Friday Night SmackDown Review - October 10, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Addressed World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins

I love how they had to put the gaudy Men's Crown Jewel Championship in the ring with Rhodes while he spoke to remind viewers that will be what's on the line when he and Rollins face off at Crown Jewel, as if anyone honestly gives a shit. The renewal of their rivalry has been about anything but that, which has absolutely been for the best. Nonetheless, this was a nice promo from Rhodes, even if it didn't cover much new ground.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. United States Champion Sami Zayn by Disqualification

Nakamura hadn't wrestled on SmackDown in months, but you knew this was coming since because Nakamura could be seen stalking Zayn in backstage segments over the last month. It's worth noting he was back to using his old entrance music here, so it looks like he's a babyface once again. Nothing will ever match their epic encounter from NXT TakeOver: Dallas from nine years ago, but this was still a very entertaining outing while it lasted. The MFTs (who are apparently complete with Tama Tonga returning following a six-month layoff due to injury) caused the non-finish by attacking both men. We'll see if WWE can get people to care about the group, but the face paint is a cool touch.

WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton and Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer def. Kiana James and Women's United States Champion Giulia

This told the usual "Can they coexist?!" story with Stratton and Vaquer ahead of their match for the Women's Crown Jewel Championship on Saturday. Spoiler: They coexisted. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the match, and it was sad to see Giulia feel so much less special than Vaquer when that was hardly the case six months ago, but it was decent enough and accomplished what it needed to.

WWE Tag Team Champions The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis) def. The Street Profits

Similar to Nakamura, the Profits were once again using their CFO$ entrance music, probably because it's better and more identifiable with them. I have no idea why we got this again when the Profits already lost to Wyatt Sicks twice before (or three times if you include SummerSlam). This was fine yet forgettable. There was no further tension teased between the Profits, but The MFTs did confront Wyatt Sicks afterward. Shockingly, the crowd chanted "Holy shit!", but we'll see if other crowds are as kind to the feud.

Aleister Black def. Damian Priest in a Last Man Standing Match

I maintain that this should've made the Crown Jewel card (there's no excuse for Triple H continuing to book five-match cars for premium live events and not expanding when necessary), but at least they got to go on last. This was far from the best Last Man Standing match I've ever seen, but it was well worked and they got the crowd back into the action by the end. Zelina Vega coming to Black's aid and that being what led Black to winning was a pleasant surprise. Vega has barely been on SmackDown since losing the Women's United States Championship over the summer, so this is a smart use of her.

Overall Show

WWE really loaded up this pre-pay-per-view edition of SmackDown with two title matches, a Last Man Standing main event and last-minute hype for Crown Jewel. Throw in the electric atmosphere in Perth and it was easily a thumbs-up episode with the two hours flying by. There's still plenty of work to do with the blue brand, but this one of the stronger efforts in recent memory.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews