WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Sept. 26, 2025) with a live show emanating from the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Crown Jewel premium live event scheduled for early next month in Australia.
Advertised for tonight: Not one but two title matches.
Advertisement
First, Sami Zayn puts the United States championship on the line in his continued open challenge. Later, Tiffany Stratton will square up with Nia Jax and Jade Cargill in a triple threat match for the women’s championship, with the winner moving on to Crown Jewel and a showdown against Stephanie Vaquer.
Plus, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes looks ahead, Michin & B-Fab vs. Giulia & Kiana James, and a whole lot more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. (Note: Links to illegal streams are prohibited. Pics and GIFs are allowed.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS & LIVE BLOG FOR SEPT. 26
I was down at the New Amsterdam, staring at this yellow-haired girl. Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with a black-haired flamenco dancer, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this pro wrestling show for you, folks.
Advertisement
The show opens with the usual montage of talent arriving at the arena.
A recap hype reel of Wrestlepalooza follows.
Paul Heyman is in the ring and gets on the mic.
He introduces himself and says he’s got a lot to talk about and threatens to go two hours before telling everyone to relax and says he’s not gonna choose the topic, instead he’s gonna paraphrase a pseudo-secondary technical champion and ask Orlando what they wanna talk about. Do they want to talk about THE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins?
They do not, in fact, “OTC!” chants go up instead. Paul says he’d love to talk about the Tribal Chief, but it’s disrespectful to speak of the injured and he got his ass stretched out of Paris by “Big” Bronson Reed. So, hey, how about this– how about the dog that’s gonna main event WrestleMania for five-ten years and lead WWE into the 2030s and maybe even 2040s, Bron Breakker?
Advertisement
Or perhaps they should talk about the conspiracy theories and rumors regarding Brock Lesnar?
Enter “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.
The crowd sings his name and he takes his sweet time before speaking, finally asking if we all got a chance to see the Wrestlepalooza recap. He says he made a mistake calling Mr. Heyman a mistake last week and he doesn’t think he’s a goon, he’s one of the smartest men he knows and he loves to disrupt and stir it up, so he’s gonna ask the question– tell him about Brock Lesnar.
He asks the truck to throw up a still of Paul introducing Lesnar at the show and says he knows Brock, and he doesn’t know him as well as Heyman does, but does that look like the face of somebody just here for a one-night thing. To be more precise, he asks if he’s talking to the Oracle, to the Wiseman, or to the Advocate.
Advertisement
Paul takes a step back and says he’s talking to the GOAT. And as the greatest of all time, he respects the fact that Cody is confronting him about Brock Lesnar because everybody knows that when Brock is here, everyone is in danger. He says he has good news for Cody, and that’s that Brock isn’t here tonight.
But what makes him think he’s not in danger right now? To punctuate, the Bron ‘n Bron Connection make their way into the ring and Rhodes says it’s about time. He keeps hearing how they’re the future of the industry and so dangerous, and he knows Heyman tells them both they’re a WrestleMania main event waiting to happen, and at their age, Cody would have killed to be a Paul Heyman guy, but here’s some advice.
He grew up the son of a booker, you can always tell why they’re doing what they’re doing, but who is Paul loyal to? The one thing he can guarantee is that it ain’t them. Breakker tears his shirt off, Cody takes his (baby blue) blazer off and throws it to Booker T on commentary and squares up for a fight and admits it’s probably not a good decision but he throws the first punch!
Overwhelming Bron, sidestepping a charge, Reed goes into Breakker, Rhodes takes it to him, inverted facelock… BREAKKER BREAKS IT UP WITH A LARIAT! Working Cody over, side headlock…
Advertisement
RANDY ORTON MAKES THE SAVE!
Orton clears Reed out in the aisle, right hands to Breakker in the ring, RKO blocked but he hits one on Bronson right as he steps in the ring! Rhodes clears Bron out!
Street Profits are interviewed in Gorilla.
They say coming up short just makes them hungrier and they go at each other from time to time but the goal remains the same. Too bad for the doubters, they still want the smoke!
Profits make their entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial we see Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles in the front row.
Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & the Miz) vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
Miz and Ford to start, circling, schoolboy gets the A-Lister two, O’Connor roll, Hayes gives him a hand but referee Ryan Tran catches them! Tag to Hayes, double-teams, trading pins, big dropkick from Montez! Tag to Dawkins, whip across, drop down, shoulder block, double flapjack puts Miz into his own partner and they double-clothesline him to the floor!
Advertisement
Angelo heads out after, Melo with a dropkick, handshake for Miz, and we go to break!
Back from commercial, whip reversed, Ford up and over, Miz cuts him off, basement DDT… NOPE! Quick tags, working Tez over, Hayes clears the apron, hammering Ford with punches, hard whip, chops in the corner! Clearing a path, crawling, but the A-Lister pulls Dawkins off the apron! Codebreaker from Melo, he goes up top, Miz jumps up and tags in, Hayes grabs him by the wrist!
They argue, that’s enough time for Dawkins to tag in, he drops Miz with a series of lariats, whip reversed, corkscrew uppercut sets up the spinning Stinger splash, corner kick, Drill Bit, tag to Montez! Spinebuster, off the top, Hayes could break it up but he hesitates…
Street Profits win by pinfall with a frog splash from Montez Ford on the Miz, becoming #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship.
Backstage, Jade Cargill is interviewed and says she’s sick and tired of Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax and it’s gonna feel good when she’s WWE Women’s Champion.
Advertisement
WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer rolls up and they have a little back and forth about the possibility of facing each other at Crown Jewel.
Giulia & Kiana James make their entrance to send us to break.
B-FAB & “Michin” Mia Yim vs. Giulia & Kiana James
B-FAB and James to start, feeling out, Kiana with a lariat, off the ropes, heel kick and a sliding lariat cut her off! Tag to Yim, Giulia in as well and the United States Champion takes control. Whip across, duck a lariat, dropkick from Mia! Hard right hand, whip reversed, tijeras, tag to B-FAB!
Michin holds the Beautiful Madness in the ropes for a kick, quick tags, to the floor, Yim blasts Giulia in the back with a missile dropkick and we go to break!
Advertisement
Back from commercial, James with a shoulder block, tag to Giulia, B-FAB throwing hands but a headbutt cuts her down, Kiana lands a boot, Beautiful Madness off the top, missile dropkick for two! B-FAB kicks her way to a tag, Yim in running James over with a lariat, boot sends Giulia to the floor, kick combo on Kiana, step-up tornado DDT follows, cover for two!
Match breaks down, Michin with a schoolboy for two, elbow from James gets a headbutt, Kiana rakes the eyes but Sole Food connects anyway! James falls into a tag, Giulia hits Arrivederci…
Giulia & Kiana James win by pinfall with the northern lights bomb from Giulia on Mia Yim.
Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair are hanging out in the locker room when Sol Ruca and Zaria roll up to say they’ve been admiring them from afar but now it’s time for ZaRuca to get a shot at the tag titles.
Advertisement
Flair says she can’t even wave her hand for a title shot anymore and the two of them haven’t earned it yet. Zaria says that’s rich from Charlotte, Sol makes apologies for her, they bicker, and Bliss says the two of them don’t act like a tag team yet so if they wanna get in the ring with them, they have to prove themselves and get in line.
Ruca holds Zaria back and says they’ll have the shot before they know it.
Charlotte tells Alexa she was harsh but she’s proud of her.
Drew McIntyre makes his entrance, moving slow in a walking boot, to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a hype reel for Crown Jewel.
Advertisement
Drew McIntyre gets on the mic and says it’s occurred to him that he made his 2017 return to WWE in this arena and in this arena he beat Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in front of screens and it’s this building where he should have walked out in front of a live crowd as champion, but he’s not, because of Cody Rhodes.
He had Cody beat, but he was one step ahead and complains about a slow count from the referee and that the referee got between them on the floor and cost him the damn championship. Do the referees work for WWE or do they work for Cody Rhodes? He doesn’t blame Ryan Tran, he’s got a family to take care of, he blames Cody Rhodes for being corrupted by his power.
Enter Nick Aldis.
He says Drew is actually making a lot of sense but they both know this is wrestling– you win some, you lose some, sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail, and he’s known him for a long time and he’s better than making excuses. And he doesn’t know where this boot came from because WWE’s medical team checked him out and he doesn’t need it.
Advertisement
Drew says he has his own medical team and Nick says he’s insane saying he’s not champion because of corruption in WWE and the referee’s decision is final and he can stay out here if he wants but Nick is done. McIntyre yells after him as he leaves–
Enter “Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu.
He tells Drew to shut his ass up and stop bitching. He comes out here every week and cries and complains, blaming everybody else for his own wrongdoings. He tells Drew to sit his pegleg ass down and McIntyre asks him who the hell he thinks he is and says he won’t be punked out. If he wasn’t hurt right now– Jacob asks what he’d do and reminds him he’s all gas, no brakes.
Drew clocks him with a big headbutt, Fatu turns around and drops him with a superkick and tears the boot off! McIntyre to his feet and Jacob wallops him with his own walking boot!
Advertisement
Tiffanty Stratton is checking her makeup in a mirror backstage when Stephanie Vaquer rolls up.
Vaquer says maybe they’ll meet in the ring at Crown Jewel, and Stratton says she respects her but if it comes down to them, she’s gonna win.
Dragon Lee is chatting with Sami Zayn backstage.
Zayn says anybody could answer the open challenge tonight and they’re in Orlando so that really means anybody, and he goes to make his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Solo Sikoa cuts a promo in the brick wall room.
He summons JC Mateo and hypes him up as a man who has won titles around the world and is pound for pound the strongest man in the world. He checked Jacob Fatu and he stands by Solo’s side and he loves him for that, and his loyalty will be rewarded as long as he’s part of his family tree.
Advertisement
Mateo puts a hand on Sikoa’s shoulder and tells him he loves him.
Sami Zayn waits in the ring for his challenger… IT’S JE’VON EVANS FROM NXT!
Je’Von Evans vs. Sami Zayn (c) (WWE United States Championship Open Challenge)
Evans squares up to “NXT!” chants, collar and elbow, side headlock, shot off, shoulder block, drop down, leapfrog, big arm drags from Zayn! Wristlock, Je’Von rolls through and reverses, struggling into the corner and he lands a big chop on the champ and pats his shoulder after! A broad “alright kid you got it” grin plays across Sami’s face and he turns Evans around to return the favor with multiple chops of his own!
Advertisement
Whip across, Je’Von slides under, up and over, shoulder block, springboard into a huge lariat… NOPE! Arabian press Frankensteiner, cover for two! Evans with a dropkick right on the button, Zayn falls to the floor but charges back in with a vicious lariat to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Zayn with chops in the ropes, whip blocked with a slide, Evans bypasses him to the floor, off the ropes…. HUGE SUICIDE DIVE LANDS CLEAN AND TRUE! Je’Von goes back inside, blocks a Blue Thunder Driver, rebound corkscrew kick, Sami kicks out! Up top, jockeying for position, Zayn perches, Evans right up with him… AVALANCHE FRANKENSTEINER GETS A DEEP TWO BUT ZAYN KICKS OUT!
Je’Von charges in, caught by the corner exploder suplex! Sami fired up in the corner, waiting for him, he charges in… EVANS CUTS HIM OFF WITH A LEAPING AXE BOMBER! DOUBLE JUMP TORNILLO BUT SAMI MOVES OUT OF THE WAY! JE’VON BARELY SIDESTEPS THE HELLUVA KICK! Double jump… ZAYN KICKS OUT OF THE OG CUTTER!
Up in the turnbuckles, back to the mat, roundhouse kick cuts the champion off, springboard in, Sami one step ahead, Helluva Kick, not taking any chances…
Sami Zayn wins by pinfall with the Blue Thunder Driver, retaining the WWE United States Championship.
