Smackdown Review – 08.01.25

In case you missed anything in WWE this week: Raw | NXT | LFG | Evolve | Impact

Smackdown is GO FOR LAUNCH from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on the night before Summerslam Night One. The announce team for tonight’s show is Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett on match call and analysis, Mark Nash on ring introductions, and Cathy Kelley on backstage interviews.

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

As we get a look at the crowd, Tessitore points out that “mysteriously” there’s a steel cage hanging above the ring. Walk-ins include Big Jim Uso who’s facing Talla Tonga tonight. Joining Tonga are Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and JC Mateo. Here’s Aleister Black and Damien Priest walking in separately ahead of their clash this evening.

“The Time Is Now” hits and here’s WWE Undisputed Men’s Champion John Cena to a raucous crowd reaction. Cena points to Mark Nash who does the “Never Seen 17” introduction. Before Cena can say a word “Kingdom” hits and here’s Cody Rhodes to make his entrance. (I’m guessing Michael Cole is wildly happy that Cena’s gear tonight is in New York Jets colors).

Cena puts up his index finger to Rhodes to indicate for him to remain quiet. Cena recalls telling Rhodes that he was exhausted and a match at Summerslam would be too difficult, but Rhodes didn’t listen and “assaulted” Cena. Rhodes “forged” Cena’s name on a contract for one of WWE’s most dangerous matches on one of it’s grandest stages for it’s biggest championship. Cena says he only has one thing to say to Rhodes and it’s….thank you.

Cena says for 25 years he’s forged a legacy of hard work, honesty and respect and he flushed it all away five months ago to fulfill someone’s idea to make “shocking TV”. (Hey Dwayne. Hey.) Cena says after the dust settled people went back to their normal lives and left Cena alone, trying to pretend to be something he’s not. Cena holds up his title belt and says he wants to leave with it after his final match but it’s not because he wants to ruin wrestling, he loves wrestling. Cena says he wants to take it with him because he doesn’t want to be forgotten. Cena says the fans tried to tell him, Rhodes tried to tell him and Cena didn’t listen. Cena says what Rhodes did was what a good friend should do and that’s force Cena to face reality and have a fight.

Cena says this fight is going to force him to dig down and be who he really is (If both Rhodes brothers get stabbed in the same week….) and if he can’t show up for war he shouldn’t show up at all. Cena really fires up and says Rhodes should mark his calendar because August 1st in Newark was when John Cena came back to WWE. (The crowd goes predictably apeshit at this remark and Cena’s voice cracking made it more real.) Cena says he doesn’t know who’s leaving with the belt on Sunday but the fans will be the winners. Cena says they’ll get to see Rhodes versus the Greatest of All Time with Cena at his best. Cena says this is what Rhodes wanted and if he wants some, come get some. Cena says the “only platinum rapper showing up to beat your ass on Sunday” is him. THE CHAMP IS HERE gets a MONSTER pop.

Rhodes takes his jacket off and apparently Stone Cold’s beer handler is in town. Rhodes gets a couple of cold ones (It’s Hogan’s beer) and says “Welcome back, John Cena.” They shake hands and share a sip. Rhodes exits as Tessitore and Barrett try to sort out what just happened. You can watch this entire thing here. Cena soaks in some cheers and kisses his wife on the way out.

Well, that’s quite the turn of events. Cena cut a hell of a promo here and firmly positioned himself as a babyface moving forward. Given that he used the word “assaulted” I think gives them an out if Cody is going in the other direction. I will be legitimately shocked if Rhodes goes heel, though. I’m guessing the Street Fight route gives them a way to get out of having to turn Cody though, because someone can just interfere to set up a next program for either one of them. It’s FASCINATING to me that this happened like this because I’m guessing the social buzz they’re hoping for with this will have to be massive. Of course they also have about 6 hours of pre-game stuff to show so you’ll be seeing this a bunch over the weekend.

Tessitore throws to some footage of Logan Paul crashing a Jelly Roll training session where apparently Randy Orton was not in attendance. Paul says the people training JR are doing “God’s work” so JR says if he wants to go to Sunday service, Paul can step in the ring right now. JR calls Paul a “fresh out of Fraggle Rock-looking ferret” and says he’s tired of talking to Paul. Paul comes in the ring and they start tussling before Drew McIntyre joins the fray to yank JR off of Paul. The ring clears and Paul and McIntyre talk trash before McIntyre wallops JR with a Claymore as Paul holds him. McIntyre yells about “paying dues for YEARS to get a moment at Summerslam” before being backed off by JR’s trainers.

WWE Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (C) vs Zelina Vega

Giulia is seconded by Kiana James. Mark Nash does in-ring introductions. The bell rings and we’re off.

There’s some early lock-ups but no one can gain an advantage. Giulia manages to take control with a hair whip before driving Vega down to the mat and covering for one. Giulia starts firing off strikes and chops, and then she pulls Vega up for a stalled suplex. Giulia covers for two. Giulia fires off some headbutts but misses a clothesline, and Vega manages to snap off an athletic armdrag for her first offensive move of the night. Vega hits a shotgun dropkick to send Giulia to the floor. Vega hits a Meteora off the apron to the floor as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Vega whips Giulia in to the ring and covers for two. Giulia is seated in a corner so Vega starts hitting roundhouse kicks to her chest before putting her boot under Giulia’s jaw. Giulia ducks a right hand and headbutts Vega. Giulia ascends and hits a missile dropkick on Vega before covering and getting two. Giulia yanks Vega into a sitting position and snaps off a kick to Vega’s back. Giulia stomps on Vega’s head before standing on it. Giulia hits a kind of scissors/stomp thing to Vega’s head right along the ropes before covering, but Vega’s boot is outside the ring. Giulia yanks up Vega to headbutt her and drive her face-first into the top turnbuckle. Giulia’s charge is slipped by Vega and she rolls up Giulia for one. Giulia shrugs that off and drops Vega with a right. Giulia once again stomps on Vega’s head before posing her in the corner. Giulia hits a running knee strike to the back of Vega’s head driving her face into the bottom turnbuckle. (That seems like a potentially dangerous spot right there.) Giulia covers for two.

Back to full screen with Giulia dropping Vega face-first to the mat before putting her in a sitting crossface that’s sort of half-that and half-Camel Clutch. Vega slips out of it and gets a quick one count before Giulia launches her off. Giulia ties up Vega and drives her down face-first with her boot before covering for two. Giulia yanks Vega up, but Vega counters into a roll-up that gets two. A Giulia charge is countered by Vega and it ends with Vega kicking Giulia in the chest. Vega hits a couple of running clotheslines and pulls Giulia into a Saito suplex before nipping up to a pop. Vega hits a modified Meteora before ascending. Vega misses her attempt and runs into a Giulia dropkick. Giulia mounts Vega on the top turnbuckle and they fight for a bit. Vega slips down and rushes in to hit a release German from the second rope. Vega crawls over and covers Giulia for a VERY LONG two count.

Vega ascends but Giulia fires up and hits her with a series of headbutts. Giulia hits a butterfly suplex off the top rope and then the Arrivederci knee. Giulia nails Vega with the Northern Lights Bomb and is STUNNED when Vega kicks out at two. Giulia tries for another NLB but Vega slips down and rolls up Giulia for two. Vega slips a charge and hits a Backstabber before ascending. Vega’s moonsault is met by Giulia’s knees. Giulia yanks Vega up and hits another Northern Lights Bomb and that gets three.

There was some sloppiness here but this was Giulia’s first televised match in over a month so I’m not surprised. The crowd was super into it though, and so that made for a more palatable affair. Vega has come a long way and her selling and facials are solid now. Her offense is a bit spotty and she’s still counting her steps sometimes. Giulia has moments of greatness and moments of…not so greatness. She is WILDLY over though. This was a decent affair and I’m inclined to overlook some of the awkward stuff because the crowd was so into it. 3*

Winner AND STILL WWE Women’s United States Champion – Giulia (Northern Lights Bomb)

Cathy Kelley is with WWE Men’s United States champion Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s. Kelley talks about Sikoa’s defense against Jacob Fatu in the cage and then says that the reason the cage is hanging over the ring tonight was that Sikoa requested it. When she asks him why Sikoa brushes it off and says the only thing he’s worried about is his title and the MFT’s. Sikoa says tonight Big Jim is going to get a big boot to his big mouth from his seven foot monster Talla Tonga. Solo mocks Fatu’s “get in where you fit in” line and leaves.

Legado Del Fantasma make their entrance as we go to commercials.

Santos Escobar has a microphone as we come back live. Escobar wants everyone to stand and show respect to the AAA World Tag Team champions. All he wants is the crowd’s respect but Escobar knows they aren’t familiar with the concept. Escobar says if anyone wants to try to be lucha libre royalty they can come out and challenge for the titles right now.

AAA World Tag Team Championship Open Challenge: Los Garza (C) vs Mr Iguana and Psycho Clown

Mr. Iguana is accompanied, as always, by La Yesca. I’ll bring up the review of the AAA-WWE World’s Collide show if you need to get up to speed on how popular Mr. Iguana is. It’s Psycho Clown and Angel to start.

Psycho hits an immediate rana and follows with a back thrust kick and a right hand. Psycho crushes Angel with a springboard torneo and covers for one. Psycho slugs Berto off the apron before nailing Angel with a right. Psycho hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Angel and tears off his shirt to a pop. Psycho superkicks Angel and clotheslines a charging Berto before tearing his first mask off and revealing one underneath. Psycho pops Angel up in the air and wallops him with a right before covering for one. Berto tags in and he drops Psycho with a trip before going to ground and pound. Berto works Psycho over in his team corner with kicks. Angel tags in and Los Garza hit double team kicks on a seated Psycho. Angel whips off his pants and chucks them into Mr Iguana’s face. Angel covers Psycho for one.

Tessitore is driving Barrett nuts by insisting that La Yesca is in fact real. Psycho slips out of Angel’s attempt at a submission and knees him in the gut. Angel recovers with a dropkick and covers for two. Psycho holds off an irish whip attempt and wipes out both opponents with rights. Berto charges in to try to prevent the tag but Psycho slips out and Mr Iguana tags in. Iguana immediately hits a swinging rolling rana on Berto to an immense pop. Iguana fires off a springboard headbutt. Iguana and Angel try for a ropewalk spot but Iguana slips and they improvise a second rope rana. (Iguana did well here to improvise after blowing the spot). Iguana wraps up Berto in a crucifix driver and covers for two.

Iguana tries for a tope con hilo at the behest of Psycho, but Los Garza catch Iguana and they throw him into a charging Psycho. They hit stereo kicks to Iguana’s head and Angel charges Psycho in the ring but gets dumped to the floor. Berto comes flying in and hits a springboard roundhouse kick on Psycho. Berto goes to cover but maybe isn’t legal so he tags in Angel. (That was a weird sequence). Angel dumps Psycho to the floor as Berto pushes Iguana back in. Angel mounts Iguana on the top turnbuckle and tags in Berto. They hit the Super MTY and Berto covers Iguana for two. Angel tags in as Iguana escapes Berto and tags in Psycho. Psycho hits a crossbody on Angel but Berto hits him with a dropkick at the same time. Angel slugs Psycho and tags in Berto, and they hit the MTY on Psycho as Berto covers for three.

It was an interesting showcase for these titles but I’m not sure the crowd liked much of it once Iguana’s sequence was over. Psycho has always been a very solid performer and despite his botch, Iguana is a hell of a worker. I’m guessing there are going to be some takes about who they chose to do the job here as Psycho and Iguana are two big stars in AAA. Los Garza are what they are at this point and this is a fine use of them given the situation between AAA and WWE. 2.5*

Winners AND STILL AAA World Tag Team Champions – Los Garza (MTY to Psycho Clown)

Backstage sees Logan Paul chatting with Drew McIntyre as they run into Cathy Kelley. Kelley asks them how they justify ambushing Jelly Roll and Paul says he has nothing to say to Kelley. McIntyre says they’ll say what they have to say to the world later tonight. We go to commercials.

Back live and the graphic shows that the first TLC match in WWE history happened at Summerslam 25 years ago. The participants in the WWE Men’s Tag Team championship TLC match are shown.

Aleister Black vs Damien Priest

Priest bullies Black to a corner but Black slips out and grabs a shoulder. Priest rolls out of it and snaps off an armdrag. Black wallops Priest with a kick to the hamstring that Priest no-sells and they glare at each other. Black hits the kick again but Priest catches the third attempt and fires off kicks to Black’s chest. Black bails so Priest sneaks out and hits Black with a leaping elbow off the ring steps. Priest tosses Black back in but Black recovers to nail Priest with forearm strikes. Priest misses a roundhouse kick from the apron and catches on from Black sending him to the floor. Black crushes Priest with a tope con hilo as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Black runs Priest back into the ring and goes behind for a waistlock. Priest reverses and boxes Black’s ears. Priest charges and eats a Black kneelift before Priest ascends for a Meteora. (Lots of Meteora’s tonight, must be something in the water.) Black hits a couple more hamstring kicks but Priest slips a roundhouse kick and wants a uranage. Black slips out with elbows, so Priest charges and Black dumps him face-first to the second turnbuckle. Black goes to ground and pound. Black yanks Priest up and hits him with a running elbow before covering for one. Black slugs Priest before kicking him dead in the throat. Black hits some strikes and then snaps Priest over in a suplex before covering for one. Black puts Priest in an elbow lock and Priest fights his way out with right hands.

Back to full screen with Black nailing Priest with a big boot. Priest catches another attempt so Black absolutely MURDERS Priest with a knee-lift to the jaw. (I mean…holy shit what a knee this was.) Black covers for two. Black taunts a dazed Priest who begins to fire up. Priest catches Black’s boot and then drops him after three forearms. Black wanders into a front facebuster as we see Priest is bleeding from the mouth. Priest nails Black with a flying elbow in the corner before rope-walking and hitting Black with a cross-body. Priest fires up the crowd and hits a running discus lariat before covering for two.

Priest wants the Razor’s Edge but Black slips out with a kick. Priest superkicks Black in response which sends him to the floor. Priest follows and charges but Black meets him with another knee-lift. Black tries for his springboard moonsault but Priest slips out of the way as Black lands on his feet. Priest POUNCES Black over the announcer table. Priest clears the table and as he turns Black whips a steel chair at his head and the ref calls for the DQ.

Good match, shit finish. It was just to set up the post-match angle that saw Black just massacre Priest after the flying chair. The Black knee-lift has to be seen to be believed and I’ve linked to an instagram reel of it above. Just incredible and I wasn’t surprised Priest came up bleeding. It was humming along nicely until the DQ. 2.5*

No winner – Black DQ’d for whipping a chair at Priest

Post-match sees Black whaling away at a prone Priest before blasting him in the back with the chair. Black tells the ref he’s sorry as she tries to back him off, and when she turns Black nails Priest again. Black starts slamming Priest’s head into the ring steps. Black sets Priest up on the steps and tells him he brought this on himself. Black hits Black Mass as Priest collapses in a heap. Some other refs come down to help so Black leaves.

Tessitore and Barrett throw to highlights of Jade Cargill pinning Chelsea Green last week. The Secret Hervice attack after the match saw Tiffany Stratton run in to make the save.

