Tag: smackdown

WOL: National Lampoon’s Road to WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s Saturday and time for Wrestling Observer Live.

This Road to WrestleMania 42 thus far has been like riding with The Griswolds in the family truckster: lots of bumps, starts, stops, U-turns and detours rather than a cohesive story to follow. This can’t be by design, can it?

Now, it looks like new WWE undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton will face off in the second Mania main event. They are mainstream names, but what can WWE do in the next few weeks to heat it up?

Plus, live reaction from SmackDown last night, where are the Mercedes Mone critics now, Danhausen, Jade Cargill, and more.

Check it out.

Right Click Save As (sub needed)

El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. makes surprise appearance on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Lucha libre legend El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. made his main roster WWE debut on Friday night, answering Carmelo Hayes’ open challenge for the United States Championship.

As Hayes waited in the ring for his mystery opponent, Wagner’s entrance music and video began to play in the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Wagner was recognized as the reigning AAA Latin American Champion. 

Viewers at home then saw an inset video package. “The most beautiful mask in the world has arrived in WWE,” Wagner said in the video. “I am Dr. Wagner the third and I am the Latin American Champion. Winning this championship represents a community, the Latin American community. Viva Mexico!”

Hayes went on to defeat Wagner, dodging a moonsault and hitting the Nothin’ But Net legdrop. The two shook hands after the match. 

Wagner has wrestled several times in NXT and in co-branded WWE/AAA events in Mexico, but this was his first appearance on Raw, SmackDown, or WWE premium live events. 

Many of Wagner’s relatives were luchadors, including both of his grandfathers and both of his parents. He has been wrestling since 2009, having won many championships in Mexico and also with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. 

Click here for full Friday Night SmackDown coverage.

WWE SmackDown ratings up with return to USA Network

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s episode of WWE Smackdown averaged 1.379 million viewers on the USA Network, up 23.9% from the previous week’s airing on SyFy. It’s the second highest audience for the show since September 5th of last year.

Smackdown averaged a 0.34 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 17.2% from the prior week and ties the second highest rating the show has done in that category since September 19th. Despite airing head to head with an NBA game on ESPN that topped the cable charts, the show finished second on the cable charts in the key demo and fifth overall on television for the night.

As compared to the same week in 2025 the overall viewership was down 20.3% while the 18-49 rating was down 36.4%.

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for WWE Smackdown as well as the 10 week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 24.4% in overall viewers and 30.8% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.

Date18-49Total viewers
12/19/20250.21995,000
12/26/20250.271,138,000
1/2/20260.281,175,000
1/9/20260.26990,000
1/16/20260.21968,000
1/23/20260.22943,000
1/30/20260.291,260,000
2/6/20260.351,459,000
2/13/20260.261,042,000
2/20/20260.291,113,000
2/27/20260.341,379,000
10 week average0.261,108,300

WWE’s Bronson Reed undergoes successful biceps surgery

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Four days after tearing his biceps on Monday Night Raw, Bronson Reed emerged from surgery with a positive message for his fans. 

Reed shared a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed, tied up in all manner of equipment and braces, on Instagram late Friday night. He included a simple message: “Surgery done. Tomorrow is DAY ONE. The road back.”

Reed tore his biceps during an Elimination Chamber qualifying match on Raw. He was originally scheduled to win the match, but could not continue. That led to Jey Uso winning the match instead. Then, tonight’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown opened with Uso being placed into an ambulance, having been assaulted by an unknown attacker. 

Logan Paul, Reed’s stablemate in the Vision, faced Jacob Fatu later in the show, with the winner replacing Uso in the Chamber match. Paul won the match after WWE Champion Drew McIntyre attacked Fatu.

Assuming nobody else is taken off the show in the next 24 hours, the field for the Men’s Elimination Chamber match is set, with Paul joining Randy Orton, LA Knight, Cody Rhodes, Je’Von Evans, and Trick Williams Saturday night in Chicago. The winner will then be scheduled to challenge McIntyre at WrestleMania 42 in April. 

US title open challenge added to WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The United States Championship will be on the line on SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber go-home show.

WWE has announced that Carmelo Hayes will be issuing an open challenge for his title on SmackDown tonight. It’s the first defense for Hayes since he defeated Rey Fenix back on January 30. During his reign, Hayes has faced Johnny Gargano, Shinsuke Nakamura, Leon Slater, Ilja Dragunov, and Fenix in title matches.

Hayes has continued the U.S. title open challenge series after Sami Zayn and Dragunov made it staples of their reigns. Having the chance to wrestle on TV nearly every week has been “crucial” for Hayes, but he would like to start incorporating more storylines into his reign instead of just one-off matches.

Louisville, Kentucky is hosting SmackDown tonight on the eve of Elimination Chamber. The show is back on USA Network after having aired on Syfy two straight weeks due to the Winter Olympics.

Here is everything that’s been announced:

WWE SmackDown (Friday, February 27) —

  • Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, LA Knight, and Jey Uso appear ahead of Elimination Chamber
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defend against Lash Legend & Nia Jax
  • Oba Femi vs. The Miz
  • Jordynne Grace vs. Candice LeRae
  • Uncle Howdy vs. Solo Sikoa
  • Carmelo Hayes United States Championship open challenge

WWE announces 11 new Raw and SmackDown dates

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has added a slate of new show dates to the company’s 2026 calendar.

Eleven new dates were announced in total, ranging from April-June of this year. Six of the shows are SmackDown episodes while five are Raws. Here are the full details:

  • Friday, April 24: SmackDown at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas
  • Monday, April 27: Raw at Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas
  • Friday, May 1: SmackDown at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Monday, May 4: Raw at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska
  • Friday, May 8: SmackDown at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida
  • Monday: May 11: Raw at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Friday, May 15: SmackDown at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina
  • Monday, May 18: Raw at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina
  • Friday, May 22: SmackDown at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky
  • Monday, June 15: Raw at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Friday, June 19: SmackDown at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri

The ticket on-sale date for each event is Friday, May 6 at 10 a.m. local time.

SmackDown’s fallout from WrestleMania 42 will take place on the April 24 episode of the show in Fort Worth. The Raw after WrestleMania is being held in Las Vegas earlier that week.

Updated WWE SmackDown lineup: New segment added

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Before facing off at the PLE, all six men’s Elimination Chamber participants are set to appear on WWE SmackDown.

WWE has announced that Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, LA Knight, and Jey Uso will take part in an in-ring segment on SmackDown this Friday night. Those six are the wrestlers who will be competing at Elimination Chamber on Saturday to determine Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship challenger for WrestleMania 42.

“One night before battling inside the Elimination Chamber for the opportunity to challenge Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Je’Von Evans, Jey Uso, LA Knight and Trick Williams will stand in the ring together on SmackDown,” WWE.com wrote. “Don’t miss all the action of SmackDown, Friday at 8 ET/7 CT on USA.”

The KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky is hosting this SmackDown episode, with Elimination Chamber then being held in Chicago at the United Center the following night.

Here is the updated SmackDown lineup:

WWE SmackDown (Friday, February 27) —

  • Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, LA Knight, and Jey Uso appear ahead of Elimination Chamber
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defend against Lash Legend & Nia Jax
  • Oba Femi vs. The Miz
  • Jordynne Grace vs. Candice LeRae
  • Uncle Howdy vs. Solo Sikoa

WOL: Bryan returns, all the news and reviews from the weekend!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including a bunch of unfortunately bad wrestling-related news to kick of the show, thoughts on the most newsworthy moments of Bryan’s absence, line-ups for the next few days, Smackdown and Collision and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As

Michin & B-Fab return to TV on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Michin and B-Fab are finally back on WWE SmackDown.

On Friday, during the February 20 episode of SmackDown, fans witnessed the return of Michin and B-Fab. The duo confronted WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill in a backstage segment.

Backstage, Cargill crossed paths with B-Fab and asked if she wanted a shot at her title. B-Fab showed interest but claimed that she was in line behind others, just as Michin made a dramatic entrance.

Arriving with a kendo stick, Michin recalled her rivalry with Cargill from a few months ago and called her out for injuring her. In the closing moments of the segment, Michin even successfully scared Cargill with her kendo stick, as the champion flinched when she moved her weapon.

During the 2025 holiday tour, Michin suffered an injury while competing against Jade Cargill. The two were originally scheduled to face each other on the January 2 edition of SmackDown, but the match was scrapped due to the setback.

Shortly after, on January 1st, at a live event, B-Fab also competed against Jade Cargill, before suffering an injury of her own as well.

(Un)B&V: AEW Grand Slam Australia, plus WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

With Bryan off galivanting across the globe, Vinny is left to his own devices to bring you a show this weekend. And so, drunk with power, he reviewed the exact same shows he would have if Bryan were home: AEW Grand Slam Australia and WWE SmackDown.

AEW had a much bigger show than their usual Saturday night affair, including the big mixed tag hair match, Andrade vs. Hangman Page with a PPV main event on the line, the big MJF vs. Brody King championship match, and Kyle Fletcher taking an early lead in the 2026 Wrestler of the Year race.

SmackDown was not quite as newsworthy, but we still had two new qualifiers for the Elimination Chamber show, Trick Williams showing why he’s the best promo in wrestling, and Jade Cargill and the team of Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky defending their championships.

A fun show as always so check it out!

Right Click Save As

WOL: Are WWE stars suffering from overexposure?

Posted on by Jim Valley

Happy Valley-tine’s Day or Greg Valentine’s Day. Whatever you celebrate, it’s time for Wrestling Observer Live.

TNA No Surrender Friday night was a mix of action, surprises and the usual booking.

As WWE SmackDown builds towards Elimination Chamber, does it feel like some fan favorites are running out of gas? We’ve seen them do so much during their tenure, there’s just not much else to get excited about.

Plus, AEW Grand Slam (no spoilers), WBD and politics, the WON Awards and more. Check it out.

Right Click Save As (sub needed)

WWE SmackDown ratings increase despite Olympics competition

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.459 million viewers on USA Network, up 15.8 percent from the previous week. This is the largest audience total reported for the show since September 5 of last year.

In the 18-49 demo, SmackDown drew a 0.35 rating. That’s up 20.7 percent from the prior week and ties the best rating the show has done in that category since September 19. The increases came despite the fact that SmackDown aired head-to-head with NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, which had aired live earlier in the day on Peacock. The Olympics will cause SmackDown to move to Syfy both this week and next week due to USA Network’s coverage.

As compared to the same week in 2025, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 3.2 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 27.1 percent

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership numbers and 18-49 demo ratings for WWE Smackdown on the USA Network, as well as the 10 week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 24.5 percent in overall viewers and 40 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.

Note: Beginning the week of January 26, Nielsen once again modified its ratings reporting method which has resulted in marked increases for all televised wrestling shows on cable since then.

WWE SmackDown ratings —

Date18-49Total viewers
11/28/20250.281,142,000
12/5/20250.241,063,000
12/12/20250.261,240,000
12/19/20250.21995,000
12/26/20250.271,138,000
1/2/20260.281,175,000
1/9/20260.26990,000
1/16/20260.21968,000
1/23/20260.22943,000
1/30/20260.291,260,000
2/6/20260.351,459,000
10 week average0.251,091,400

WWE’s Chelsea Green shares photo of ankle injury

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

WWE wrestler Chelsea Green missed her scheduled match for AAA on Saturday after suffering an ankle injury on SmackDown the night before. And based on the photo she shared on social media today, she could be missing more matches in the future. 

Green’s photo, shared on X/Twitter, showed a badly swollen and discolored ankle. She blamed the injury on “WWE management” and shared a list of demands for this week’s episode of SmackDown.

“Per your negligence on Friday,” she wrote, “I will be sending a list of demands for this upcoming SmackDown. 

“List includes but is not limited to: 

  • Fiji water
  • wheelchair with a back warmer
  • red M&Ms
  • a small man to push said wheelchair (must be in tuxedo & under 5’4)”

Green suffered her injury in a triple threat match on SmackDown against Tiffany Stratton and Lash Legend. Stratton won the match, qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match in the process.

The next night, Green appeared on AAA television on crutches and told her tag team partner Ethan Page that she would be unable to defend their AAA Mixed Tag Team Championships. Her spot was taken by La Hiedra. Page & Hiedra went on to lose the titles to Mr. Iguana & Lola Vice. 

WOL: WWE ticket prices, WrestleMania sales, Vegas, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including WrestleMania ticket prices, WWE pricing in general, how both nights of WrestleMania are doing so far and how many tickets Punk vs. Roman being announced sold, Smackdown, Collision notes, news and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As