WWE SmackDown 2/21/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that is often boring, but that sometimes — sometimes — features a huge movie star showing up on almost total lack of notice to announce the location of WrestleMania 42 and tell the Undisputed WWE Champion he wants his soul. We know, we know, that's the only thing you want to read about because it's the only thing of note that really happened Friday night — we get it, and obviously we have opinions about it. But we have opinions about other things, too! All very personal and subjective, of course; if objectivity is more your jam and you just want the facts, check out our "SmackDown" results page.

For all the rest of you, it's time to get into all of the WINC staff's strongest feelings, though obviously we have neither the space nor the inclination to cover the length and breadth of the entire three-hour program. Only the hottest takes and the most passionate emotions for the Wrestling Inc. audience! From Jimmy Uso's big win to Liv Morgan vs. Naomi being canceled-but-not-really to, yes, Cody Rhodes and The Rock, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 2/21/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."

Kicking off the show where The Rock asked for Cody Rhodes' soul was a far more humble endeavor between Jimmy Uso and Drew McIntyre: a match. And it wasn't anything too special by any stretch of the means, serving to add another fragment to the story of McIntyre's vengeance against the Original Bloodline heading into Elimination Chamber, where he is amongst the forerunners for a shot at Rhodes' WWE Championship at WrestleMania – pending whatever it is "The Final Boss" actually has in store if at all, much like last year. McIntyre and Uso worked a fun opener, one that really went through the motions of a TV match in a fluid and natural way, characterized by McIntyre working the physical advantage and Uso countering with short sustained bursts.

It really seemed as though it was going to be another win for McI ntyre at the detriment of Uso, who is himself still trying to find his feet as his twin brother prepares to main event WrestleMania. But instead there was a surprise twist, with Uso flipping McIntyre onto his shoulders for a three-count to steal the victory. He didn't have long to celebrate his win as McIntyre swiftly beat him down after the match, but it was cool to see Uso presented as a competent singles competitor and picking up a win over a multi-time WWE Champion – one that has reigned in this decade at least – as the question still looms over what he does in the absence of his kin. There is an endearing energy present with Uso much in the same way that has catapulted his brother, so it wouldn't be the worst thing to see this win develop into something substantial further down the line. It was a great opener and a welcome deviation from the status quo, if nothing else.

Written by Max Everett

If this episode is any indication, we are apparently putting Carmelo Hayes in a tag team with The Miz now. This is a stupid idea, created by stupid people, at least one of whom is a former member of D-Generation X. This is why we don't put Road Dogg in creative.

Why is it stupid, you ask? (You don't ask, you already know, but I will tell you anyway.) First of all, the continued misuse of Hayes is the best argument for Paul Levesque being racist since he put Bianca Belair in the tag division, and the latest instance of that misuse is, ironically, putting Hayes in the tag division. To be clear, I love tag team wrestling. Tag team wrestling is better than the wrestling you like. Unfortunately, WWE doesn't feel the same way (and really never have) which is why putting people like Hayes and Belair in the tag division feels like a massive demotion. In a just and sane world, it wouldn't be, but I cannot imagine someone familiar with WWE has a product looking at Hayes getting a washed up 44-year-old tag partner and saying "Yes, this is a positive career move."

Hayes has been wrestling for more than a decade and spent THREE YEARS anchoring "NXT." He was a first round draft pick upon getting called up and immediately had a match with Cody Rhodes, and that is the last time anyone on the blue brand seemingly had an interesting creative idea for him. Pairing him with The Miz does not count as a creative idea — you known somebody backstage just came up with the "Melo Don't Miz" amalgam and they loved it and ran with it, despite not having a direction (welcome to "SmackDown"). With Hayes in dire need of heating, they teamed up with one of the coldest stars on the roster, in the coldest division on the roster, on the coldest show in ... wrestling, I think, at the moment. Like, all of wrestling. Brilliant move.

Friday's tag match involved R-Truth (who admittedly had a hilarious spot where he thought he and Miz were still a team) and LA Knight while more talented wrestlers were nowhere to be found; it had a wonky interference finish like basically every match on this show; and if the Skull-Crushing Finale/Codebreaker combination is going to be a thing, let's hope it looks better in the future. But I'm not counting on it — as far as I'm concerned, Melo Mizzed pretty bad already.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

I am such a fan of Alexa Bliss and I'm so interested to see where her story goes, that seeing a video vignette for her ahead of the Elimination Chamber next week was another small highlight of tonight's show for me. While it didn't give too much away about what the plans are for Bliss when it comes to the Wyatt Sicks, the video was done so well that there were subtle hints and just an overall spooky, Wyatt-esque vibe that worked really well for me. I didn't catch any overt Wyatt Sicks teasers throughout the video, but I still loved what I saw.

Bliss isn't speaking abnormally in the video, but the picture cracks like the teaser videos for the Wyatt Sicks when she's explaining things have changed, yet also stayed the same in WWE since she's been gone. She mentions that the desperations and insecurities remain the same, and she was even less subtle about her spookiness when she mentioned turning the Elimination Chamber into something like a playground – referencing her Alexa's Playground segments with The Fiend and the fact she even appeared on a swing in her pod in a previous Chamber match. The little cuts and the very brief voice modulation when she said "I am in charge" of the division was just perfect.

