Friday Night Smackdown 6/7/2025

Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as shots of outside the Intuit Dome aired. The scene then transferred to Bakersfield, where SmackDown was happening.

Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Stephanie Vaquer, Naomi, Giulia, Roxanne Perez and all four members of the new Paul Heyman group were shown walking backstage, outside and everywhere in between. The Heyman group, led by Seth Rollins, made their way to the ring for the first segment.

The Paul Heyman group segment

Rollins soaked in the fans singing his song briefly after the four of them entered the ring. The crowd turning to barking in the key of Bron Breakker. “CM Punk!” chants then broke out. These people just could not make up their minds. Anyway, Rollins eventually just said “Bakersfield,” and ran through his introduction. Rollins said he will take everything at Money In The Bank and then have control over the entire industry. “OTC!” chants began. Rollins said Roman could hear them because he’s off on the island of irrelevancy.

Rollins said they were there to deliver a message – anyone who stands in their way will suffer the same fate as anyone who has already stood in their way. Rollins referenced Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns and CM Punk as people who stood in their way and noted how they are all out of commission. Rollins said Reigns has never cared about the fans while Rollins, indeed, has cared about the fans. Rollins said there is nobody who can stop him. On cue, Solo Sikoa’s music hit and Sikoa walked out with Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo.

Sikoa and his group took their time entering the ring. Sikoa asked Rollins about what he previously said and Rollins reiterated everything. Sikoa said if nobody was going to stop Rollins … well, Sikoa and his group were standing there and they could, in theory, stop them. Sikoa said Rollins had his own Bloodline going on. Sikoa asked if Bron was supposed to be Jey Uso and if Bronson Reed was Sami Zayn. Sikoa looked at Heyman and said, “Long time, no see.” Rollins stepped in and told Sikoa to choose his words carefully. Sikoa said he would win the MITB contract and all the power will be Sikoa’s.

Rollins called Breakker the future of the industry while Sikoa was not. Rollins said Reed could snap Sikoa with his fingers. Rollins said Sikoa’s family would rather stab him in the back than have his back and turned his attention to Fatu. Rollins said it looked like Fatu wanted to say something and Sikoa told Rollins to shut his mouth. Rollins then called Fatu “Solo’s bitch.” Rollins said it took a lot of guts for Sikoa to come out and talk to them. Rollins said he felt a little threatened by one Fatu in the ring, but it wasn’t Sikoa. Sikoa took off his suit jacket and Breakker stepped up. Fatu then stepped up to Breakker. Rollins then stepped to Fatu. The Heyman group left the ring and that ended the segment.

As Rollins and his group left, Jimmy Uso ran in and took out Sikoa and his group. Uso will face Mateo in the first match of the night.

This was fun. I was a little surprised the crowd didn’t side a little more with Sikoa and his boys because there really were a lot of layers attached to the fact that Sikoa led his people out there to confront a group put together by Paul Heyman. They only touched on it briefly, but it was enough to remind some of us that there are a lot of different ways a story like that could go. In the meantime, the Fatu/Breakker stare down was really well done and boy, it was kind of a trip to see Jonah and Jeff Cobb face off on the far side of the ring. We aren’t in New Japan anymore, Dorothy. Good stuff all around and a hot start to a go-home show that appears to have a hot crowd behind it. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Jimmy Uso vs. JC Mateo

**

Thumbs In The Middle Pointing Down

The match was joined in progress and Uso had the upper hand. Uso came off the top and hit a cross-body for a one-count. Uso came off the ropes and Mateo suplexed Uso before going to Uso’s chin and mouth. Sikoa told Uso it wasn’t too late for him to come back to Sikoa’s group. Mateo kicked Uso and slowed things down. Uso fired up, but eventually ran into a back elbow from Mateo. Mateo chopped Uso repeatedly before he ran at Uso and Uso moved, sending Mateo to the outside. Uso hit Mateo with a shoulder block through the ropes and onto the floor. Uso went to the top, but Mateo dropkicked Uso off the top and to the outside of the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Uso was rallying until Mateo clotheslined Uso and landed a standing moonsault on Uso. Mateo hit a running elbow in a corner, but Uso came back with a Samoan Drop to reset the match. Uso hit a fury of strikes on Mateo, including a step-up enziguri. Uso came off the top with an Uso In The Wind, and got a two-count out of it. Uso ran at Mateo, but Mateo caught him and hit a spinning back suplex for a nice near-fall. Mateo ran at Uso, but Uso got an elbow up and followed that with a pair of super-kicks and a spear. Uso went to the top, but Sikoa hopped up on the apron. Uso and Fatu then engaged in a stare down, btu Fatu on the apron. Mateo leapt at Uso and Uso moved, so Mateo hit Fatu off the apron. Uso rolled Mateo up for the win. After the match, Fatu left on his own while Mateo yelled at Fatu.

An OK television match (and that might even be sort of kind). Like it or don’t like it, it’s hard to deny that there was no real reason it should dragged on as long as it did – and through two commercial breaks, to boot. The long walk towards Fatu breaking out on his own continues, but this felt like a significant development because it was Mateo who was fired up after the match and it was the first real time we saw him show any type of emotion since showing up in WWE. Back to the match: Jimmy needed that win, so I’m glad he got it. On the other end of things, we can probably all agree that Mateo will survive even though he now has a loss on his WWE record. The showdown between Mateo and Fatu can’t come soon enough, though, because these Bloodline angles have no problem dragging out much longer than they actually should.

Zelina (no Vega, according to the graphic listed on the television screen) ran into Giulia backstage and told Giulia would have to pry the U.S. title from her lifeless body. Giulia said Zelina was confident and Zelina walked away while Giulia looked on.

Fatu ran into Damian Priest backstage. Priest told Fatu he’s been where Fatu currently is and he doesn’t envy that. Priest said at some point, he’ll be coming for the U.S. title. Fatu said if Priest doesn’t take care of business, Priest will be at the back of the line like everyone else.

Zelina Vega vs. Piper Niven in a Bakersfield Brawl

*3/4

Thumbs In The Middle Pointing Up

Good news. Vega got her last name back in the graphic that popped up on her way to the ring. Niven threw Vega to the mat repeatedly to begin the match. Eventually, Vega grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring and worked Niven over with it. For reasons impossible to explain, Vega threw the stick to the outside of the ring and went for a pin, but Niven kicked out right away. “We want tables!” chants inevitably began. The action spilled outside and Niven caught Vega before slamming Vega’s head down on the ede of the apron. Niven followed up with a basement cross-body against the LED screen on the side of the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and a chain had been introduced during the break. Niven choked Vega with it before kneeing Vega into the bottom turnbuckle. Niven set up a chair and attempted to slam Vega, but Vega turned it into a DDT on the chair. Niven sold it by rolling outside, where Vega hit a moonsault on everyone, including Fyre, Green and Niven. Vega went to the top, but Niven cut her off. Vega fought back and landed a Super Code Red from the top, but Fyre pulled Vega off Niven. Green then beat down Vega as Niven came to. Niven yelled for Fyre to get a table and Green and Fyre did just that.

Niven slammed Vega on the floor as her crew set up the table inside the ring. With Vega on the table, Niven went to the second rope, but Giulia appeared and attacked Green and Fyre. Giulia hit Niven with the kendo stick and Vega powerbombed Niven through the table. That was enough to get Vega the win.

After the match, Giulia entered the ring and raised Vega’s hand before, wouldn’t you know it, attacking Vega. Giulia then picked up the U.S. title and stood tall over Vega.

Vega receives slightly better responses from the live crowd each week and this was no exception. Good for her on that. This was a fairly PG brawl, as one would expect, but the final sequence with Niven going through the table looked like it might leave Niven with an ache or two tomorrow morning. I like the insertion of Giulia into the Vega/Green program and we have to think this leads to Giulia eventually holding that U.S. title, which will instantly give it some much-needed credibility. My only request? Can we get to that point sooner than later? My impatience, these days, knows no bounds.

Jey Uso was shown in the locker room and Cody Rhodes came up to talk to him. Jimmy Uso walked into the frame. Jey said they’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, after Cody and Jimmy asked Jey if he was OK.

An Aleister Black vignette aired. Black recalled how LA Knight stole his victory in the MITB qualifying match. Black said he wants to take away Knight’s security and he wants things to be Knight and Black to see what’s left of Knight. Black said if Knight beats him, he will shake Knight’s hand and admit defeat.

LA Knight vs. Aleister Black

**3/4

Thumbs In The Middle Pointing Up

Before the match, Knight obtained a microphone and held it out as the crowd chanted his name. Knight said it was that time of the year (yeah!) and it’s Money In The Bank season (yeah!). Knight said if you do a little bit of math, this is his third year in a row being in MITB. Knight asked the crowd if they thought the third time will be a charm. Knight said he’s not satisfied with that. He ran down the other participants in the ladder match, including Seth Rollins, with whom Knight noted he hasn’t had a lot of interaction. Knight said Rollins isn’t going to burn anything down because instead, Rollins will get burned by Knight. Before long, Knight capped his minutes off with the catchphrase. Mercifully, the lights went out and Black’s music hit in an attempt to move things towards actually starting the match. Before that could happen, though, the show went to a commercial break.

