Warning: The following copy has SPOILERS for WWE SmackDown (Jan 24, 2025)
On the eve of WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event, this was an incident-fueled episode of SmackDown. Cody Rhodes was in Austin, TX to speak in the ring to Joe Tessitore. Kevin Owens made his presence felt, and the WWE Transfer Window continues to throw up surprises. The SmackDown Tag Team division remains red-hot with Motor City Machine Guns vs Pretty Deadly and one half of Tag Team Champions, DIY, Johnny Gargano went one-on-one with Apollo Crews.
New WWE Champion Tiffany Stratton was keen to address the competition, as the line-up for the Women's Royal Rumble match heated up in a big way. The Bloodline attempted to get back to winning ways, as Tama Tonga took on LA Knight, and Chelsea Green continues to flaunt her Women's United States Championship in front of Michin.
WWE SmackDown Results - Jan 24, 2025
- Cody Rhodes opened the show in a one-on-one interview with Joe Tessitore. It's revealed that Cody and KO will both hand over their titles to Shawn Michaels at Saturday Night's Main Event. Cody is defiant and strong ahead of tomorrow night.
- Motor City Machine Guns defeated Pretty Deadly with Skull And Bones. It was a fun match with MCMG taking the flamboyant duo's best shots.
- The Miz has been transferred to SmackDown and is living in fear of the Wyatt Sicks, who have also been moved to Friday nights.
- Kevin Owens interrupts Joe Tessitore with a live mic in the middle of his link. He berates the commentator (and front-row Matthew McConaughey) before he is interrupted by Jimmy Uso. Owens and Jimmy Uso will meet in the night's Main Event.
- Carmelo Hayes is told by Nick Aldis that his match with Jimmy Uso is off, and he will face the newest signing to SmackDown instead.
- Michin and B-Fab defeated Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, with Michin pinning Chelsea Green after landing Eat Defeat.
- Damian Priest is the latest signing to SmackDown and will face Carmelo Hayes later in the evening.
- Charlotte Flair declares for the Royal Rumble in her latest vignette.
- Tiffany Stratton begins her promo and is interrupted by Rhea Ripley, and Nia Jax shortly afterwards. Nia says she is going to win this year's Royal Rumble.
- Naomi and Bianca Belair join the party, also declaring for the Royal Rumble. Liv Morgan then arrives and says she will win the Royal Rumble, because Raquel Rodriguez is also entering the match to ensure it.
- Liv Morgan, Candace LeRae and Nia Jax defeated Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Naomi, with Liv Morgan pinning Bianca Belair via roll up.
- Michin vs Chelsea Green for the Women's United States Championship is scheduled for next week's SmackDown.
- Apollo Crews defeated Johnny Gargano via roll-up, thanks to Motor City Machine Guns arriving to distract Ciampa and his Tag Team partner.
- LA Knight withstands a Bloodline onslaught to pin Tama Tonga with a BFT.
- Jacob Fatu then mauls Knight on the announcer's table, before Braun Strowman's music hits. Strowman and Jacob have a long staredown, before Braun clotheslines Fatu out of the ring.
- A-Town Down Under are told by Nick Aldis that they are moving to Monday Night Raw, just as The Miz was pitching them on a team (and roles in The Marine 7).
- Shinsuke Nakamura declares for the Royal Rumble. He says he has won the Rumble before, and this will be the start of even greater things for the US Champion.
- Damian Priest pins Carmelo Hayes after hitting South Of Heaven in his SmackDown debut. Cody Rhodes sees Priest after the match and welcomes him to SmackDown.
- Motor City Machine Guns vs DIY in a 2-out-of-3 falls match is made for the Royal Rumble.
- Carmelo Hayes attacks Jimmy Uso on his way to the ring. They will meet in single's competition on next week's SmackDown.
- Kevin Owens defeated Jimmy Uso via Pump Up Powerbomb. He tried to piledriver Uso through the announce table, but Cody Rhodes entered the arena and the two brawled until the show went off the air.
Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens Continue Their War
He’s charismatic, charming, superb in the ring, and knows wrestling’s fanbase intimately, but Cody Rhodes is always box office when he has the bit between his teeth. An emotional interview with Joe Tessitore had Cody swinging for the fence with the audience’s feelings, referring to himself as “the grandson of a plumber”, and pointing out that he is the man who ended the greatest title reign of the modern era. It was ice cold, mentioned Randy Orton, and was delivered with a final “good luck” that felt like a Kiss Of Death from Cody to Owens.
Kevin Owens then later abruptly and disturbingly interrupted the SmackDown commentary booth to ask why he wasn’t given air time. Owens then verbally assaulted Tessitore, Matthew McConaghy (over and over again) and the entire city of Austin, TX, while continuing to besmirch the character of Cody Rhodes. The hate that is fueling this feud continues to be sensational, and Shawn Michaels has his work cut out for him at Saturday Night’s Main Event with these two at their contract signing.
A Wave Of New Names Enter the Women's Royal Rumble
The men’s Royal Rumble match has spent weeks adding superstar names, but this segment set up the business end of this year’s Women's Royal Rumble. Liv Morgan is bringing a bodyguard in the shape of Raquel Rodriguez, Naomi and Bianca are locked in friendly competition, and an aggrieved Nia Jax is still white hot from the best year of her career. The impromptu 6-woman tag match that followed won’t be any of their highlight reels, but the star appeal of next week’s women's Rumble is now at an elite level. And that’s before considering the latest entrant.
Charlotte Flair Returns At The Royal Rumble
Be it pre-match packages or vignettes, WWE's video department has the world-class ability to make emotions stratospheric and superstars feel like Gods. It is to her enormous credit that, through seductive millionaire lifestyle visuals and clips of her championship victories, Charlotte Flair referencing the tear in her eye as a nod to her father’s legendary ’92 Rumble victory speech was a phenomenal moment that outshone all of the pomp and circumstance. Charlotte announced her entry for the Women's Royal Rumble match shortly thereafter, and it instantly felt significant. The Queen is coming back, and that is bad news for everybody.
The Bloodline Step Up Without Their Leader
With Solo Sikoa’s current vow of silence and absence entirely from this week’s SmackDown, “You ain’t Godzilla or King Kong, cos I'm both” was a power line at a timely moment from Jacob Fatu, ahead of taking on Braun Strowman at Saturday Night’s Main Event. His pre-match promos are rapidly becoming as explosive as his in-ring work. Tama Tonga’s “with everybody saying yahyahyahyah” raised a chuckle ahead of facing LA Knight too. 2025 is the year The Bloodline become more than Solo’s silent henchmen and it’s off to a great start.
Michin Earns Her Title Shot Against Chelsea Green
Michin is limitlessly likable, flawless in the ring, and progressing in a way that wouldn’t be possible without WWE’s new mid-card gold. Chelsea Green has been magnificent as US Champion, embracing the Stars and Stripes bombast of American imagery with personality and pizazz. Michin pinned Chelsea Green in a tag match with Piper Niven and B-Fab to earn her title shot next week, and it makes this an incredibly intriguing situation. It is both too soon for Chelsea to lose her title, and feels like it would be too harsh for Michin to fall short again. It's easy to trust WWE's creative, but there is an intriguing conclusion on the horizon for their feud next Friday.
WWE's Transfer Window Is Shaking Everything Up
This has been an incredible week for impromptu matches in WWE. After Penta vs Pete Dunne was booked for a random encounter on Raw, Damian Priest vs Carmelo Hayes happened for the first time, completely unannounced, on SmackDown. The transfer window sending Damian Priest to SmackDown instantly ignites the Friday night Main Event scene, The Miz is a versatile, useful member of any team, and Netflix is going to see the glorious break-up of A-Town Down Under at some point in the future.
The WWE transfer window is starting to have major implications, as Damian Priest's move to SmackDown came as a genuine shock. Motor City Machine Guns vs DIY being on the main card at the Royal Rumble is a testament to the great work from the whole division over the past few months, and Solo Sikoa's absence is barely mentioned because The Bloodline are great performers in their own right. Charlotte Flair coming back for the Royal Rumble changes the course of WrestleMania season and the rest of 2025 for the women's division, and Cody Rhodes vs Kevin Owens gathers narrative and combustibility with every passing week. These weekly shows are so full of incidents, that every WWE show feels unmissable right now.
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