Backstage and here’s WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton conveniently meeting WWE Queen of the Ring Jade Cargill in a hallway. Cargill says she didn’t need Stratton’s help, she could have done it on her own. Stratton says maybe but she wasn’t going to have Cargill walking into their match limping. Also, Stratton says, when she beats Cargill tomorrow she doesn’t want there to be any excuses. Cargill says she was the first to step to Stratton after Wrestlemania and she’s going to finish what she started.

Talla Tonga, flanked by Solo Sikoa, makes his entrance as we go to commercials.

Back live with Tessitore showing still photos of Paul Levesque’s appearance at the White House.

Jimmy Uso vs Talla Tonga

Uso goes nose to chest with Tonga, so Tonga pie-faces him away. Uso fires a right hand and some chops, but Tonga shrugs it off and whips Uso to the corner. Uso slips out and starts chopping Tonga again before mounting the second rope to throw bombs. Tonga turns it around but his punch is blocked. Uso springs off and meets a Tonga slap that sends him to the mat. Tonga yanks Uso up and again slaps him in the chest. Tonga pulls Uso into a short-arm clothesline before putting the boots to Uso. Tonga hits a running legdrop and then stands on Uso’s face. Sikoa barks at Uso before Tonga yanks him up and bodyslams him. Tonga smacks Uso in the face and charges, but Uso quickly yanks down the top rope as Tonga falls to the apron. Uso hits an enziguri that sends Tonga to the floor. Uso hits Tonga with a tope suicida but Tonga shrugs it off as Uso heads back inside. We go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Tonga takes the full nine count before getting back in for some Uso chops. Uso charges and eats a big boot from Tonga. Tonga drapes Uso over the second rope so Sikoa can berate him some more. Sikoa gets in a shot as the ref backs Tonga off. Tonga bullies Uso before whipping him into the opposite corner. Tonga yanks Uso up and pops him in the mouth before choking him in the corner. (You don’t really see guys just straight choke an opponent much these days. You do see people get stabbed with screwdrivers, though. Fun times.) Tonga puts his boot on Uso’s throat but he gives Uso enough time to recover. Uso starts firing right hands and chops but Tonga shrugs it off and shoulders a charging Uso to the mat. Tonga puts Uso in a standing wrenching headlock. As Uso tries to fight out of it Tonga drops him with a headbutt.

Back to fullscreen with Uso eating Tonga elbows in the corner. Tonga yanks Uso out of the corner and snaps off another elbow. Tonga bullies Uso who once again fires up with chops. Tonga puts a stop to that with a huge chop of his own. Tonga again puts his boot on Uso’s throat before yanking him up and forearming him. Tonga charges Uso in the corner but Uso gets his boot up. Tonga charges again but Uso slips it as Tonga’s head hits the ring post. Uso superkicks Tonga and then drops down to uppercut him. Uso tries for a Samoan Drop but he cannot lift Tonga. Tonga blasts Uso with a kick but Uso responds from the apron with a shoulder and an enziguri. Uso ascends but his jump is slipped by Tonga. Uso gets two superkicks on Tonga and then clotheslines him to the floor over the top rope.

Sikoa hops up on the apron so Uso superkicks him off and then hits a charging Tonga with a superkick as well. Uso spears Tonga and ascends. Tonga catches Uso by the throat when he jumps for the Uso splash. Tonga rises and chokeslams Uso and that’s enough to get three.

It wasn’t the prettiest exhibition of wrestling due to Talla Tonga working at a snails pace but it was effective nevertheless. Big Jim isn’t quite Main Event Jey in terms of moveset or being over with the crowd but he is over and at least his selling made Tonga look like a killer. Just a television match that almost felt like a squash at times. 2.25*

Winner – Talla Tonga (Chokeslam)

Post-match sees Sikoa calling for re-enforcements and here come the MFT’s. Mateo and Tama Tonga start lighting up Uso as Sikoa calls for the cage to be lowered. The cage stops at the top rope level and here’s Jacob Fatu to enter before the cage is lowered the full way. Sikoa and Talla Tonga bail immediately as Fatu is left to fight off Mateo and Tama Tonga. Fatu hits superkicks on both and then runs Mateo and Tonga into the cage. Fatu hits a pop-up Samoan Drop on Tama Tonga. Fatu hits hip attacks on both and then shimmies. Fatu barks at Sikoa before hitting Mateo with his springboard moonsault, and then doing the same thing to Tama Tonga. Fatu and Sikoa continue barking at each other.

