitors have been announced to take part as of writing, former United States and NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes emerged as the victor of the 2025 Andre The Giant Battle Royal by last eliminating current AEW star Andrade.

Tensions between The Wyatt Sicks and MFT have boiled over the past several weeks, with The Wyatt Sicks seeking out retribution on MFT for taking Bray Wyatt’s lantern from them. The two stables have met one another in a variety of tag team matches over the last several weeks, and MFT dethroned The Wyatt Sicks as WWE Tag Team Champions on the January 23 episode of “SmackDown” prior to losing them to current titleholders Damian Priest and R-Truth. The Wyatt Sicks finally took back Wyatt’s lantern during last Friday’s episode of “SmackDown” when Tama Tonga left it on the ring apron for them to take. Following such, the two stables look to put their issues to bed once and for all when they square off in an Eight Man Street Fight.

Before they meet in a Four-Way Women’s Tag Team Championship match at Night One of WrestleMania 42 tomorrow that will also involve The Bella Twins and titleholders The Irresistible Forces, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria will be going head-to-head with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. Bliss scored a win against Bayley on last Friday’s episode of “SmackDown” thanks to a distraction from Flair, while Valkyria emerged victorious against Flair on this past Monday’s episode of “Raw” thanks to some help from Bayley.

Additionally, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will be making an appearance on tonight’s show with a message for Randy Orton before Orton challenges him for his title tomorrow at Night One of WrestleMania 42. Jacob Fatu also has something on his mind to share ahead of his Unsanctioned Match against Drew McIntyre tomorrow night.