Smackdown Review – 09.26.25

By Niz on 28 September 2025

Tonight’s show comes to us LIVE AND IN COLOR on the USA Network from the Kia Center in Orlando, FL. The presenters for tonight’s show are Michael Cole and Booker T on match calls and analysis, while Mark Nash handles ring introductions, and Cathy Kelley provides backstage and breaking news segments.

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

Walk-ins: WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, Nia Jax, and WWE Men’s US Champion Sami Zayn.

Cole lets us know that Corey Graves is recovering from the Brock Lesnar attack that occurred on last week‘s go-home show for Wrestlepalooza and then throws to a highlights package from the PLE.

Paul Heyman joins us and mocks Cody Rhodes “So what do you want to talk about….?” catchphrase. Heyman wants to talk about Seth Rollins but the crowd starts chanting “OTC”. Heyman reminds the crowd that Roman Reigns was stretchered out in Paris at the hands of Bronson Reed. Heyman name-drops Bron Breakker after putting over how many Wrestlemanias he might headline, and then comes around to Brock Lesnar. “Kingdom” hits on the ‘tron.

WWE Men’s Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes joins us. Rhodes reminds us that he called Heyman a “goon” last week but he actually thinks Heyman is one of the smartest men he knows and a disruptor. Rhodes wants Heyman to clarify things around Brock Lesnar and wants to know if he’s talking to the Oracle, the Wiseman, or the Advocate. Heyman steps back and says Rhodes is talking to the GOAT (I am entirely OVER the usage of GOAT at this point. Whomever came up with the acronym can rot, okay? SHEESH.) Heyman mentions that when Lesnar is around everyone is in danger but he’s not in Orlando.

Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker come through the crowd and hop the barrier to join the proceedings. After they’ve hopped into the ring Rhodes tells Breakker he bets Heyman has told him that he’ll main event Wrestlemania but that he’s also told Reed the same thing. Rhodes mentions being “the son of a booker” and name drops Bill Watts, “Verne”, and “Eric” and that you could always tell what they were doing, but no one has figured out Heyman yet. Rhodes talks directly to Breakker and says he knows one thing and that Heyman is loyal to one thing and it’s not Breakker. Breakker angrily rips his shirt off so Rhodes responds by removing his jacket and tossing his watch to Booker at ringside. A fight breaks out and Rhodes has the initial advantage. Rhodes grabs Reed during an exchange and wants the CrossRhodes but Breakker flies in with a lariat to gain control. As they line up for a Breakker spear “Voices” hits and here’s Randy Orton to even things up.

Orton disposes of Reed in the aisle and then wants an RKO on Breakker. Breakker pushes Orton off so he casually grabs a charging Reed for an RKO while Rhodes hammers Breakker with a clothesline that sends him to the floor. Orton picks up Rhodes title and hands it to Rhodes after a quick glance.

Cathy Kelley is backstage with The Street Profits. Ford brushes off Kelley’s “tension” query and says that when the Profits come up short it makes them that much hungrier. Dawkins proclaims things are good and they dap it up before heading out to the arena. We go to commercials.

US Olympian Noah Lyles is in the crowd.

Number One Contenders Match: The Street Profits vs Melo Don’t Miz

Hayes distracts Ford after the bell and Miz rolls Ford up two. Miz rolls up Ford again for another two as the ref sees Hayes trying to assist Miz from the outside. Hayes tags in and he and Miz double-team Ford in their corner with chops. Ford and Hayes exchange two counts and then Ford wallops Hayes with a high knee. Dawkins tags in and he trucks Hayes. Ford and Dawkins dump a charging Miz on top of Hayes before clotheslining a dazed Miz to the floor. Dawkins stalks Miz on the floor but runs directly into a Hayes dropkick. Miz and Hayes slap hands and we go to commercials.

Back live with Ford decking Hayes off the apron after dodging a Miz charge. Miz kicks Ford in the knee and then drops him with a sitdown DDT. Miz covers for two. Hayes tags in and he whips Miz into a prone Ford in the heel corner. Hayes clobbers Ford with a lariat and covers for two. Miz tags in and he and Hayes hit some double-team offense on Ford that ends with a Hayes leg-drop. Miz’s cover gets two. Miz barks at Dawkins before Hayes tags in. Hayes wipes out Dawkins and then starts pounding away on Ford. Hayes bullies Ford to the team corner and chops away at him. Ford fights his way out and after he finally breaks away from Hayes Miz manages to yank Dawkins off the apron. Ford turns into a First 48 from Hayes who then ascends. Miz tags himself in before Hayes can hit Nothing But Net and as they argue Ford manages to tag in Dawkins.

Dawkins crotches Hayes on the top rope and then goes to work on Miz. Dawkins hits a flying back elbow and then crushes Miz with a splash followed by an enziguri. Dawkins hits a spinning neckbreaker on Miz and tags in Ford. Ford ascends and hits an enormous From The Heavens frog splash and a recovered Hayes declines to break up the cover as Ford gets the three count.

This was a fairly standard television match for this tag division in that all the workers are very good at what they do and understand how to make a tag match enjoyable. I wouldn’t say there was anything special here or anything you’d have to seek out for further viewing but it followed a pretty standard formula and was a solid opener. Dawkins and Ford’s storyline seems to have cooled a bit but clearly things will be ramping up for Miz and Hayes. 2.5*

Winners and NEW Number One Contenders for the Smackdown Tag Titles – The Street Profits (Ford From the Heavens frog splash on Miz)

Post-match sees the Wyatt Sicks standing on the announce desk staring at the Profits.

Cathy Kelley is backstage with Jade Cargill who says she’s sick and tired of these opponents (Jade, I can tell you that we’re all sick of this group as well.) and will walk out of the three-way with the title. WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer enters and Cargill tells her that after tonight a storm is coming for Vaquer at Crown Jewel. Vaquer says she can’t wait and Cargill exits.

WWE Women’s US Champion Giulia and Kiana James make their entrance as we go to commercials.

Michin and B-Fab vs WWE Women’s US Champion Giulia and Kiana James

It’s B-Fab and James to start and after a quick flurry from B-Fab James wallops her with a clothesline. B-Fab shakes it off and smacks James with a dropkick. B-Fab hits a sliding clothesline and covers James for two. Michin tags in and she and B-Fab double-team James in their corner. Michin pulls James out and stack covers for two. James fires up and tags in Giulia who immediately hammers Michin with a dropkick. Giulia beals Michin by her hair (I bet that’s not actually all that pleasant to take.) and after they run the ropes Michin manages to catch Giulia with a dropkick of her own.

Michin hits a rana that sends Giulia into the babyface corner. B-Fab tags in and she and Michin hit some double-team offense on a prone Giulia. B-Fab covers for two. Michin tags in and Giulia slips out of the ring to avoid another double-team. B-Fab comes flying around and wipes out James with a flying lariat. Giulia wipes out B-Fab with a right and sends a charging Michin over the announce desk. (PROTECT BOOKER’S CANDY AT ALL COSTS!) Michin recovers pretty quickly and hits a missile dropkick on Giulia from the announce desk. We go to commercials.

B-Fab and James are slugging it out when we return. James bullies B-Fab to the heel corner and starts launching shoulders into her mid-section after tagging Giulia. B-Fab fights James off but misses a big roundhouse right aimed at Giulia. Giulia headbutts B-Fab and ascends. Giulia crushes B-Fab with a missile dropkick and covers her for two. James tags in and misses an elbow drop after B-Fab tried to roll her up. James sends B-Fab to the heel corner where she wipes out Giulia from the apron to the floor. B-Fab fights off James and finally tags in Michin.

Michin trucks James and then knocks Giulia off the apron again. Michin uses a charging Giulia as her springboard to hit a tornado DDT on James. Giulia breaks up the cover attempt at two. B-Fab hits an enormous pump kick on a rampaging Giulia but then eats a superkick from James. James slugs Michin after a roll-up attempt but Michin counters with a headbutt. Michin hits Eat Defeat on James who staggers back into a Giulia tag. Giulia hits the Arrivederci knee on Michin and then puts some stink on a Northern Lights Bomb. Giulia covers Michin and gets three.

A little clunky and awkward at times but nothing too outrageously bad. I think B-Fab is one of those taller performers who maybe have trouble with the mechanics at times just because of how long her legs and arms are. Michin is in need of freshening up or moving on from this or something. Giulia needs a new feud and soon. 2*

Winners – WWE Women’s US Champion Giulia and Kiana James (Giulia Northern Lights Bomb on Michin)

Post-match sees WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss watching the proceedings on a monitor. They’re approached by NXT Women’s North American and WWE Women’s Speed Champion Sol Ruca and Zaria. Zaria thinks it’s time for ZaRuca to get a shot at the titles and Flair reminds her that even she can’t just wave her hand and get a title shot at this point. Flair says there are teams waiting in line and ZaRuca haven’t earned it. Zaria says that’s rich coming from Charlotte Flair and Ruca and Zaria start bickering over the insult. Bliss stops them and says no one questions their talent but they need to prove themselves. (The visual of Zaria towering over Bliss here is really something else.) Zaria and Ruca leave and Bliss and Flair have a quick chuckle.

Here’s Drew McIntyre sporting a walking boot as he makes his way to the ring. We go to commercials.

A promo for Crown Jewel Perth airs with emphasis on the John Cena-AJ Styles match.

Drew McIntyre has a mic and reminds everyone that this arena was where he returned to WWE at a Takeover in 2017 and where he beat Randy Orton for the WWE championship during the COVID era. McIntyre says he should have walked out tonight as champion but he didn’t because of Cody Rhodes. McIntyre claims Rhodes is always a step ahead and points out that the referee took six seconds to get to count a pinfall that McIntyre had. McIntyre gripes that the ref prevented him from Claymore-ing Rhodes through the announce table and says the ref was protecting Rhodes’s title reign. McIntyre says what happened is corruption.

Here’s Smackdown GM Nick Aldis to interrrupt. Aldis says he understands McIntyre’s point of view but it’s wrestling and you win some and lose some. Aldis mentions that McIntyre’s walking boot didn’t come from WWE’s medical team and McIntyre says they might as well call it the Cody Rhodes Medical Team. Aldis tells McIntyre it’s enough with the excuses and he has to draw the line on McIntyre’s corruption claims. The ref’s decision is final and that’s it. Aldis leaves and as McIntyre starts barking about the situation again the lights dim down a bit.

Here’s a returning Jacob Fatu to join the proceedings. Fatu enters the ring to a gigantic pop and chants of his last name. Fatu grabs the mic away from McIntyre and tells him to stop bitching. Fatu points out how often McIntyre comes out with a list of complaints and tells him to sit his “peg-leg ass” down. An enraged McIntyre grabs the mic back and tells Fatu he’s had a great one year run but he’s Drew McIntyre and no one punks him out. McIntyre says if he wasn’t hurt…and Fatu snatches the mic away again to hit his “all gas, no brakes” catchphrase while chastising McIntyre’s excuse. McIntyre hits the Glasgow Kiss headbutt on Fatu who immediately turns and drops McIntyre with a superkick. (Surely Drew is aware of how foolish it is to headbutt a Samoan, yes?) Fatu yanks off the walking boot and of course waffles McIntyre in the head with it. Fatu stands over a fallen McIntyre and then leaves in a huff.

Hey, this was great! Drew gets to be his normal whiny asshole self and now he gets a few months of Jacob Fatu. Fatu gets built up to the main event level and everything is coming up Milhouse, fellas. I am ALWAYS thankful for a new angle and feud. Excellent work by all.

Here’s WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton touching herself up in a mirror. WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer enters and they banter about Crown Jewel.

Rey Fenix and WWE Men’s US Champion Sami Zayn are chatting about their match and thank each other for how it went. Fenix asks Zayn who he thinks will answer his challenge tonight and Zayn says it could be anyone and heads out through Gorilla to make his entrance. We go to commercials.

Here’s Solo Sikoa in a pre-taped promo where he hypes up JC Mateo while he’s flanked by Tonga Loa. Mateo proclaims his love for Sikoa.

WWE Men’s US Championship Open Challenge – Sami Zayn (C) vs Je’von Evans

Je’von Evans is a high-flyer from NXT if you’re unfamiliar. He’s incredibly athletically gifted. Josh Briggs, who is Evans opponent tomorrow evening at NXT’s No Mercy event, is in the crowd. The crowd chants for NXT after the bell and Evans and Zayn soak it in.

Zayn trucks Evans and then hits a series of armdrags after Evans leap-frogged him. Zayn offers Evans a hand up and gets a nice hand from the crowd. Evans hits some gymnastics to break out of Zayn’s wristlock. Evans wallops Zayn in the corner with a huge chop and then pats him on the arm, much in the way Zayn had done after he helped Evans up previously. Zayn says bet and pushes Evans into the corner. Zayn hammers Evans with chops and then sends him across the ring. Evans slides to the apron and cracks a charging Zayn with a right hand. Evans hits a springboard cross-body and covers Zayn for one. Evans hits a rope-assisted rana and covers for two. Evans hits a dropkick that sends Zayn to the floor. Zayn recovers and hammers a charging Evans with a big lariat. We go to commercials. (I guess we’re not doing picture-in-picture tonight, at least not so far.)

Back live with Zayn working Evans over along the ropes. Zayn misses a charge and Evans dumps him to the floor. Evans flies over the top rope and crushes Zayn with a cross-body. Evans tosses Zayn back in and slips out of a quick Zayn Blue Thunder Bomb attempt. Evans hits a rope-assisted tornado roundhouse kick and covers Zayn for two. Evans mounts Zayn on a top turnbuckle but Zayn fights him off with a couple of chops. Zayn rises but a quickly recovered Evans scampers up and drops Zayn with a top rope Frankensteiner. Evans cover gets a LONG two.

Evans charges into a Zayn Exploder suplex. Zayn wants the Helluva Kick but Evans slips it and drops Zayn with a double knee. Evans ascends but misses his springboard tornado 450 before staggering to a corner. Zayn’s Helluva Kick misses as Evans slips away. Evans takes advantage of Zayn’s incapacity to ascend and hit a springboard OG Cutter. Evans cover gets two. (The crowd is LOSING THEIR MINDS at this point and Cole is on his feet calling the action. They are trying to make this kid tonight, clearly.)

Evans ascends after pulling Zayn into a spot where he wants him. Zayn recovers so Evans roundhouse kicks him from the apron. Evans springboards into the ring but Zayn slips it and mashes Evans with the Helluva Kick. Zayn yanks Evans up for the Blue Thunder Bomb and his cover gets three.

I don’t care what happens in the main event after this one. I don’t know how anyone doesn’t respect Sami Zayn’s abilities at this point but I’m sure someone will be out there. He can fight from the underdog role, he can lead talents like this kid through the debut match of their lives, he represents the company with honor and dignity, and seems to be a genuinely good person. Evans is really going to be something and reps like this can only help in a major way. The crowd gave this a proper standing ovation after it was over and while I know some are going to gripe about Evans flying, the kid made the crowd believe he had a chance and they picked the exact right arena for this as well. Well done by everyone here and I mean this. 4.25*

Winner AND STILL WWE Men’s US Champion – Sami Zayn (Blue Thunder Bomb)

Post-match sees Zayn hype up the crowd to cheer for Evans. Zayn leaves to let Evans soak it in. That was a hell of a deal right there and you can see a highlights package here.

Backstage sees Nia Jax run into Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre. Green offers the open Slaygent position to Jax and Jax tears up the advertisement paper to Green’s horror. Jax runs into Stephanie Vaquer and they have some Crown Jewel banter. We go to commercials.

Here’s Damien Priest coming across a wheelchair-bound Kit Wilson who once again calls Priest the example of toxic masculinity. Wilson, who’s arm is in a sling, rises and tells Priest he’s toxic while shoving him repeatedly in the chest. Priest menaces Wilson who falls over his wheelchair and on to the floor. Priest leans down and says “Bitches be trippin, huh?”. Aleister Black, who’s been watching this all unfold, waits for Priest to turn and immediately drops him with Black Mass. Black sits on a prop box and tells a dazed Priest that they’re apparently going to keep doing this until there’s only one of them left standing. Black tells Priest happy birthday (And happy 43rd birthday from us here at the BoD too, Damien!) and leaves him lying on the floor in agony.

If we somehow get a Priest/Fatu vs Black/McIntyre tag match I think I might actually fully mark out again.

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton (C) vs Jade Cargill vs Nia Jax

Mark Nash does the in-ring intros and we’re off with about fifteen minutes of show left. Jax uses Stratton as a wrecking ball on Cargill to start. Jax dumps Stratton on a prone Cargill. Cargill charges Jax to no effect and they start barking at each other. Stratton hits a dropkick on both as we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Cargill lifts and dumps Stratton on her face. Cargill hammers Stratton with a clothesline but doesn’t cover choosing instead to bark at the crowd. Cargill marches around and then covers for two. Jax grabs Cargill by the hair when she runs the ropes and Jax tries for a suplex. Stratton slides between Jax’s legs and yanks her off the apron to the floor. Stratton hammers Jax and then goes back in. Stratton carthweels away from Cargill before hammering her with a shotgun dropkick. Stratton hits her back handspring elbow on a prone Cargill as Jax lumbers back in. Jax clotheslines Stratton but doesn’t cover choosing instead to pose for the crowd. (The ICE commercials are playing again and I just can not deal. Can not deal with it.) FFWD to Stratton kneeing Cargill in the face and covering her for two. Stratton kicks Cargill a few times but Cargill manages to reverse a suplex attempt. Cargill’s cover gets two. Cargill runs the ropes but Jax grabs her boot to trip Cargill up. Jax yanks Cargill out and runs her into the barrier. Jax puts some stink on a chop and then flips the crowd the double bird after I think they call for her to grab a table.

Back live with Jax and Cargill slugging it out in front of the announce desk. Stratton botches a dive and comes very close to hurting herself badly but Jax sells it anyway. (Cole smartly points out that Stratton’s error was caused by her not clearing the ropes. That’s good announcing work.) Cargill hits a fall-away slam on Stratton and nips up. Cargill runs Stratton back in but Jax pushes Cargill into the ring post from behind. Jax bullies a dazed Stratton in a corner and then lines her up. Cargill comes in to POUNCE Jax away and then starts slugging it out with Stratton. Cargill yanks up Stratton and drops her face-first on the mat. Cargill’s cover is broken up by Jax at two.

Stratton runs Cargill into Jax and rolls her up for two. Cargill slides out of Stratton’s bridge and ties her into a sleeper. Stratton rolls over and covers Cargill for two. Jax’s second rope leg-drop misses Stratton but crushes Cargill. Stratton hits a basement dropkick on Jax and lines up Cargill and Jax together. Stratton ascends and hits a swanton on Jax before walking into a Cargill superkick. Stratton falls back and covers Jax for two as all three are down. We go to more picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Stratton and Cargill start slugging it out before Jax wipes both of them out with a double lariat. Jax does the Marbles dance from Major League 2 for some reason before flipping off the crowd again. Jax stacks up Cargill and Stratton and ascends. Jax taunts the crowd so of course Cargill and Stratton slip away from her double Annhilator attempt. Stratton hits a shotgun dropkick on Jax but Cargill prevents her Prettiest Moonsault from happening by knocking Stratton onto the top turnbuckle. Cargill yanks Stratton into the tree of woe and starts kicking away. Jax wipes out Cargill with a running splash and then wallops a prone Stratton with a hip attack. Jax covers for two. Jax pulls Stratton around and ascends again. Cargill pops up to crack Jax with a right. Jax headbutts Cargill away so Stratton resumes her attack on Jax.

Jax headbutts Stratton away as we return to full screen. Stratton and Cargill work together and yank Jax up for a combined superplex. Stratton drops Cargill’s jaw onto her shoulder to daze her and then hoists Cargill over her shoulders. Stratton hits her rolling Death Valley Driver on Cargill and ascends. Stratton hits the Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Jax and Cargill breaks up the cover at two.

Stratton and Cargill slug it out mid-ring. Stratton hits a hoisted rana on Cargill that sends her to a corner. Cargill catches Stratton coming out of a back handspring and wants Jaded. Cargill hits Jaded and Jax yanks the referee out of the ring as she was counting. A pissed off Cargill flies over to kick Jax in the chest. Cargill very angrily clears the announce desk as Cole says he’s getting too old for this. Cargill cannot hoist Jax and it costs her as Jax runs Cargill hard into the ring steps. Jax yanks the top part of the steps off as we see that Cargill has been busted open over her eye. Cargill fights Jax off and manages to get Jax on to her shoulders before hitting a Samoan Drop on the steps. (We get a good shot of Cargill’s cut here and it is NASTY. Jax really smashed her into the steps. Something to note for later, I’m guessing.)

The referee puts a cloth over Cargill’s cut and then goes around to tell Jax something. Jax rolls in and so does Cargill. Cargill catches a charging Jax with the Eye of the Storm and covers for two. Stratton charges in and hits a shotgun dropkick on Cargill sending her to the floor. Stratton covers Jax WHO DOESN’T KICK OUT but the ref says it’s a two count. (Hoo boy, this is now entering trainwreck territory.) Jax and the ref bicker with each other and now we’re improvising. Stratton drops an elbow and ascends for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Stratton’s cover gets three.

Boy that got messy as hell at the end. They clearly had to improvise after Cargill got busted open and then Jax missed the note that she was supposed to kick out. Stratton had an earlier botch that could have been very dangerous for her as well. I cannot stress enough how much all of these women need to move on from each other at this point. Nothing was going to follow Zayn-Evans and succeed and well, that’s what happened. This was not good but maybe now we’re done with all of this for a bit. 2*

Winner and STILL WWE Women’s Champion – Tiffany Stratton (Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Jax)

Post-match sees Stephanie Vaquer emerge to go face-to-face with Stratton as Cole hypes up Crown Jewel and thanks Booker for helping out. The credits roll and we’re out.

The main event notwithstanding, this was a decent episode tonight. Thumbs slightly up from me because the main event was really rough overall. The Zayn-Evans match is worth going out of your way to catch because the crowd just ate it up and it really delivered. We started something with Drew and Jacob Fatu that I’m looking forward to and at some point Damien Priest is going to get something on Aleister Black. It seems we’ll have a tag match with Cody and Randall versus the Seth Riders maybe next week. I liked the interaction with the NXT kids and Charlotte/Alexa, as well. Decent show tonight, as I said.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I’ll have NXT’s No Mercy tomorrow and Collision on Monday morning in case you’re keeping up. Make sure to patronize our current review threads, capisce? Have a good Saturday.