Tessitore and Barrett run down the card for both nights of Summerslam.

Cathy Kelley is with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss and she asks Charlotte about the chemistry between the two of them. Flair says she didn’t have tagging with “Lexi” on her 2025 bingo card but Bliss has had her back and shown up for her and she respects Bliss even if she’s “super annoying”. Bliss asks if that’s Flair’s version of a compliment and Flair says “Dude, take it or leave it.” Bliss says Flair hasn’t been “half bad” and she’s had Bliss’s back as well. Kelley asks if they’re friends and Flair says no but maybe. Bliss says Flair doesn’t like using “the F word”. Flair says they should focus on winning the titles and Bliss quips “And she says I’m the annoying one.”

Here’s Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul on their way to the ring as we go to commercials.

Back live with Paul and McIntyre making their entrance and grabbing microphones while being booed out of the building. Paul asks the crowd how dare they, there are two of the best wrestlers in the world who are trying to defend this place from outsiders. The crowd may boo, Paul says, but they’ll never know what it’s like to compete at Summerslam. Paul adds that Jelly Roll thought Summerslam was a hot dog eating contest as McIntyre guffaws in the background. Paul says he and McIntyre have dedicated their entire lives to this (McIntyre makes a little face here that’s funny as hell.) and he’s sick of these outsiders that make a name for themselves elsewhere who think that WWE is a stepping stone to the next level. It’s basically impossible unless you’re Logan Paul, who he happens to be. (Very convenient, that.) Paul says that Jelly Roll is an outsider and not a wrestler and he learned today what he’s going to look like tomorrow. Paul says JR is a country star, not a superstar, and will never ever belong here.

McIntyre tells Randy Orton that whatever happens to “Smelly Roll” tomorrow is on him. McIntyre asks Paul what song Jelly Roll sings about talking to God about favors and Paul mentions it’s about Weight Watchers as McIntyre corpses. McIntyre says when he prays bad things happen. (HEY PHIL. HEY.) Paul says this is the WWE, not court-ordered community service.

The ‘tron shows a truck arriving in the back and after Jelly Roll emerges, here’s Randy Orton looking livid as they stomp to the ring. “Voices” hits as the fans come unglued. Here’s Smackdown GM Nick Aldis to try to talk Orton out of charging the ring but Orton ignores him. A Pier Six erupts with JR tussling with Paul while Orton and McIntyre throw bombs at each other. Aldis has called for Security and literally ALL of them come charging down and into the ring. Orton eventually drives both Paul and McIntyre to the floor and everyone barks at each other. Orton and JR fire each other up and then Orton snaps and RKO’s two Security goofs in the ring with them. JR grabs the third one and chokeslams him as Tessitore and the fans are going nuts. The chattering continues as the credits come up and we’re out.

A solid go-home show even with the Black-Priest wet fart finish. The Cena turn is the biggest story coming out of it and I very much wished they had switched that segment with the main event segment so that the cliffhanger coming out of things would have been Barrett’s questioning of how legit the whole thing actually is. For me, it felt fully like a face turn and if they set it up to have Cena cheat again, that’s an incredible job by all concerned. Even if it is JUST a face turn it was a hugely well constructed promo. It was good to see Giulia wrestle again and that match turned out to be my Match of the Night. I enjoyed the lucha tag match but I’m already seeing OPINIONS on it so we’ll see where that leads. All in all a decent show and thumbs up for me especially with the Cena-Rhodes deal.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy your weekends and enjoy Summerslam!