WARNING: The following piece has SPOILERS for WWE Friday Night SmackDown from August 16, 2025. Reader beware - don’t say we didn’t warn you!WWEreturns stateside after a multi-week European tour and back in CM Punk’s backyard in Rosemont, IL for tonight’sFriday Night SmackDown. Tensions are still running high betweenRoman Reigns,Seth Rollins, andCM Punkon the road to theirWrestleMania 41main event. Last week, Punk thanked our Tribal Chief for getting him into the main event, but then revealed that it was not his owed favor from the Wiseman,Paul Heyman. Other highlights include the WWE debut ofRay Fenix,Jacob FatuandBraun Strowmanfacing off in a last-man-standing match to determine the challenger ofLA Knightfor the United States Championship atWrestleMania 41, andNaomiandB-Fabface off in a singles match.
Here are your key moments from tonight’sFriday Night SmackDownfor July 19, 2025:
Here are your results from tonight’sFriday Night SmackDownfor June 23, 2025:
CM Punk’s Favor Is Finally Revealed
Punk Wants The Wiseman In His Corner For The Match
The secret favor owed to CM Punk by Paul Heyman was revealed tonight, as he demanded Heyman be in his corner for his first everWrestleManiamain event match,causing strife between Heyman and Roman Reigns. Heyman agreed to this favor, and the story has grown by adding a battle for the Wiseman layered in between a decade-old Shield beef and the Rollins/Punk blood feud.
The favor seemed simple, and perhaps not what all fans were expecting, but it’s another moment that shows the fan service payoff for long-time viewers of WWE,calling back the Punk/Heyman allianceand allowing that story to grow again in the face of Reigns' ever-crumbling Bloodline infrastructure. It’s another layer to this main event, and one that has allowed a Reigns and Punk program to continue past Las Vegas, with or without Rollins in the middle.
What’s Next For Randy Orton Now?
His WrestleMania Match Future is Uncertain
With Kevin Owens confirming reports of his injury and being forced off the card, Randy Orton is now without an opponent forWrestleMania 41, and a hard stop was put on a story line build that was to pay off in a big way.Orton’s future currently seems cloudy, as no real challenger is apparent as of publication.
There are multiple opportunities to potentially shoe horn a new opponent in for The Viper, and with less than two weeks left to Sin City,there are few other Superstars that can make something out of nothing quite like Randy Orton.The Bloodline lay in wait to continue their assault on Orton, a fascinating build to a long-term story with Karrion Kross, or a potential first in-ring appearance of Nick Aldis ready to give it back to Orton after years of abuse, could all be possible opportunities to explore for Orton to ensure he still has a place on Night 1.
Charlotte and Tiffany’s Promo Battle Got Weird
We’re Not Sure What Happened Here
The internet is abuzz with the talk ofFriday Night SmackDown, as the promo battle between WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton and 2025 Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair got heated fast. After a few jabs at each other, the segment derailed quickly as each performertook what appeared to be personal shots at one another, with Stratton commenting on Flair’s marriages and Flair asking Stratton why her boyfriend, Ludwig Kaiser, was allegedly in her DMs.
According to post-show reporting,both performers went off-script to a significant degreeduring the segment, and WWEcut a large portion of the personal attacks outof their segment posting on YouTube. It’s hard to imagine what happens in the next two weeksleading up to Vegas, but the war of (real) words continues to ramp up.
Our Take On Last Night’s Friday Night SmackDown
Last night’s episode ofFriday Night SmackDownhad several highs and some pretty serious lows, and was overall another standard fare offering on the Road toWrestleMania.Fans finally got the big payoff for Punk’s favor from Heyman, and while some fans may be disappointed by the lack of payoff for the reveal, it’s a simple twist that makes it personal for Reigns and Punk.
Jacob Fatu getting a championship match atWrestleMania 41is a major positive, as his first year has been full of impressive moments, andit’s hard to imagine any other scenario but a major trouncing for LA Knight, and Fatu leaving as the United States Champion. While the match between Jacob Fatu and Braun Strowman was another big-man banger, the air was sucked out of the Allstate Arena as Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton spent a few minutes shooting live rounds at each other.
With a few setups for next week’s episode laying additional groundwork forWrestleMania 41, including a face-off between Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre, the women’s tag team gauntlet match to determine who faces Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, and an appearance by WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes,the Road toWrestleManiamarches on, albeit with mixed results.
