Friday Night SmackDown Review - June 6, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Solo Sikoa, United States Champion Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo Confronted Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed Before Jimmy Uso Attacked Mateo

Both of these trios are heel, so this was a weird interaction. Don't get me wrong, it left me intrigued, but I'm not sure what it was supposed to accomplish other than hint at Rollins and Sikoa crossing paths in the men's Money in the Bank Ladder match this weekend. Uso attacking Mateo was a nice segue into their match that immediately followed this segment.

Jimmy Uso def. JC Mateo

This stemmed from Uso making the save for R-Truth last week (before WWE told him they weren't renewing his deal, mind you) from Mateo. The story is that Solo Sikoa is attempting to convince Uso to reunite with him, but tension is also being teased between Mateo and Jacob Fatu, who basically cost Mateo the win here. The match was fine and the outcome was understandable, but I don't like Mateo being beaten already, especially by Jimmy Uso of all people.

Women's United States Champion Zelina Vega def. Piper Niven in a Bakersfield Brawl (Non-Title)

I'm sure Chelsea Green would've been in there instead of Niven if she didn't legitimately break her nose at Saturday Night's Main Event. It almost doesn't matter because I'm tired of this feud regardless, yet it keeps going with the heels racking up loss after loss. I'm happy Vega is being booked strong, but her days as champ are definitely numbered. This was fun for what it was and the crowd got into it down the stretch. Giulia attacking Vega afterwards indicates their championship clash is coming on the sooner side.

LA Knight def. Aleister Black by Disqualification

This stemmed from Knight stealing the win from Black in the men's Money in the Bank qualifier two weeks ago. Both are babyfaces, so I was curious how the fans would react (as well as worried with Knight being the way more over one of the two), but this turned into a damn entertaining outing. Rollins and his crew interfering to attack both guys was fine since it protected either guy from eating the loss.

Rhea Ripley Confronted WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton

Truthfully speaking, Stratton's promo didn't serve much of a purpose, but as last year's women's Money in the Bank Ladder match winner, I guess it made sense for her to discuss this year's match. She's spinning her wheels right now until after that's over so a new number one contender can be crowned. I thought we'd get a revolving door of promos (see: Tuesday's NXT), so I'm glad it was just Ripley who exchanged words with her on the mic. I don't think that means anything for the immediate future, but it was interesting, nonetheless.

Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer and Alexa Bliss def. Roxanne Perez, Naomi and Giulia

This was quite the star-studded affair. It virtually didn't matter which team won, but they kept the pace consistent throughout and the crowd was into the action. My top takeaway was that despite being directionless at the moment, Ripley remains super over with the audience, hence was it was logical for her to pick up the victory for her team. As long as she doesn't become Ms. Money in the Bank this weekend, I'm content.

Penta and Andrade def. The Creed Brothers; Paul Heyman Addressed the Audience

Yes, this match was fairly random and only existed to kill television time, but it was a blast and the crowd was hot for it, so I can't complain too much. Penta and Andrade are two of the combatants in the men's Money in the Bank Ladder matchup, so that was the connection. Rollins emerging to lay them both out afterward felt unnecessary since he already appeared on this episode twice, but they really want to hammer home that he's a favorite to win it. Heyman's promo coming out the commercial break was whatever, but it was meant to possibly plant the seeds for something with Rollins and Cody Rhodes (whose music interrupted Heyman).

Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena and Logan Paul Attacked Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso

I was fully prepared for this to be a quick segment with most of the time being devoted to the entrances, but I was pleasantly surprised with what we got instead. The mic work from the babyfaces was solid, but the extended attack from the heels was well done. We even got to hear from Cena for a few minutes. Granted, it was more of the same from heel Cena, but it was better than nothing. This was an effective final sell for the tag team match at Money in the Bank, and the "You can't handle the truth!" line from Cena was actually excellent.

Overall Show

The three hours are brutal, but I'm going to need to accept the format as a reality since it's presumably not changing anytime soon. It felt like they loaded up this Money in the Bank go-home show and it largely delivered. There was hype for pretty much everything, we were treated to some quality wrestling, and the closing angle was what it needed to be. Yes, we got the usual attempts to kill time, but it was more bearable this week than it has been in the past.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews