Smackdown Articles - Page 3

After watching The Rock put on his first Rock Concert in years for the fine folks in Memphis, Tennessee, Dave Meltzer had one major takeaway from the episode of SmackDown that he decided to share on Wrestling Observer Radio: LA Knight is a “Freakin” Rock clone and not a particularly good one. Intriguing? You bet, […]

After cutting a wide-ranging promo on his social media accounts designed to both convince fans to tune into SmackDown and test run some of his ideas for his latest Blue Brand appearance, The Rock took his show to primetime television for the 14,000+ plus fans who showed up in Memphis, Tennessee, and the 2 million […]

When news broke that SmackDown was coming to Memphis, Tennessee, the town where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s professional wrestling journey began, fans clamored over the potential return of his much-beloved Rock Concert segment, which he hasn’t used since turning heel during this current run in WWE. Would fans get to see The Rock, wearing a […]

After coming to blows with a television set on SmackDown due to being called out in a pre-recorded promo by AJ Styles, LA Knight was afforded a chance to shoot his shot on a live microphone in front of a sold-out WWE crowd in Memphis, Tennessee, and you’d best believe the “Megastar” left little to […]

When Nick Aldis and company announced that Bron Breakker had officially signed a free agent contract with SmackDown after being pursued by both of WWE’s main roster brands, fans openly questioned what the future held for the WolfDogs, his tag team with Baron Corbin that almost immediately won the NXT Tag Team Championships after the […]

If it’s a Friday during the “Road to WrestleMania,” it can only mean one thing: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is going to release another expansive, clipped-filled, profanity-laced promo designed to get fans fired up before they tune into the week’s edition of SmackDown. March 15, 2024, as it turns out, is no exception, as like […]

After a, shall we say, eventful week filled with social media promos, television promos, and comments about “Diarrhea,” WWE fans the Universe over eagerly anticipated SmackDown to see what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his The Bloodline bunch would do next in their ever-expanding feud with Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins? Would he come up […]

Ever since The Rock made a surprise return to SmackDown a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham, Alabama, it has completely changed the WrestleMania 40 main event, which is now set to be Cody Rhodes versus Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship. When Rhodes announced on that same episode that he would not be challenging […]

With two nights of WrestleMania 40 plus Stand and Deliver, the biggest NXT show of the year, rapidly approaching in April, fans, pundits, and wrestling journalists like Dave Meltzer alike have been looking ahead to the future and which members of the WWE Universe could be in for major bumps in  the future. Booker T, […]

When Big E officially calls it a professional wrestling career, he’s a borderline lock to become a WWE Hall of Famer. A 12-time champion who has held singles gold at all levels in addition to being a member of arguably the most important trio in WWE history, even a potentially career-ending neck injury hasn’t slowed […]

The fan reaction to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returning to challenge Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 instead of Cody Rhodes has been largely negative, to say the least. Fans and media have been critical and baffled by the decision to do so, and social media numbers are starting to reflect this thanks to a record […]

After making her return at spot two in the 2024 Royal Rumble, Naomi made the next step in officially returning to the WWE Universe on the fallout edition of SmackDown, officially signing on the dotted line with Nick Aldis to become the newest member of the Blue Brand… at least until Tiffany Stratton signed too […]

After running through pretty much all there is to accomplish as a member of NXT, going so far as to do equestrian side quests with rival Fallon Henley, 2024 Royal Rumble entrant Tiffany Stratton has officially been called up to “The Show,” signing a contract with Nick Aldis to become the newest member of the […]

As the WWE Universe went absolutely nuts over the surprise return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on SmackDown, with “The Great One” effectively kicking Cody Rhodes to the curb as the new WrestleMania 40 challenger for Roman Reigns and his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, some wondered what happened when the show went off the air, […]

Heading into the 2024 Royal Rumble, Logan Paul had plenty of words to say about Kevin Owens, but respect wasn’t one of them. In the lead-up to the first Premium Live Event of 2024, Paul called his challenger a slob, a joke, and a man who dresses like a teenager, but one thing he didn’t […]

After watching Kevin Owens officially become the number-one contender for the United States Championship on SmackDown Revolution, Logan Paul was dealt another brutal hand – literally – when he found himself on the wrong side of a one-in-a-million punch by the “Prize Fighter” and was left with a black eye that remains on his face […]

When WWE announced that about a dozen performers, from long-time stalwarts like Dolph Ziggler, to NXT castoffs like Mustafa Ali and Dana Brooke, to performers in-between like Mansoor and Mace, who were once fixtures of television but lost their spots due to gimmick changes, it reopened the time-tested conversation about the promotion’s performers being independent […]

When Adam Copeland took the ring for what very well might be his final match in the WWE Universe, a main event bout against Sheamus on SmackDown in his home-ish town of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, fans from across the professional wrestling world wondered what was next for the “Rated-R Superstar.” Would he work out a […]

After initially building the LWO around Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar, with the rest of Legado Del Fantasma, Zelina Vega, and eventually Carlito, it now looks like the faction is firmly a vehicle to elevate current NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee, who leads the faction against the “Emperor of Lucha Libre” and his new […]

Though the show may have been pre-taped, as Green Bay, Wisconsin, didn’t land two straight SmackDown tapings in a row, it’s hard to argue anyone had a better pre-Christmas showing on the Blue Brand than the “Prize Fighter” himself, Kevin Owens. From beating up on Austin Theory, his favorite punchable face on the roster, to […]

