Everything We Loved About WWE SmackDown

The road to Night of Champions 2025 is heating up as WWE headed to the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the June 20 episode of Friday Night SmackDown. It was a night that saw big developments in the King & Queen of the Ring tournaments and closed out with a promo that will have fans talking for many years to come.

Every episode of pro wrestling programming certainly has places in which it can improve, but SmackDown this week had plenty to shout about, and we shall go on to take a look at some of the things we loved about this episode of the blue brand.

John Cena’s “Pipebomb” On CM Punk

WWE Recreated History On SmackDown

• 14 years ago, CM Punk cut the “pipebomb” promo on Cena.
• On SmackDown, Cena did his own version of this promo.
• There were many callbacks to heat up their final match together at Night of Champions.

Much like was the case 14 years ago in 2011, John Cena took on R-Truth, and in the aftermath a “pipebomb” promo took place. This time, it was CM Punk put through a table and lying there forced to listen to John Cena airing his thoughts and delivering an impassioned, risky, and personal speech. Cena repeated many of the lines Punk did during his iconic pipebomb promo over a decade ago, but sprinkled his own little twists on it.

Cena’s promo may not have been as headline-worthy, but he spoke about Punk’s hypocrisy in being “Mr. TKO” and a millionaire rather than a voice of the people, and mentioned those outside WWE such as Claudio Castagnoli, Matt Cardona, and Nic Nemeth. The mirroring of their feud in the past was fantastic, and it added a lot of momentum to their upcoming WWE Championship match at Night of Champions. We loved seeing Cena and Punk do what they do best – feuding with one another – and it felt like this sort of storyline is exactly what Cena needed to be the best heel he can be.

We May Finally See Randy Orton Vs. Cody Rhodes

Orton Defeated Sami Zayn On SmackDown

• WWE continued the King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown.
• Orton reached the finals after beating Zayn.
• Rhodes will likely win his semi-final, setting up a much-anticipated match.

In a surprising result on SmackDown, Randy Orton defeated Sami Zayn to advance to the King of the Ring finals. Despite the prospect of Zayn winning, taking on Gunther at SummerSlam, and finally winning a World Heavyweight Title, there are positives to take from Orton winning.

Not only does WWE have a story of Orton trying to redeem himself after losing next year’s finals, but fans will finally see a matchup between Orton and Cody Rhodes, if Rhodes does also win his semi-final bout. WWE fans have been waiting to see Orton and Rhodes do battle ever since Rhodes returned to WWE due to their history with one another. It isn’t the way many thought this bout would come about, but it is a very intriguing and much-anticipated clash of two massive stars that will make the Night of Champions card all the more notable.

The Storyline Between Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss Is Developing Nicely

The Women’s Division Is Improving With This Story

• Bliss and Flair have been quietly building an intriguing story.
• Bliss lost to Asuka on SmackDown.
• Flair had no sympathy for her defeat.

Alexa Bliss has been trying to offload some words of wisdom towards Charlotte Flair in recent weeks, all with what feels like an ulterior motive, with something unsaid about their narrative at hand. On SmackDown, tensions continued to rise as Bliss lost out to Asuka in the Queen of the Ring semi-finals. Backstage, Flair turned up to interrupt a segment between Bliss and Chelsea Green to challenge Green to a match, “saving” Bliss in the moment.

Bliss declared that she didn’t need Flair, with Flair stating that she wasn’t there to help her. Later in the show, Bliss saved Flair from an attack by Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, but Flair turned down her offer of a handshake. This could go in multiple ways, with either a tag team run on the cards, or else a turn from one of the two in order to build a feud. Either way, it is nice to see Bliss finally involved in a proper storyline, and it is massively refreshing to see Flair in a story that doesn’t involve a world title. This has been developing nicely, continued to do so on SmackDown, and is constantly gaining momentum as a narrative.

Jacob Fatu Vs. Solo Sikoa Is Heating Up

Fatu & Sikoa Clashed In A Great Promo Segment

• Solo Sikoa delivered one of his better promos yet.
• Fatu laid down a United States Title challenge.
• They brawled to build up a title match.

After breaking free of Solo Sikoa at Money in the Bank, Jacob Fatu met his former superior in the ring this week on SmackDown, and their back-and-forth promo did a great job in kicking off their feud. It has been some time since Sikoa has been able to get his teeth into a story that fans care about, but his speech here to try and manipulate Fatu once again was well done – as was Fatu’s retort, who saw right through the facade and discussed all his previous grievances.

Fatu offered a match with Sikoa for the United States Championship, giving the title a heated and truly personal storyline for the first time in a while. Fatu would then be on the end of an attack by JC Mateo and Sikoa.