Smackdown Articles - Page 9

When news broke that Vince McMahon had paid out hush money to former employees due to reportedly consensual adult relationships with a former employee roughly one month ago, it felt like WWE was approaching an inflection point the likes of which the company hasn’t been rocked with since the double-murder-suicide of Chris Benoit or the […]

On a day marked by wall-to-wall controversy the likes of which would seemingly tank any other head of a major, multi-national organization, Vince McMahon is reportedly keeping his head down and his sights set on the next major WWE premium live event, SummerSlam. Though the show should be able to ride the momentum set by […]

Outside of the WWE ring, Bayley and Liv Morgan are buddies. They’ve appeared together on Xavier Woods/Austin Creed’s UpUpDownDown YouTube channel, goofed around backstage before/during shows, and have shared the ring on 92 occasions, first at a house show for the NXT Women’s Championship, and most recently in February of 2021 on SmackDown, just four […]

When Liv Morgan took to the ring to celebrate winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship on RAW, it was met with near-universal acclaim by the fans assembled in the Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Her babyface speech was much appreciated by the WWE Universe, as was the first look at her SmackDown Championship on WWE television, […]

After spending over half a decade in the WWE system, Liv Morgan has officially won her first championship with the company. That’s right, despite having found great success in both NXT and on the main roster as part of the Riott Squad and as a solo performer, Morgan has never secured any sort of championship […]

When Ronda Rousey pulled out the win over Natalya in the penultimate match of the 2022 edition of WWE‘s Money in the Bank, it was a predictable yet fun way to close out the fifth match of an all-around successful premium live event. … but then it happened. That’s right, not two hours after winning […]

As boos rained down from the fans assembled at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, Max Durpi finally debuted his Maximum Male Models, Mace and Mansoor, now stylized as ma.cé and mån.sôör, onto the WWE Universe, and needless to say, it did not go particularly well. With no goal but to “titillate the juices of […]

Las Vegas is a special place for WWE superstar Happy Corbin; it’s where he recaptured his fortune, regained his dignity, and cashed in his old name and disheveled looks for a much “Happier” demeanor and some Gucci threads. So naturally, when news broke that Money in the Bank was booked for Vince Vaughn‘s favorite city, […]

Roman Reigns is the WWE‘s franchise player. He headlines their biggest Pay-Per-Views, sells a ton of merchandise, and is the rare wrestler to hold not one but both of the promotion’s top belts, while he and his Usos cross brands effortlessly from RAW to SmackDown and back to RAW to defend the honor of The […]

For a time, it looked like Cesaro was going to be the face of Max Dupri’s Maximum Male Models on WWE‘s SmackDown. It looked like the “Swiss Superman” would finally return to the company that made him a mainstream darling, and be afforded the sort of A+ talker that had largely eluded him in Vince […]

Monday’s edition of RAW was a certified love-fest for one of the best WWE Superstars of all time, John Cena. It had a little bit of everything; advice segments with current roster members, video packages from former foes – including a few who now work for AEW – and an in-ring promo from the man […]

John Cena wasn’t universally popular when he was a regular performer at WWE. He had his fans, sure, but he was constantly booed at arenas across the country and was criticized by the “smart” marks for constantly burying young, ascending talents, from the Nexus to Alberto Del Rio. And yet, in a twist of fate […]

Anytime Sheamus and Drew McIntyre get in a WWE ring together, it’s going to be a good time… well, at last for the fans in attendance, the duo clearly don’t like each other and they clearly don’t mind showing it. Though they have wrestled well over 100 times if you count house shows, anytime the […]

Gunther and Ricochet are like WWE‘s answer to oil and vinegar; they don’t mix but goodness, when they are together they can certainly elevate an evening. That’s right, after snatching away the Intercontinental Title away from Ricochet in a very good SmackDown television match, Gunther and his accomplice, Ludwig, once again marched down to the […]

The Viking Raiders have been missing from RAW since March of 2022, when the duo lost a handicap match to Omos in less than a minute live from the PPG Paints Arena in beautiful Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While they have wrestled over a dozen house shows since, including two bouts for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, […]

Sami Zayn is a lot of things to the world of wrestling. He’s a current WWE superstar, a good friend of former Ring of Honor star El Generico, and decidedly not a friend of Johnny Knoxville, whom he wrestled – if you want to call it that – to a loss at WrestleMania 38 earlier […]

It all started off simply enough; after seeing a fan hold up a Sasha Banks sign during the Raquel Gonzalez-Shayna Bayzler match to show support for the former multi-time champion, who may or may not have been released from the promotions, WWE opted to photoshop it out of the picture they posted on social media, […]

When Riddle took the WWE ring to face off against Roman Reigns, the odds of securing a win weren’t particularly good. Reigns was in the middle of a title run for the ages, and while his work schedule has contracted, considering he’s quite literally beaten the majority of the WWE roster, there’s a reason why […]

There was a time when Shayna Baszler was untouchable. She was the WWE‘s big baddie in the Woman’s division, and even Becky Lynch struggled to contest with the MMA performer with a pension for inflicting pain on her opponents. Unfortunately, at least for Baszler, those days are apparently firmly in the past, as the “Queen […]

On the previous edition of WWE’s SmackDown, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus earned double disqualifications to end their match. Now normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal; many a match on WWE TV ends without the 1-2-3, and only a few folks have a problem with it. No, the problem with this particular ending was that […]

After a tumultuous few days for Vince McMahon and WWE amid allegations of misconduct that are currently being investigated, it was announced that Mr. McMahon himself would be on tonight’s episode of Smackdown, despite temporarily stepping down from his position as CEO and Chairman. What could come of this, the WWE Universe wondered? Since Vince […]

Madcap Moss has been stuck with Happy Corbin on WWE TV for too long. Initially aligning with the former King following his big-time lucky break in Las Vegas – after months of living in SmackDown production trucks and eating canned foods he opened by banging them off the ground no less- Moss gradually lost interest […]

When news broke that Vince McMahon, fresh off his decision to step down as the Chairman and CEO, was going to address the WWE Universe on SmackDown, it instantly made the show a must-watch viewing experience for fans lapsed and hardcore alike. Would McMahon address the allegations levied against him head-on and apologize for fostering […]

In the days since the Wall Street Journal reported on Vince McMahon’s $3 million hush-money payment to a former employee, seemingly the entirety of the WWE Universe has been thrown out of wack. Folks have debated over whether or not McMahon will ultimately lose his job, if the company will be put up for sale, […]

When Cesaro opted to walk away from WWE when his contract expired back in February, it left more than a few fans wondering what the future would hold for the man born and formerly known professionally as Claudio Castagnoli. Would he jump ship to AEW and rekindle his long-dormant feud with Eddie Kingston from back […]

After playing Roman Reigns’ music to distract Riddle in a tag team bout versus the Usos that also featured Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn was named an honorary Uso and given a task that’s much easier said than done: Beat Riddle and banish him from SmackDown forever. Earning the main event bout in a contest that […]

When Walter changed his name to Gunther on an episode of NXT 2.0 back in January, it left many a fan confused about his future in WWE. Fast forward to June of 2022, and Gunther is the new WWE Intercontinental Championship, having dethroned Ricochet after a 99-day run. In hindsight, that decision worked out pretty […]

Qualifying matches in WWE and in any wrestling promotion are easy; win the match, and you qualify for whatever is up for grabs, lose the match and you don’t. It’s black and white, day, and night, and really shouldn’t have much ambiguity one way or another. But what happens when two wrestlers are disqualified at […]

Seth Rollins has just been booked to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in the next WWE pay-per-view, Royal Rumble. Roman Reigns could have been stripped of his Universal Championship Belt had he faced Brock Lesnar during WWE Day 1. Instead, with the Big Dog out of the picture, Brock took the belt off […]