Warning: The following copy has SPOILERS for WWE SmackDown (Jan 10,2025)
WWEcontinued its hot streak in Portland, OR, asWWESmackDowncontinued its road to the 2025Royal Rumble.Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes opened the show with an intense discussionabout one of the biggest events on WWE’s calendar. Chelsea Green defended her women’s United States Championship against Michin, and SmackDown’s impressive Tag division continued to gather momentum with Los Garza vs Pretty Deadly, and Motor City Machine Guns vs A-Town Down Under, making the path to DIY’s Tag Team Championship a little clearer.
In a rematch of theirSurvivor Seriesencounter, Shinsuke Nakamura and LA Knight battled for the United States Championship.Tiffany Stratton celebrated her WWE Women’s Championship victory, but not everybody was happy for the new champion. Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso joined forces to take on The Bloodline in the night’s Main Event.
WWE SmackDown Results - Jun 05, 2025
Roman Reigns Enters The 2025 Royal Rumble
It doesn’t get much bigger than Paul Heyman openingSmackDownand calling out the WWE Champion.After defeating Solo Sikoa on this week’sMonday Night Rawdebut on Netflix, The Wiseman was on hand to deliver the message to Rhodes that Reigns was coming back for “his championship”, and didn’t want to blindside Cody with his plans on how he plans to get it. It’s simple.Roman Reigns is declaring for the 2025Royal Rumbleand putting the whole roster on notice in the meantime.
AfterJohn Cena and CM Punk (unofficially) declared themselvesfor the match onRaw, the 2025 men’sRoyal Rumblematch is threatening to be one of the most stacked in history. WWE have opened with three of the biggest names in the history of wrestling entering the fray, and with the likes of Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, and Jey Uso potentially joining the party, this is a thrilling start to this year’s Rumble season and a really difficult year to predict a winner.
LA Knight Pokes The Bloodline
The Megastar was made to pay the price for interfering with The Bloodline earlier in the night, asJacob Fatu and Tama Tonga cost LA Knight the United States Championship. After a largely entertaining match, LA Knight managed to plant Shinsuke Nakamura with a BLT, but his pinfall was halted by The Bloodline. It seemed like a bold decision for Knight to remove the Samoans from the building earlier in the night, and so it came to pass. With The Show Of Shows in sight,could WWE be looking at Jacob Fatu or Solo Sikoa to be LA Knight’sWrestleManiaopponent?
Bayley Is SmackDown’s Number One Contender For The Women’s Championship
On a week that was largely aboutMonday Night Rawand its enormous Netflix viewership,SmackDownbenefitted from some great spontaneity in the Women’s Championship scene. Fresh fromTiffany Stratton’s thrilling cash-in on last week’s show, the Champion was keen to let everybody know that it is about to be Tiffy Time for the foreseeable future. It was a confident and fun promo that suggests she’s more than capable of carrying her first single’s title on the main roster.
Stratton’s Championship celebration was interrupted four times, as Nia Jax, Tag Team Champions Naomi and Bianca Belair, and Bayley took their shot at the champ, before they were all thrown into an impromptu Number One’s Contender Fatal Four Way match.Bayley picked up the win and will face Stratton in her first title defenceon next week’sSmackDown. As she pointed out, Bayley has never lost to Stratton in singles competition.
Tag Team Title Picture Gets A Little Clearer
After weeks of bickering, interference, and superstar matches,Motor City Machine Guns and Legado Del Fantasma’s Los Garza both made strong claims to be number one contendersfor the WWE Tag Team Championship. Pretty Deadly called out for DIY, hoping to capitalize on scratching the champions back in recent weeks, but their cries fell on deaf ears as Los Garza picked up the victory in their match early into the evening.
Motor City Machine Guns then defeated A-Town Down Under in a sensational match, Skull And Bones earning the veterans the pinfall. DIY were quick to dismiss Pretty Deadly backstage, and now Motor City Machine Guns vs Los Garza is set for next week’sSmackDownin a Number One Contender’s match, with The Street Profits waiting in the wings. No doubt about it, Ciampa and Gargano are wanted men.
Cody And Kevin Owens Won’t Be Stopped
Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens have decided that nothing is going to come between them, as their rivalry gets more violent and personal on the road to their Ladder Match at the upcoming Royal Rumble. Fighting on Raw, was followed by brawling in the crowd on SmackDown, and finallyKevin Owens interrupted the night’s Main Event for more action with Cody Rhodes. Rhodes would put KO through a table at the back of the arena, leaving both men writhing in pain at the end of the show. Cody remains favorite for their Rumble title encounter, but Owens’s stock (and that of the Kevin Is Right campaign) rises every time he’s given airtime.
It was a deceptively big week for WWE’s blue brand, butSmackDownput on a phenomenal show in a week where all the chatter has been aboutRaw’s Netflix debut.SmackDowncontinues to be vital WWE programming, and any notion that WWE’s programming would be all aboutRawcan be entirely dismissed. This week’s show threw up a shock women’s Fatal Four Way Number One Contender match, two title defenses, the Only Tribal Chief declaring for the Royal Rumble, sensational tag team wrestling, and an incredible spot from the WWE Champion and his Number One Contender to build towards their Royal Rumble Ladder Match to close.
WWE SmackDown!
Cast
WWE SmackDown! is an ongoing professional wrestling television program featuring superstars from the World Wrestling Entertainment’s SmackDown brand. Premiering in April 1999, the show delivers high-energy entertainment through athletic confrontations and storylines, continuing to engage audiences weekly with its dynamic presentation of wrestling talent.
