Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that actually happened way earlier in the day because that's how it goes when you're taping in Ireland!We've looked over the full broadcast (twice, for some of us) and determined our favorite and least favorite moments none of which, interestingly, involve John Cena's promo on Logan Paul or the show-closing knockout punch complete with Brock Lesnar tease. Frankly, there were just other things that caught our attention, from Piper Niven scoring a pinfall on Charlotte Flair to Randy Orton's psychotic tongue.
As always, if you just need to know the play-by-play of everything that happened on the show, be sure to check out our "SmackDown" results page. If you're after WINC's color commentary, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 8/22/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
There's a reason that Becky Lynch is known as "The Man", and if you're somehow still not convinced that she lives up to that nickname after all these years, then the promo she cut in the opening moments of this "SmackDown" was the proof in the pudding.
Was this the same kind of promo Lynch has been cutting on "Raw" for weeks on end now ragging on the fans for not appreciating her? Yes, but what made this one stand out from all of the others was just how crystal clear it was that Lynch was having the time of her life cutting this promo whilst still keeping with her current heel persona. As an audience member, you could see just how excited Lynch was to be back in Ireland and in front of her hometown Dublin crowd, making it an even better viewing experience than it otherwise would've been. Little things, such as specific references to Irish boxer Katie Taylor that the crowd would easily understand really put the promo over the top. It was super engaging to watch, a fantastic way to open the show, and set the tone for what should've followed (given that in my opinion, the rest of the show largely fell short of the bar that this promo set).
Written by Olivia Quinlan
I feel as though one of us writes this every week, but I'm just honestly so tired of Women's United States ChampionGiulia not getting the opportunity to wrestle. WWE flew her and her "representation" Kiana James, as well as Michin, out to Dublin, Ireland, to go on this tour ahead of Clash in Paris, but tonight, they were only involved in a backstage segment.
I also didn't like the fact that it will be James seemingly facing off against Michin first. James hasn't wrestled on television since June of last year, though she worked a "WWE Main Event" match against Michin. WWE had given me no indication prior to tonight that James would actually be wrestling and not just managing Giulia, so this caught me a little off guard. I'm not invested in her at all, despite knowing she was a good wrestler on "WWE NXT" prior to going down with an injury, but I am dying to see Giulia back in the ring on my television screen, so this seemed like a really odd move.
While James should have been a lot more frustrated by this fact than she was, Giulia and Michin couldn't have been less bothered. Though, neither of them have any reason to be, with Michin knowing she can beat James (she did on "Main Event" last month) and Giulia being confident as champion. This segment just didn't accomplish much.
The last time Giulia defended her title was her match against Zelina Vega on the first of the month, so she better get to defend it against Michin at Clash in Paris. I say that, because tonight, a Men's United States Championship match was set up between Solo Sikoa and challenger Sami Zayn for next week's "SmackDown" from France, so it seems highly unlikely that WWE would put the women's title on the show as well. If they're going to get James back in the ring in front of fans, while it seems weird to do so on the European tour, it's more likely that her match against Michin would be on Friday.
I'm hoping that Giulia is finally going to get a chance to shine on a premium live event and defend her gold,especially after she didn't get to work either night of SummerSlam after publicly saying she really hoped she would be on the card.Michin would be a great dance partner for her, and she also deserves a PLE match.
Written by DaisyRuth
If you look try to look up the definition of an "upset victory" in the dictionary, Piper Niven's win over Charlotte Flair just might be listed there.
Niven and Flair locked up in singles action on Friday's Dublin-based episode of "WWE SmackDown," just one week after Flair's tag team partner, Alexa Bliss, folded Niven up for a humiliating pinfall victory. Going into Friday's match, you would be forgiven if you thought this was an easy victory in the books for Flair. I mean, even before the bell rang, let's line up the accolades: Niven has some gold to her name in the form of two 24/7 Championship reigns and one decent WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but Flair? She is the most decorated female competitor in pro wrestling history. If you tuned out of this match thinking it was going to be a 5-minute episode of Flair absolutely dogwalking Niven, I wouldn't have blamed you!
Dublin might be lucky, because Niven picked up a huge win against the fourteen-time women's world titleholder Flair.
Now, the match itself nothing to write home about, but better than I was expecting for a weekly show. Flair was especially smooth in Dublin; she executed all of her highly-athletic moves with seamless effortlessness (save for that awkward Walkover Clothesline, but you can't win them all). That increased athleticism made all of Niven's moves look especially brutal. The detail of Niven's attire slowly coming disheveled was also a nice detail that sold the intensity of the match: it communicated clearly to the crowd, from ringside seats to the people in the back, that Flair was pushing Niven to the limit.
