WWE is at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, tonight for the second SmackDown of 2025.
Both the men’s and women’s United States Championships will be on the line on the three-hour show. After dropping the men’s U.S. title to Shinsuke Nakamura at last November’s Survivor Series, LA Knight gets his rematch.
In another rematch, Chelsea Green defends the women’s U.S. title against Michin. Green defeated Michin in a tournament final at last month’s Saturday Night’s Main Event to become the inaugural champion. This is her first title defense.
Also set for tonight, new WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton will appear. Stratton will address her betrayal of Nia Jax from last week when she finally cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase to become champion. The cash-in happened after Stratton helped Jax defeat Naomi in last week’s main event.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 PM Eastern time.
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– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as outdoor scenes of Portland, Oregon aired. Wade Barrett was Tessitore’s broadcast partner and the two stood at ringside. Footage of Nakamura and Tiffany Stratton from earlier today aired. Paul Heyman was shown making his way to the ring for the opening segment. A video recap of Raw then aired.
The Paul Heyman/Cody Rhodes segment
This was good. And for the second week in a row, I don’t know why they don’t advertise these types of things beforehand. A Paul Heyman/Cody Rhodes segment would have been noteworthy and maybe even drew some more eyeballs to the show; is there a reason we can’t know this is going to happen ahead of time? Anyway, Roman entering the Royal Rumble is mildly intriguing because that notion isn’t one that’s been talked about much when it comes to all the fantasy booking scenarios involving Cody, Roman, about a dozen other people and WrestleMania. Heyman put Cody over pretty well here – to the extent that it looked like Cody was genuinely choking up for a second. The Owens touch was nice because everybody has been whining about The Rock and Cody’s interaction on Monday and someone needed to say it out loud. Also, and finally, did that final sequence mean Cody vs. Fatu is on the horizon? Lots of stuff here to open the show. I like it.
Paul Heyman walked into the ring and did the “My name …” bit. Heyman said he was excited to be there and announced that there is only one reigning, defending undisputed Tribal Chief of the WWE Universe and the entire Island of Relevancy and that Tribal Chief is Roman Reigns. The crowd cheered and “OTC!” chants broke out. Heyman said Reigns authorized Heyman to tell everyone what Roman intends to accomplish next. Heyman said he wanted to share the news with one man in particular – and that man is Cody Rhodes. Cody’s music hit and Cody’s entrance began.
Cody and Heyman shook hands once Cody entered the ring. Heyman said Cody deserved the response he received from the crowd and Cody has done something few have ever done, which is earn the respect of Roman Reigns. Heyman talk about how great of a champion Cody has been. Because Cody has been a great champion, Reigns told Heyman to go out there and tell Cody that Roman wants his title back. Heyman said Reigns wanted Cody to know how he intends to get his title back. Heyman declared that Roman Reigns will be in the Royal Rumble this year to earn his way into a match against Cody for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Heyman then asked Cody what he wanted to talk about, which was funny.
The crowd chanted Cody’s name as Cody fetched a microphone for himself. Before Cody could speak, Kevin Owens’s voice was heard and it turned out that Owens was in the crowd with a microphone. Owens said just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, it did get worse because Cody went and shook hands with The Rock on Monday. Owens brought up how Heyman just mentioned how Roman Reigns wants his title back. Owens said he should have let the Bloodline rip Roman to shreds. Owens kept rambling and Cody ran out of the ring and brawled with Owens in the crowd.
With Heyman alone in the ring, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu showed up. It looked like they were going to attack Heyman, but Jimmy Uso’s music hit and Jimmy ran out for the save. Jimmy grabbed a chair and hit Fatu and Tonga with it, but all it did was wake Fatu up. Fatu hit Jimmy with a flying elbow and the two worked Jimmy over. Fatu kicked a referee in the face, which made the rest of the referees scared to enter the ring. Cody made his way back through the crowd and towards the ring. Cody threw Tonga out of the ring and Fatu and Cody faced off. Cody clotheslined Fatu over the top and to the outside. Cody’s music hit to end the segment.
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– Fatu and Tonga were shown being thrown out of the building by officials. Fatu fought back and started yelling at them. LA Knight showed up and threw Fatu out of the building himself, saying he has a title to win later. So … um … oh no, LA Knight?
Chelsea Green defeated Michin to retain the Women’s United States Championship [8:42]
I was surprised they went back to this match so quickly, but I’m also happy that it doesn’t appear as though Green and Michin’s story is over, considering the holding of the tights and the post-match developments. In some ways, I feel like these two could work together through the Royal Rumble and it would still be entertaining each week. Green is impossible not to like and she has great, worn-in ring chemistry with Michin, so their matches rarely disappoint. As such, this match didn’t disappoint. Are we in for Dumpster Match Part Two? Or is there another stip out there with which these two could have fun?
Green went for a kick and Michin moved. Michin then held control of the match early, complete with a dropkick and a pin attempt. Michin stretched Green over the top rope, but it wasn’t long before Green fought back and threw Michin to the outside. Green threw Michin into the crowd barrier, but Michin made it back into the ring to beat a count out. Green kept her offense up as the show went to a commercial break.
Back from break, Green had the upper hand and worked a chin-lock. Michin got out of it via a back suplex. Michin landed a shotgun dropkick and danced before hitting a Cannonball on Green in a corner for a two-count. Michin went to threw Green, but Green countered by planting Michin face-first. Green went to the top, but missed a dropkick and Michin took control with a running knee. Michin went on the apron and kicked Piper Niven in the face. Michin then went to the top and hit a cross-body, but Green rolled through and held Michin’s tights to get the win.
After the match, Michin tried to attack Green, but Niven interfered and hit a Senton on Michin, allowing Green to get away.
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– Footage from last week’s tag title match aired. Motor City Machine Guns were shown complaining to Nick Aldis earlier today. Pretty Deadly, A-Town Down Under and Los Garza were in the shot, too. Aldis told everyone to shut up. Pretty Deadly and Los Garza will face each other while MCMG and A-Town Down Under will square off with the winners potentially wrestling each other for a shot at the tag titles.
Los Garza (Angel & Humberto) defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) [8:56]
So this is why SmackDown went to three hours, eh? Give some folks some TV time and grant the viewing audience that Los Garza vs Pretty Deadly bout they’ve been craving for months now? Cool. This match was just kind of there despite everyone’s efforts to heat up this mini feud last week. My biggest problem? Since when did Los Garza or anyone in Legado Del Fantasma start working as babyfaces? The crowd cheered them here (or at least crowd sounds, wherever they did or did not come from, cheered them here), but I can’t really figure out why they’d do that other than they played the role of Not Pretty Deadly. But even then – even then! – wouldn’t Pretty Deadly be better babyfaces in this scenario because of their silly, comedic musical skits that have popped up through the weeks? My head is spinning. Either way, the match was harmless.
Los Garza jumpstarted the match and Humberto hit a suicide dive on Wilson on the outside. Back inside the ring, Humberto hit a standing moonsault for a two-count. Angel tagged in and the two hit Wilson with a double super-kick for a two-count. Humberto tagged in and landed a dropkick for a two-count. Prince got a blind tag and dragged Humberto over the top and to the outside via a gnarly neck-breaker. The show went to a commercial break.
Back from break, Humberto was doing his best to turn things around against Prince, but couldn’t do so. Wilson then tagged in and missed a splash immediately, which allowed Humerto to get the hot tag to Angel, who fired up and landed a cross-body from the top rope for a two-count. Angel did the take-his-pants-off spot, which hasn’t been shown on WWE TV in ages. He threw the pants at Wilson and kicked him for a two-count. Prince reasserted himself and planted Angel while the referee was distracted. With the ref still distracted, Santos Escobar crotched Prince. From there, Los Garza hit their finisher on Prince for the win.
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LA Knight defeated Shinsuske Nakamura via DQ [14:06]
This was much better than their Survivor Series match and it would have been even better if we got a clean finish out of it, but after Knight went and gave an f-word when it wasn’t his turn to give an f-word (to, in a censored way, quote “The Wire”) with Fatu earlier in the show, you could see this finish coming from a million miles away. I hope Nakamura and Knight get to run it back at some point (I still think Knight gets that belt back sooner than later) because this proved that they could go deep and it could work. I’m as entertained by Knight as anybody, but he isn’t typically considered as one of the best in-ring fellas in the game. Here, though, he went into deep waters and it worked. Good job from both guys.
The match started slow with neither wrestler getting the upper hand for long. Nakamura eventually got control and hit a running knee on Knight, who was draped over the ring apron. Knight tried to fight back, but Nakamura cut him off and went to work on Knight’s knee. Knight found himself on the outside of the ring and ultimately clotheslined Nakamura and sent him to the floor. Knight followed that up with a baseball slide and proceeded to repeatedly pound Nakamura’s head on the commentary table. Back inside the ring, Knight clotheslined Nakamura over the top to the outside again. Nakamura ran Knight into the ring post twice and the show went to a picture-in-picture break.
The show returned and the two traded blows until Knight took over and slammed Nakamura before hitting an elbow for a two-count. Knight lifted Nakamura, but Nakamura worked his way out of it. Nakamura pulled the turnbuckle pad off the second rope and followed it up with a sliding German Suplex. With Nakamura on the top, Knight ran up the ropes and super-plexed Nakamura for a good near-fall. Knight sunk in a weird version of a reverse Boston Crab (surely, Excalibur knows the name of the move), but Nakamura made it to the ropes for a break.
Nakamura went for an arm-bar, but Knight rolled Nakamura up for a two-count. Nakamura popped up and kicked Knight. Knight went for a BFT, but Nakamura countered with a back elbow. Nakamura followed that up with the Kinshasha, but Knight got his leg on the bottom rope to break up the pin attempt. Nakamura put Knight’s head on the exposed turnbuckle, but Knight moved and Nakamura ran into the exposed turnbuckle. Knight then hit the BFT but Tonga and Fatu showed up and attacked Knight to end the match.
Fatu hit all his greatest hits on Knight until Cody and Jimmy ran back out. This time, Cody was dressed in wrestling attire. They double super-kicked Fatu and Fatu and Tonga retreated through the crowd. Cody grabbed a mic and yelled for Nick Aldis to make a match between Cody and Jimmy and Fatu and Tonga. Aldis made the match.
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Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller) [12:06]
A solid match, and a much better tag match than the other tag bout on this show earlier. MCMG seem to be kind of/sort of finally clicking in WWE Land, and I hope whatever that is continues to grow. Meanwhile, Theory and Waller looked pretty good holding their own against the veteran former tag champs. In fact, Waller and Theory were given a lot of offense here and they made the most of it, which doesn’t always happen in these scenarios. Does this mean we get Los Garza vs. MCMG soon? Or does MCMG skip the line and head right back to #DIY?
Shelley and Waller began the match. Waller had the upper hand and Theory tagged in. Theory threw Shelley chest-first into a corner and followed it up with a clothesline. Sabin tagged in and gave MCMG control briefly until Waller tagged in and hit a series of knees to Sabin’s head. Waller then landed a spinning right hand for a two-count. Waller then went to work on Sabin’s arm. Sabin ran the ropes and Shelley bling-tagged himself in. MCMG kicked and clotheslined Waller over the top rope. Sabin went for a splash, but Theory tripped Sabin. From there, Waller hit a rolling Flatliner on Shelley inside the ring for a two-count. The show then went to a commercial break.
Back from the break, Waller and Theory stayed on top of Shelley. Theory worked a chin-lock on Shelley. Waller tagged in, but Shelley ran Theory into Waller and super-kicked Theory. Shelley rolled and tagged Sabin, who landed a series of punches on Waller. Sabin went to the second rope and hit a missile dropkick on Waller. Shelley tagged in and the two landed stereo baseball slides on Theory and Waller. MCMG followed that up with Sabin’s suicide dive through the top and second ropes.
Inside the ring, Shelley tagged in Sabin and while Waller ran the ropes, Theory tagged himself in. The action spilled outside and Sabin ran at Waller, but Theory cut Sabin off with an elbow. Waller tagged in and the heels hit a double punch to Sabin’s head for a two-count. Shelley eventually tagged in as things broke down and all four wrestlers were down. Sabin tagged in and took Waller out. Shelley and Sabin singled Theory out and hit Skull & Bones on Theory for the win.
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– Ciampa and Gargano were shown upset backstage. They ran into Pretty Deadly, who asked #DIY why they didn’t help them out earlier. Gargano said Pretty Deadly will get their title match eventually and Pretty Deadly need to trust them. Apollo Crews walked into the scene and if they were dumb enough to believe #DIY, they’ll deserve everything coming their way.
– Nia Jax and Candice LeRae were talking in the locker room. Jax wondered what Tiffany Stratton would say later. Jax then walked to the ring and said she was going to congratulate Stratton herself.
The Tiffy Time segment
Wow. And speaking of not advertising things that should have been advertised … . My goodness. A Fatal Four-Way for a shot at Stratton seems like a thing they could have announced ahead of time, but again, what do I know? Nothing. That’s the answer. Nothing. Anyway, everyone here showed good fire, most of whom was Jax, who really seemed really pissed and sold it really well. Bayley and Naomi, meanwhile, had good logic. And Tiffy is settling in nice into her spot as a sort of pesky tweener champion (make her an official babyface already!). This upcoming four-way should be fun.
Stratton came out to a big positive reception from the crowd. Byron Saxton was in the ring and reminded Stratton that she became the new WWE Women’s Champion last week. Saxton congratulated Stratton and Stratton yelled “It’s Tiffy Time!” She also called it a “tiffy-turn-of-events.” Stratton then recapped her run so far on the main roster and said she is better than “your favorites.” The crowd cheered her. Saxton started talking about Jax bullying Stratton, but Stratton cut off Saxton. Stratton said she got JAx to trust her and Jax thought Stratton was just a dumb blonde and Jax let her guard down. As a result, Stratton said, she stole Jax’s most prized possession. Stratton yelled to put respect on her name and to tell her what time it is.
On cue, Jax’s music hit and Jax walked out with a microphone. Jax looked angry. Jax called Stratton and “ungrateful little s-@#.” Jax said she could kill Stratton. Jax said Stratton would be nothing without Jax because Jax made Stratton. Jax said it took Stratton long enough to take advantage of her. Jax walked onto the ring apron and then into the ring. The crowd chanted “Tiffy Time” and Jax said “Time’s up,” before telling Stratton to give Jax her title back or Jax said she’d take it back. Out of nowhere, Bayley’s music hit and Bayley walked out with a microphone.
Bayley told Jax to shut the hell up and told Stratton she always thought Stratton was stupid. Bayley recalled how Jax took Stratton under her wing and Stratton still outsmarted Jax. Bayley stepped into the ring and said the only reason Jax had her title was because Jax had Stratton’s help. Bayley said it was only fitting that Bayley takes Stratton’s title from her. Naomi’s music then hit and Naomi walked out with a microphone and Bianca Belair.
Naomi said everyone knew Naomi had Jax beat last week. Naomi said if it wasn’t for Stratton, Naomi would be holding two titles. Naomi said Jax has to see her first before going after Stratton. Jax said nobody cares about Naomi. Jax attacked Belair and Naomi. As Naomi, Bayley, Belair and Jax were fighting, Stratton hit the Prettiest Moonsault on everyone and left them lying as she walked away with her title.
Aldis showed up with a microphone and said he had an idea. Aldis announced that there will be a Fatal Four-Way right now to determine who will be the No. 1 contender for Stratton’s title.
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Bayley defeated Nia Jax, Naomi & Bianca Belair to become the No. 1 Contender for the WWE Women’s Championship [17:16]
An unexpected outcome, but a welcome outcome nonetheless. Bayley and Stratton should have a quietly very good-to-great match and I’m looking forward to that. I was convinced Jax would win to get her rematch, but that next beat in the Jax/Stratton program will clearly come at a later date. I’m a fan of this being the longest match on the show and even more a fan of how much space these women were seemingly given when it comes to putting this match together. It was almost like an AEW match – move after move after move after move with bouts of little-to-no-selling until the match reset itself a couple times. Lots of fun stuff in here and maybe – just maybe – this will win Match Of The Night honors after it’s all said and done.
Naomi and Belair teamed up on Jax early until Jax tried to suplex both at the same time and barely got them over. Bayley returned to the action and pounded on Jax until Jax threw Bayley away. The babyfaces went after Jax, but Jax pushed them all away. Naomi, Bayley and Belair stared each other down and Jax pulled Belair to the outside. Bayley and Naomi then locked up inside the ring and Naomi got the best of it early until Bayley came back and the two traded pin attempts. Bayley was pulled to the outside by Jax and Jax threw Bayley into the crowd barrier.
Inside the ring, Naomi landed a chin-breaker on Jax. Naomi leapt at Jax, but Jax caught her and slammed her for a two-count. Belair tried to lift Jax, but Jax stopped her. In all, it turned into a dropkick from Belair into Jax. Belair pounded on Jax in a corner. Jax powerbombed Belair, but Bayley broke up a pin attempt. Bayley suplexed Jax and went to the top, but Jax cut Bayley off. Jax lifted Bayley for a Samoan Drop, but Naomi and Belair ran in and slammed Jax, who slammed Bayley, and all four wrestlers were down. The show then went to a commercial break.
Back from break, Jax slammed Naomi, but Belair and Bayley broke up a pin attempt. Bayley and Belair took turns punching Jax. Bayley and Belair sent Jax to the outside and then went after each other. Bayley rolled up Belair for a two-count. Bayley rolled Belair up again, but Jax broke that up. Naomi returned to the action and kicked Jax before landing a Russian Leg Sweep. Naomi hit a Split-Legged Moonsault on Jax for a near-fall.
Bayley came form the top rope and hit an elbow drop on Jax for a two-count. Belair then came off the top and hit a 450 splash on Jax, but Bayley broke that pin attempt up. The babyfaces tried to pin Jax at the same time and it didn’t work. LeRae then walked down to the ring and Naomi and Belair worked some double-team moves on Bayley. That left Naomi and Belair alone to fight each other. Instead of going at it, they went at Bayley and Jax on the outside. Jax caught Naomi and ran her into the ring apron.
Jax returned to the ring and was the recipient of a shoulder-block from Belair. Bayley then hit Bayley-To-Belly on Belair, btu Naomi broke it up. Naomi hit a Rear Vew on Bayley, but Jax broke that up. Jax dropped Naomi and Belair broke up that pin attempt. The match reset again with all four wrestlers down in the middle of the ring. Belair planted Bayley and hit a moonsault on her for a two-count. Belair lifted Bayley for a KOD, but LeRae broke it up by pulling on Belair’s braid. Belair then accidentally hit Naomi with the braid.
Jax and Belair took each other over the commentary table. Inside the ring, Bayley hit the Rose Plant on Naomi and that was good enough for the win.
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– Cody and Jimmy were shown talking backstage and Cody said he knew Roman would want his title back so all was good. Cody walked away and Carmelo Hayes walked up to Jimmy and half-threatened Jimmy. Jimmy talked about how Melo shoots nothing but bricks and then half-yeeted.
– Bayley was walking backstage and ran into Byron Saxton, who said Bayley’s match against Stratton will take place next week. Bayley said she’s grown up in this business and she pointed out that Stratton has never beaten Bayley. Also set for next week, MCMG will take on Los Garza. Solo Sikoa is set to return to SmackDown next week as well.
– Jacob Fatu was yelling while walking backstage and towards the ring with Tonga. Fatu’s tone has shifted from crazed Solo Sikoa follower to a more serious approach and it’s great.
Tama Tonga & Jacob Fatu defeated Cody Rhodes & Jimmy Uso [13:18]
I love it. I love Fatu getting the win, even if that means it was because Cody was taken out of the match. Keep that version of The Bloodline strong, even after Solo’s loss and let’s get some heat for the eventual Solo vs. Jacob showdown. If Jimmy and Cody would have won, this would have felt like a regular dark match that was designed to send the live crowd home happy; instead, we further the strength of Fatu – and even Tonga, to a degree. Really good booking here, at least in terms of WWE (yes, I know you hate WWE, but be reasonable). On the other hand, that weird final spot with the makeshift spear that Cody just kind of leaned into felt a little odd. But we got to where we needed to go. A very good way to end an unusually better-than-solid SmackDown these days. Let’s see how next week goes.
Cody and Tonga started the match and Cody dropped Tonga. Cody went to Tonga’s arm and tagged in Jimmy, who went to the top and came down on Tonga’s left arm. Tonga fired up and beat Jimmy into a corner. Fatu tagged in and Fatu went to work on Jimmy. Fatu landed his pop-up Samoan Drop on Jimmy and the show went to a PIP commercial break.
The show returned and Tonga tagged in to dropkick Cody and work Jimmy’s leg and yell odd things. Fatu tagged in and landed a Senton on Jimmy after hitting Cody off the apron. Fatu landed a hip attack on Jimmy. He did that two times over. After the second time, Fatu got a two-count out of it. Fatu placed Jimmy on the top rope and screamed “I love you Solo!” Jimmy then fought back and knocked Fatu off the ropes. Jimmy eventually hit a spinning splash on Fatu and Cody received the hot tag.
Cody snap-powerslammed Tonga, who also tagged in. Tonga received a Disaster Kick. Cody lifted Tonga, but Tonga got out of it. Fatu and Tonga were on the outside and Cody landed a suicide dive on both heels. Back in the ring, Cody did the Dusty punches/elbow on Tonga for a two-count. Cody set up for a CrossRhodes on Tonga, but Tonga countered into a DDT for a two-count. Cody lifted Tonga and perched on on the top while Jimmy tagged in. Cody and Jimmy did a variation of the Power And Glory finisher, but Fatu broke things up. As a response, Cody hit a Cody Cutter on Fatu and Jimmy sent Fatu over the commentary desk.
Kevin Owens walked down the aisle. Cody saw him and Cody and KO brawled to the back. Inside the ring, Jimmy hit a spear on Tonga and went to the top and hit the Uso Splash, but Fatu pulled Jimmy to the outside. Fatu then tagged in and slammed Jimmy’s head on the commentary table before rolling himi back into the ring. Fatu hit an Impaler and his moonsault and that got him the win.
Meanwhile, Owens and Cody brawled back into the arena and onto traveling equipment. Owens set up for a powerbomb, but instead the two traded punches. From there, Cody speared Owens and the two went through two tables in the crowd. Both guys sold pain and that’s how the show went off the air.
