wrestling / TV Reports
Winfree’s WWE Smackdown Review 3.28.25
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Alright everyone, it’s time for WWE Smackdown. This week they were in London, England for this one. Spoilers haven’t been posted here at 411 so I wont link them but you can find them if you’d like. Tonight the tag team titles are on the line with the Street Profits defending against Pretty Deadly, plus the US title is on the line when LA Knight defends against Braun Strowman. The tag team match should be fine but the US title match is face vs. face and the specter of Jacob Fatu looms large since he and Braun Strowman are still going at it. Cody Rhodes should be here finally, though he’s been on RAW a lot more often these days. Jade Cargill and Naomi are still going after each other, Chelsea Green seems to have her next challenger lined up with Zelina Vega, Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton had a fairly poor split screen segment last week so hopefully something better will be on the horizon this time. We’ll also get a contract signing for Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. the Michelin Man, Seth Rollins. Expect a hot crowd, per usual on these European tours, and let’s get to the action.
We see a bunch of people arrive at the venue.
WWE champion Cody Rhodes walks in the back and heads to the ring so it’s time for the crowd to sing along. Not a great job singing by this crowd and they bail on it quickly until they can do the bit without the music at the end. Cody gets a mic and wants to know what London wants to talk about. That gets a bit of a “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks” thing going. I half think this has been dubbed over because that doesn’t match the crowd hand motions but we can’t any profanity here. That switches to them doing the “Cody, Cody Rhodes” thing for a bit. Well at least they’re amusing themselves. Cody brings up wrestling Cena, instant heat for Cena’s name, as Cena tries to win his 17th world title. In a few nights on Monday in this arena he’ll be face to face with Cena again, because why would Cena show up on the show where the champion he challenged resides? Anyway Randy Orton comes out next so the crowd can sort of sing along again. Randy heads to the ring and gets a mic, and he says he’s not the sentimental but for Cody and this moment he’ll say he’s proud of Cody. He mentions the history Randy and Cody have, and Randy remembers young Cody breaking into the business and busting his butt and how he wasn’t happy and then left to grow when the WWE locker room wasn’t treating him fairly. He says it took big ass balls to do what Cody did and he changed the business, and everyone knows it. Then he came back, and once Cody stepped foot back there things changed again. Randy wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but Cody is still the same guy but had just grown up. He brings up the Cody and Rollins Hell in a Cell match and how he persevered and won, then went on to win at WrestleMania and finish his story. But there’s always another story isn’t there? Now Cody’s in the middle of another one. Randy brings up how business has been booming and most of that is because of Cody. This is a long winded way of saying Randy respects and loves Cody, and he’s very proud of him. But now it’s time for WrestleMania and Randy promises he’s going to kick Kevin Owens so hard in the head, he can feel it already and can’t wait for that moment, and he thinks Cody will exit Mania with the title which means when the dust settles Randy will come after his 15th title reign. He wont kick Cody in the balls like a coward, he’ll look him in the eye and tell him that he’s coming for it. Drew McIntyre now shows up because who doesn’t love a revolving door segment. Drew’s got a mic and stays on the entrance stage and talks about how wonderful it is for the nepo babies to have a love fest. He walks to the ring and says Randy hasn’t done anything to justify a title shot, especially after spending months on the shelf and he tells Randy to get to the back of the line. As for Cody, he should have listened to Drew about John Cena and we all saw what happened. Drew should be main eventing Mania but he’s not because of Temu Undertaker, Damian Priest. He gets to the ring now and says he’ll be the one to take the title from Cody. Randy says they were trying to have a moment and invites Drew to leave. Drew says he’ll tell the truth, he says Randy looks great on the outside but on the inside he knows his back is hanging by a thread and Drew will break it if given a chance. Cody whacks Drew, Randy then tries an RKO but Drew avoids it and bails. So the Drew and Randy match for later seems like it’ll happen.
We see the Street Profits walk in the back and head to break.
Post break we get confirmation of Drew vs. Randy for later.
The Street Profits head to the ring, Pretty Deadly follow and get the bigger pop as the hometown boys. The Profits are still using their new and slightly slower theme.
Match #1 – WWE Tag Team Title Match: (c) Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson)
33 minutes before our first match. Dawkins and Wilson start us off, Dawkins with the early advantage but Wilson fights back then tags in Price. Both Dawkins and Ford take some double team offense and Pretty Deadly stand tall as we go picture in picture.
Dawkins gets isolated in the corner as Wilson and Prince do some quick tags. Eventually Ford distracts Wilson and Dawkins takes over with corner work before tagging in Ford. Ford with some kicks to keep control then Dawkins tags back in to lay in some strikes to Wilson. Wilson avoids a corner splash, but Ford tags in then Wilson avoids a suplex and tags in Prince. Prince gets to run wild for a while and is still in control as we come back. Bit of a cross body from Ford and both men tag out after that. Twisting suplex from Dawkins then he and Ford think about the Doomsday Blockbuster but Wilson fights off of that then Prince tags in as Wilson hits the Jawbreaker Lariat then they hit the assisted Codebreaker for a 2 count. Dawkins disposes of Wilson and plants Prince with a spinebuster then tags in Ford who tries From the Heavens but Wilson takes the hit instead so Prince grabs a crucifix for 2. Superkick from Ford, Dawkins has tagged in and they hit a Pounce into a back suplex but Wilson breaks up the pin. Everyone charges and Pretty Deadly get the edge, they hit Spilt Milk on Dawkins but Ford breaks up the pin to save the match. Prince tosses Ford out of the ring then they try another assisted Codebreaker but Dawkins catches Wilson and then sets him for the Doomsday Blockbuster, Ford tags in and hits it to retain the titles.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Street Profits retained the titles in 7:55
Rating: 2.5 stars
Thoughts: Solid enough match, and Pretty Deadly were treated like serious challengers.
Earlier tonight there was a bit where Chelsea Green and company confronted Zelina Vega along with Kayden Carter and Katana Chance. Carter and Chance challenge Piper Niven and Alba Fyre for a match. That’s up after this break.
Post break they announce that the WrestleMania 13 match between Brett Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin is going into the WWE Hall of Fame in the match wing of things. OK then, if they’re going to start doing matches individually then sure that one deserves it.
The other half of the equation heads to the ring now.
Match #2 – Tag Team Match: Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Piper Niven and Alba Fyre w/ Chelsea Green
Chance and Fyre get us going, Fyre with some early control then Chance fights back and tags in Carter so they can hit some double team moves. Chance tags back in and Fyre fights back out of the corner then tags in Piper. Carter and Chance team up to deal with Fyre on the floor then Piper hits a cannonball from the apron to them to send us to break.
Carter is working Fyre as we come back, she lands a low superkick then a kick in the ropes. Leg drop from Carter for a 2 count. Piper tags in and hits a senton on Fyre by accident, they took way too long to set up that spot. Chance tags in and her slingshot Codebreaker is blocked. Carter with a Samoan Drop to Piper then they try a Keg Stand on Piper which connects but Fyre breaks up the pin. The crowd does not care about this match, they’re amusing themselves. Carter dives onto Fyre then tags in officially. Piper takes a superkick but Green jumps up to distract the ref and the wrestlers. All of that allows Piper to hit a Piper Driver to win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Piper Niven and Alba Fyre won in 7:01
Rating: 1.5 stars
Thoughts: A bunch of this was way too contrived and a lot of time was spent just setting spots up.
Zelina Vega runs down to stop a post match beat down and takes out Piper with a satellite DDT. Green, who gets a big pop, attacks Vega and tries the Unpretty Her but Vega fights back with strikes and tries Code Red but Fyre with a superkick to save Green then Piper squashes Vega with a senton. The crowd reacting to most of this backwards from the intention is odd.
In the back LA Knight walks for our match after this break.
Post break we see a few somewhat famous members of the audience before Braun Strowman heads to the ring. LA Knight follows, pretty big pop for him.