What I really liked about the match and what inspired me to pick it as my weekly "SmackDown" shoutout is the finish. Is it a bit cheap to have the heel stable run interference to get the win? Yeah, I won't even contest that. However, Chelsea Green's Secret Her-vice has been punked week in and week out, on nearly all of WWE's brands. Alba Fyre and Niven were planted by Tyra Mae Steele just recently on "NXT." The Secret Hervice (Fyre and Niven) haven't picked up a televised win since March of this year. To give one of their numbers a win on television is huge, to give Niven a win over multi-time women's world titleholder Flair on television is reason to be ecstatic. We are finally putting some respect on Green, Niven, and Fyre's in-ring work. Do I think that this is indicative of a solid, consistent push for The Secret Hervice? It is too early to say, but I think the decision to book Niven over Flair especially when it would have been so easy to put Flair over in front of an international crowd, where winners tend to be a bit more predictable is significant.
I don't know where The Secret Hervice will be one, two, three months from now. All I know is I can't (and won't) complain about a Niven victory.
Written byAngeline Phu
It doesn't really need an explanation beyond that, but since this is a column I'll expand. Last week, I wrote about WWE reuniting Miz and Melo, something no one was asking for. Something else no one asked for: Melo Don't Miz versus Motor City Machine Guns. MCMG is one of the greatest tag teams of their generation. And yet, the Dublin crowd was chanting for Miz to tag in. Over Melo. Then again, this is the same crowd that chanted "you can't wrestle" at JC Mateo (which was edited out of the version U.S. fans saw).
They are doing the trope of "Miz steals the pin from Melo and doesn't realize that his partner is mad about it." It happened the last two weeks with a slight difference tonight. Melo did confront him, so Sabin used it to his advantage, shoving Melo into Miz, who got knocked off the apron. Melo delivered a lungblower to Sabin, but Miz stole the win (and the fans cheered...). Sabin and Shelley are former "SmackDown" tag team champions, so it does lend some legitimacy. But still, Sabin getting pinned by Miz is something only WWE would do.
The ending sucked. If anything, Melo should've gotten the pin since he's the hot young star. Yes, I know it's to show the continuing discontent between Miz and Melo, but the fans have been asking for Melo to get a push for a long time. Ideally, this tag team doesn't last long and Melo breaks free. But WWE has done a terrible job booking him since his Best-of-7 series against Andrade last fall. Next week, they're facing Street Profits to determine the Number 1 contender for the tag titles. It's hard not to look at that match and think they won't put the titles on them soon.
Written bySamantha Schipman
At some point, one stage or another, Cody Rhodes is surely going to return for his revenge against Drew McIntyre, after he was put on the sidelinesindefinitelyby a Claymore kick through the announcer's table. Do we know when that will be? Nope (More on that later).
To put it bluntly, it is hard to tell a story when one of the characters is on a little unexplained absence, and that is exactly why all the credit should go to Drew "By the way I am still feuding with Cody" McIntyre. McIntyre has been the mouthpiece for us fans in the weeks that Cody has not been on TV, actively trying to hurry the along the supposed medical evaluations that are underway. And it makes sense that he would be, too, considering that, as he pointed out tonight, Rhodes being away from the ring means he cannot challenge for the WWE Championship.
McIntyre can and does talk for a living, and it's never a bad time to see his s***-eating grin followed by a message from the "Hater of the Year, Every Year." It is a shame they've gone the route of having Cody out of the picture thus far, because McIntyre vs. Rhodes is a money feud and will undoubtedly yield at least one really fun contest. But one learns to enjoy the promo segments of the "Scottish Psychopath," watching the man perform the greatest of mental gymnastics to try and somehow make his position the righteous one and sometimes, it starts to make sense.
Even with Rhodes' absence, McIntyre does at least have Randy Orton standing against him; Orton delivering an RKO 'Outta Nowhere' to McIntyre to close tonight's segment. And one is never going to complain about an Orton vs. McIntyre program either. Almost perfect, but there is still just a lingering problem...
Written byMaxEverett
...that being that Cody Rhodes is currently MIA from his own story. One might argue for good reason, given that he had his cranium kicked through the announcer's table, which would surely yield more than a little headache. But that does not change the fact that, as usual, the company has done very little to deliver any follow-up.
I am not a fan of crafting false hype for a return, and that is basically what is happening with Cody. He has been sidelined, and the company is just scrambling to find some form of update. A multi-billion dollar company, I will remind you, is struggling with coming up with an actual update on when its top champion will return. At least the UFC had an excuse, they had Jon Jones as champion, and theirs is a real competition. This is scripted. Write something in the script.DO ANYTHING.
Instead, we got Drew McIntyre asking for an update and Joe Tessitore, while running away from McIntyre, fobbing him off with, 'We're efforting.'
You're what?
Sure enough, Rhodes will return, and he will more than likely do some in some grand returning fashion. Maybe to save a certain friend who will surely face him soon. It will be a cheap pop on the night, with the fans in the building reveling at the chance to see the "American Nightmare," but what will really happen beyond that? He and McIntyre will have a match, and weeks of filler TV will be forgotten. It makes for a weekly slog when the company is clearly manufacturing surprises for future events in different venues, there is very little sustenance to occupy the hours of programming, and everything is lost in a void of formulaic patterns of booking.
Written by Max Everett