The two locked up when the show returned, so maybe they just stood there and looked at each other during that two-and-a-half minute commercial break? Some mysteries might never be solved. More locking-up continued all around the ring continuously until the crowd … well, the crowd never really responded to it. Black took Knight down and worked a side head-lock. Knight came back with an elbow and a vertical suplex for a one-count. Knight went for a DDT but Black didn’t comply and instead kicked Knight in the head. Knight came back with a tough clothesline that was good enough for a two-count.

Black landed a jaw-breaker and a step-up knee for a two-count. Black followed up with a snap-suplex, which was good enough for a two-count. Black landed a series of strikes, complete with a leg-sweep. Black went for a springboard move, but Knight charged Black and both wrestlers went over the top and to the outside. The show went to another commercial break as Black and Knight sold the spill.

Back to the action and Black successfully executed the springboard moonsault on Knight inside the ring. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Black went for Black Mass, but Knight ducked it and Knight hit his jumping neck-breaker into his modified powerslam. From there, it was the top-rope elbow attempt, but Black got a boot up. The two went back and forth with punches and kicks. Black went for the moonsault again, but Knight caught Black and hit a Burning Hammer. Black then rolled to the outside. Seth Rollins ran in and gave Knight the Stomp, which was enough to end the match.

Rollins set up for another Stomp, but Black stepped into the ring to stop Rollins. Breakker then showed up and speared the hell out of Black. Reed landed a Senton on Knight and then Breakker speared Knight.

I’m not a fan of the finish, but this was a good match while it lasted. In fact, it was one of Knight’s better television matches in recent memory and you have to think that as a thing or three to do with Black. Knight seemed fired up and Black got the best out of him because of it. I was wondering how they’d get out of the match because I couldn’t imagine Knight losing going into MITB, but it also seems too soon for Black to lie down. Insert Seth Rollins, and the result writes itself. The way the Rollins group is bulldozing everyone, it kind of feels like an NWO-lite feel and I like that. Oddly enough, that idea feels kind of/sort of fresh these days when it’s done right. And right now, Heyman and Rollins and their guys are doing it right.

Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce announced that next week, the King and Queen Of The Ring tournaments will begin. The winners of the tournaments will receive world title shots later at Summer Slam.

Byron Saxton interviewed Jade Cargill backstage and Saxton asked Cargill about competing in the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Cargill noted how she is the storm and she can’t wait to tear through the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Saxton asked about Bianca Belair and Cargill was going to respond, but Charlotte walked into the frame. Charlotte told Cargill there is only one queen in WWE. Tiffany Stratton then walked in and started her march to the ring for the next segment.

A Legado Del Fantasma vignette aired. They talked about competing at Worlds Collide. They put over their opponents in the six-man tag at Saturday’s event.

American Made were interviewed backstage. Chad Gable said his confident was high going into his match with Vikingo at Worlds Collide. Gable said the AAA Mega Championship will come home with him. Andrade walked into the frame and spoke to Gable in Spanish. Penta then pulled up and made fun of Gable in Spanish. Gable got angry and said El Grande will put them both through a ladder tomorrow night. Aldis showed up and made a match pitting Penta

& Andrade against the Creeds for later tonight.

The Tiffy Time segment

Tiffy said everyone on Saturday is going to try and pull a Tiffy from last year and reach for the stars. Stratton said everyone in the match is championship match is great, but after the match, whomever wins will have their world revolve around Tiffy. Tiffy asked everyone what time it was and the crowd shouted “Tiffy Time!” Rhea Ripley’s music hit and Ripley walked out. Ripley grabbed a mic once inside the ring and recalled how she’s never had to be in a MITB match before. Ripley said she knows what it feels like to be a champion and she misses that feeling. Stephanie Vaquer’s music hit and out, she came. As Vaquer made her entrance, introductions for the upcoming match was made. As such, Alexa Bliss’s music hit and Bliss made her entrance for the match as well. The show then went to a commercial break.

Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer & Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi, Giulia & Roxanne Perez

***

Thumbs Up

Vaquer and Giulia started the match and the pace was fast. They traded a bunch of pin attempts and Vaquer set up for the face-planting viral move (Devil’s Kiss), but Giulia countered and planted Vaquer. Naomi tagged in and went for Devil’s Kiss on Vaquer, but Vaquer worked out of it. Things broke down and all six women brawled, highlighted by Vaquer executing the Devil’s Kiss on Naomi. After the things settled down, Naomi and Vaquer were battling in the ring with Naomi getting the best of it, complete with the other heels interfering. Perez tagged in and worked over Vaquer until Giulia tagged in a short time later. Naomi quickly tagged in, too, and lifted Vaquer, but Vaquer worked out of it and tagged in Bliss.

Bliss whipped Naomi into a corner and then pulled her down by her hair. Bliss hit a basement dropkick on Naomi and a dive on Giulia and Naomi on the outside. Perez reinserted herself and threw Bliss into the ring steps. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Naomi was working over Bliss. Naomi ran at Bliss, but went face-first into a buckle. Still, Naomi lifted Bliss to stop a tag, until Bliss DDT’d Naomi and got the hot tag to Ripley. Perez also tagged in.

Ripley hit a fallaway slam on Perez and took out the rest of the wrestlers as the crowd chanted “Mami!” Ripley landed a Razor’s Edge on Perez. She followed up with a boot to the face, but Naomi broke up a pin attempt. The match broke down and Bliss hit Sister Abigail DDT on Giulia. Ripley then tried a RipTide on Perez, but Perez countered into a spike DDT and everyone was down. There was a chant from the crowd that forced the audio to be spotty. Perez tried to tag Naomi into the match, but Naomi left the match after hopping off the apron. The three babyfaces ganged up on Perez and Ripley hit RipTide on Perez for the win.

The match of the night so far. Perez, especially, as acclimated really well to the main roster, despite the footsie that the bookers have played with her between NXT and the main roster. Vaquer looked good, too, and better yet, it really finally feels like Giulia has arrived in WWE. Her NXT run felt a tiny bit off in a handful of ways, but something clicked in the last couple months and this feels like The Real Giulia – or at least the one we’ve come to love from her work in Japan. The Naomi wrinkle was a fun way to get to the finish and I suspect she wins the ladder match Saturday night. In the meantime, this was a very good preview for what’s on tap for this year’s women’s MITB festivities.

Sikoa was shown talking to Mateo backstage. Mateo asked Sikoa if he trusted Fatu and Sikoa said as long Fatu follows Sikoa’s lead, everything will be OK. Sikoa said Fatu loves him and Fatu isn’t “all that smart in the head.” Sikoa said all Fatu thinks about is himself and he’s “all gas and no brains.” Sikoa said he has it all under control. As Sikoa and Mateo walked away, it was revealed that Fatu was standing right around the corner, listening to all of it.

– While the Sign Of The Night stuff unfolded, a Bo Dallas/Wyatt Sicks VHS vignette cut in and aired in lieu of it. Dallas/Howdy said he’s watched the tag division and he said they returned not for nostalgia or closure, but to rip open the wound of apathy and take what they are owed. He said the time for repentance has passed and everyone needs to accept their condemnation and they will not be forgotten. The entire SmackDown tag division was shown watching the video backstage together. Montez Ford spoke up and said he knows they are all afraid and they need for forget about the tag title for one moment and instead, need to focus on the Wyatts. Fraxiom said they need to teach the Wyatts a lesson. MCMG told #DIY they want to get their hands on the Wyatts, too. Each team left the scene on their own and left Aldis alone in the room.

Penta & Andrade vs. American Made (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed)

**1/2

Thumbs Up

Penta and Andrade jumpstarted the match, landing dives on both Creeds on the outside. Andrade and Brutus started the match, but Julius ran in and Andrade took care of him, too. Andrade hit double-knees on both brothers in separate corners. Penta tagged in and took care of both Creed brothers, too. Penta did the Penta Walk, but the brothers attacked him while doing so and briefly, they took control. Penta quickly recovered and Andrade tagged in, but Julius took out Andrade’s knee. Brutus tagged in and hit a standing moonsault for a one-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Andrade was getting worked over by the brothers until he hit an enziguri on Julius and tagged in Penta, who who unleashed a fury of moves on Julius. With the ref distracted, Gable hopped onto the apron and tried to take Penta’s mask off until Vikingo ran in and took care of Gable. There was some chaos, but Penta hit the Mexican Destroyer on Brutus and got the win.

