Smackdown Articles - Page 4

When Cody Rhodes announced that Jey Uso was going to be heading to RAW at Payback, it set into motion a series of events that still haven’t been resolved to this day: SmackDown‘s draft compensation. Announced by Adam Pearce on the subsequent episode of RAW, the Blue Brand reportedly requested and was granted draft compensation […]

LA Knight has been compared to a lot of different Superstars during his time in the WWE; to some, he’s a clone of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Others compare him to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and others still believe he’s nothing more than The Miz 2.0, even if that faction is largely made up of […]

When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spent some time with former WWE commentator Pat McAfee on his namesake show – making some news about a potential match at WrestleMania 40 against Roman Reigns – at the University of Colorado, a hop, skip, and a jump away from SmackDown‘s venue in Denver, more than a few fans […]

As the days have passed since the untimely passing of Bray Wyatt, more and more stories have come out about the man behind the spooky gimmick and just how many lives he touched during his professional wrestling career both inside and out of the ring. Stopping by WrestlingNewsCo to talk about everything from the LWO, […]

As the professional wrestling world prepares for Bray Wyatt‘s memorial ceremonies in the week following his untimely passing due to a heart attack, WWE decided to release a video where almost a dozen performers, announcers, and creatives alike sat down in front of a camera to tell some of their favorite stories from the life […]

While watching Michael Cole lead an expansive tribute show to honor the memories of Bray Wyatt and Terry Funk, with dozens of WWE Superstars standing in unison as the promotion rang a ten-bell solute to their fallen alumni, one face notably missing from the assembly was Alexa Bliss, the do-it-all diminutive former champion who worked […]

After getting down to business in their first televised tag team match since all the way back in June – which was a loss to Pretty Deadly, if you can believe it – the Street Profits returned to the WWE Universe with new attitudes, new suits, and a new quasi-manager in Bobby Lashley, who congratulated […]

After LA Knight “invaded” RAW to simply take a few pictures as the first-ever winner of the Slim Jim Battle Royal at SummerSlam, The Miz got into it in the ring with the “Megastar” first on the mic and then with his fists, leading to many fans celebrating the promo as a real babyface coming […]

Last Friday night on SmackDown, Rey Mysterio shocked viewers when he walked away from the show with the United States Championship, defeating Austin Theory in the process. Mysterio, 48, is considered by some as the greatest Latino wrestler of all time, and by some, he’s considered the greatest of all time. Now it looks like […]

After taking part in a ten-minute love fewest with his behind-the-scenes best friend Edge in the lead-up to a match booked SmackDown next week, Sheamus and the Brawling Brutes stopped by the backstage area of the Scotiabank Saddledome to talk turkey with Kayla Braxton before hitting the pubs in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Officially landing the […]

Though he wasn’t scheduled to appear on SmackDown and the three-man debuting commentary team of Corey Graves, Kevin Patrick, and Michael Cole even highlighted his future 25th Anniversary Celebration on the next edition of SmackDown, Edge decided to show up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to discuss his past, his present, and his future in the […]

After the initial shock of Roman Reigns’ SummerSlam victory wore off, fans in Ford Field and beyond could at least lean back on the fact that, after weeks and weeks of chanting, social media posting, and tee-shirt purchasing, LA Knight finally secured his first big win as a member of the WWE Universe by being […]

It feels like every month or so, fans get an update from Big E on his future prospects in the WWE Universe, with July’s appearance on After The Bell leaving fans in an encouraging spot. August’s update, unfortunately, was not so good, as during the SummerSlam media conference, Big E told the folks in attendance […]

After over a year on the main roster, LA Knight is finally starting to pick up steam, with the “Megastar” set to wrestle on his third-ever WWE Premium Live Event following his promising, if not ultimately disappointing, effort in the Money in the Bank Men’s Ladder match and a disastrous debut in the Mountain Dew […]

In professional wrestling like in life, nobody stays at the top forever; even the greatest WWE Superstars will eventually start to show their age, and in their place, young stars like Grayson Waller who are hungry to establish their own legacy will make their main roster debuts in the hopes of taking one of those […]

After initially making his bones as a heel on the WWE main roster alongside his fellow Legado del Fantasma faction mates Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro, Santos Escobar has found himself working babyface as a member of Rey Mysterio‘s LWO and is reaping the benefits of that partnership almost immediately, as the son of […]

Though Grayson Waller has wrestled exactly two matches on the main roster in WWE, three if you count house shows, the 0-3 Superstar had title matches on his mind when he stopped by the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, going so far as to name off some very famous people that he would like in […]

LA Knight finds himself in a very interesting spot in the WWE Universe. On one hand, he’s arguably the most over babyface on SmackDown, which, considering Jey Uso also calls the Blue Brand home, is a pretty significant compliment, and while he isn’t pushed like, say, Seth Rollins or Cody Rhodes, he remains one of […]

Kevin Nash is a very busy man. Though his professional wrestling career is long over from an in-ring sense, with his last match coming at Big Time Wrestling all the way back in 2018, Diesel has remained an active part of the community, appearing at conventions, stopping by WWE programming from time to time, and […]

After truly getting into it with the “Great One,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Twitter, with the former making fun of Rocky Maivia’s outfit from his debut in Madison Square Garden and the certified Hall of Famer firing back with a diss of his own, calling the “Aussie Showoff” a “Outback Jack Off,” surely Grayson […]

After main eventing his debut match on the main roster at Madison Square Garden on SmackDown, Grayson Waller was feeling himself. Sure, in the immediate aftermath of the match, morale wasn’t too high for the “Sydney Stunner,” but as the days have passed and his accomplishments have come into focus, Waller’s in great spirits, announcing […]

July has been very, very, very good to Grayson Waller. Ever since he opened up about his broken leg and welcomed Logan Paul onto a special edition of The Grayson Waller Effect, live from London, England – which technically took place on June 30th, but I digress – the “Down Under Wonder” has worked an […]

When WWE began hinting at the return of Lacey Evans back in December of 2022, fans noted a very interesting similarity between her presentation and that of WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter. On paper, the comparison made plenty of sense, as both leaned into the Marine aesthetic – Evans was actually a Marine, whereas […]

Austin Theory has been the WWE United States Champion since all the way back on November 26th, 2022, when he secured the win and his second tenure with the title at Survivor Series in a triple threat match with Bobby Lashley and then-champion Seth Rollins. Since that fateful day around Turkey Day, Theory has defended […]

After an incredible evening at Madison Square Garden, capped off with a career-spanning appearance on The Grayson Waller Effect and a commanding win over the “Arrogant Aussie” in his main roster debut, Edge was riding high. Twenty-five years after first working a show at the most famous arena in the world, securing a mixed tag […]

On paper, AJ Styles should be in a pretty good mood after his match versus Karrion Kross on SmackDown; he secured the win versus the former “Killer” with little resistance, secured a clean pinfall without any interference, and when Scarlett did attempt to get involved, he had Mia Yim as a heater on the outside […]

After taking part in arguably the most important segment of his career at Money in the Bank, going back and forth with John Cena for well over 10 minutes in a conversation with the leader of “Cenation” about which international location would be a better venue for a future WrestleMania, London or Australia, Grayson Waller […]

Who is the most over Superstar in the WWE Universe? Is it Roman Reigns? Seth Rollins? Cody Rhodes? How about the “Megastar” LA Knight, a performer that Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Vince McMahon, and company seemingly have no intention to push at all but continue to get more and more over with each passing week? […]

When Grayson Waller was drafted onto SmackDown after a very successful run in developmental – even if he never became the NXT Champion – fans were very excited to see the “Arrogant Aussie” showcases everything that makes him special on the main roster. So far, the results have been incomplete. Now sure, Waller has been […]

On August 16th, 2020, everything changed for WWE Superstar Sonya Deville. Firmly entrenched in the waning moments of a long-standing storyline with Mandy Rose, who went from her Fire and Desire tag team partner, to her former friend firmly entrenched in a love triangle with Dolph Ziggler and Otis, Deville was supposed to take part […]

By winning the SmackDown number one contender’s tag team gauntlet match, even if they only got one flukey elimination versus the Brawling Brutes, who got four, Pretty Deadly officially secured themselves a match against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, which will take place at the O2 Arena in […]

After punching his ticket to Money in the Bank with a win over Montez Ford, LA Knight kept his winning ways going with another W over Santos Escobar, the “Emperor of Lucha Libre” and fellow participant in the Ladder match scheduled for the O2 Arena in London, England on July 1st. Asked about his win […]

Grayson Waller has been a member of the SmackDown roster for roughly a month, and yet, it’s hard to really judge his tenure one way or another. He’s wrestled exactly zero matches, taken part in some backstage segment work, and held two editions of The Grayson Waller Effect, one with AJ Styles and another with […]

LA Knight took the hard road to WWE stardom. Initially signing with the promotion in 2013 after a decade on the indies working for promotions like NWA and Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, Knight was let go in 2014 and had to rebuild his value in TNA, Impact, NWA, and beyond under the Eli Drake moniker. […]

After being woefully underutilized for months by a WWE creative department that was seemingly afraid to embrace his masculine kavorka, LA Knight finally secured a statement win on SmackDown, punching his ticket to Money in the Bank via a totally fair and square win in a qualifier match against Montez Ford. Sitting down for an […]

After watching her record-breaking reign with the RAW Women’s Championship come to an unceremonious end at Night of Champions at the chili pepper mist-soaked hands of Asuka, fans had to expect that Bianca Belair was eventually going to take a shot at “The Empress of Tomorrow” in order to get back what she felt should […]

After sitting on the shelf for the better part of 2023 following AJ Styles’ injury broken ankle, The OC are back, and on the first edition of SmackDown after Night of Champions, the faction announced their return to action in a big way – demolishing Hit Row in a major way after the two teams […]

To paraphrase Corey Graves on the Night of Champions commentary team, Rhea Ripley doesn’t get paid by the minute. After entering into a feud with Natalya after a perceived slight from “The Eradicator of The Judgement Day” in the respect department, Ripley never quite took Neidhart seriously as a challenger for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, […]

After taking an absolute beating at the hands of Butch on the SmackDown LowDown, the dynamic duo of Pretty Deadly, Elton Prince and Kit Wilson, decided to get back the Brawling Brutes in a major way, interfering with Sheamus’ match with Austin Theory on the pre-tapped go-home edition of SmackDown and effectively costing “The Celtic […]