WrestleMania SmackDown 2025 Review

Seth “Freakin” Rollins Starts the Show, The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

This year’s edition of WrestleMania SmackDown kicked off with Seth “Freakin” Rollins as The Visionary came out to hype up tonight’s Main Event between himself, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns! Seth talked about how Punk didn’t come back for the fans and instead is only in it for the money whilst Roman doesn’t care about anyone other than himself. Rollins then talked about how neither of his opponents know anything about sacrifice, whilst that’s literally what he did last year to end Reigns’ historic Championship run! Seth Rollins then ended the segment by using a Paul Heyman line, and yeah, this was once again very well done by Seth, he’s been a star during the build to WrestleMania 41!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B

The first match of the night was all about history as Superstars competed to try and win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal! There was plenty of important names here, including the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Carmelo Hayes, Rey Fenix, Karrion Kross, Austin Theory and others, and I do want to pick up on Kross because the Las Vegas crowd booed when Dragon Lee eliminated him! Carlito was the first one to be eliminated, and Rey Fenix managed to outsmart Santos Escobar and eliminate The Emperor of Lucha Libre! There was a good moment in the match where Chad Gable was eliminated by 5 Luchador’s, that was well done, and the final 4 came down to Shinsuke, Fenix, Melo, and Andrade! Shinsuke may have gotten an entrance, but he was the next man to go before El Grande Americano halted the momentum of Rey Fenix as El Grande dumped Rey to the outside! This meant that it came down to Andrade and Carmelo Hayes, and I felt that was very fitting given how good both men were on SmackDown last Summer! In the end, it was Hayes who managed to eliminate Andrade to get the win, and hopefully this is the start of a big push for Melo!

Credit: VoxCatch

Grade: B

Rhea Ripley Gets Interrupted, The Street Profits VS Motor City Machine Guns: WWE Tag Team Championships, Randy Orton Promo

After a small promo clip of Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley came down to the ring to talk about how she is more determined than ever to walk out of WrestleMania as the Women’s World Champion! Iyo Sky then interrupted Rhea, but she wasn’t able to get a word in as Bianca Belair cut a promo that she got completely booed for! Naomi was then out next to tell Bianca that they needed to talk before Jade Cargill arrived and tried to chase down Naomi! This just led to a brawl between all 5 women as Iyo Sky eventually stood tall with a Moonsault to the outside! Turn Belair Heel, it’s so needed!

Grade: C

After Rey Fenix and The LWO challenged American Made to a 6-Man Tag Team Match, it was time for the WWE Tag Team Championships to be on the line as The Street Profits defended against the Motor City Machine Guns! The action here was pretty decent, both teams are good at what they do, and I thought everything flowed pretty smoothly! However, this match was never destined to end clean, and that was proven to be true as DIY attacked all four men, resulting in a disqualification before Ciampa and Gargano ran off with the Titles! Later in the show, Nick Aldis booked a Triple Threat TLC Tag Team Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles for next week’s SmackDown, and that seems like a massive missed opportunity!

Grade: C+

After Nick Aldis told The Secret Hervice that Chelsea Green will now be facing Zelina Vega in a Singles Match instead, Randy Orton came down to the ring to talk about his WrestleMania 41 plans! Randy said that this year’s WrestleMania means a lot to him, meaning he cannot miss the show. Because of this, Orton will be in the ring, at Mania on Sunday, and it’s up to the locker room to decide who wants to come out and face The Viper! Hopefully it’s a good one!

Grade: C+

Chelsea Green VS Zelina Vega, LA Knight VS Solo Sikoa, American Made VS Rey Fenix and The LWO

Damian Priest made it clear that he’s going to end Drew McIntyre on Sunday before Chelsea Green headed down to the ring to go one-on-one with Zelina Vega. This match went on for probably around 4 minutes, it was okay for what it was, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, but there also wasn’t a lot of good things that stood out. However, the ending was very cool as not only did Zelina pin the Women’s United States Champion, but she also did it with a Super Code Red which was very well done!

Grade: C+

LA Knight was out next to cut a promo on Jacob Fatu and the rest of The Bloodline before he was set to take on Solo Sikoa! Now, this match did take place for a little bit, with both men getting offense in, but Jacob Fatu then decided to arrive and cause the DQ! Now, Braun Strowman then ran down to make the save, and this left Nick Aldis to book a Tag Team match instead! Now, this was solid stuff again, Braun and Jacob work very well together, they always tend to have good spots, and I just feel like both Knight and Sikoa have definitely stepped up in the ring over the past 12 months! In the end, it was The Megastar who got the win after dropping Solo with a BFT, but that probably just means that he is going to lose his United States Championship tonight!

Grade: B- (Overall)

After a clip of Tiffany Stratton’s interview with Wade Barrett, the Main Event Match of the night saw Rey Fenix team up with The LWO to take on American Made! This was a good match I thought, it was fast-paced so it was pretty enjoyable throughout, and I have to say, I thought Fenix and Dragon Lee worked incredibly well together. Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers were also great as always, but the night would go to Rey Fenix as he hit a great-looking splash to get the win!

Grade: B-

Cody Rhodes and John Cena Come Face-to-Face

The Final segment before WrestleMania 41 was a Face-to-Face confrontation between Cody Rhodes and John Cena! John called Cody naïve, saying he has no chance of winning on Sunday if he continues to care about what the crowd wants him to do. Amazingly, Cena’s promo was so good that the crowd started to boo Cody when he started to talk, and fair play to Rhodes because he fired back calling Cena overrated and a bad wrestler, and this seemed to get the crowd back on his side. John Cena then tried to drop Cody with an AA, but the Undisputed WWE Champion turned it into a Cross Rhodes to stand tall! This was a strong way to close out WrestleMania SmackDown, I’m very excited to see what they can do in tomorrow’s Main Event!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B+