The John Report: WWE SmackDown 09/26/25 Review
This is WWE SmackDown featuring a Tiffany Stratton-Nia Jax-Jade Cargill triple threat match, words from Cody Rhodes, and a whole lot more.
The WWE Wrestlepalooza PLE took place last Saturday with Cody Rhodes retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in the main event. That was the lone SmackDown match on the show.
I also wrote a feature article offering WWE some advice, providing five simple ideas to improve the quality of WWE Premium Live Events. I think these realistic changes would make WWE PLEs more enjoyable to watch.
From the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida, this is SmackDown for episode #1362. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
There was some pre-show walking featuring Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, Nia Jax, and Sami Zayn.
The commentary team was Michael Cole and Booker T, who is filling in for Corey Graves after Corey was attacked by Brock Lesnar. Corey has four kids with a fifth on the way, so he’s a busy guy. Enjoy the break. Mark Nash is the ring announcer.
There was a Wrestlepalooza video package.
Let’s Hear from Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman was in the ring, saying he had a lot to talk about. Paul did the Cody Rhodes line asking, “What do you wanna talk about?” Paul wondered if they wanted to talk about the World Heavyweight Champion, Seth “Freakin” Rollins. The fans booed that. There were “OTC” chants for Roman Reigns, so Heyman mentioned Reigns got stretchered out of Paris because of Bronson Reed. Heyman mentioned Bron Breakker as somebody who will main event many WrestleManias and lead WWE into the future. Heyman also mentioned Brock Lesnar…and here’s the interruption from Cody Rhodes.
Let’s Hear from Cody Rhodes…and Paul Heyman
The Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes made his entrance to a big pop. Cody was wearing a suit, and he was wearing his Crown Jewel Championship ring. Cody will face Seth Rollins in a Crown Jewel Championship match at Crown Jewel on October 11th in Perth, Australia. There were “Cody, Cody Rhodes” chants before the champ spoke.
Cody Rhodes spoke about how he misspoke last week because he said he called Heyman a goon, but Heyman is not a goon. Cody mentioned Brock Lesnar, which led to an image of Heyman introducing Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza. Cody wondered if that looked like the face of somebody, if that was a one-night thing. Cody wanted to know if he was talking to the Oracle, the Wiseman or the Advocate. Heyman said that you’re talking to the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time). Heyman said that, as the Greatest of All-Time, he respects the fact that Cody is confronting him about Brock Lesnar. Heyman said Cody knows when Lesnar is here, everybody is in danger. Heyman said he had good news as Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed showed up at ringside, and then they got into the ring with Cody, so Heyman left.
Cody said he guesses it’s about time. Cody said he keeps hearing about how Bron is the future of the business and how dangerous Reed is. Cody said that he bets Heyman tells both guys that they are WrestleMania main eventers. Cody said he grew up around bookers, and you can tell why they were doing what they were doing. Cody said, but what you can’t figure out is who Paul Heyman is loyal to. Cody told Bron it isn’t him.
Bron took his shirt off, and Cody took off his jacket, and Cody threw his watch to Booker. Cody punched Bron and Reed. Cody avoided a splash by Reed. Cody held Reed, looking for Cross Rhodes, but Bron hit a leaping clothesline. Randy Orton’s music hit as The Viper walked down to the ring and Cody worked over Reed with punches. Orton punched Bron a few times, Bron shoved him, and Orton hit a RKO on Reed. Cody clotheslined Bron out of the ring. Orton picked up the WWE Title, looked at it and handed it to Cody. They stood tall in the ring.
Analysis: It’s a classic way to set up a tag team match. We have seen Bron and Reed against a lot of Raw’s top faces, but not against SmackDown’s top faces like Cody and Orton, so it at least feels fresh in terms of the people involved. I like how Cody made some valid points about how Paul Heyman isn’t a loyal guy, so even though Heyman might talk up guys like Bron and Reed, Cody was right to say that Heyman will lie to them. Cody is one of the better talkers in WWE, and he showed it again here.
The Street Profits were backstage for an interview with Cathy Kelley, who tried to ask about tension. Montez Ford said that they are past that. Angelo Dawkins said that they have each other’s backs. Ford shut down people who thought it was over, and they did their “we want the smoke” line to end it. The Profits made their entrance for tag team action.
(Commercial)
They showed Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Noah Lyles at ringside.
WWE Tag Team Championships #1 Contender’s Match: Melo Don’t Miz – Carmelo Hayes & The Miz vs. The Street Profits – Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins
Ford and Melo exchanged some pin attempts. Ford hit a dropkick. Dawkins tagged in with a shoulder tackle. The Profits slammed Miz onto Hayes. The Profits hit a double clothesline to send Miz out of the ring. Dawkins ran at Miz on the floor, but Melo hit a dropkick. The heels were in control as the show went to a break for some fans. I’ll take a break too as Miz and Melo made quick tags as they isolated Dawkins.