Ron Killings attacked John Cena to close the opening segment of "WWE SmackDown" after promos from Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and LA Knight.
Cena started the show to unfold his master plan for his 2025 retirement run, reasoning that he knew even if he couldn't win the Royal Rumble he would be able to leverage a position in the Elimination Chamber as he did. He said that then he knew that Seth Rollins and CM Punk would cost one another, handing him an "easy victory," and then because Rhodes was focused on The Rock he knew he would only win if he became an unpredictable challenger; he also said he knew Rhodes would want to be the adored babyface at WrestleMania 41, opening his route to claim the 17th WWE Championship.
Rhodes then made his entrance, calling into question the fact that Cena omitted his own pinfall loss to Rhodes at Money in the Bank. But before he could get an answer on their ongoing saga, Orton made his entrance and added that he had Cena visually beat at Backlash; he went on to warn Rhodes that, with their journeys in the King of the Ring tournament set to begin, if he has to go through him to get to the 15th World title then he will. Knight then came out to cut his own promo ahead of his match also involving Orton, Carmelo Hayes, and Aleister Black as Cena decided to take his leave. But before he could exit, he was attacked by Ron Killings on the ramp before officials broke them apart. Killings made his return to the company at Money in the Bank, costing Cena and Logan Paul their tag match against Rhodes and Jey Uso.
