Friday Night SmackDown Review - December 19, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Aleister Black Attacked Damian Priest

Good lord, it's the feud that will never end. And this is coming from someone who is a fan of both guys. This has been dragged out for way too long, and I thought last week's mixed tag team win for Priest and Rhea Ripley over Black and Zelina was a fitting conclusion. Instead, Black attacked Priest again here as well as backstage. I beg of you, WWE: Do the blowoff already and move on.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Non-Title)

I understand Jax and Legend are in the process of being built up at the moment (specifically Legend), but the timing of this match was weird because we already know Kabuki Warriors will be defending the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY on the first Raw of 2026. With Jax and Legend winning here, will they challenge for the titles before then? The heel vs. heel dynamic also didn't help, but as a match, it was fine and the crowd was happy to see Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss show up afterward.

Giulia def. Alba Fyre

As I've said before, if this was the NXT UK/Kay Lee Ray version of Fyre, this would have been much more competitive. Instead, we got Giulia against the enhancement version of Fyre, and therefore we got a glorified squash from these two. I assume the idea was to give Giulia a rebound win before she challenges Chelsea Green for the Women's United States Championship, but I can hardly bring myself to care.

Nick Aldis Confronted Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

WWE replayed the cinematic video that they put up on social media earlier in the week with Rhodes attempting to attack McIntyre at his home. Personally, I thought it was a cool angle. The follow-up here was solid with Aldis telling Rhodes that he'll strip him of the Undisputed WWE Championship if he gets physical again with McIntyre before their title match, though I don't believe it was stated when that will be. Rhodes' intensity in this segment was extra appreciated since there's not a whole lot else to get excited about in this feud at this point.

Carmelo Hayes and United States Champion Ilja Dragunov def. #DIY

Hayes and Dragunov had plenty of encounters throughout 2023 in NXT, but I guess this marked the first time they've ever teamed up. They worked rather well together as partners and #DIY were obviously great opponents for them. The action was entertaining and Hayes was able to get a measure of revenge on Ciampa for costing him the United States Championship a few weeks ago by pinning him here. Apparently we're not going to get Hayes vs. The Miz after all, and I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing.

WWE Tag Team Champions The Wyatt Sicks (Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy) vs. The MFTs (JC Mateo and Tonga Loa) Ended in a No Contest

I'm not sure this was worthy of the main event slot, nor did it end up being amazing enough to justify the decision to have it go on last. This was a fairly standard tag team main event with a mundane non-finish. I understand it was designed to keep the feud going, but personally, I haven't found any of it interesting. The post-match brawl between the two groups slightly made up for it, or at least for some in attendance based on the reaction it received.

Overall Show

This show was taped either before or after Raw on Monday night, and you could tell. Not only based on the crowd's lack of energy throughout, but also in how "meh" the overall episode was. I liked Rhodes' promo, but the only real highlight of the night in my opinion was the men's tag team match. Everything else was inconsequential. Next week's Raw and SmackDown will be taped, too, so we'll see if those shows are any better.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews