3/28/25 Smackdown Summary

Friday Night Smackdown stopped in London, England this week to deliver a solid show.

Cody Welcomes London to the Show

Smackdown started with the WWE Champion making his way to the ring and was greeted by a choir of English WWE fans.

Randy Orton came out to meet Cody and gave Cody some emotional words of encouragement. He told Cody that he was the reason that the WWE is as successful as it is today and that he was extremely proud of the superstar and the man he has become. You could see Cody holding back tears as Orton delivered his message.

This however wasn’t the only thing Orton was out for. He let Cody know that he will be coming for his title after Cody defeats Cena at WrestleMania.

The two were then met by Drew McIntyre. Drew came out to remind everyone that he was once again right like he is about everything. This time, he was referring to John Cena.

He then declared that after WrestleMania, he would be coming for Cody’s title.

This portion of the segment set up a match between Orton and McIntyre for later on in the night, which we will get to later on.

This is the Drew McIntyre that I have been waiting to see since his Hell ina Cell match at Bad Blood. Drew should be competing for world titles, especially at WrestleMania. However, I understand that sometimes it’s just not in the cards for some people.

Drew needs to beat Damien Priest at WrestleMania so that all of this hype doesn’t go to waste.

Pretty Deadly vs The Street Profits

The first match of the night was between Pretty Deadly and the Street Profits for the WWE Tag Team Championships.

Before we get into the match, let me just say that Mark Nash, who was introduced before this match, did an awesome job all night. He has a real “pro-sports” vibe to his voice that I enjoyed.

Although Pretty Deadly lost this contest, they had the backing of their hometown crowd the entire time. It was nice to see them get the love they deserve. I still think that they will win these titles in some kind of multi-team match at WrestleMania.

The Secret Hervice vs Carter and Chance.

Chelsea Green’s new faction, the Secret Hervice, defeated Kayden Carter and Katana Chance in a tag team match.

This match was set up in a backstage segment that took place earlier in the night that also involved Zelina Vega.

After the Hervice beat the partying duo, they proceeded to beat them down in the ring. Vega came out to make the save. She fended off Alba Fyre and Piper Niven for a bit, but eventually succumbed to the numbers game.

It is looking more and more like Vega versus Green is the plan for WrestleMania. I’m not super excited about this match, but it’s better than another street fight against Michin I suppose. Smackdown needs more mid-carders in the women’s division.

LA Knight vs Braun Strowman

LA Knight and Braun Strowman had their match for the United States Championship after Strowman became the number one contender in last week’s episode.

He defeated Jacob Fatu to qualify via disqualification. Strowman and Knight may have forgotten, but Fatu certainly didn’t. He attacked both of the two competitors shortly after the match began, and it ended in a disqualification.

Tensions between Solo Sikoa and his enforcer grew after the match. Solo pressed Fatu about going out on his own to wreak havoc. However, Fatu clapped back by saying he could do what he wanted and he would bring the US title back to the Bloodline with or without Solo’s help.

I have a number of questions surrounding Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa, LA Knight, and the United States Championship for WrestleMania.

For one, What is the plan with Fatu for mania? We know he will find his way onto the card somewhere. But will that be against Solo or LA Knight?

If it ends up being Solo vs Jacob, what is the plan for the US title? LA Knight currently doesn’t have a feud going into WrestleMania. They seem to have been building toward Jacob Fatu, but it seems that that won’t be the match we get.

I am already predicting a ladder match for the tag team title and wouldn’t want to see another one on this year’s card. However, that would be the easiest way to get Smackdown’s mid-carders onto the show.

Guys like Carmelo Hayes and Braun Strowman have been getting plenty of big matches and TV time, so I believe that they should make it onto the show somewhere. I just don’t know where else to put them other than a feudless ladder match.

Naomi’s Video Package

Naomi was featured in an emotional video package calling out Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill while giving us a sneak peek into her new heel persona.

She showed old photos of her and Bianca while stating that she was always there for Bianca since the very beginning while Jade wasn’t. Naomi was tired of being the third wheel. She had always done the right thing throughout her career. She attacked Jade because she knew it was what she needed to do.

This promo was awesome. Naomi’s character work lately has been some of her best since returning to the WWE. This could be enough to cement herself as a perennial main-eventer going forward.

I am a big fan of these “justified heels” that Triple H has been cooking up lately. Guys like Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre fall into this category as well and have been some of my favorite characters to watch since their heel turns.

Michin vs Charlotte Flair

You know it’s a good night when you get to see Michin lose. It’s a doubly good night when you get to see her get beat up by Naomi before the match even begins.

Naomi attacked both Michin and B-Fab before Charlotte even made her entrance. Jade Cargill appeared to make the save.

Of course, this match wasn’t called off though. Michin stayed to fight the Queen even after taking her beatdown. She wound up losing to the figure-eight leg lock.

After the match, we saw Tiffany Stratton being interviewed backstage. She responded strongly to Charlotte’s onslaught from last week.

Tiffy admitted that Flair made her look like a rookie, but she used that to her advantage. At the end of the day, if Tiffy loses to Flair it’s no big deal. She is a rookie facing the best the industry has ever seen. She is young and her career will recover. Charlotte on the other hand will never be able to live it down.

I thought this was a solid recovery form last week, even if it still felt like she was reading from a script.

Legends Clash

Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre faced off toward the end of the show in a slow and methodical match. Typical Randy Orton.

Drew would get the win off of a distraction from Kevin Owens.

Afterward, Owens and Orton would duke it out outside of the ring, and we got yet another punt kick tease before Kevin made his escape.

Distraction or not, this is a big win for Drew. He needed this momentum heading into WrestleMania. I can’t remember the last time Drew was in a singles match on Smackdown that didn’t end in him losing to a rollup from a Bloodline member.

Big Jim vs The Miz

Jimmy Uso defeated The Miz easily in the final match of the night.

This match was short and predictable but did its job. That being to give Jimmy Uso some momentum heading into his match against Gunther on Monday.

I am not quite sure what exactly, but I feel like we will get a big story advancement for Gunther versus Jey Uso from this match on Raw.

Priest Attacks McIntyre

As Drew McIntyre prepared to head off to the pub to celebrate his victory, he was attacked in the parking lot by Damien Priest.

Drew had been getting the one-up on Priest in recent weeks, but tonight was Priest’s night. The brawl led the two to fight on top of a car. Damien Priest gauged Drew’s eyes and put him through a windshield with a South of Heaven choke slam.

I know I clowned on this feud a while ago, but I have really come around to it. I do think that this match needs a stipulation though. A street fight between these two at WrestleMania would go hard.

The Contract Signing

This segment was very interesting. It answered one of the biggest questions heading into WrestleMania, but also left us with another one that is just as big. Let’s get right into it.

Roman Reigns made his entrance and was greeted by an electric crowd. They sang his name so loud that even Paul Heyman joined in!

Next, Seth Rollins made his way to the ring. He reminisced on the past that he and Roman have, especially in that building. Seth said that he and Roman are the reason that the business is in the position that it is today, but Roman disagreed.

Roman said that there “is no we.” He has done everything over the past 10 years on his own while Seth sat second fiddle.

CM Punk finally made his entrance and was greeted with a karaoke party. London sang his song as he stormed to the ring to sign the contract. Before he would sign it though, he spent a minute searching through its pages.

This is where we got one of our questions answered. Paul Heyman confirmed that the triple-threat will be main eventing night one of WrestleMania.

Punk got emotional as Seth crashed out and Roman asked for a thank you. His life-long dream was finally coming true.

Sarcastically, Punk thanked his tribal chief for letting him main event but confirmed to us that this was not his favor from Paul as the show faded to black.

Wow. Just wow. What a way to end the show. I have a few predictions as to what the favor might be, and one of them I hope isn’t the case.

First, I think it could be Paul Heyman rejoining CM Punk after WrestleMania. If you recall, Roman Reigns had promised Paul that he wouldn’t harm CM Punk after Survivor Series. This promise was broken when he attacked Punk after the steel cage match on Raw a few weeks ago. Heyman could be upset with Roman and end up leaving him.

Secondly, and the one I hope isn’t the case, the favor could be to be added to the WWE Championship match against Cody Rhodes and John Cena.

I don’t want this at all. I get that he has historic entanglements with both of these guys, but there are so many multi-man matches on the card already. We don’t need or want another one, do we?

CM Punk needs no excuse to go after either of these guys following mania regardless of who walks out the champ. Come back to it later. A one-on-one feud between Cena and Punk one final time would be so much more fun to watch.