Match #3 – US Title Match: (c) LA Knight vs. Braun Strowman
They tie up and Braun easily overpowers Knight a few times before Knight grabs a side headlock then flips out of a back suplex but he can’t get any offense going. Some punches from Knight but Braun catches him with a hip toss. Corner work from Braun but then Knight low bridges him and lands a diving dropkick but Braun wont go down and then boots Knight down. That sends us to break.
Braun is still in control as we come back. Knight with a kick then tries a back suplex but can’t make it happen and settles for a jumping second rope bulldog to put both men down. Some evasive moves and jabs from Knight then he finally hits the back suplex. Elbow drop from Knight gets a 1 count. Braun blocks Blunt Force Trauma and drops Knight down then clotheslines him out of the ring. Now Braun sets for his running tackle but here’s Jacob Fatu to intercept him with a flying back elbow and cause the DQ.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Braun Strowman won via DQ in 7:07
Rating: 1.5 stars
Thoughts: Not really enough shown to get a real rating here but this is about what we saw. This was more about the post match stuff than the match itself.
Fatu beats down Braun post match, including hitting a slow motion Samoan Drop on the announce desk which does not break. Back in the ring Fatu with a flurry of headbutts, Knight shows up to fight but Fatu spikes him with a lovely pop up Samoan Drop. Fatu with a trio of hip attacks to Braun. Next Fatu hits the double jump moonsault, the crowd love the Samoan Werewolf and want another one and Fatu obliges them.
We get a recap of Jimmy Uso challenging Gunther from RAW. That sets up Jackie talking with Jimmy Uso about slapping Gunther. Jimmy will continue smacking Gunther if he needs to, and feels Jey needs to get out of his own head and Jimmy will prove that Gunther is human and inspire Jey to win the world title. Jimmy walks off and finds Miz and Carmelo Hayes. Miz calls Jimmy the other Uso and says career sidekicks don’t beat main characters like Gunther. Jimmy pump fakes Miz with a slap, then says he’ll get a match with Miz tonight.
We’ll get a Naomi update after this break.
Post break we get a recap of Fatu taking out Braun Strowman and LA Knight, in case you missed it. In the back Fatu is pleased and runs into Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga. Solo wants to know what Fatu was doing out there by himself. Fatu says he doesn’t have to clear anything with them and last week they cost him his title shot. Solo asks him to lower his tone. Fatu calms a bit and says when it comes to Braun he’ll be the last man standing, then he’s bringing the US title home to the title, with or without them. Man, Fatu is clearly such a bigger deal than either of those two, it’s almost comical.
Next, a Naomi video. She’s just talking to herself. She always does the right thing, so how dare Bianca Belair doubt her? With all she’s sacrificed and given, this breaks her heart because through all of that everyone now thinks she’s the bad one. How does Jade come in out of nowhere and take Naomi’s place? She puts her career over and has had Belair’s back ever since Belair showed up. But through all this she’s learned that she let people treat her like a third wheel. Well she’s done being nice, being undervalued and underappreciated. So going forward, if Jade keeps getting in her way she should proceed with caution.
Jade Cargill talks with Nick Aldis, Aldis hasn’t seen Naomi today. Jade warns that it’s on sight with Naomi. Jade leaves and finds Michin and B-Fab. They commiserate then Michin heads to take on Charlotte Flair, she’ll be losing to Poochie after this break.
Another 4 promo greets us, yeah there’s no doubt it’s Malakia/Aleister Black coming back to WWE at this point.
Michin heads to the ring, no pop. Naomi attacks Michin and B-Fab in the ring and lays out Michin with an X-Factor then tosses B-Fab into the barricade a few times. Jade runs down to the ring to chase of Naomi then help B-Fab to the back so Michin wont have support against Charlotte. Charlotte and Jade stare down briefly but nothing comes of it.
Match #4: Charlotte Flair vs. Michin
Charlotte with a boot early and a 2 count. We get a break after that.
