[3.0] "(3.0) Better than last weeks Smackdown was, right up until the end. Huge fan of Royce Keys' debut this show. They did righy by him and as a longtime fan, was good to see him really prominently displayed here. I liked the developments with Trick, even Lil Yachty in a time when everyone is sick of the celebrities, at least Yachty is kinda crucial and plays a role in the story at large. Decent story too, I'm sticking by that, I like where Trick is headed I think. So, I dunno some good stuff on this show. Problem is the return of McAfee and the, just, mind-melting mental gymnastics he asks the audience to perform to answer the simple question, 'why is he here? '. It feels like no lessons wete learned after last weeks abhorrent show, again Cody is being positioned by default to be an underdog proxy mouthpiece for HHH, against the never-ending corporate bull they have to deal with. Mania is a week sooner than it was last week, and this promo killed whatever excitement I had left. If there was any. There needed to be a swerve away from the sneering, condescending, and downright incomprehensibly unbelievable McAfee. A way to 'write him off', or at least to stick him in a corner as Randy's hypeman of sorts, while the two men with 17 years of history could hash it out. No pivots were made, no adjustments or tweaks to the story, just another week of Cody yammering about how shitty this entire storyline is while Pat complains about how shitty the entire company is. I have never seen a company so passively shoot themselves in the foot, twice, one in both foot evidently as they allowed Pat to go out there and bury Night 2 if WM, CM Punk, and basically anything outside of what was gonna be signing his check, his own matches and appearances. Not even Randy comes off looking good though, this whole thing doing actual harm to his legacy before he may damn well earn that title at Mania. None of it was supposed to be like this, it all feels ego-centric, hollow, corporate. And if they couldn't swerve after the disaster that was last week? Surely it is hopeless."

[1.0] "It's disappointing to watch a wrestling show with so little actual wrestling. It's a shame to give so little in-ring time to the roster as a whole. It's a shame to ignore the fan's needs so much. It's a shame to ruin the two main storylines because the creative team is incapable of properly writing those rivalries. It's a shame to keep Rey Fenix, Carmelo Hayes, and Ilja Dragunov - just to name a few - away from the United States Championship whe. they have accomplished so much on WWE SmackDown over the past few months. It's a shame to do nonsense, present nonsense, write nonsense, and still believe that we'll somehow be satisfied in the end. The quality of SmackDown lately has been absolutely mediocre, and they have no one to blame but themselves."

[1.0] "Well this was certainly a Smackdown. It is saddening to see that Smackdown is mostly saved from total disaster by a funny segments or feuds that aren't the main ones. WWE especially recently, has always had a lot of promotional material, but this Smackdown specifically had the guy that nobody asked for, do an ad. Instead of building (without him) what could've been the best feud for WrestleMania."

[7.0] "Whilst the Pat MacAfee segment was a little hard to swallow, the matches on this show were pretty enjoyable in my eyes. Jade Cargill had one of her better showings (albeit Iyo helped that a lot), Trick and Cardona put on a good match (though outside of match quality, Cardona's direction is a little concerning), and Alexa Bliss and Bayley put on as reliable a showing as you would expect from them. Was also good to see Danhausen and Royce pick up their first SmackDown."

[0.0] "Very embarrassing episode of WWE SmackDown, the show's only bright spots were the debut for poor Powerhouse Hobbs (who I hope does great things in this company) and the ridiculous comedy match with Danhausen and Kit Wilson. But its hard to talk about this show without mentioning the McAfee angle. Pat's embarrassing imitation of the Rock in which he attempts to do a shoot interview which entitles into a rambling about absolute nonsense about CAGEMATCH, the IWC and meta commentary about their whining ticket sales to a somewhat quiet crowd in which 25% of them are giving Pat go away heat and the other three quarters are in complete shock at the car crash of a promo in which they were being subjected to in real time, horrific"

[4.0] "A show that dragged from the three hours but was not completely without merit. The Danhausen debut was well executed where they hopefully do not do too much of him in the ring. The Cody/Pat segment felt overlong even if Cody was entertaining in it. Much of the same for the remaining Wrestlemania programs. The overall in-ring was lesser than the previous week so I actually felt this was a lesser episode than the previous one."

[0.0] "This show felt like a rehearsal, with a series of matches we've already seen. The women's tag division has been predictable for a month now they've just been rotating teams to put on matches and give others time to rest. Jacob vs. Drew is going in circles. Even if the match itself is exciting and could end up being a banger, they should just let them go all out even if it means total chaos like in AAA. Then there's Trick Williams and Sami Zayn, which is also dragging. The whole angle is stuck on whether Zayn will fully embrace his heel side. And finally, Iyo vs. Jade with Rhea. They're presenting it like the two women are going to destroy each other and that the best will win but the "best" is the one who just lost. Iyo is clearly better than both of them combined (which isn't a problem storytelling matters more), but the fact that she's being treated like Rhea's sidekick, with Rhea deciding when she'll become the best in the world, makes it feel like they're just doing this for buzz. That's frustrating, because Iyo is so much more than that. And because of this, she might not even get a match at Mania. Incomprehensible. And I haven't even mentioned the horrible Pat McAfee."

