WWE Friday Night SmackDown has one job tonight: make WWE Clash in Italy feel bigger by the time the final frame fades out. Tonight’s show comes from Barcelona, Spain, airs internationally at a special 2 p.m. EST start time on Netflix, and will air on tape delay in the United States at 8 p.m. EST on USA Network. That alone gives this episode a different feel, but the bigger story is what WWE has to accomplish before Sunday’s historic first-ever Clash in Italy premium live event. Cody Rhodes has to answer Gunther after last week’s attack left The Ring General standing over him with the Undisputed WWE Championship. Jade Cargill has one last chance to get inside Rhea Ripley’s head after pinning her at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Axiom gets a rare singles spotlight in his home country against The Miz. SmackDown has the ingredients for a strong go-home show, but WWE has to do more than just remind fans that a PLE is coming. It has to make the final stop feel urgent.
Here is everything advertised for tonight’s show
- Cody Rhodes addresses Gunther’s attack ahead of WWE Clash in Italy
- Jade Cargill has a final message for Rhea Ripley before WWE Clash in Italy
- Axiom vs. The Miz
Last week’s SmackDown was less about fallout and more about escalation, with WWE using the episode to tighten several major stories before Saturday Night’s Main Event and the final push toward WWE Clash in Italy. The show opened with Rhea Ripley returning to respond to Jade Cargill’s challenge for a WWE Women’s Championship rematch. That segment immediately showed how crowded the women’s title picture has become. Ripley and Charlotte Flair argued while still having to coexist, Alexa Bliss was pulled into the orbit, and Fatal Influence stepped in to make the situation even more chaotic. It led to an impromptu match, but the real purpose was obvious: WWE wanted to put Ripley in a position where she had enemies on all sides before Jade got another shot at the championship.
Talla Tonga defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the first major match of the night after Solo Sikoa’s involvement created the opening. Nakamura knocked Solo off the apron, but that distraction gave Talla the chance to hit the Chokeslam and score the win. After the match, The MFTs tried to keep the damage going. Solo looked like he wanted revenge, Tama Tonga stopped him, and the group turned the attack back toward Nakamura. Damian Priest eventually came out with a chair to stop the assault, but this was another example of WWE trying to make The MFTs feel like a constant threat. The problem is that these segments are starting to live and die by whether the interference feels dangerous or repetitive. Last week, it worked well enough because Priest’s arrival gave the segment some weight, but the formula is already obvious.
Tiffany Stratton defended the Women’s United States Championship in an open challenge against Lash Legend, and the match became more about everyone around it than the title itself. Nia Jax interfered, Chelsea Green surprisingly got involved by sending Nia into the ring post, and Lash grabbing Chelsea created enough chaos for Tiffany to roll up Legend for the quick win. It protected Lash somewhat, kept Tiffany’s reign alive, and gave Chelsea a useful wrinkle. Still, the Women’s United States Championship needs more than clever escapes and outside noise. Tiffany has the presence and charisma to carry a stronger title story, but the belt has to be treated like something people are chasing for more than just a weekly TV moment.
Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes then gave SmackDown one of its more interesting personal pieces. Trick, the United States Champion, decided to face Carmelo in an impromptu match after Melo had plenty to say. The match had the kind of built-in history that does not need much explaining because the tension between them does the work. Ricky Saints showing up at ringside changed the match twice: first by helping Trick send Carmelo to the floor, and then by distracting the referee when Carmelo had a pin attempt. Trick hit the Trick Shot and got the win. It was a clean result on paper but not a clean story, and that matters. Carmelo still has a reason to be furious, Trick keeps momentum as champion, and Ricky Saints stays attached to the issue without needing to wrestle.
Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair defeated Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley, but the finish told the real story. Ripley had the match lined up after hitting Riptide, but Charlotte tagged herself in and stole the moment with Natural Selection. That was exactly the kind of petty, competitive tension WWE wanted between Ripley and Charlotte before they had to team together again at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Then Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab hit the ring, turning the post-match scene into a wild brawl. Jade ended it by dropping Ripley with Jaded, which was the right image. If Ripley is the champion, Jade needed to be framed as someone who could beat her, not someone simply waiting for another title shot.
Solo Sikoa defeated Damian Priest later in the show after constant MFT interference helped him land the Samoan Spike. Afterward, the group tried to jump Priest, but Royce Keys came out to stop the attack. The issue was that Priest, still in fight mode, grabbed Keys by the throat when he turned around. That small moment did more than the match result itself. It gave Priest a layer beyond being the guy who fights off numbers every week, and it introduced friction with Keys that could matter if WWE actually follows through. Priest looks good as the dangerous anti-hero, but he cannot keep having the same MFT segment forever.
The main event was Cody Rhodes vs. Sami Zayn, with Gunther looming over everything. Cody defeated Sami after Gunther’s attempted interference backfired, but the post-match attack was the real final statement. Gunther destroyed Cody and held the Undisputed WWE Championship over him, turning the dream match at Clash in Italy into something more direct and violent. That closing image was exactly what this feud needed. Cody and Gunther can sell a match on their names alone, but the story needed heat, and last week finally gave it some. Gunther did not need a long promo. He needed to make Cody look vulnerable, and he did.
Saturday Night’s Main Event added even more pressure to tonight’s SmackDown. Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab defeated Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss, with Jade pinning Ripley after Jaded. That is not a small detail heading into a title match. WWE has booked Jade to have the physical advantage at the right time, and now tonight’s “final message” has to do more than sound confident. It needs to make Jade feel like a real threat to take the championship back.
The issue with the Rhea-Jade build is that WWE has surrounded it with too many side alliances and bodies. Charlotte, Alexa, Michin, and B-Fab all have roles, but the match on Sunday is Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill. Tonight has to sharpen the focus. Rhea is at her best when she feels like the most dangerous person in the room, but Jade has been presented as the challenger with numbers, momentum, and the last major statement. That creates a strong final hook, but only if WWE resists overcomplicating it.
Cody Rhodes addressing Gunther is the biggest segment tonight because that title match feels like the true main-event-level SmackDown story heading into Clash in Italy. Cody has spent so much of his championship run proving he can survive chaos, family drama, Bloodline leftovers, dream challengers, and corporate-level expectations. Gunther is different. He is not a chaos wrestler. He is structure, pressure, violence, and punishment. He does not need to outtalk Cody. He needs to make Cody wrestle his kind of match.
That is why tonight matters. Cody cannot just come out and say he respects Gunther. That would be too easy. He needs to sell the damage from last week, remind people why the Undisputed WWE Championship is still the center of his world, and make it clear that Gunther’s attack did not intimidate him. Gunther, meanwhile, should not be softened. The entire point of this match is that Cody is walking into a fight with someone who can chop, stretch, grind, and suffocate him for every mistake. This is one of the few modern WWE matches where the champion feels heroic and still genuinely vulnerable.
Axiom vs. The Miz is the only announced match for tonight, and it is the kind of match WWE should not waste. Axiom being in Spain gives the match an obvious emotional hook, and The Miz is still one of WWE’s most reliable TV antagonists when the company needs a veteran to give someone else a spotlight. The setup came from The Miz and Kit Wilson getting into it backstage with Fraxiom last week, but the real value tonight is simple: let Axiom wrestle. The crowd should be with him, Miz can talk his way into heat, and the match gives the show something that is not only about Sunday’s PLE. That matters because go-home shows can become too promo-heavy if WWE is not careful.
The broader challenge for SmackDown tonight is pacing. Last week’s show had a lot happening, but not everything landed with the same weight. Cody and Gunther worked. Jade standing tall over Rhea worked. Trick, Carmelo, and Ricky Saints had energy. Tiffany’s title defense had movement but still exposed how thin the direction around that championship can feel. The MFT material has presence, but it needs escalation before it becomes a loop. WWE has enough talent and enough stories on SmackDown to make the show work, but it still has moments where it feels like the company is stretching angles instead of tightening them.
Tonight cannot feel like that. This is the final SmackDown before a historic international PLE. WWE has pushed Clash in Italy as a major stop on its global expansion, and a Sunday afternoon PLE from Turin should feel different from a routine monthly event. Cody vs. Gunther has the in-ring credibility. Rhea vs. Jade has the star-power clash. Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu has the family-war stipulation. Becky Lynch vs. Sol Ruca has the controversy from Saturday Night’s Main Event. Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar has the spectacle. SmackDown’s job tonight is to make those matches feel connected to the present, not just advertised for the future.
Current WWE Clash in Italy match card
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu — Tribal Combat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
- Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Gunther — Undisputed WWE Championship
- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Jade Cargill — WWE Women’s Championship
- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sol Ruca — Women’s Intercontinental Championship
- Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
Final thoughts
Tonight’s SmackDown does not need to reinvent the wheel. It needs to land the plane. Cody Rhodes and Gunther need one final segment that makes their Undisputed WWE Championship match feel violent, personal, and unavoidable. Jade Cargill needs to sound and feel like someone who can take Rhea Ripley’s title, not just someone getting another match. Axiom needs to be treated like more than the local favorite thrown into a feel-good spot. And WWE needs to remember that the final show before a historic international PLE should feel like an event itself.
The pieces are there. The question is whether SmackDown turns them into urgency or just checks boxes before Sunday.
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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?!