WWE SmackDown 10/25/2023: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that now features the only team in history to win tag title gold in WWE, ROH, TNA, and NJPW. As you might expect, the WINC crew has a lot to say about the Motor City Machine Guns unexpectedly winning the WWE tag titles Friday night, as well as the surrounding Bloodline drama that ended in a big Ucey hug in the middle of the ring. There was a lot going on and there's a lot to unpack.

Between that, the show-opening Randy Orton promo, the Cody Rhodes/GUNTHER promo, and "Game 7" of Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes, we have tons of stuff to go over, and certainly not enough room for everything. If you want to read about what happened in the Candice LeRae vs. Naomi match, you're going to want to check out our "SmackDown" results page. If not, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 10/25/24 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"

Everything in a professional wrestling storyline is always done for a reason, but sometimes there are better, more effective, and less convoluted ways of getting to where they need to go. The opening segment of "SmackDown" that featured Randy Orton demand a match against Kevin Owens from Triple H at Crown Jewel is a great example of such.

It seems counterproductive to have Triple H refuse to give Orton a match against Owens and list off several reasons why he shouldn't make the match official only for him to turn around after Orton made a somewhat flimsy and basic case to him that he would've done the same thing if he was still wrestling. While I can see what WWE was trying to get at and it makes perfect sense for Orton to desperately want a match against Owens, Triple H is now a high profile WWE executive now rather than still being a wrestler. Storyline wise, it would make much more sense for him to decline to give Orton in order to do what's best for the company and Orton himself, have Orton relentlessly ask Triple H for the match, and Triple H agree to give it to him in an unsanctioned capacity.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

This feels strange to me to write a "hated" section about LA Knight, because I've been a big fan of his and jumped on the bandwagon during his meteoric rise. I was one of those fans who thought he deserved the United States Championship a heck of a lot sooner than when he actually won it from Logan Paul, but now, I feel like I'm questioning a lot of my own choices after tonight. Knight was set to be the special guest referee for "game seven" of Carmelo Hayes and Andrade's best of seven series. Initially, that felt like it made sense, considering both Hayes and Andrade had previously lost to Knight, then kept fighting each other, seemingly inevitably leading to the winner of the series facing Knight again, but that's not what we got here. What we are getting is a triple threat match at Crown Jewel, which I don't necessarily hate, but the way we got there on "SmackDown" tonight was quite irksome.

Special guest referees are usually quite distracting in any match they're involved in, but Knight took the cake when it came to distracting tonight. He refereed wearing sunglasses, which got on my nerves for whatever reason, and also wore the championship while he did so, at least for the first half of the match. While that was all kind of goofy, but really on brand for Knight, Hayes got in Knight's face for missing a pinfall after Hayes sent Andrade crashing in to the champion and Hayes also smacked him with an accidental big super kick. That peeved the champion off enough that he pulled Hayes out of the ring and sent him flying over the announce desk before hitting a BFT to Andrade in the ring. He followed up with one on Hayes for good measure, then the most egregiously bad part of the segment happened, as if it needed to get any worse.

Knight run the ring bell himself before grabbing a mic and literally saying "to hell with game seven." To hell with game seven?!? Why have I been watching the same match (albeit a very good one) over and over, then? Knight went as far as declaring himself winner of game seven... but that is absolutely not how that works. Even as a usual fan of Knight's, I just didn't like this one bit. It got us what has the potential to be a pretty cool triple threat next weekend, but we had to suffer to get there. Andrade and Hayes deserve better, and I hope one of them walks away in Saudi Arabia with the title, because it seems like Knight is more interesting in the chase.

Written by Daisy Ruth

"We are proud to be dramatic," Cody Rhodes said to WWE World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER. "We are proud to be a bit of a messy king."

We're in a little bit of a slough with WWE booking. Rhodes was involved in some weird and complicated angles with Roman Reigns, his friendship with Kevin Owens — which he is now fully dissociated from, storyline-wise — fell through in dramatic fashion, and he is trying to prove his chops to GUNTHER in order to hype up their match for what is essentially an accessory championship with no real consequences. Friday's promo segment between Rhodes and GUNTHER reflected this recent slough, and while no real points are made, a new character poked its head over the horizon and met our eyes with a small, coy wink.

After weeks of Rhodes acting like the moral standard and self-righteous savior, it is so incredibly refreshing to get "The American Nightmare" to admit that he is a bit of a messy king. If this is indicative of an incoming messy girl era for Rhodes, I am ready.

Rhodes' acknowledgement of his messiness is a great example of character archetype subversion, and the potential for entertainment these subversions contain. Instead of acting like the epitome of moral righteousness, as he has done most notably in his explosive segments with Kevin Owens, Rhodes told GUNTHER that yes, he is a messy king, but his messiness does not change his credibility as a fighter, nor as a champion. Rhodes told GUNTHER that yes, his fanbase are called "Cody Crybabies" for a reason, but they are simultaneously "Cody Bada**es," and that both realities can exist. So often, it feels like champions — more often than not, babyface champions — have to be stoic, to have this insane grip of their emotions, and to some extent, they do. However, that does not negate the entertainment value of a babyface who shirks those expectations, who fully plays into this nearly nebulous, somewhat selfish, partially petty dramatics. This is even more impactful when it is performed by the epitome of American hypermasculinity — by literally the last person you would think of. I am in love with every sliver of messy girl era Cody Rhodes we can get.

