Cody Rhodes

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 22nd, 2026 Results & Recap: Gunther Leaves Cody Rhodes Lying, Jade Cargill Drops Rhea Ripley & TrickMeloGang Rivalry Starts Heating Up

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown had enough story progression to matter, but it also exposed the exact problem fans have been pointing out with WWE’s current three-hour TV rhythm: too much time, too many recaps, too many talking segments, and not enough urgency to get talent in the ring. This was the go-home SmackDown … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 22nd, 2026 Updated Preview: Gunther Responds To Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley Answers Jade Cargill’s Challenge And Tiffany Stratton Issues An Open Challenge

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WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes into tonight’s show from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky with a much stronger advertised lineup than it originally had. This is the final stop before tomorrow’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, but it is also one of the last major SmackDown chapters on the road to Clash In Italy on … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 15th, 2026 Results & Recap: Gunther Earns Cody Rhodes Clash In Italy Title Match, Trick Williams Gets Loud Columbia Homecoming

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown from Columbia, South Carolina felt different because I was not just watching it through a screen. I was inside Colonial Life Arena, surrounded by a loud crowd that stayed active for almost the entire three-hour experience, from the pre-show action to the Main Event taping to SmackDown itself. The … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 15th, 2026 Preview: Gunther Must Decide On SmackDown Move For Cody Rhodes Clash As Trick Williams Gets His South Carolina Homecoming

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WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes to Columbia, South Carolina tonight with a show that is light on advertised matches but heavy on storyline consequence. That is not always a bad thing. Sometimes the most important episode is not about how many matches are listed ahead of time, but whether WWE can make the next premium … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 8th, 2026 Preview: The Gingerbread Man Is Laid To Rest As WWE Makes Its Final Stop Before Backlash

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WWE Friday Night SmackDown has one job tonight: close the door on the road to Backlash with enough heat, clarity and urgency to make Saturday’s Premium Live Event feel like a must-watch show. Coming out of last week’s chaotic episode, the blue brand has several stories pulling in different directions. Cody Rhodes was medically cleared, … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 1st, 2026 Results & Recap: Gunther Chokes Out Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu Wrecks MFT & Fatal Influence Puts The Women’s Division On Notice

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Last night’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown was a busy, important and uneven stop on the road to Backlash — the kind of episode where WWE moved a lot of pieces forward, but also exposed some of the same creative habits that keep holding the product back. Cody Rhodes returned to the ring, Ricky Saints made … Read more

WWE Friday Night SmackDown After Mania April 24th, 2026 Results & Recap: Fatal Influence Arrives, Tiffany Stratton Wins Gold, Jacob Fatu Destroys MFT

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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

Pat McAfee Reportedly Pulled the Plug on WWE’s Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton Celebrity Follow-Up, and That Says Everything About the Backlash

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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 Monday Night RAW After WrestleMania April 20th, 2026 Results & Recap: Jacob Fatu Targets Roman Reigns, Ethan Page and Sol Ruca Make Their Mark

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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

WWE WrestleMania 42 Night 1 April 18th, 2026 Preview: Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton and Rollins vs. Gunther Set the Stage for a Night Built on Legacy and High Stakes

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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