After the match, Seth Rollins’s music hit and the Heyman group came back down to ringside to face Penta and Andrade. Heyman’s group surrounded the ring and a brawl broke out between Breakker, Rollins, Reed, Penta and Andrade. The crowd booed as the heels got the best of it. Breakker landed a spear on Andrade while Reed hit a Senton on Penta. Rollins then stomped both Penta and Andrade. Reed went to the top and connected with a Tsunami on Penta. Officials ran out to help and the show went to a commercial break.

Again, I really, really, really like this Heyman group takeover stuff. That was a really nice touch to the aftermath of this match. I suspect it won’t continue without the MITB thread after this weekend, but we can appreciate it while it happens. As for the match itself, it was pretty good. I maintain that the women had the match of the night, but this had great action and the crowd was super up for Andrade and Penta, which added to the proceedings. It’s wild to me, watching Vikingo run through GCW talent only a handful of years ago, doing that 720 splash through tables near and far, grabbing a cup of coffee in AEW, and now playing a run-in role in the last match of the night on a SmackDown. This business, man. There’s nothing like it.

The show returned and Paul Heyman had a microphone and called everyone “Bakers Bitches.” Heyman said his group doesn’t fear the future because they are the future. Heyman said he didn’t understand why anyone would boo that. Heyman said Rollins already told everyone everything that would happen and all the things he said did, in fact, happen. Heyman asked if the crowd understands that Rollins and the group are “the vanguards of the destiny of WWE.” Heyman said everyone can boo all they want, but at MITB, Rollins will become Mr. Money In The Bank. Heyman said after that, whenever Rollins damn well feels like it, will propel the entire industry into a vision all of his own. Heyman said the greatest honor of his professional life will be calling Rollins the reigning, defending … and then Cody Rhodes’s music hit to cut the whole thing off.

The Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso/John Cena/Logan Paul segment

Cody stood in front of the entire Heyman group to start the segment. Rollins stepped forward. Cody stepped forward as well. Jey Uso’s music hit and Uso made his entrance through the crowd. The show went to a commercial break and when it came back, the Heyman group was out of the ring. Cody asked everyone what they wanted to talk about. Cody mentioned John Cena and the crowd launched into “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants. Cody mentioned how seeing Cena stand next to Paul is like seeing “Michael Hayes standing next to the Hardy Boyz.” The problem with the line was that nobody reacted. At all.

Jey took the microphone and everyone yeet’d, but quickly, John Cena’s music hit and Cena made his entrance to the “John Cena sucks” singalong. Cena cut his music and soaked in the chants coming from the crowd. Cody took off his suit jacket. Cena motioned for the ring announcer to reintroduce him as the greatest of all time, as he’s done in past weeks, and Mr. Nash obliged. Out of nowhere Logan Paul showed up and attacked Cdoy and Uso. Cena hit an AA on Uso. Paul landed a Paul-verizor on Cody. Paul went to the top and hit a frog splash on Cody. Paul followed up with a frog splash on Uso.

Cena grabbed a microphone and said nobody will come to save the fans or wrestling. Cena said he’s been telling everyone for half of a year – “your dream of what WWE is will be ruined. This is your future. I take this home. He takes that to the top.” Cena was talking about the championship belts. Cena said the last real champion and the moment maker, the last future face of WWE, Logan Paul … Cena didn’t add anything to that sentence and Paul and Cena held up the respective world titles. Cena rolled Cody into the ring and hit an AA on Cody. Paul rolled Uso into the ring and Paul hit Uso with his right hand.

Cena yelled “You can’t handle the truth!” It was a play on R-Truth (let’s hope, at least). Cena noted how everyone was hypocrites for chanting for “Truth.” “We want Truth” chants kept going. Cena called everyone losers and said it was his last time in Bakersfield. Cena finished by saying winners write the history books. Again, Cena and Paul held up the respective world titles. The show ended with Uso and Cody selling pain.

Good heat for the heels going into what most of us think is a throwaway tag match Saturday night at MITB. If anything, it will probably be designed to make Jey Uso take some damage going into his world title match against Gunther on Monday, but the way this episode ended, it’s hard not to imagine Cody and Jey going over. We’ll see, I suppose. The only real disappointment of the segment was the fact that it started with Cody staring down the entire Heyman group by himself, only to have the show go to a commercial break and come back without any of the Heyman group in the ring. As Keenan Thompson would say, “What up with that?” All told, it was a fine go-home show. People who expect this to be the typical SmackDown should tune in on a random Friday in July because this usually ain’t it (as the kids would say). Tonight was chaos and fun and build and heat and action. If only they could keep that up … .

Overall: Thumbs In The Middle Pointing Down