WWE SmackDown spoilers for Friday, December 26 episode —
A Joe Hendry concert segment
Christmas Street Fight: Joe Hendry defeated The Miz
Backstage segment with United States Champion Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes
Backstage segment with Drew McIntyre
Backstage segment with Jade Cargill
Backstage segment with Michin
Charlotte Flair defeated Lash Legend
Backstage segment with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, and Trick Williams
United States Championship: Carmelo Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov to win the title
Backstage segment with the women’s tag team division (Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, Lash Legend and Nia Jax, Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY, Asuka and Kairi Sane)
Giulia and Kiana James defeated Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre
Drew McIntyre attacked Cody Rhodes, a Three Stages of Hell WWE title match between the two is set for the January 9 SmackDown
Announced for the Friday, January 9 WWE SmackDown episode —
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Drew McIntyre in a Three Stages of Hell match (Best two-out-of-three falls, three stipulation matches)
The Last Time is Now tournament quarterfinals: Jey Uso defeated Rusev
Backstage segment with The Miz and R-Truth where they argued over who would replace the injured Sheamus in The Last Time is Now match against LA Knight.
Chelsea Green’s title celebration ended with Jade Cargill laying Green out.
Backstage segment with the babyface women’s WarGames team
The Last Time is Now tournament quarterfinals: LA Knight defeated The Miz
Backstage segment with the heel women’s WarGames team
Women’s WarGames advantage match: Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka
Five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match: Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Talla Tonga, and JC Mateo defeated Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix, Chris Sabin, and Alex Shelley — Sikoa was the sole survivor
The following contains spoilers for tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Chicago.
The rumors of former WWE women’s star AJ Lee returning to join husband CM Punk against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch appear to be more than just rumors based on new intel from PWInsider.
The outlet reported Friday that Lynch is set to close tonight’s SmackDown. That comes after Punk’s name was removed from the official preview for the show earlier in the day.
Punk and Lee famously reside in the Windy City with Punk throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley Field Friday for his beloved Cubs.
Lynch helped cost Punk his shot at regaining the WWE World Heavyweight title at Clash in Paris, aligning with Rollins in The Vision. She then confronted and slapped Punk repeatedly on this past Monday’s Raw — the same show where Lee’s return was teased. During the aforementioned match, Rollins made a point to yell “I hate your family!” to Punk.
It’s expected that Punk and Lee will face Rollins and Lynch at this month’s Wrestlepalooza PLE that kicks off the ESPN era for WWE.
It is shaping up to be a big edition of the show with John Cena schedule, a rumored appearance by Brock Lesnar, and the potential for Lee’s return. Triple H himself tweeted earlier in the day that the Allstate Arena “is magic…let’s make some more tonight.”
Following WWE Raw on Monday, WWE taped footage for this SmackDown that will air on July 4. This week’s Raw aired two hours earlier on Netflix to accomadate the tapings, which will mark the return of the show’s two-hour format. Spoilers courtesy of WrestleZone:
Cody Rhodes came out to start the show when he was interrupted by Randy Orton, who admitted was hesitant in completing the punt kick on Rhodes at Night of Champions. Rhodes promised to take out John Cena Cena at SummerSlam. A returning Drew McIntyre then interrupted Orton and Cody and attempted to turn them against one another. He was then laid out by Orton to end the segment.
A backstage segment saw Nick Aldis convince Charlotte Flair to team up with Alexa Bliss against the Secret Hervice for a spot in the four-way Women’s Tag Team title match at Evolution. He also set up a tag match later in the tapings pitting Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso against two members of Solo Sikoa’s group.
In another backstage segment, a match between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton was made official for Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Flair & Bliss defeated Secret Hervice to qualify for the four-way Women’s Tag Team title match at Evolution.
Aldis was backstage with the SmackDown tag team division. One member of each of the four teams teamed up to take on the Wyatt Sicks.
Wyatt Sicks defeated Johnny Gargano, Berto, Montez Ford, and Chris Sabin.
Tiffany Stratton came out to talk about her match with Jade Cargill at SummerSlam. However, she said she wanted to defend the WWE Women’s title at Evolution. Jade interrupted, but Stratton revealed she wanted to defend the title against Trish Stratus, who came out and exchanged words with Stratton, setting up the match.
Andrade and Rey Fenix defeated Fraxiom
Backstage, Damien Priest attempted to explain R-Truth’s actions to Aleister Black, leading to a match between Black and Truth for next week. Tension continued to build between Black and Priest.
Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso defeated Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo.
The following are live spoilers for Friday’s WWE SmackDown, airing live from London, England at 4 PM Eastern throughout the world on Netflix but at 8 PM Eastern in the U.S. per usual on USA.
We will have our usual live coverage of the show, also at 8 PM Eastern.
The show will feature a WrestleMania 41 contract signing between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk; LA Knight defending the WWE United States title against Braun Strowman; and the Street Profits defending the WWE Tag Team titles against Pretty Deadly.
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Shots of Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Charlotte Flair, LA Knight, among others, arriving at the arena opened the show.
Cody Rhodes opened the in-ring portion of the night with a promo to a great ovation from the London crowd. Randy Orton showed up to interrupt Rhodes’s promo. Orton put over Rhodes for being courageous and that he respected him. He then said that once WrestleMania season is done, he was calling his shot for Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Title. Drew McIntyre then interrupted. McIntyre blasted Orton for being undeserving of the title and also called his shot for the title. Rhodes cut off McIntyre’s tirade with a punch as Orton attempted an RKO. McIntyre escaped calamity.
Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre was announced for later in the evening.
Street Profits vs. Pretty Deadly for the WWE Tag Titles was up next. The challengers were decked out in Union Jack-themed attire for the home country pop. Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford retained the titles with a clean win.
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. The Secret Her-vice was set up with a segment from earlier in the day. Piper Niven got the pin for her team after a Chelsea Green distraction and the Piper Driver. Post-match, the Secret Her-vice attacked Carter and Chance, but Zelina Vega ran down for the save. Green’s group got the upper hand with the numbers game.
LA Knight vs. Braun Strowman for the United States Championship ended in a disqualification after Jacob Fatu attacked Strowman at ringside. Fatu continued the assault in the ring until Knight got involved. Fatu dropped both Strowman and Knight in the ensuing melee.
Jimmy Uso was interviewed backstage about his slapping of Gunther from Raw this past Monday. The Miz and Carmelo Hayes interrupted with some harsh words for Jimmy. A challenge for Jimmy vs. Miz was made for later tonight.
Jacob Fatu was confronted by Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga. Sikoa was upset with Fatu for taking matters into his own hands. Fatu said that he was going to be the last man standing between him and Braun Strowman and he’d win the U.S. title with or without Sikoa’s help.
A video of Naomi explaining her recent actions against Jade Cargill was shown. After that video, Cargill was shown talking to Nick Aldis asking for Naomi’s whereabouts. She was met with B-Fab and Michin, who encouraged Cargill in her quest for vengeance against Naomi.
Naomi brutally ambushed Michin and B-Fab before the former was set to face Charlotte Flair. Jade Cargill ran in, which forced Naomi to beat a hasty retreat. Cargill stared down Charlotte, who was making her way for her match.
Charlotte Flair defeated Michin via submission with the Figure Eight.
Tiffany Stratton was interviewed backstage about her upcoming WrestleMania match against Charlotte. Stratton said that she was going to make sure Charlotte’s chances of being WWE Women’s Champion would stay in Vegas.
Drew McIntyre defeated Randy Orton via pinfall after Kevin Owens distracted Orton long enough for a McIntyre Claymore kick. Owens tried to attack Orton after the match, but Orton managed to fight back. Orton had Owens dead to rights for the Punt, but Owens managed to escape through the crowd to avoid it.
Jimmy Uso defeated The Miz via pinfall with the Uso Splash.
Backstage, Drew McIntyre was interviewed after he chatted with musician Lewis Capaldi. Just as he was about to leave for the pub, Damian Priest confronted McIntyre and attacked him in the arena parking lot. Priest chokeslammed McIntyre on the windshield of a car (that may or may not have had real glass) to finish his assault. CM Punk was shown walking past the fallen McIntyre and had a chuckle at the expense of his rival.
A recap of John Cena and Cody Rhodes’ faceoff from Raw this past Monday was shown.
The contract signing for Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 41 closed SmackDown for tonight. After the crowd sang for Reigns, Rollins was next to enter the proceedings. Rollins said that he and Reigns accomplished their “mission”, but Reigns would not have had any of it. Rollins put Reigns on full blast for letting the “snake”, CM Punk into the garden and that it was left on him to clean up the mess again. This brought out Punk not long after. Punk took his time to look for something in the contract, that something being that the triple threat match being the closing match for one of the WrestleMania 41 nights. Rollins threw a temper tantrum at this news due to his claims that Punk didn’t deserve to main event WrestleMania. The show went off the air with Reigns demanding that Punk acknowledge him for geting him this main event. Punk thanked him, but he said that was not the favor Paul Heyman owed him.
Notes
Bret Hart vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13 was announced as the first match to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Another spooky teaser that may or may not be for the returning Aleister Black was shown, with “IV XXV” briefly flashing on the screen.
A lightning-filled teaser for Rey Fenix was shown, finally revealing that he’ll be debuting next week. on SmackDown.
Next Week on SmackDown: B-Fab versus Naomi, plus the debut of Rey Fenix.
The following are live spoilers for Friday’s WWE SmackDown which is taking place live from Bologna, Italy, and airing live on Netflix throughout the world with the exception of the U.S.
The show will air in the U.S. at 8 PM Eastern on USA per usual with our usual detailed live coverage.
This post will be updated as the show progresses.
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The show opened with separate shots of Jade Cargill, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, Braun Strowman, the New Bloodline, and CM Punk entering the arena.
Randy Orton kicked off SmackDown as the Bologna crowd loudly sang his theme. Before Orton could say anything, Kevin Owens interrupted and blamed Cody Rhodes for his actions towards Orton. Owens claimed that he saved Carmelo Hayes because he didn’t want Orton to go back to being the Legend Killer. Orton refused to accept Owens’ apology and offer to vie for the WWE Tag Titles at WrestleMania 41, instead challenging him to a match. Orton promised to kick Owens’ head “off his freakin’ shoulders” in Las Vegas.
Drew McIntyre & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest & Jimmy Uso was the first match of the night. Priest and Uso got the victory after the former hit South of Heaven on Nakamura. After the match, McIntyre attacked Priest, as he laid him out with a Claymore kick.
LA Knight and Braun Strowman talked backstage, with Strowman calling his shot for the US Title once he took care of Jacob Fatu tonight.
Tiffany Stratton & Charlotte Flair had a split-screen interview with the commentary team. Flair said that she chose Stratton as her WrestleMania opponent because she felt sorry for her. Stratton told Flair that she finds the hottest thing and throws water on it, before she said that she’d see Flair at WrestleMania to conclude the interview.
Jacob Fatu vs. Braun Strowman was our second match tonight, with the winner earning a U.S. Title shot on next week’s SmackDown. The match ended in a disqualification win for Strowman after Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga attacked, which seemed to anger Fatu a bit. LA Knight ran in for the save to help Strowman clear the ring of the New Bloodline.
Backstage, Fatu blew a gasket over Sikoa causing the DQ in his match, warning that Sikoa better “watch it”.
Piper Niven defeated Zelina Vega via pinfall with a running crossbody after Alba Fyre & Women’s U.S. Champion Chelsea Green provided enough of a distraction for Niven to take advantage of.
A recap of John Cena’s venomous, hate-filled heel promo and Cody Rhodes responding to him on this past Monday’s Raw was shown.
Liv Morgan defeated Jade Cargill via pinfall with ObLIVion after Naomi interfered and blasted Cargill with one of the Women’s Championship title belts. Post-match, Naomi continued her assault on Cargill, ending with a forceful shove from the apron into the commentary table. The match itself was fantastic.
Drew McIntyre was asked about why he kept targeting Damian Priest with his ambushes in the past two weeks. As he was about to leave, he was confronted by Seth Rollins.
New WWE Tag Team Champions the Street Profits entered the ring to the theme they formerly used as part of The Pride with Bobby Lashley. They celebrated their victory from last week in a promo before they were interrupted by Legado Del Fantasma. Santos Escobar said that Angel and Berto were ready to challenge for the belts as they were then interrupted by Pretty Deadly, the official number one contenders for the Tag Titles. As Legado and Pretty Deadly bickered, Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford threw down the gauntlet against LDF and and wanted the smoke.
The Street Profits (Dawkins & Ford) defeatedLegado Del Fantasma (Angel & Berto) via pinfall after Ford landed his Frog Splash on Angel to pick up the win in this impromptu tag match. One noteworthy spot saw Ford land on his feet after Angel and Berto attempted a double team suplex from the top rope, much to their incredulous reaction.
Pretty Deadly were confronted backstage by #DIY, who tried to broker a deal with the duo of Elton Prince and Kit Wilson to “help” them next week in their Tag Title match next week. Pretty Deadly responded with an emphatic “no, boys” to Gargano & Ciampa. After Pretty Deadly left, the Motor City Machine Guns mocked #DIY for their bad fortunes.
Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins’ confrontation closed out the night. Reigns was first to enter, as he talked about what was on his mind with what Punk and Rollins tried to do him. He challenged someone to step up to him, which brought Rollins out to a loud reaction. Rollins read Reigns the riot act for not letting him finish Punk off when he had the chance. Punk himself soon joined the fray. He brought up the favor that Paul Heyman owed him from last year’s WarGames. Punk struck Reigns from behind with the microphone as Rollins entered the scuffle. The corps of referees, road agents, and security ran in to separate the three from one another. At ringside, Reigns took out both Punk and Rollins with the steel steps. SmackDown ended with the brawl between Reigns, Rollins, and Punk still very much in progress and the three making it clear they want to fight one another at WrestleMania 41.
Notes
Orton namedropped Italian football legend Roberto Baggio during his promo, mentioning that he was going to punt Owens’ head as hard as Baggio’s kicks.
Italian rapper Anna was shown in the crowd during a segment on the show.
Match made official for WrestleMania 41: Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
Another “4” teaser with white smoke, the number “3”, and quick flashes of someone was shown, again seeming like a tease for a returning Aleister/Malakai Black.
We got another apparent teaser for Rey Fenix, this time giving us somewhat a bit of a clearer shot of him.
Matches for next week’s SmackDown: LA Knight vs. Braun Strowman (US Championship match), Pretty Deadly vs. Street Profits (WWE Tag Team Championship match)
WWE kicked off their extensive European tour in Barcelona, Spain, Friday with SmackDown from Olimpic Arena.
The show is airing live on Netflix for international viewers while U.S. viewers will have to wait until 8 PM Eastern on USA in its usual time slot.
Here are the spoilers for tonight’s show with our usual coverage coming tonight.
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Gunther, Randy Orton and his wife, and Paul Heyman were all shown entering the building in separate clips.
New U.S. Champion LA Knight opened the show putting over the first SmackDown in Barcelona. Jimmy Uso interrupted him and said his only path to WrestleMania was challenging for the title. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga) then interrupted them with Sikoa claiming Fatu should get the shot instead. A brawl broke out and Braun Strowman ran out to even the odds, leading to an impromptu trios match.
LA Knight, Jimmy Uso & Braun Strowman defeated The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga). Sikoa and Fatu both attacked Strowman afterward with Fatu leaving him laying after several moonsaults and driving him through the barricade.
A Triple H WWE Hall of Fame vignette aired.
In an interview taped before the show in the empty arena, Jade Cargill was interviewed by Cathy Kelley about the Naomi car incident. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez interrupted and insulted Cargill, leading to Cargill vs. Morgan being made for next week.
Charlotte Flair defeated B-Fab. Afterward, Tiffany Stratton and Flair had a brawl that had to be broken up by security but lasted into the beginning of the next segment which included a Stratton dive from from above the videoboard.
A Drew McIntyre promo aired where he is targeting Damian Priest.
Cody Rhodes joined Miz TV where The Miz cut off Rhodes’ entrance to get to the tough questions. Rhodes laid out Miz and said he only wanted to talk with John Cena and hoped to do so this Monday at Raw in Belgium.
Damian Priest defeated Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ. This was made after a backstage issue between Nakamura and Priest as Priest was looking for Drew McIntyre and Nakamura was asking for a title rematch against LA Knight. McIntyre attacked Priest for the DQ and both he and Nakamura left Priest laying.
Women’s U.S. Champion Chelsea Green was with Piper Niven and Alba Fyre when Zelina Vega challenged Green for a title match. Niven said she’d have to go through her first so Vega agreed to do that next week and then, it was onto Green.
Randy Orton defeated Carmelo Hayes. After hitting another RKO post-match, Orton went to punt Hayes but Kevin Owens ran in to attack Orton before running away.
Jacob Fatu vs. Braun Strowman II is set for next week.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther defeated Axiom
Paul Heyman came out for an in-ring promo, saying it was “Roman Reigns Day,” insulting Seth Rollins and that next week, Reigns would be on SmackDown and if anyone had an issue, they could say it to Reigns’ face.
Legado Del Fantasma wished the Street Profits luck ahead of their title match tonight.
Gunther talked with Jimmy Uso in hopes of getting Jey Uso to withdraw from their title match at WrestleMania. Jimmy said they will be yeeting when Jey gets the title at WrestleMania.
The Street Profits defeated The Motor City Machine Guns for the WWE Tag Team titles
Notes:
This was Flair’s first singles match since December 2023.
The following are spoilers for the Friday, November 1 WWE SmackDown.
