3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s weekly review of “WWE SmackDown,” the show that continues to do the heavy lifting for “Saturday Night’s Main Event” next weekend! While we didn’t have as many fireworks in the Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre feud as we did last week, we did get a somewhat massive Jade Cargill heel turn, setting up an “SNME” title match, and the Wrestling Inc. staff have things to say about it!

We actually didn’t have a whole lot to say about large portions of the rest of the show; “SmackDown” wasn’t the most thrilling affair this week as far as the WINC crew were concerned, and we had to go to some unorthodox places for our strongest feelings, both positive and negative. If you need to know the gritty details, uncolored by our opinions and analysis, check out our “SmackDown” results page. If our thoughts on the show are the very thing you’re looking for, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 10/24/25 episode of “WWE SmackDown!”

Tonight had all of the ingredients for a really enjoyable contest pitting fresh United States Champion Ilja Dragunov against a fresh and new challenger, one that wasn’t necessarily a regular feature on “SmackDown” or tied to any ongoing program – which, just throwing this out there, could have been done anywhere else in the two-hour show. Alas, Aleister Black followed up his challenge against Sami Zayn earlier this month with a second bite at the belt-shaped cherry around Dragunov’s waist. That’s not to say he was a terrible choice, nor is it to say he had no reason to answer the challenge. It’s just personally, in this writer’s opinion, he didn’t really encapsulate the excitement that comes with the Open Challenge; especially since it was Dragunov’s first defense. 

The match itself also wasn’t something to really complain about, there was great back-and-forth action with some very close near-falls, a solid sense of fighting psychology, and then the very predictable interference from Damian Priest to continue their feud. Black is also a familiar face for Dragunov, having last worked with one another almost a decade ago in WXW. It is purely that his entrance brought about a, “Ah, yeah. Aleister, fair play,” rather than any form of, “Wow, okay. This is an open challenge.” And then to have the match eventually fall secondary to a feud that didn’t really need the match to continue it, and to know that was likely going to be the case, just made everything feel inconsequential even in the moment. It is worth noting that Zelina Vega brings a different presence to Black in the ring, although again it feels like a waste of her talents to relegate her into a secondary role, so only time will tell whether than turns into something for the better in the long term.

Written by Max Everett

Ilja Dragunov being the United States Champion and continuing the open challenge brings about a wealth of opportunities for first-time dream matches and opponents, and while this week delivered a somewhat disappointing variation of that, there was at least a little bit of promise of an all too familiar direction later on in the show; Dragunov, having completed his title defense against Aleister Black, came across FrAxiom backstage. 

While he didn’t wear a mask and went by A-Kid then, Axiom is legitimately one of the best opponents Dragunov has ever had, maybe even comparable to Gunther, and much the same can be said about Nathan Frazer – Frazer’s speed in particular juxtaposed with Dragunov’s stiff striking. So it was cool to see them at least attempt to revisit the pair as potential challengers to Dragunov, and seeds were planted for some dissent between the tag team as well; Axiom tried to dissuade Frazer from challenging, so if he were to be the one to answer the challenge whenever the next opportunity arises, it stands to reason that it could drive a wedge between them. That last part was just spitballing on my part, but on an otherwise … existent show, it was nice to be given something to care about.

Written by Max Everett

Not much happened on this episode to make me sit up and take notice (for good or bad reasons) but one thing I did like was the interaction between Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss backstage. Beyond a singles match next week, I don’t really know where it’s going (though if Nia found a regular partner she could probably do some good work in the tag division) but taking the segment on its own merits, I absolutely buy Jax storming in to rain on Charlexa’s little friendship parade. Jax reminded both Bliss and the viewers that Charlotte Flair is hardly Bliss’ first “friend,” and her refusal to believe people can change gave what both Flair and Bliss said about learning to trust other people some actual depth. For those of us who have reasonably fond memories of the Bliss/Jax WrestleMania feud from 2018, it was a nice callback and an acknowledgement that WWE characters actually do have memories (something I sometimes doubt), and for those who don’t, it was some welcome background information to give Bliss vs. Jax something to work with next Friday.

I know it’s not much, but on nights like this, you take what you can get. “SmackDown’s” women’s division could actually be a thing if WWE decided to do more actual storytelling. The talent has never been a problem; the problem is the usage. Which, about that…

Written by Miles Schneiderman

“SmackDown” had just four matches and a single women’s match (I also hate it when it happens in other promotions). It was a non-title match between Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James. The match didn’t last but one commercial break. While James got in some offense, the champion connected with a Swanton Bomb and immediately followed with her finisher, Prettiest Moonsault Ever. One could make the argument that the champion should beat someone like James in mere minutes. However, as the champion, you want Stratton to have longer matches, even if the title isn’t on the line.

Following the match, Stratton was attacked by James’s associate, Giulia. Jade Cargill returned for the first time in about a month to make the save and take care of the United States champion before swerving everyone and attacking Stratton (which my coworker loved in this very column). The heel turn was more satisfying than the match. Cargill had been an ally of Stratton as of late, but Cargill has challenged for the title multiple times with Stratton retaining every time. At least the turn adds some intrigue to a matchup we’ve seen several times already.

There were a couple backstage segments involving women. Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre are still searching for a new Secret Hervice member. Nia Jax tried to instigate problems between Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss and ended with the latter challenging her to a match on “Raw”. At least there was some storyline movement there. Hopefully, they aren’t the lone women’s match on Monday.

Written by Samantha Schipman

It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Jade Cargill betrayed Tiffany Stratton in order to set up a WWE Women’s Championship match between the pair. While it was expected to happen sooner rather than later by a large portion of WWE’s fanbase, the execution was still pretty flawless.

On an episode of “SmackDown” that wasn’t really much more than standard, this was the only interesting part of the show that actually worked to build up an ongoing storyline in my opinion. From Cargill saving Stratton from the post-match beatdown at the hands of Giulia to raising Stratton’s hand to blindsiding her with a clothesline and the beatdown that followed, it told a story within a story by highlighting just how frustrated Cargill was with being unable to dethrone Stratton as WWE Women’s Champion. In something that’s become a bit of a rarity for WWE to pull off right, the use of emotions in Cargill’s demeanor and her sending Stratton crashing into the ring steps, the announce desk and completely ignoring security guards allowed you as a viewer to put yourself in Cargill’s shoes. It was engaging to watch and the perfect cliffhanger for next week heading into the now-confirmed Saturday Night’s Main Event title match between the pair.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Here’s the thing: with how meteorically the tensions between Drew McIntyre and Jimmy Uso have risen and the two brawls the pair found themselves involved in ahead of their match, the idea of a No Disqualification Match between them as the main event of this edition of “SmackDown” was a good one. If the effort to add the No Disqualification stipulation was going to be included in the first place though, then there should’ve been more weapons and escalating spots throughout the match.

McIntyre and Jimmy are supposed to want to brutalize each other, which was made abundantly clear by Jimmy asking “SmackDown” General Manager Nick Aldis for a fight rather than a normal match. This becomes harder to believe when said fight doesn’t include much more than the use of one single chair, a table right at the end, and a brief trip into the crowd. It didn’t feel like it was a fight at all, and completely lacked the hostility that was needed in order to make it feel important rather than boilerplate. It was a total let down for a contest that included two wrestlers who have proved to be all around good in-ring competitors, and was a lackluster way to end “SmackDown” with the post-match brawl between Cody Rhodes and McIntyre that lacked a similar hostile feel as well.

Written by Olivia Quinlan