Post break Michin lands some elbows then a tornado DDT for a 2 count. Charlotte avoids Eat Defeat and hits a back suplex. Michin fights back with a head kick but then misses a corner cannonball senton. Charlotte tries to get the crowd to care, mixed results. Michin tries a powerbomb out of the corner and hits it but only gets a 2 count. A few kicks from Michin get another 2 count. Charlotte with some chops but Michin avoids a boot and hits a back suplex of her own. Michin then with the corner cannonball senton then hits Eat Defeat but Charlotte gets a foot on the ropes to avoid the pin then rolls out of the ring. Charlotte avoids a kick and Michin punts the ring steps then Charlotte sweeps the leg on the apron. The crowd chants for Tiffany Stratton as Charlotte gets the Figure 8 to win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Charlotte Flair won in 8:15
Rating: 1.5 stars
Thoughts: Boring, drama free, and about as paint by numbers as most Charlotte TV matches get. The crowd being pretty dead didn’t help this either.
In the back Jackie talks with Tiffany Stratton. Tiffany mentions Charlotte just likes to talk, and it’s Charlotte who has stuff to lose at Mania. If Tiffany loses, well she’s a 25 year old rookie with just one year on Smackdown. But If Charlotte loses, she’s lost to a backflip doing blonde headed knock off, right? Tiffany promises to walk out of Vegas as WWE women’s champion. Decent promo from Tiffany.
There’s still a contract signing, and we get confirmation of Jimmy Uso vs. Miz for later.
Randy Orton heads to the ring for the next match, that’ll be up after this break.
Post break here comes Drew McIntyre.
Match #5: Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre
They tie up, Randy grabs a side headlock then runs into a shoulder block from Drew. Drew with some corner work, he tries a 10 punch but Randy slips free and trips him down then goes for his own 10 punch and as he usually does he hops down but posts Drew for the 10th blow. They head out of the ring and Drew clears off the announce desk but that just sets up Randy to hit the release back suplex onto it and send us picture in picture.
Randy with another back suplex onto the table. Drew fights back with a thumb to the eye then rams Randy into the ring post. Russian leg sweep into the barricade from Drew and he’s focusing on Randy’s back now. They head back into the ring and Randy starts fighting back. They trade some strikes back and forth until Drew lands a headbutt to drop Randy and he gets a 2 count. Drew is working a rest hold as we come back. Randy fights back with punches then Drew lands a chop. More chops from Drew but then Randy comes out of the corner with clotheslines and the snap powerslam. Randy feels good now, but Drew snaps his head over the ropes only for Randy to then hit the hanging DDT. Now Randy sets for the RKO but he’s distracted by seeing Kevin Owens walking down the entrance ramp. The distraction allows Drew to hit a Claymore and win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Drew McIntyre won in 7:57
Rating: 2.5 stars
Thoughts: Decent match, but with these two that’s to be expected.
Post match Owens drags Randy to the announce desk, threatens the Package Piledriver but Randy slips free and sweeps Owens down onto the table. Randy sees Owens down and sets for the Punt but Owens escapes through the crowd before it can connect.
In the back Jimmy Uso walks, he’ll take on Miz after this break.
We get another Rey Fenix video package, he’s actually named this time and will arrive next week. We’ll that’ll get some energy into this show if nothing else. Commentary acknowledge he’s half of the Lucha Bros and brother of Penta.
Next week we’ll also get Naomi vs. B-Fab, that is less welcome news.
Jimmy Uso heads to the ring next.
Match #6: Jimmy Uso vs. Miz
They tie up then Miz with a cheap shot attempt only for Jimmy to land chops. Jimmy with some mounted punches and Miz then runs into a clothesline. More chops from Jimmy then a right hand. Miz fights back with a Kitchen Sink knee lift and running boot. A bit of control from Miz but he misses a boot and Jimmy clotheslines him out of the ring then fakes a suicide dive. Jimmy follows Miz out of the ring and knocks him into the time keepers area before we head to break.
Both men are down as we come back, Jimmy’s up first and he resumes landing strikes to Miz and hits a Samoan Drop. Jimmy takes a rip cord clothesline, Miz makes that look very poor. Miz tries a finish but Jimmy counters and they trade roll ups then Miz with a kneeling DDT for a 2 count. Some kicks from Miz then Jimmy avoids the Buzzsaw kick and lands an enziguri only for Miz to “land” something that gets him a 2 count. Man, Miz is usually decent in his mechanics but he’s been off tonight. Miz goes up top, but his flying nothing is countered by a superkick then Jimmy with a Splash to win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Jimmy Uso won in 8:35
Rating: 1.5 stars
Thoughts: Not much of interest here, might be half a star higher without the commercial break but much like most of the wrestling tonight it’s been forgettable and kind of irrelevant.
Post match Jimmy gets a headset from commentary and says he’ll demote Gunther on RAW.
In the back Drew talks with Lewis Capaldi about their plans for the night. Jackie comes over to talk with Drew, Drew says when no one gets involved with his business he wins, like tonight. Damian Priest didn’t show up tonight, so Drew’s going to get drunk. Priest then jumps Drew in the parking lot and beats him down before putting an extra through a nearby table. That allows Drew to make a comeback as they fight around a car, they head onto the car and Priest chokeslams Drew onto the windshield. I assume it’s real glass. Priest says he’s done for now, but this is far from done overall.
We see CM Punk walk by that scene, this seems to amuse him and we head to break. The contract signing will be up after this break.
We get a recap of the Cena and Cody stuff from RAW. For the record, heel Cena is pretty great. I kind of hope he does ruin wrestling.
Nick Aldis is in the ring, the table is set up for the contract signing. There’s a lot of security goons to make sure we don’t get violence. He says we’re signing for the biggest triple threat in WrestleMania history. OK then. Roman Reigns is first to come down and he’s got Paul Heyman with him per usual. We go picture in picture for Roman to take his sweet time getting to the ring.
Roman has entered the ring when the broadcast resumes. Heyman hands Roman a mic, he’s quite pleased with himself or that one, then Roman provides London a chance to acknowledge him which they do. Roman gets his chair moved to the head of the table and enjoys some chants from the crowd before sitting. He says the signing from the crowd is beautiful, naturally that gets them doing it again because we’ve got 3 hours of total airtime to fill. He calls himself the biggest star on the planet, he’s here to be acknowledged which has happened and also to sign this contract which he does. With that done Roman doesn’t have to be here, but Seth Rollins interrupts things. Seth enjoys the crowd signing along with his theme, there’s been a lot of karaoke tonight. Seth does his stupid laugh before saying the crowd have lovely signing voices. He asks why Roman wants to leave, they’ve got history here and landed on this building in a helicopter 12 years ago and put the Undertaker through a table. They wanted to remake this company in their image. Now a lot has happened over the last 12 years, a little love and a lot of hate, but they accomplished their mission didn’t they. Roman is getting more and more annoyed by this and tells Seth there’s no “we” in this. “We died a long time ago” and it’s only been Roman. Seth has been present but Roman did all the work, took WWE to the level they’re at right now and made it better than it was, made it a billion dollar company. Seth says that’s why he’s taken out Roman, that mindset. And now Roman isn’t realizing that CM Punk is the biggest threat to everything. Roman could have cut his head off, but instead he shook his hand. Now Seth has to do what he always does, clean up Roman’s mess. Seth signs the contract so that brings out CM Punk, so more crowd singing. Punk has come here to chew bubblegum and sign a contract, and he’s all out of bubblegum. He reads through the contract, Roman points out the page and clause Punk seems to be looking for, then he tells Heyman to smarten Punk up. Heyman tells Punk that he knows what he’s looking for, and it’s in there. They’ll be closing the show at WrestleMania, Punk gets to live his dream of all dreams as a WrestleMain eventer. Well that’s night 1 settled at least, no chance they close the whole thing with this over Cody and Cena. Seth gets pissed about this and says Punk doesn’t deserve this. He says this is supposed to be sacred and blames Roman and Heyman for Punk getting something he wanted. Punk, a little emotional, thanks London, Chicago, and all the fans who stood by him and chanted his name for 10 years. Roman says Punk should be thanking him for making this happen, it’s because of Roman he’s in the main event. Punk mockingly expresses gratitude including calling Roman the Big Dog. Oh, and Punk will see both of them in the main event of WrestleMania, he signs the contract to a “you deserve it” chant. But just one more thing, that’s not he favor Punk is owed. That closes the episode.