I don't think Bliss is winning the Chamber or even heading to WrestleMania this year at all because she's really just come back with no current story, but I think the Chamber is going to be where she reunites with her Wyatt Sicks "family." I can picture her losing, then walking up the ramp dejectedly and being intercepted by Nikki Cross and Uncle Howdy at the top of the stage. Even if that doesn't happen, this video had me thinking about what could happen for Bliss, and keeping her at the front of fans' minds after her return can only be a good thing, especially during a busy WrestleMania season.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Normally, it wouldn't be that big of a deal if WWE were to cancel an advertised match by having one star or stars take out the other star or stars in something that has become a normalcy for WWE over the years. This extends to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez attacking Bianca Belair and Naomi to prevent the planned singles match between Morgan and Naomi. However, in this particular case, WWE had already made a major change to another advertised at the top of the show by removing Cody Rhodes to turn the planned Six Man Tag Team Match into a regular tag team match.

Changing yet another advertised match felt incredibly redundant, and was pretty pointless in the case of Morgan and Naomi. While I can respect WWE attempting to do something different, it still would've been more effective to go through with the singles match in order to create hype for the upcoming WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match on "Raw" with some interference, counter-interference, and a quick roll up to end things depending on who they wanted to go over and the outcome of Monday's match. When combined with the fact that all of the women's segments were clumped into one part of the show and meant that the only other women's match was Tiffany Stratton vs. Candice LeRae, it wasn't fun or entertaining viewing especially in light of the recent reports of a women's division that's unhappy with their current booking.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

I'll be honest — as soon as The Rock was announced for an appearance on "WWE SmackDown", I was already annoyed. By the time the segment was over, I was even more annoyed, especially because it was so nonsensical. It took up a huge chunk of time (par for the course any time he comes back) and didn't accomplish much of anything.

The Rock came out to a very different entrance and that was the first sign this was going to be weird. He announced that "WrestleMania 42" will be in New Orleans, as expected. Then, he called Cody Rhodes to the ring and things got really weird. He droned on about how they've become good friends since "WrestleMania 40", to which the crowd booed. He even showed a photo of their moms, who have allegedly become besties too.

Then, The Rock started talking about Rhodes being a popular champion and that he wants him to become his champion, whatever the hell that means. He even talked about how he has *checks notes* more Instagram followers than Rhodes. I can promise you this promo was as bizarre as it sounds. The Rock seemed to be going out there with no notes and was just winging. At times, Rhodes appeared utterly confused by what was happening. Rocky told Rhodes he wanted "The American Nightmare" to be his champion and "make all your dreams come true." He gave him a deadline of "Elimination Chamber" to give him an answer. Rhodes still didn't comprehend what he was asking and asked if he wanted his title. The Rock replied, "I want your soul" and caressed his face. Yes, really.

It's been a couple hours and I still don't know what that was all about. What I do know is that the women's match between Naomi and Liv could've happened. They got screwed out of a match for no reason other than to give a TKO board member TV time. At a time when the women's division is reportedly unhappy with their booking and creative direction, this certainly didn't do anything to show that they take it seriously or change perceptions. The segment after the "WrestleMania" announcement didn't do much of anything except befuddle anyone watching. It's like The Rock had a Friday free and told WWE to just clear the third hour for him, which made the already over-long show drag even more than usual.

Written by Samantha Schipman

The role change between Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu wasn't exactly a slow burn because Fatu stepped things up when Sikoa went off for a little break following his loss of the ula fala, but tonight, seeing it all on display a bit more was something I loved most about this show. It started off when Sikoa, Fatu and Tama Tonga met up backstage when Sikoa was pulling up to the show, and the first thing he said to Fatu was that hitting Tonga last week was a mistake.

Fatu almost immediately established dominance (for lack of a better phrase) by telling Sikoa that if it wasn't an accident, he wouldn't be standing there. When I listened to it back, it sounded just like something Sikoa would have said to the likes of Tonga or Tonga Loa when he was still in control, and well before Fatu joined the Bloodline. The best part of this, however, was when Sikoa and Fatu were walking out to the ring and the camera was following them through gorilla. Sikoa attempted to start off a walk-and-talk promo, like Fatu has been doing to much success, to sound tough, but Fatu shot it down quickly, yet very subtly, interrupting him and doing it himself. The look on Sikoa's face was just so downtrodden and like he knew he was no longer in control of the Bloodline that it just made everything seem perfect.

The tag match itself wasn't much to write home about on what was a pretty lackluster and odd "SmackDown," but it did help further the storyline friction between the pair. Toward the end of the bout, Fatu accidentally super kicked Sikoa instead of Damian Priest, but he didn't exactly look too fussed about it or rush to go help his former Tribal Chief and let him know it was an accident. Priest was then able to take out Sikoa and pin him for the victory, which is something I'm sure will come into play next week and make things even more interesting. I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of Sikoa, but I certainly am of Fatu, so if WWE is going in the direction of setting up a match between them at WrestleMania, I'm all for it, especially if it makes the "SmackDown" episodes along the way just a bit more interesting.

Written by Daisy Ruth