WWE Friday Night Smackdown #1325 (January 10th, 2025) Review

A historic Smackdown episode. The first one that I get to watch on Netflix, as I live abroad in Europe. A very nice and convenient way to enjoy it, even if it being 3 hours now is a challenge. I watch so much wrestling that having to add another hour for this to keep up with the biggest and best promotion is difficult.

We open the show with our new commentary team of Joe Tessatore and Wade Barrett, who I am certain will be an incredible duo. Two of the best voices in WWE commentary history. We get quick shots of United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura walking in as well as the brand new WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton. We finish with Paul Heyman approaching the curtain before we got to a rather lengthy video package recapping the historic episode of Monday Night Raw debuting live on Netflix. The video package did a great job of making the show feel so much bigger and better than it really was. WWE really is the best when it comes to packages like that, so I guess it was bound to happen.

Once the video ends on Roman Reigns reclaiming his ula fala, we go to Paul Heyman already in the ring ready to cut a promo. One full of vigor and passion that I feel has been lacking from him in a few months. A great return to form. Full of nostalgic euphoria with Roman back "on top" and Heyman hyping him up.

But there was something that I was not expecting from this segment.

Paul Heyman asked WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to come out to the ring.

Cody does so and the crowd response just reminds me how insanely popular he is. It boggles my mind that a babyface can be this likeable and popular despite not changing too much about him for so long. The fans have not turned on him at ALL, even in his feuds with AJ Styles or Kevin Owens, where it felt like that was highly possible.

Heyman gives flowers to Cody, telling him how great of a champion he has been. How great of a face of the company he has been.

But then, we get the interesting part.

Paul Heyman said that Roman Reigns will be coming for his championship back after reclaiming his place as Tribal Chief. But then, it gets even more interesting.

Roman Reigns is in the 2025 Men's Royal Rumble match.

We so far only know of Roman and John Cena being in the match, which has already made it one of the biggest and most important ones ever. A true sign of how these next few months until Wrestlemania are going to be the most important ones in company history.

Before Cody Rhodes can speak, he is interrupted by Kevin Owens in the crowd (wearing a shirt that reads "Kevin is Right") and talking about Cody being a hypocrite basically.

Owens going after Cody for seeming to forgive The Rock for everything he did to him last year. Kevin pushing his buttons over and over again, leading to Cody snapping and going into the crowd for a brawl on the steps in front of the fans.

Once Cody was gone, Paul turned around to see Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu in the ring. He looked like he saw a ghost, afraid that he was going to be laid out once again. Jimmy Uso comes down to make the save for Paul, managing to lay out both men on his own which was a little strange to me. He grabs a chair and keeps laying them out, but Jacob no seels a steel chair shot and takes out Jimmy. Jacob really is a future star and one of the best people on the entire roster in terms of aura and badass factor.

Cody comes back in through the crowd while Jacob Fatu takes out security and Tama Tonga keeps attacking Jimmy. We get a staredown between Cody and Jacob, with the crowd not going as wild as I would've thought.

Cody sends Jacob out of the ring and the segment ends.

A hot way to start off Smackdown that ran a little too long for me, but I guess they have to fill time somehow.

Back from commerical we see shouting and fighting between Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu fighting with security before LA Knight appeared and sent them through the exit.

Match 1: WWE Women's United States Championship Match

Chelsea Green (Champion) vs Mia Yim (Challenger)

We then go the ring, "Michin" Mia Yim already in the ring preparing for her Women's United States Championship match.

The Champion Chelsea Green comes out with her muscle Piper Niven. The crowd is a little quiet, which surprised me. Mia Yim is incredibly talented and doesn't get the respect she deserves, while Chelsea is one of the best and most popular women on the entire WWE roster with Piper being a big part of that.

Mia Yim (I refuse to call her Michin) was a bit dominant in the beginning. The crowd was very quiet starting off, not even lighting up when Mia did the tarantula or Chelsea did her schtick.

A rough looking move into the ropes still got no reaction. Not even a throw into the barricade. They barely lit up when Chelsea and Piper posed for a second, but then it just lead into their typical match. Nothing overly spectacular or special.

It really was a shame though that the crowd was unresponsive. Mia Yim began to make a comeback that got some noises from the crowd, but even the counting along with the pinfalls was barely registering.

Chelsea continues to be gold character wise, and Mia continues to wrestle incredibly consistently at a high level.

Mia laid out Piper at ringside, which was what made the crowd light up more before going quiet again. Mia then hits a big Diving Crossbody, but Chelsea rolled through and grabbed the trunks to get extra leverage and win. Mia tried to get her hands on Chelsea, leading to Piper getting in the ring and beating her down (while looking fabulous in her sparkly suit), but it was over in like 10 seconds.

I could see them having a rematch, perhaps at the next Saturday Night's Main Event perhaps in a gimmick match of some kind. They have great chemistry together, no matter what the crowd thinks about that.

Result: Chelsea Green pinned Mia Yim to retain the WWE Women's United States Championship

Star Rating: 2.75/5 Stars

We get a quick recap over the tag team division chaos from last week, which I thought was so incredibly well done. We see Los Garzas, Pretty Deadly, Motor City Machine Guns, and A-Town Down Under all come in and complain for opportunities. WWE has not always treated the division super well, but this segment seemed to put a renewed focus on it in a great way. We get two matches made for later in the night, one of which we go to straight away.

Match 2: Tag Team Match)

Los Garzas (Angel and Berto) vs Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson)

We get the entrance of Los Garzas first, accompanied by their Legado Del Fantasma mates in Santoes Escobar and Elektra Lopez. After commercial, we go to the ring to see Pretty Deadly in the ring with a giant disco ball above the ring in a great visual.

The fighting starts before the bell even rings, geting a little messy with what seemed to be a mistimed or poorly communicated dive, leading to only Berto diving for both but only hitting one while Garza gets on the apron and starts to go for a kick, but then stops. The match starts off with Los Garzas dominating the first bit. Angel wrestles a while wearing a t-shirt, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. If a wrestler doesn't normally wrestle with a shirt on and then does, it makes the match not feel as important. Like a house show match, which is just a term that means not important, un-televised matches that are just to keep the wrestlers active and limber.

Elton Prince got a blind tag and did a pretty nasty neckbreaker to Berto on the ropes, causing him to fully flip and fall to the outside.

We come back to commercial with Pretty Deadly having the advantage, beating down on Berto while Angel (who finally removed his shirt!) is trying to get back in the match.

The crowd was even more quiet for this match than the Yim vs Green match, which has me really worried for this show.

Angel gets the hot tag, and hits some backbreakers. Some whistles come from the crowd and there's some cheers when Garza hits a Crossbody off the top rope, but they still aren't overly hot. Even watching the crowd, most of them are motionless.

Angel rips off his pants to reveal trunks, something he did before WWE and in NXT that he hasn't done in a while, so I'm very happy to have it come back. Keeps him unique and special. Pretty Deadly try to call for DIY to help them after they "helped" DIY last week retain their Tag Team Championships. But then Santos Escobar and Elektra Lopez get involved in the match, helping Pretty Deadly win which made me wonder...who were we supposed to cheer? Both teams are villains and both were cheating. Los Garzas wrestled as faces for a good part of the match, but then cheated to win. The Smackdown Tag Division especially needs more face teams. Right now they really only have the Machine Guns, Street Profits (who are sort of tweeners at this point) and I guess The OG Bloodline, but even then they're split across brands.

Result: Los Garzas pinned Pretty Deadly

Rating: 2/5 Stars

We then go very quickly into our next match.

Match 3: WWE United States Championship Match

LA Knight (Challenger) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (Champion)

Knight came out to a loud reaction, which was good from the crowd to do. It wasn't as loud as past reactions for Knight, but I'm not going to fully blame them for that one. Since losing the United States title, which I totally thought was the right decision, he has sort of become an afterthought.

His opponent, the very man who beat him for he US title back at Survivor Series 2024, makes his entrance next. The new presentation for Nakamura with the awesome music, the new samurai attire, the blood red moon, and all the fog and darkness is incredible. While I don't think WWE will ever be able to match the presentation or aura of New Japan Shinsuke, this is the best they've done since he arrived in WWE (with the only exception perhaps being his NXT debut) and it really has done so much to restore the feeling and faith in him being pushed. While sure, Nakamura isn't the 5 star machine he used to be in his prime, he can still go when he wants to or is allowed to. His matches with Andrade as well as his Pro Wrestling NOAH appearance have clearly proven that.

This match though felt relatively slow. The crowd finally lit up for something, primarily because of it being LA Knight. There were nothing overly bad about it, just felt like they weren't fighting it out with everything they had. Making it quite obvious from the get go that there was going to be either a screwy finish, or that this was a rivalry that was nowhere near over. Knight dominated for a good stretch, repeatedly sending Nakamura to the floor and just beating him up until Nakamura sent him into the ring post.

The match continues and it just felt like going through the motions. I got easily distracted while watching the match, as it didn't feel all that special or important. There is a moment with an exposed turnbuckle almost being used but avoided, which was a good part of the story of the match. Nakamura hits a nice Sliding German Suplex in the ropes, but then takes forever to recover and climb the top rope. It could just be selling, but it made him look bad rather than Knight good. Knight then jumped to the top rope for a Superplex, which is something he has about a 50% success rate with, so it was great to see him nail it with absolute perfection this time.

Knight locks in a cool looking Boston Crab variation, but Nakamura is able to get to the ropes. Both men seem so blown up struggling to keep up, even though Nakamura does do a really cool reversal into an Armbar that almost leads to a pin. A nice kick to the head followed by going for a Kinshasa, but Knight catches him for a roll up, but there is some nasty, sloppy miscommunication for a bit. Neither of them know what to do until Nakamura just kicks him in the head and then hits a Kinshasa straight to the face. Knight gets his foot on the rope during the pinfall, keeping the match going.

I don't want to call this match a wreck or anything, but it is such a mess. Slow, boring, sloppy, lack of drama.

Nakamura tries to use the exposed turnbuckle to hit a vicious Kinshasa, but Knight reverses and plants him with BFT.

And then...

Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga run down to the ring and attack LA Knight for what he did to them earlier in the night.

Result: LA Knight def. Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ (championships due not change hands on dqs)

Star Ratng: 2/5 Stars

Tonga and Fatu continue to viciously beat down Knight until Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso finally run down to make the save. There was no security coming down, which is a whatever kind of thing. I guess because of earlier in the night and what happened, but still.

The lack of Solo Sikoa honestly hurts the group a little bit. Tonga and Fatu are obviously the best parts of the group, but not having a figure head or a boss makes them just feel like random thugs.

Cody grabs a microphone and demands a tag match with them in the main event. I know some people don't like impromptu matches being announced on shows, which WWE has always been super guilty about, but I don't have problems with it so long as it makes sense and has a story behind it. This one works for me, since it wasn't really bound to end any other way.

After we get back from commercial, we are shown an incredibly well made recap video package of Tiffany Stratton using her Money in The Bank briefcase to help Nia Jax retain, only to cash in on her immediately afterwards and become the NEW WWE Women's Champion after months and months of build. The build with multiple fake outs did get a little tiring, but it paid off into one of the biggest moments of the year already in all of wrestling. A huge moment for the incredibly young but SUPER talented Tiffany becoming a major champion. A super awesome moment with a incredibly well made video to go along with it.

Match 4: Tag Team Match

Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) vs A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller)

We go back to the ring to see MCMG come out, go to commercial, and then come back to see the official announcement of Cody and Jimmy vs Tama and Jacob. Then, instead of having the match start, we then get to see A-Town Down Under's entrance. After a few moments of weird technical issues that is. Music kept playing, we stuck to one camera for a bit, and the commentary cut out.

It was really weird, but stuff like that can't really be helped all that much.

Both of these teams are incredibly talented, with the Machine Guns having the skill edge while Down Under are super charismatic and fun to watch. This was bound to be at the very least a good tag match. It maybe didn't reach great territory, but it was an enjoyable watch. A fun match with the crowd getting invested by booing A-Town Down Under and heating up for all the high spots and comebacks from the Machine Guns. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory are both people I could see being future World Champions, as they are both so incredibly young yet so talented with every aspect of pro wrestling. Sabin and Shelley are perhaps past their prime in that regard, but they continue to show why they are the most influential and important and talented tag team in the North American wrestling scene of the 2000s. I would put them on the same level, if not higher, than the Young Bucks.

We get some great tag team offense from the Guns. A pair of Kicks, a assisted dive, and a Dropkick Flatliner combo before going into a great sequence with a Theory blind tag and a lot of fun stuff with them and some misdirection.

A really fun moment full of blind tags and moves gets a great reaction, followed up by more awesome and creative teamwork from the Machine Guns.

The Machine Guns hit their finisher called Skull and Bones to get the win in a finish that came a little bit out of nowhere. The tag match was really good, even if it didn't get into absurd levels of action or drama or craziness. It was just a fundamentally good match with the right winners.

Result: Motor City Machine Guns def. A-Town Down Under

Star Rating: 4/5 Stars

We go backstage to see the WWE Tag Team Champions DIY watching on, getting upset before getting interrupted by Pretty Deadly. DIY is clearly manipulating them, using them as human shields and promising them a tag title match. It's interesting and fun to see. I am curious if they try to turn Pretty Deadly face though. Apollo Crews walked in and talked about Pretty Deadly not believing DIY, which was...sure a good use for him. Apollo is so insanely athletic and talented. I have no idea how they haven't found a place for him in like the 10 years or however long he's been in WWE.

We then cut to the former Women's Champion Nia Jax, before her partner Candice LeRae tells her that she saw Tiffany Stratton heading to the ring. Nia then says "I'll congratulate her myself."

In the ring, we get an interview with Tiffany Stratton. The crowd is red hot for her, and she cut an incredible promo that border lined on heel and face, making it interesting to see how she ultimately falls. She works best as a heel, but the crowd is in love with her.

Nia Jax interrupts and Nia swears (OH MY) and then says how she is going to get her revenge. Nia being like this makes me think that Tiffany is leaning towards face.

Nia's promo was...fine. Rather basic and cliche in a sense, and she seemed to struggle with either remembering or thinking of it on the spot because there was a good amount of dead air. It felt incredibly awkward and unplanned in a bad way. Also, the way she said "Time's up" was very strange and unnatural. Very strange.

Bayley comes out to say that she wants to take the title off of Tiffany before she gets interrupted by the Women's Tag Team Champions Naomi and Bianca Belair.

It felt incredibly obvious that they were going to build to a match to see who faces Tiffany first, but I wasn't really expecting it to be taking place the same night. Thought it would be announced for next week, but gotta fill time somehow.

The three women try to beat up on Nia Jax, but she's too big and strong and just lays them out. Tiffany then hits her Prettiest Moonsault Ever in a bit of a weird set up to take them all out, posing with her title belt until General Manager Nick Aldis comes out.

He officially announces the match, which again...should've been the next week.

Match 5: WWE Women's Championship Number One Contender's Match

Bayley vs Nia Jax vs Naomi vs Bianca Belair

The action was what it was. There is a whole lot of history between all four women, and the added wrinkle of Nia being the only heel and the dominant monster having to be teamed up on was good. The crowd was once again a little quiet. Nia showed off her power and looked great in the match, which was really needed for her. As for the other women, they looked fine. This match looked and felt like it was being wrestled at half speed. It felt slow and like every person was REALLY trying to think and communicate stuff. Sure, that's great and all to keep people safe...but it made the match look a little worse for wear.

Jax and Bayley were the most prominent pieces of the match, which was also responsible for the most impressive spot of the match with Bayley on Nia's shoulders, then getting Powerbombed by Naomi and Bianca.

We go to commercial and come back to see Nia and Naomi fighting, who I might argue have the best chemistry out of any pairs in this match.

Bianca and Bayley, who have a lot of history, start to work together to beat down on Nia, sending her out of the ring and leaving them alone to fight it out.

Bianca and Bayley had an amazing sequence that made it seem like the match could end at any moment, keeping the drama and intensity high. Nia lays them both out and Naomi hits her Split Leg Moonsault for a near fall, the crowd getting more and more invested as the match goes on with more big moments and drama coming hot and fast. Shortly after, Bayley hits a Diving Elbow but gets pulled off by Naomi. Then, right after that, Bianca hits a 450 Splash and Bayley pulls her off. All the women try to cover Nia at once, but the referee won't count it. Nia's partner Candice LeRae runs down to the ring, getting water for Nia while the other three women fight it out in the ring. Naomi and Bianca, the tag team champions, work together before they are left alone in the ring. It is clearly full of friendly respect, and the crowd goes wild, but then Bianca dives onto Bayley and Naomi onto Nia. They don't trade any blows, which the crowd seemed unsure about. They booed when Nia got the advantage for a bit before Bianca hit a Spear, but Bayley covered. Things were speeding up, but only slightly. Everyone hits their finishing moves, but the pinfalls keep getting broken up. If the match was faster and the crowd was hotter, maybe it would've meant more, but it didn't really have that much impact. The crowd was cheering all the women while they were down, but the match continued on.

Candice LeRae gets involved, leading to Bianca accidentally hitting Naomi. She gets pulled out by Nia and they take each other (and Candice) out which allows Bayley to his the Rose Plant on Naomi and get the win.

Result: Bayley pinned Naomi

Star Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

We go backstage to see Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso coming up with a game plan for their main event match. It's very quick before Carmelo Hayes walks up to talk to Jimmy, hinting at a future match or feud between them. Carmelo is so incredibly talented and charismatic, and I don't understand why he isn't already a US Champion. He is way too good to just be lingering away as a bottom of the card type guy.

We come back from commercial to find out that Bayley vs Tiffany Stratton for the Women's Championship will be next week on Smackdown. Bayley's response had a lot of stumbling and nerves, but she pulled it back together and ended on a high note. Tiffany has never beaten Bayley, which is sure to add drama and story for when Tiffany finally does beat her to retain her new championship.

Other things announced for next week are Motor City Machine Guns vs Los Garzas and Solo Sikoa's return.

Jacob Fatu cuts a promo on the way to the ring, and he is SO good. Such a massive amount of intensity and passion that just adds to his danger and awesomeness. They make their entrance to Jacob's absolutely incredibly theme song, and these two men look so dangerous and badass. They should really be the focal point of the Smackdown men's division for the future. Jacob is easily a future world champion, but Tama Tonga is up there in the upper midcard scene. I hope he isn't just relegated to tag team action with his brother forever, as he could easily be a midcard champion.

We get a quick video package building up Monday Night Raw, primarily the Women's Intercontinental Championship finals between Lyra Valkyria and Dakota Kai, as well as the street fight between Damian Priest and Finn Balor.

Jimmy Uso comes out first, getting a sizeable reaction from this overall dead crowd. Which I mean, he was followed up by Cody Rhodes who typically gets the loudest reactions of any night he's there though so...it was good.

Out of all the matches to start with a fight before the bell, I was shocked that it wasn't this one.

But we start off the match between Cody Rhodes and Tama Tonga. 2 men who, at one time, were members of Bullet Club in New Japan at the same time. They were both focal points of the Bullet Club Civil War, which was lacklustre. But many years and promotions and experience later?

They have some alright chemistry, but Jimmy comes in very quickly and immediately starts to get worked over. Jacob comes in and just punishes him. Jimmy gets like maybe 10 seconds of offense in before getting snuffed out. Jacob Fatu not selling moves is always awesome to see, but it does make it weird whenever he does actually sell. Just a weird and personal thing for me.

We come back from commercial break to The Bloodline clearly in control, sending Cody off the apron and Tama doing his hilarious noise thing that the crowd did back. Jimmy continued to get beaten down and worked over, once again a basic formula for tag matches.

Cody gets sent off the apron but doesn't take any real punishment while Jimmy keeps getting his butt whooped. Jimmy keeps kicking out to show his heart and resiliency, which is great for him.

Jimmy finally began to make a comeback, hitting a Whisper in The Wind like move (shout out to my fellow Jeff Hardy fans) and then he tags in Cody.

Cody and Tama go at it, with Cody getting the advantage and hitting a great Disaster Kick.Tama tries to get some offense in, but Cody sends Tama and Jacob to the floor before hitting a Suicide Dive onto both, standing tall with the crowd cheering him on. Even the crowd starts to chant his name as he does his Dusty punches and elbow, but Tama kicks out.

Cody almost looks too strong, able to take both men out for a while until Tama reverses a Cross Rhodes and gets a Jumping DDT in. Jimmy is barely hanging onto the apron while the action starts to build. It gets more dramatic and hot as they hit a Power and Glory, which was awesome for them to hit, but Jacob prevents the pin. Cody hits a Super Cody Cutter and Jacob rolls out of the ring, yet then tells Jimmy to dive onto him (instead of doing it himself since Jimmy is the legal man)

Kevin Owens comes down to the ring and Cody leaves the match to beat up Kevin and go backstage. Jimmy is left all on his own, hitting a Superkick and Spear before going to the top rope for an Uso Splash. He hits it, but Jacob pulls him out of the ring with some force. Jacob tags in and absolutely wrecks Jimmy before he finally takes the win.

Result: Jacob Fatu pinned Jimmy Uso

Star Rating: 4/5

After the match, Cody and Kevin fight back out into the crowd before Cody tackles Kevin off some boxes and through some tables to end the show.

This show really suffered from the crowd. They were barely making any noise no matter what. The action wasn't necessarily top notch all throughout, but it wasn't bad. The opening contest between Yim and Green was perhaps the "worst" match of the night, but it was just due to it being a little bit slow and sloppy at certain points. Nakamura and Knight had a brief moment of miscommunication, the 3 different tag matches were all varied enough to not be repetitive or boring, and it does make me feel like they will put more time and energy into the division, but the show just felt...skippable I guess.

It wasn't appointment viewing, and nothing super important happened aside from Bayley winning a decent match to be the Women's Championship challenger.

I hope that next week it gets more important and some higher drama or action with a better crowd. Not the best episode ever, but the crowd was overly harsh to it.

Overall Rating: 5/10