Even if you don't particularly enjoy petty characters or the subversion of personality archetypes, one can appreciate the change that Rhodes is going through, as a character, in a part of his career that feels so stagnant. It has been clear to everybody that Rhodes and WWE are sitting on Rhodes' true potential as a champion until Roman Reigns and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are fully committed and booked for a WrestleMania-level storyline. As such, his title defenses and character as a champion have felt lukewarm, like he is just sitting around waiting for his true rivals to come back. At least with this lean into the dramatic, messy girl side of his personality, Rhodes is creating opportunities to be dynamic in this pre-WrestleMania booking limbo we find ourselves in.

Written by Angeline Phu

After years in the making, wrestling fans got a dream match they never thought they'd see when Motor City Machine Guns faced #DIY to name the Number 1 contender for the "SmackDown" tag titles. Unlike Wade Barrett, Michael Cole understands the importance of The Guns to modern wrestling, specifically to tag teams. He spoke of their history in wrestling and with their opponents, particularly Johnny Gargano, who posted on social media this week about looking up to Alex Shelley and them eventually becoming friends. Shelley responded with his own kind words about Gargano.

This match allowed MCMG to show the WWE Universe more of what they can do and why they deserve to be on a big stage. #DIY went toe-to-toe with one of the very best. Early on in the match, Shelley bested Gargano in a sequence that left Gargano holding up his fingers and saying "this close." The match had added tension with Ciampa not liking Gargano's admiration of Shelley. The tension deepened when Gargano took Ciampa down by mistake when his opponent moved out of the way. The Guns won and became the No. 1 contenders as expected.

As a big fan of both teams, I really wish that match had gotten more time. We now know why that happened, but for a dream match on a one week (or weak) build, it deserved more time. Hopefully we'll get a rematch in the future and it'll get the time it should. Perhaps a rematch with the tag titles on the line.

I'm happy to see the Guns win the titles so quickly. Last week, Nick Aldis told them they were there to shake up the tag team division on the blue brand and they've already done a week later. Hopefully they'll get a meaningful title run — the first of many.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Yes, I just loved MCMG winning the tag titles. But I am also conflicted about how it happened.

Of course MCMG barely had time to celebrate when The New Bloodline made their usual main event appearance. When they got in the ring, the fans were chanting for Roman Reigns. The Guns were no longer the most important people in the ring. Solo Sikoa introduced himself as the Tribal Chief. Sabin introduced himself and his partner before saying, "...whenever you're ready to hand those championships over, just let us know. Any place, any time." That time and place was right then and there.

The match itself was alright. Sikoa and Fatu got involved early on. There was a ref bump. The Usos interfered, not to help MCMG, but to screw The New Bloodline (not that it wasn't deserved, especially after they cost Jey the Intercontinental Championship on Monday). When you're in the Bloodline's orbit (new or original), you are the least important part of the story. The Bloodline has been the cornerstone of the Blue brand's show for five years. The show ended not with the new champions celebrating in the ring, but with Reigns brooding at the top of the ramp because The Usos hugged and the fans went nuts.

So while I am very happy for Shelley and Sabin to have the titles after only three matches, the Bloodline stench is hanging over it. I hope that it isn't a precursor to the rest of their title reign. I also hope that their title reign lasts longer than #DIY's run a few months ago (LESS THAN A MOON CYCLE!). MCMG are truly one of the best tag teams of their generation and have earned the chance to have a meaningful reign, especially being belted this early into their WWE careers.

Written by Samantha Schipman

The Samoan Dynasty soap opera that is The Bloodline tale continued to unfold during this week's "WWE SmackDown," a night that saw Solo Sikoa's hubris and underestimation of the Motor City Machine Guns become his group's undoing as the Guerillas of Destiny lost their tag titles in the main event.

MCMG weren't without help on their side, however, as Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso emerged to even the odds and attack Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. As the "Original Tribal Chief" and "Big Jim" fought their kin to the back, the soon-to-be new champs were still left with Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. When the referee took a bump it felt like a truly familiar story of Bloodline interference squashing yet another challenger, and I was gearing up to hate the bones of it. So you can imagine the welcome surprise of seeing a third babyface invade enter the frame: "Main Event" Jey Uso.

What I specifically found cool about the moment was the logic behind his appearance, coming after his twin brother and Reigns had already disappeared from the arena in a deliberate act of pure vengeance – a title for a title – after The Bloodline cost him the Intercontinental Championship on Monday. He wasn't shoehorned into a reunion with his family right away, further continuing the gradual and logical build to resolution while taking time to preserve each character's arc. When the bell had rung and the new champions had celebrated their way up the ramp, Jey stood alone in the ring as a familiar face walked back down the ramp; six months after standing opposite one another at WrestleMania, Jey and Jimmy Uso emotionally hugged it out. It was yet another emotional turn in the brothers' tale over the past four years. They had fought together, won together, reigned together, and lost together, catalyzing their spell at odds with one another, and at what cost? The Bloodline as they knew it is gone, their in-fighting providing the window for invaders like Fatu and G.O.D to enter the fold, and now there is more that should unite them than divide them.

However, that isn't the case as it pertains to Jey and Roman, and that was equally communicated to great effect. Reigns watched on as his cousins re-united, giving a contemplative stare towards the proceedings as the show drew to a close. It was Reigns that had driven the wedge between the brothers to begin with, hammered them both verbally and physically throughout their joint-service to The Bloodline, and sought to stunt their ambitions to keep himself at the top. That sort of trauma doesn't disappear because he is no longer the champion or the chief, he is still a walking memory of a dark time in Jey's career. This closing segment did really well to capture the longing and regret of a cousin on the outside, knowing his road to redemption isn't going to be an easy one after all he put them through.

Written by Max Everett