The John Report: WWE SmackDown 09/12/25 Review

This is WWE SmackDown featuring Brock Lesnar on the show, Drew McIntyre facing Orton, Tiffany Stratton defending the WWE Women’s Title against Jade Cargill, and more.

I thought last week’s WWE SmackDown was excellent with John Cena’s final appearance on the blue brand as an active wrestler. That led to a fantastic Cena match against Sami Zayn for the US Title, which was ruined by a surprising Brock Lesnar attack. AJ Lee also returned to WWE in the main event segment after ten years away. I hope it’s the start of some positive momentum for the blue brand because the show feels lethargic sometimes. I do like the lineup for this week, so I’m optimistic about it.

There was a WWE press conference earlier today where they announced WrestleMania 43 will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2027. That will be the first WrestleMania outside of the USA or Canada.

From the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, this is SmackDown for episode #1360. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

There was some superstar walking shown from earlier in the day of Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade Cargill.

This week’s SmackDown commentary team is NXT’s Vic Joseph and Booker T. They have worked together for about three years on NXT, and they both have a lot of experience. I also predict WWE fans on social media will complain about Booker’s commentary. Wrestling fans complaining? Shocking, I know. Corey Graves is working the WWE-AAA Worlds Collide show later on Friday.

A video package aired about last week’s show when John Cena was on SmackDown for the last time and thanked Chicago. Sami Zayn faced Cena, which led to Brock Lesnar attacking both guys. The Lesnar/Cena match was made official for Wrestlepalooza, and it’s going to main event the show.

Let’s Hear from Brock Lesnar

There was a loud reaction as Brock Lesnar’s legendary music hit. Lesnar walked around the ring in a tank top and a cowboy hat while looking mean as usual.

Lesnar was greeted by “You suck” chants by the fans. Before he could say a word, R-Truth’s music hit. R-Truth did his full “What’s Up” entrance and the crowd sang along with it. Lesnar didn’t look thrilled about it. Truth told Norfolk to make some noise, so the fans cheered and said, “What’s Up.”

Lesnar told Truth to shut up. Truth said he’ll be the first WWE superstar to say Brock, welcome back. Truth said that he used to be scared of Lesnar. Truth said he’s not scared of him anymore. Lesnar claimed he didn’t know Truth was. Lesnar said that you’d better have a good reason for interrupting him. Truth said that you’ve been disrespecting his childhood hero and older brother, John Cena, for the past 25 years. Lesnar asked how old he was and what his name was. Truth said his name is R-Truth, so the fans chanted it. Lesnar said he’s there for one thing because he’s looking for John Cena. Lesnar asked if he knew where Cena was. Truth said he didn’t know. Truth said he was here to defend his childhood hero, John Cena. Lesnar finally realized his name is R-Truth, so Truth said his name is Ron Cena, which led to a “Ron Cena” chants.

Lesnar asked Truth why is he here right now? Truth claimed that Cena is built differently now. Truth said he went crazy this year, and he made a little kid cry. Truth said that Super Cena is coming for Lesnar and he’s filled with hustle, loyalty, respect and two drops of that kid’s tears. Truth said Cena won’t be running from The Beast, he’ll be feeding off him. Lesnar told Ron Cena he was missing a tooth, then Truth questioned that, and Lesnar picked him up and hit an F5. Lesnar’s jeans ripped in the back, and he showed it to the camera. After he left the ring, Lesnar commented into the camera that he ripped his pants and laughed about his blue underwear.

Analysis: We knew that John Cena wasn’t there since they said last week was his SmackDown farewell, so Lesnar looking for Cena makes Lesnar look silly. R-Truth is always funny on the microphone, so having him say that Cena is his childhood hero and older brother is ridiculous, and it draws laughs. I liked the “Ron Cena” chant. Lesnar dropping Truth with the F5 was obviously where this was headed, so no surprise there. Lesnar ripping the back of his jeans was a bit of a surprise, and it was nice to see Brock laugh about that wardrobe malfunction. It wasn’t a bad segment, but I think the creative team could have done a better job giving Lesnar more to do in a segment like that.

Sami Zayn was shown with the US Title saying he’s glad that John Cena gave him his blessing to do the US Title Open Challenge. Zayn spoke to somebody, saying that this person is his challenger, and they both travelled the world before they got here. Zayn extended his hand, and we saw that it was Rey Fenix. They shook hands and Zayn left for his match.

A commercial aired for WWE Wrestlepalooza next Saturday, September 20th, for the ESPN streaming debut in the US.

(Commercial)

A video aired about Solo Sikoa talking about what he had to sacrifice to get the US Title in his hands. Solo said he sacrificed love, loyalty and his own flesh & blood just for it to be taken out of his hands. Solo said he lost his Bloodline, the Ula Fala and the US Championship. Solo said he’ll lead this family and take back what he lost. Solo said he’s been living in the shadows of others for way too long, so others will live in the shadows of him and “my family tree” aka MFTs.

Analysis: I’m not sure if Solo Sikoa will get pushed heavily again. I don’t think the MFTs group is that interesting. You can’t just throw a group together and hope it recreates the greatness of the original Bloodline. That’s not easy to do it.

United States Championship: Sami Zayn vs. Rey Fenix

This should be a lot of fun. I’m a big fan of both guys. Zayn got an armbar takedown and then Fenix walked the ropes, leading to his own armbar. Fenix gave Zayn a hurricanrana out of the ring. Fenix went for a suicide dive, Zayn avoided it, so Fenix swung around the ropes to go back into the ring. They went to a break for some fans as the action continued here on Netflix. Zayn took control with a body slam. Fenix hit a kick to the gut, followed by a springboard bounce off the ropes, leading to a back elbow that knocked Zayn down. Fenix used his legs to rollup Zayn for two. Zayn jumped off the ropes, and hit a clothesline for two. Zayn suplexed Fenix from the apron into the ring. Zayn hit a back elbow to knock Fenix down.

Zayn remained in control with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. They went to the apron where Fenix jumped off the turnbuckle and hit a jumping kick to the head. Fenix hit a twisting dive over the top onto Zayn on the floor. Fenix went up top and hit a cross body block for a two count. Zayn went for a move, but Fenix countered with an incredible headscissors for a two count. Fenix spun around the turnbuckle again and he hit a spinning kick to the head for two. Fenix went up top, jumped off with a moonsault, Zayn moved and Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but Fenix moved. Fenix hit a jumping DDT for a two count. That was a close one with Zayn kicking out at the last possible moment. They went to another break as the match continued. Fenix set up Zayn on the top turnbuckle. Zayn blocked a move with forearms to the back. Zayn jumped off top with a Sunset Flip Powerbomb for a two count. Zayn does that spot well. The fans chanted, “This is awesome” for them. Zayn went up top, Fenix went after him, Zayn shoved him down, Zayn jumped off the top and Fenix hit a superkick to put Zayn down for a two count. Fenix worked over Zayn with kicks to the chest and a superkick to the jaw for two.