Last night’s SmackDown was a show that spent most of its two hours flirting with frustration before finally finding its bite. For long stretches, this was a serviceable WrestleMania build built on shaky character logic, rushed contender decisions, and storylines that too often feel like they are moving in circles instead of building with purpose. Then the closing segment arrived, Randy Orton finally let the Viper out, and the whole show snapped into focus. Orton did not just turn on Cody Rhodes. He poisoned the entire Legacy history that once tied them together, took all that respect and mentorship Cody was clinging to, and sank his teeth into it. That is what made the ending work so well. It was violent, personal, and overdue. The problem is that one great angle also threw a spotlight on everything else last night did not get right, especially the damage still being done to Drew McIntyre’s credibility, the flimsy contender logic in the tag divisions, and the way too much of SmackDown still feels held together by shortcuts instead of strong booking.
Here are the full results
- Uncle Howdy & Erick Rowan def. Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga
- WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill def. Michin
- The Irresistible Forces (c) vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss ended in disqualification (WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship)
- Damian Priest & R-Truth def. Los Garza
- Tiffany Stratton def. Kiana James
- Trick Williams def. Jacob Fatu
- Randy Orton brutally attacked Cody Rhodes during their WrestleMania 42 contract signing.
Last night opened with Drew McIntyre in full grievance mode, and that part still works because Drew is at his best when he sounds like a man who has been robbed one too many times. The issue is that WWE keeps asking the audience to take his pain seriously while booking him in ways that make him look inconsistent. Drew confronting Nick Aldis over the title situation made sense. Jacob Fatu stepping in and admitting he cost Drew the championship should have pushed the segment into instant violence. Instead, Drew quit. Then later in the same show, he came back and attacked Fatu anyway. That is exactly the kind of booking that has started to erode belief in Drew’s promos. The words still sound intense, but the structure around him keeps making his emotions feel disposable. A feud with Jacob Fatu on the road to WrestleMania makes sense. Getting there through a fake quit angle did not. Fan reaction and site reaction were both largely in line on that point, and honestly they should be. WWE is not protecting Drew’s credibility the way it should.
The Wyatt Sicks vs. MFT issue continued last night with Uncle Howdy and Erick Rowan beating Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga, but once again the match felt less important than the symbolism attached to it. That has become the real problem with this feud. It has atmosphere. It has identity. It has hostility. But it also has a lantern that feels more important than the tag division itself. For a rivalry involving teams who should matter in the title picture, the championships barely feel like the point anymore. The belts are background decoration while the prop drives the story. That is not helping the division. It is making it feel diminished. This feud has been given a strong visual identity, but the longer it goes on like this, the more it feels like WWE is mistaking imagery for momentum.
Jade Cargill beating Michin was fine, but it was also another example of SmackDown not fully maximizing a moment that should have meant more. There was at least some useful storyline history there, and Michin got enough offense to make it feel competitive. The issue is that Jade is heading into WrestleMania against Rhea Ripley, and with that in mind, this should have felt more like a statement. Instead, it felt like a decent TV match that never quite gave Jade the dominant aura she should be carrying into one of the biggest women’s matches on the blue brand. The more important part was the confrontation with Rhea, because that is where the real money is. WWE clearly understands that Jade vs. Rhea is about power, presence, and collision. The problem is that Jade’s weekly booking still feels split between the leftovers of older feuds and the bigger title program right in front of her.
The women’s tag title scene was one of the more annoying parts of last night’s show because it highlighted both the good and the bad of WWE’s current approach. The good is that the division is active. The titles are on television, multiple names are involved, and the belts do not feel forgotten. The bad is that WWE is still relying on lazy contender logic. The Bellas getting shoved straight into a title shot for next week after costing Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss their match is exactly the kind of shortcut that weakens a division trying to build credibility. Nikki and Brie are stars, and that matters. But storylines still need internal logic, and last night’s explanation was basically that Nick Aldis made the call. That is not enough. It is one thing to use star power. It is another thing to skip the work of making it make sense.
That same criticism applies to the men’s tag division. Damian Priest and R-Truth beating Los Garza was perfectly watchable, but the broader issue remains the same: SmackDown is pushing a makeshift team in a top contender spot while the actual tag division keeps getting flattened by side stories. Priest and Truth have chemistry, and they are easy to like, but they still feel like a convenience act more than a real team being built from the ground up. That matters, especially when the Wyatt-MFT story is already making the titles feel secondary. It also continues the strange drift in Truth’s character. WWE seemed to be teasing something more grounded with Ron Killings, and now it feels like that edge has been mostly swallowed up by comedy again. The act is entertaining enough, but the direction is muddled.
Miz TV with Jelly Roll worked better than it had any right to because it understood its role on the show. Miz was obnoxious, Jelly Roll was comfortable, and the segment did not try to be anything more than a goofy celebrity WrestleMania-season setup. Kit Wilson getting involved and Jelly Roll accidentally punching Miz was silly, but it was supposed to be silly. Not everything has to carry emotional weight. This segment just needed to be clean and entertaining, and it was.
Tiffany Stratton beating Kiana James served its purpose, but the larger issue around that part of the show is still how far Aleister Black and Zelina Vega have cooled off. Aleister pinning Randy Orton weeks ago should have felt like the start of something bigger. Instead, Aleister and Zelina now feel like they exist on the edge of other people’s stories rather than at the center of their own. They linger, they hint, they manipulate, but they do not actually change the board in any meaningful way. That is the downfall. WWE had a chance to heat them up as real players and instead turned them into atmosphere. There is still an interesting act there, but right now it feels underpowered compared to where it could be.
Trick Williams beating Jacob Fatu after Drew McIntyre interfered did what it needed to do on paper. It protected Fatu, gave Trick a meaningful win, and moved Drew and Jacob closer to a likely WrestleMania collision. But it also made the opening segment look worse in hindsight, because Drew ended the night doing exactly what he should have done at the start. So instead of the show feeling smartly structured, it felt like it wasted time getting to the obvious. That has become one of the defining problems with Drew’s booking. The destination is not the problem. The route keeps undermining the character.
Then came the contract signing, and this was where last night’s show finally found its identity. Cody Rhodes approached the segment like a man still holding onto history. He talked about Randy Orton with respect, with gratitude, with the kind of emotional sincerity that only works because of what they were in Legacy. That history mattered. Cody was not just signing a contract with a challenger. He was sitting across from someone who helped shape his WWE life, someone tied to his rise, his failures, and his earliest scars. That is why the segment had weight before anyone threw a punch.
Orton was excellent because he did not play this like a stock heel turn. He played it like a snake deciding whether now was the moment to strike. The hesitation mattered. The stare mattered. The silence mattered. Cody kept leaning into that old bond, into the mentor-student dynamic, into the shared Legacy past, and for a second it almost felt like he believed that history could still save him. That was Cody’s mistake. Cody was talking to the man he remembered. He forgot he was sitting across from The Viper.
Once Orton signed, the whole segment turned. The Viper did what the Viper always does. He waited, he coiled, and then he struck when Cody was most vulnerable. The table shot, the low blow, the blood, the steel steps, the chair, the way Orton kept going back for more even after officials tried to restore order, all of it felt like Randy finally shedding the last bit of restraint. This was not just a heel turn. This was Orton weaponizing history. He took the Legacy connection, the brotherhood, the trust Cody still had, and used it to tear him apart. That is what made the segment so strong. It was not random violence. It was betrayal with memory behind it. It was Randy Orton reminding everyone that underneath the handshakes and nostalgia, he is still the same predator who has always known exactly when to sink his fangs in. Last night’s show badly needed that kind of venom, and the closing segment delivered it in the nastiest, most effective way possible.
That really was the story of last night’s SmackDown. The show finally made Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton feel dangerous, hateful, and worthy of WrestleMania. It also exposed how uneven so much of the rest of the blue brand still is. Drew’s character continues to get chipped away by inconsistent writing. The tag divisions are active, but too often in ways that make the titles feel secondary. Jade vs. Rhea still has star power, but the weekly build needs more force behind it. Last night was not a bad show. It was a frustrating one that found salvation in a closing segment strong enough to make the rest of the episode feel more important than it actually was.
What was announced for next week’s show
- Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
- Motor City Machine Guns vs. Fraxiom
- The Irresistible Forces (c) vs. The Bella Twins (WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship)
- Kit Wilson calls out Jelly Roll.
Final thoughts
Last night’s SmackDown was mostly solid, often frustrating, and far more effective in its final minutes than it was for most of the night. Jade vs. Michin was decent, but Jade should have looked stronger. The Bellas being rushed into a title shot felt forced. Drew’s opening angle was exactly the kind of booking that keeps damaging a character who should be one of the most believable talkers in WWE. The Wyatt Sicks and MFT continue to drag the tag division deeper into a feud where the imagery matters more than the championships. But once Randy Orton embraced the Viper again and turned Cody Rhodes’ trust against him, none of that felt as big as the closing image. Last night ended with blood, betrayal, and a Legacy bond ripped apart, and that was the first time in a while this WrestleMania title feud truly felt alive.
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I’m the quiet one until the bell rings then I’ve got takes. I live for WWE NXT and TNA, I want every promotion to succeed, and I will absolutely roast the bad decisions on sight (because someone has to). Anime taught me to respect long-term storytelling; wrestling taught me that sometimes the plan is “we panicked” and called it “unpredictable.” The Miz got me into all of this, so yeah I appreciate confidence, commitment, and the art of talking like you’re already the main event. Now I bring that same energy to the page as the main writer for Late Night Crew Wrestling because if you’re not here to be must-see and tell the truth, why are you here?!