Friday Night SmackDown Review - November 7, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Aleister Black and Zelina Vega Confronted Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Rhodes didn't say anything of note during his promo, but it was refreshing to see someone other than Drew McIntyre confront him (more on that later). Of course, Rhodes and Black have history from when Black debuted in AEW four years ago, and Black was never the same after that feud was over. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), none of that was mentioned here. Rather, Vega's slap to Rhodes served as a simple setup for their match in the main event.

United States Champion Ilja Dragunov def. Johnny Gargano

Tommaso Ciampa again answered Dragunov's open challenge, but Dragunov instead opted to defend against Gargano. Candice LeRae stayed at ringside, but Ciampa did not for some reason. I was hoping for an all-out banger between these two, and while this wasn't given a chance to be that, what we got was good in the time they were allotted. The United States Championship picture continues to be the saving grace of these SmackDown shows.

WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill Addressed the Audience

Well, this was short and sweet, but it's exactly how I'd like to see Cargill portrayed going forward now that she's a heel. Her squash against Tiffany Stratton at Saturday Night's Main Event was a solid start and this was another nice step in the right direction. I love that Cargill brought back her "I'm that bitch" catchphrase from her AEW days. Plus, her face-off with Charlotte Flair as she was walking up the ramp teased a future feud between them.

Nia Jax def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair

This was perhaps only marginally better than Jax's match against Alexa Bliss last week. It wasn't egregiously awful, but I can't say it was super smooth or exciting, either. The focus was primarily on Lash Legend attacking Bliss at ringside and that distraction allowing Jax to beat Flair. There have been rumors lately that Legend was main roster bound and would be teaming with Jax, so this wasn't totally shocking. I'm curious to see what she does on SmackDown once this team with Jax runs its course eventually.

AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion Chelsea Green def. Giulia to Win the Women's United States Champion

I'm sure it's happened, but I can't remember another instance in recent memory where a champion lost their title right before they broke whatever record they were going for. I didn't think that would be the case here, but I'm not complaining, for a few reasons. First of all, Green is great and has been especially entertaining alongside Ethan Page in NXT. Secondly, Giulia's reign was abysmal and hopefully losing the belt will give her the reboot she desperately needs. Outside of the title change, this was very much a nothing match that only went about a minute.

Talla Tonga def. Rey Fenix

​The match was perfectly fine that told a logical David vs. Goliath story, but the bigger problem with this was the booking. Most of The MFTs were thwarted with Shinsuke Nakamura and The Motor City Machine Guns brawling with Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and JC Mateo to the back beforehand, but Talla still went over decisively. And no, Fenix being made to look "credible in defeat" isn't an excuse here. Fenix has been booked terribly since Andrade disappeared/left and should be spotlighted over The MFTs. He's too talented to be wasted.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black Ended in a No Contest (Non-Title)

This wasn't anywhere near what it could have been because of the commercial break and the match just not getting a ton of time. Despite that, what we got to see from them was solid. The non-finish was disappointing, but I preferred that over Black losing again after already getting beat by Dragunov two weeks ago (and there was virtually no way Rhodes was eating the loss). I hated how the show ended with McIntyre resurfacing and continuing to target Rhodes (the same goes for Damian Priest attacking Black but I expected that). Nick Aldis "suspending" McIntyre doesn't interest me whatsoever unless it leads to Aldis vs. McIntyre (and even then, I might be in the minority that wants to see that).

Overall Show

I genuinely didn't hate this show as much as most seemed to (at least according to the general consensus online from what I've seen), but it is clear that the blue brand needs a drastic overhaul of some sort. Rhodes vs. McIntyre in the main event picture has lost a lot of its juice because of McIntyre losing twice to Rhodes, the tag team scene doesn't have the same momentum it once did, and the women's division is all over the place. Dragunov's open challenge is the only thing worth looking forward to from week to week. This was an improvement over last week's lazy effort but still fairly flawed and lacking a sense of urgency.

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