What does the future hold for Jade Cargill in WWE? Will she debut in NXT and run court atop the developmental brand, getting experience in the WWE Universe before jumping up to RAW or SmackDown when the promotion feels she’s ready to rumble? Or will WWE debut her in a huge way right out of […]

After watching AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight argue their way into a new three-way match to decide on Roman Reigns’ opponent for the 2024 Royal Rumble, it got Roman Reigns and the rest of The Bloodline feeling a certain type of way. On one hand, it doesn’t really matter who wrestles Reigns at […]

Kayla Braxton and Paul Heyman are quite possibly the most unusual pairing in the entire WWE Universe. While the duo seemingly have nothing in common outside of the WWE Universe, when they share a screen, be that on Talking Smack, SmackDown, or on The Bump, the duo make magic due to their speedy intellect and […]

As the WWE Universe descends on Wisconsin for a special edition of SmackDown in Green Bay, one performer who won’t be in attendance is Liv Morgan, the one-time SmackDown Woman’s Champion, as she was arrested in Florida for multiple drug-related charges, including possession of marijuana. Though marijuana is legal for residents of Florida who obtain […]

Grayson Waller has a lot going on right now in the WWE Universe. He’s found a tag team partner in Austin Theory, gotten Kevin Owens suspended from SmackDown, albeit momentarily, and has even earned a spot in the latest tournament to decide the next United States Championship number one contender, even if he has to […]

Dominik Mysterio is tired. Since somehow becoming one of the top stars in the entire WWE Universe, a heel so hated that he can’t even speak in front of most live audiences, Mysterio has become Judgment Day’s go-to setup man, a multi-time NXT North American Champion, and even received a very public spanking from his […]

After watching CM Punk deliver his “I’m Home” promo on RAW, a segment dissected to within an inch of its life due to the very specific verbiage and its unusual tone, the “Best in the World” was afforded a chance to address the WWE Universe once more on SmackDown, only this time, as he pointed […]

After making quite possibly the highest-profile return to WWE since… the NWO return 20 years ago, seemingly every wrestling fan, from the hardest of hardcore to the sort of lapsed individuals who still call it WWF, tuned in to Monday Night RAW to see what the “Best in the World,” CM Punk, had to say […]

After securing the biggest win of his WWE career, becoming the new United States Champion with a commanding win over Rey Mysterio, Logan Paul went into a bit of a late Fall hibernation in the WWE Universe, taking a few weeks off to sit back and watch his fellow roster members on both RAW and […]

Nick Aldis has been the general manager of SmackDown for roughly a month, when he was introduced in the role by Paul “Triple H” Levesque on October 12th and promptly ruffled a few feathers by stealing away Kevin Owens from the Red Brand. On paper, that’s a pretty weird way to introduce oneself to a […]

When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show mere hours away from where SmackDown was being held in Denver, Colorado, it got fans talking. Would “The Great One” make his return to television for no other reason than proximity? Would he, much like John Cena, use his newfound free time […]

After working the proverbial system with a steady stream of main roster talent to bolster the ratings, it looks like WWE’s calculated risk has paid off with a brand new five-year contract for NXT at the CW, which will begin in October of 2024. When NXT decided to shift from a reality game show format […]

Before he was named the new SmackDown General Manager by WWE and even unseated as the seventh-longest tenured NWA World Heavyweight Champion behind Lou Thesz (3), Dan Severn, Dory Funk Jr., and Gene Kiniski, Nick Aldis was arguably most well known for his matches against Cody Rhodes, first at All In, where he dropped the […]

When news broke that Nick Aldis was working in WWE on a handshake deal as a producer-in-training, it turned more than a few heads around the professional wrestling world. Sure, the idea of going from inside the ring to out of it is nothing new in the industry, as new RAW GM Adam Pearce followed […]

After seeing his tag team with Sami Zayn unceremoniously come to an end on the season premiere of SmackDown thanks to the shrewd wheeling and dealing of new GM Nick Aldis, Kevin Owens was afforded an entire segment on the Blue Brand to continue his conversation with Cathy Kelley from his WWE Digital Exclusive segment […]

When WWE threw out the former general manager system that featured Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff overseeing RAW and SmackDown – sure, technically, they were called “executive directors,” but same difference – Adam Pearce was left with the unenviable position of having to helm both brands, which needless to say, made for some Kayfabe strangeness. […]

After watching his tag team win streak come to an end alongside Grayson Waller in the first and only successful Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship defense of Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso’s run with the straps, you’d think Austin Theory would be feeling pretty down in the dumps. The momentum train is dashed, the titles […]

When Paul “Triple H” Levesque not only introduced Nick Aldis to the WWE Universe but revealed him as the new SmackDown General Manager, it turned a lot of heads around the professional wrestling world, and not exclusively in a positive way. Sure, many, if not most fans familiar with the “National Treasure’s” schtick were happy […]

As crazy as it may sound for fans who have been watching professional wrestling for a while, Natalya is rapidly approaching 17 years as a member of the WWE Universe, making her debuts in FCW and WWE proper under the Nattie Neidhart moniker in 2007. Since that fateful day, the second-generation Superstar has wrestled some […]