Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that's honestly pretty hard to watch immediately after WWE fires a bunch of people. Sorry for those who don't like it, but that's how it is, and we are definitely going to talk about it here in this column, so as some would say, proceed with caution!
If you prefer to just read what happened on the blue brand Friday night without getting into any of the firing stuff, feel free to check out our "SmackDown" results page. If you're interested in what the WINC staff actually thought about the show, from Jacob Fatu's Backlash title defense to Naomi raising the women's title high as we faded to black, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 5/2/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
Tonight's show was largely overshadowed by the news of talent cuts that started to come out right before "SmackDown" went on the air. WWE is well-known these days for releasing stars while the blue brand is live, but today, news started to leak out a bit sooner, completely distracting me, and I'm sure a lot of other people. Back in my days in local news, we called this a stereotypical "Friday News Dump." WWE can go off into their weekend without worrying, though they don't even release this news themselves anymore in the post-pandemic world. Officials there can also hope that the news blows over, over the weekend, but that's not likely with the IWC. And, honestly, it shouldn't just blow over, because a lot of these releases are upsetting.
There wasn't anything big enough on this show tonight to distract from the releases, so I'm sure a lot of people were sat scrolling and interacting on social media or even watching various livestreams of coverage, anxiously awaiting if their favorite star or someone they were rooting for would be let go. Tonight's advertised main event ended up happening first on the show and the actual main event was a thrown-together "Can They Coexist?!" tag team match.
While I'd bet a good majority of the creative team, the writers at least, didn't know that releases were happening to plan around, "SmackDown" was just not a good show tonight overall. A few of us here also realized that WWE didn't happen to release any "SmackDown" stars tonight, just "Raw" and "NXT" talents, so it makes me nervous moving forward into the weekend. Hopefully WWE is done releasing people and everyone who has been let go is able to get back on their feet and accomplish everything else they want to do.
Written by DaisyRuth
For much of the beginning of this year, the United States title seemed to fall idle around the waists of Shinsuke Nakamura and LA Knight, running a seemingly perpetual cycle of back-and-forth booking.As someone who really enjoys the work of Jacob Fatu, it certainly feels like that has changed since he has entered the fold and taken the title, bringing a bit more activity to the role and attracting several top-bracket challengers.
For while there is the looming and seemingly inevitable break-up between Fatu and Solo Sikoa, Backlash will play host to what's sure to be a chaotic four-way between "The Samoan Werewolf," Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest, and Knight. Has it been built in the best way? Not really. But it can't be ignored that the competitors in the match communicates a sense of legitimacy to the title, because none of those names would truly look out of place if this was a WWE World title match.
The way it was presented during "SmackDown" ticked all of the boxes too, with Sikoa playing the silver tongue and trying to ensure Fatu had a singles match against McIntyre. Alas, Nick Aldis raised the stakes then and there by including Priest and Knight in the match, much to the displeasure of Sikoa. Fatu did what was expected of him by now, welcoming the challenge of all of them, but after he walked off Sikoa turned and accused Aldis of trying to screw him over. Aldis replied simply, "No, you are." It's not yet clear what it is Sikoa is planning for Fatu, and whether it has something to do with McIntyre considering he wanted him to get the match. But at the same time it is really refreshing to have subplots developing around the United States title and giving it a bit of credibility.
Written by Max Everett
High flying, fast paced, and good in-ring chemistry between opponents? You can't really ask for much more in a match and if you need any proof of this in living color, then look no further than the contest between Pretty Deadly and Fraxiom.
Considering that there wasn't really any sort of major storyline heading into this bout and it seemed primarily like a way for WWE to give another win to Nathan Frazer and Axiom as they continue to establish them as a tag team on "SmackDown", the two men, Elton Prince, and Kit Wilson put on a banger with one another. All four men took advantage of the television time that they were given to put on a match that will linger in the minds of fans for quite a while, and proved that storylines aren't always necessary to gain the investment of the fans into what's going on between the ropes. It was a reminder of just how good the tag team division on "SmackDown" actually is right now, and proved that Frazer and Axiom will have no trouble fitting in with everyone else currently part of it.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
I'll start off by saying I'm glad that Aleister Black and Carmelo Hayes at least had a little stare down in the middle of the ring after this match, but I just don't think that making Black face The Miz of all people in his big return match was necessarily the right call. I was confused by this last week and really didn't like that Black's re-debut in WWE was just to interrupt Miz's whiny promo about being overlooked and not being on the WrestleMania card, and I was disappointed when this match was announced.
There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with the match and Miz is always a good, safe worker in the ring, but something just feels off about this. I don't think I necessarily saw Black in the main event scene or anything immediately, but maybe in the United States Championship scene or somewhere adjacent? Icertainly didn't see him debuting toward the bottom of the mid-card against The Miz. His debut was hyped up with various video teasers and was set and even revealed ahead of time for the "SmackDown" after WrestleMania, which should have been a big show, but for me, his entire debut, from his first appearance to his first match, has fallen flat.
My biggest issue with this stems from the fact I absolutely hate Carmelo Hayes being paired up with Miz. But, if that has to be so, why wasn't Hayes Black's first opponent during his comeback? Miz would have worked better on the sideline for this one to let Hayes' star shine against Black. With three hours of "SmackDown," something I'll never stop complaining about, this just didn't feel big or exciting. Nothing really did this week, and I'm sure that's largely due to the near-constant news of talent cuts throughout the show, but I find myself already not caring about Black. Which, could be an issue with him, if he takes being underutilized as personally as reports often say.
Written by Daisy Ruth
On a night where there were several women from the midcard scene on the main roster released from their WWE contracts, Zelina Vega and Piper Niven proved just how important it is to actually have a midcard in the women's division rather than solely focus on the main event scene and top titles.
On a 3 hour show that was relatively stale, unexciting, and boring, this match was a refreshing change of pace. Not only was it a fun watch, but it also utilized the miscommunication trope of wrestling in an effective way and didn't overdo it with interference from Chelsea Green or Alba Fyre on the outside. Green also brought a comedic element to the match as she mourned her title on the outside, but still managed to not overdo it or take away from what was going on inside the ring. The match also worked to keep Vega looking strong as Women's United States Champion, a point that becomes all the more prevalent when you consider that she's only held the title for about a week.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
I liked a lot of what I saw from the top of "SmackDown's" women's division Friday night. TiffanyStratton is rolling with renewed confidence after mic-dueling Charlotte Flair for two months and then somehow beating her at WrestleMania, making this the perfect time to finally finish off her feud with Nia Jax with a decisive Stratton victory. Naomi, meanwhile, continues to do the absolute best work of her career on the mic, while Jade Cargill is basically back to feeling like the big deal she felt like this time last year. All the pieces seem to be in place which is why I am very confused about how WWE is assembling the puzzle.
It was bad enough when the promo segment between the four women ended Teddy Long style when Nick Aldis stuck them in a tag team match. That's lazy booking, but hardly inoffensive. Things got weird, however, when it was randomly announced ahead of the tag match that next week's episode would feature Cargill vs. Jax in a No. 1 contender's match for Stratton's title. Naomi just ... not involved, apparently.And yes, Naomi stood tall at the end of "SmackDown" so I assume she'll be involved somehow, but doing it this way only telegraphs that to the point of absurdity and if she'snot involved, that's even weirder, because then why is she part of this storyline? Naomi didn't even get pinned by Cargill in the tag match, Jax did (not that it mattered, since the No. 1 contender's match was announced before the tag match, but still). It's an utterly bizarre way to set up what's presumably either a three-way contender's match or a four-way for the title, or it's just throwing Naomi in for no reason either way, it's garbage writing. Naomi has been the best part of this entire division since her heel turn; leaving her out of the No. 1 contender's match is disrespectful regardless of any (purely theoretical and probably still bad) narrative reasoning.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
