The SmackDown After Mania should have felt like a reset. Instead, it felt like a company trying to convince itself it had momentum while terrible WWE release news hung over the entire night. As mentioned in my LNC Wrestling article on the WWE releases, that news broke right before SmackDown went on the air last … Read more
The report making the rounds on Wednesday appears to be rooted in a real Wrestling Observer Radio update, but the most important part of the story is not just that a planned WWE Backlash tag match was scrapped. It is why it was reportedly scrapped. Multiple secondary outlets are now attributing the same core claim … Read more
WWE needed last night’s RAW after WrestleMania to feel like a reset, a statement, and a shot of adrenaline after a WrestleMania weekend that a lot of fans came away from calling overproduced, ad-heavy, and a little too polished for its own good. Instead, WWE gave us a show that was useful more than electric. … Read more
WrestleMania 42 Night 1 arrives tonight with a card that looks stronger on paper than the road to it has felt at times. WWE is bringing seven matches into WrestleMania Saturday, with Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the advertised headliner, Stephanie Vaquer putting the Women’s World Championship on the … Read more
WWE had three hours, the WrestleMania stage, a loaded roster, and one final chance to make the blue brand feel essential heading into the biggest weekend of the year. Instead, last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown felt like a show that kept teasing urgency without ever fully committing to it. Randy Orton finally delivered the … Read more
WWE brings the blue brand to Las Vegas tonight for WrestleMania SmackDown, and this show has a lot more pressure on it than a normal go-home episode. On paper, there is enough here to make the night feel important. Cody Rhodes gets one last chance to speak before facing Randy Orton, Jacob Fatu has to … Read more
WWE spent weeks building intrigue around Randy Orton’s mystery caller, only for the reveal of Pat McAfee to drag Cody Rhodes’ title feud into a sideshow that never fully clicked. The backlash was immediate, the complaints kept growing, and the focus drifted further away from the actual story. That is what made Cody Rhodes destroying … Read more
SmackDown last night was supposed to feel like the blue brand’s hard final push before WrestleMania 42, the penultimate stop before next Saturday and Sunday in Las Vegas. Instead, it was a show that constantly felt like it was fighting its own momentum. There was good wrestling on the episode. Bayley and Alexa Bliss put … Read more
Tonight’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown has a lot riding on it, and not just because WrestleMania 42 is around the corner. On paper, the blue brand should be in a strong position. The top matches are set, the stakes are clear, and the road to Las Vegas is supposed to be tightening into focus. Instead, … Read more
In a revelation that underscores the growing corporate influence over WWE’s on-screen product, sources close to the situation have indicated that Pat McAfee’s surprise appearance during Friday night’s episode of SmackDown (April 3, 2026) was not born from the WWE Creative writing room but stemmed directly from an executive-level directive issued by TKO Group Holdings … Read more