With the crew traveling to Saudi Arabia for next Saturday’s Crown Jewel PLE, next week’s episode was taped Friday night, October 25 in Brooklyn, New York at Barclays Center.
WWE SmackDown spoilers for the Friday, November 1 episode —
The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince)
IYO SKY won a four-way over Bianca Belair, Lash Legend, and Piper Niven
A face-to-face segment featuring WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax and Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan ended with Tiffany Stratton attacking Morgan.
Morgan defeated Stratton. Jax attacked Morgan after the match.
Bayley & Naomi defeated Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell
The Usos and Roman Reigns got on the same page in an in-ring promo segment. They seemed to reference a new match for Crown Jewel with Reigns & The Usos vs. The Bloodline.
Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton defeated Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser
Dark match: Seth Rollins defeated Dominik Mysterio
WWE Tag Team title number one contender’s gauntlet match: Street Profits vs. Apollo Crews & Baron Corbin vs. The Bloodline (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) vs. Pretty Deadly vs. The OC
LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
Bayley & Michin vs. Tiffany Stratton & Nia Jax
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Spoilers for the Friday, July 26 WWE SmackDown —
LA Knight defeated Santos Escobar — United States Champion & Knight’s SummerSlam opponent Logan Paul attacked Knight.
A-Town Down Under’s Grayson Waller & Austin Theory had an in-ring promo segment with boxer Terence Crawford. Crawford knocked out Theory.
Queen of the Ring Nia Jax & Money in the Bank winner Tiffany Stratton defeated WWE Women’s Champion Bayley & Michin
The Bloodline won a gauntlet match to become number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team titles in a bout also featuring The Street Profits, Legado Del Fantasma, The OC, Baron Corbin & Apollo Crews, and Pretty Deadly.
After being taped in Manchester, England on Friday, this week’s episode of Raw will air on the USA Network tonight.
WWE is advertising that Seth Rollins’ partners for Survivor Series will be revealed on the show. Rollins has been announced as the first member of Team Raw for their match against Team SmackDown and Team NXT at the pay-per-view.
– Vic Joseph and Jerry Lawler were the announce team for the show.
– Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane defeated Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair
The finish saw Lynch distracted and pinned by Asuka after Shayna Baszler came out of the crowd and was attacked by Bayley. Bayley attacked Lynch after the match.
Bayley was not over as a heel at all. The crowd loudly sang the Hey Bayley song.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Sin Cara
Carolina wasn’t with Sin Cara here.
– R-Truth vs. The Singh Brothers (24/7 Champion Samir Singh & Sunil Singh) ended when Truth chased the Singhs to the back
The crowd hated this and booed. Nothing backstage was shown on the screen.
– Seth Rollins came out for a promo and was booed out of the building. He issued an open challenge, which was accepted by WALTER.
– Seth Rollins defeated WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER by DQ
The disqualification came when Imperium interfered. Very disappointing. There were loud WALTER chants, but he didn’t get a chance to show much. The Street Profits and Kevin Owens ran in for the save and this turned into an eight-man tag.
– Seth Rollins, The Street Profits & Kevin Owens defeated Imperium (WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER, Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner & Alexander Wolfe)
Fun match. The crowd was very into it and Owens was the most over. Montez Ford over-hit a flip dive to the outside and nearly overshot the announce desk and almost landed on his head in a scary spot.
Rollins pinned Wolfe after Owens hit a stunner. Huge pop.
– A backstage segment saw Randy Orton agree to team with Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo to face The O.C. That came after The O.C. were making fun of Ricochet and Carrillo.
– Andrade defeated Cedric Alexander
– Lana came out for an interview. The crowd absolutely hated this segment. She claimed that she first had sex with Bobby Lashley seven weeks ago but has now discovered she is nine weeks pregnant. The father is Rusev, and she isn’t happy about this.
Rusev came out and wanted an explanation. The crowd chanted “Daddy’s home.” Lashley came out, attacked Rusev, and left him laying. The crowd booed and chanted “boring.” This segment will need major sound sweetening.
– Erick Rowan defeated Soner Durson
This was a quick squash. Rowan came to the ring with a mystery burlap bag and gave it to the announcers to look after.
– Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders defeated Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster
Quick match. The Brits got some offense in and the chance to show off their high-flying moves.
– Ricochet, Humberto Carrillo & Randy Orton defeated The O.C. (United States Champion AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)
The crowd was dead. Good match. Orton didn’t get along with Ricochet and teased giving him the RKO. Instead, he gave it to Styles and Carrillo moonsaulted Styles for the pin.