[3.0] "We have reached 3 weeks in a row of unwatchable tv, congrats TKO. Rhea & IYO's segment to open could've been a backstage segment or something like that. Bayley vs Alexa was mid. Royce Keys vs Berto was bad but at least it made Royce look good to start off. Pat McAfee & Cody's segment was just horrendous to watch, Pat tried to be the Rock and literally buried that night 2 event, and somehow made the entire thing about ticket prices and how they are now 25% off only for night 1, i'm not even making it up either. Pat has some good lines, and I do think he is a good heel, but unfortunately him being shoehorned in this feud, which has plenty of background and legacy behind it, is just a stupid decision. Cody came out and had a good rebuttal, almost made up for it, but then once Jelly Roll got beat up it just got annoying again since this feud is literally showcasing McAfee & Jelly Roll, 2 celebrities (one celebrity and one ESPN personality) over two main eventers with decades of stories to tell, good job TKO, hope those extra dollars do you good. Anyways then was Jacob Fatu vs Tama Tonga, okay match, pretty insane brutalizing of Jacob Fatu though, Drew's prison promo was amazing as well (I do wonder why security just let Drew attempt murder instead of breaking it up like they always do, not complaining but It's annoyingly inconsistent) Sami & Trick's segment was good but at the same time a bit uncomfortable to watch, Sami tried literally every tactic to get himself over again and none worked, at this point just turn him heel if you screwed him up this hard with the booking. Trick vs Matt was mid, Yachty got destroyed however, pretty good sell to be honest. Danhausen vs Kit Wilson being the best match of the night is never a good thing, but at least it got a good laugh out of me, and the main event was fine, nothing special there. Overall, this whole show was either boring or flat-out stupid to watch (3rd week in a row by the way)"

[3.0] "Smackdown just can't seem to get back on track. I think until the Jelly Rolls, Lil Yachtys, and McAfees of the day stop showing up, this show is going to be a complete disaster. It's a disgrace that these people get more screen time than the wrestlers. I can't see The Miz playing quarterback in the NFL or Iyo Sky singing country. That's what they're doing. If last week's segment was a joke, today it confirms the TKO and WWE farce, playing on real-life discontent and kayfabe, thinking that's how they'll fill WrestleMania. Of the six matches that have taken place, the only ones that have worked are the shortest ones. Royce Keys and Danhausen's debut against Kit Wilson. Never before in this company have jobbers been handled better than the main eventers. They make it impossible for Alexa and Bayley to have a clean match, they bring in Iyo Sky to use her as a pawn, and they have Sami Zayn caught in an undeserved spiral of hatred because of his handling of the matches. They don't care about the fans or their employees; all they care about is selling like they're the devil himself."

[5.0] "Well, I expected much worse show because of people's reaction, but for me it was just an average episode. We got a mideocre wrestling, good developing in Sami vs Trick story and very excitement battle of Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre, where I feel that they going in the right way with that jail story. McAfee, Rhodes, Orton and Jelly Roll got a decent segment, where the promo was so cool, but I'm steel can't take that we got celebrity in main event pheud. Royce Keys's debut was fine and intresting teaser to work with Solo Sikoa. Danhausen also made his first match and that was fun. Overall, that was a mid episode, where were good and bad moments."

[0.0] "0/10 The desperation is real and it's sad and disgusting. TKO through Mcafee are literally BEGGING for you to spend your hard earned cash to go to Wrestlemania INSTEAD of telling an actually story that compels you to go. NOTHING that happened tonight had any major stakes and literally the only bright spot was Danhausen. This is definitely a low for this company in a long list of lows pre TKO. It's almost like they want to get past Wrestlemania themselves at this point."

[1.0] "Another highly awful wrestling show from WWE in the weeks heading to wrestlemania 42. The lowest point had to have been the rancid and gross Pat Mcafee promo, he's a scumbag of the highest order. Sometimes it's not just heel heat, it's someone being genuinely awful on television in every capacity. They managed to make all the mania matches seem lame at this point too. The only good part of the show was the Royce Keys debut and it was a squash match against Berto. Shameful stuff from WWE recently it's really not looking good at all. Grade: F"

[4.0] "Giving this an extra 3 points because I was there for this and it made my experience far better. Apart from that this was really bad. The matches weren't good apart from the main event and oh my god the Mcafee segment was terrible. It's crazy to see how they've managed to turn the Cody Randy feud into the worst thing in WWE right now. Danhausen was the best part of the show, imo."

"This was a limp, overlong WrestleMania ad rather than a show worth watching on its own. The Cody/Orton/McAfee angle is total garbage. Outside of a decent Royce Keys debut and a few crowd-pleasing moments, most matches felt like disposable filler, and even an interesting pairing like Jade vs. Iyo was treated more like a storyline beat than a real contest. Skippable."

[0.0] "Only postive of this show was Royce Keys debut, as it actually brought a smile to my face, but 99.1% of the show was awful and unwatchable. Do a WWE Draft; these rosters on both brands ran their course. For the love of God, change these rosters. There is nothing fresher than swapping the titles and wrestlers to create a new, fresh patch of rosters. Also, the Pat McAfee Segment was one of the worst segments of the 2020s."

[4.0] "I'm Not sure this episode was all that bad. The McAfee stuff is cringy but they're committed to it now and I honestly thing they are trying to make the best of a bad situation with it. The wrestling across the show was average but not bad. The Danhausen in ring debut was the in ring highlight of the show and he didn't do too badly, but in ring needs to be few and far between with him if they want him to stay over. Smackdown seriously needs to go back to 2 hours though."

"Crazy how the highlight was someone making his main-roster debut after 3 months doing dark shows. It sucks to see someone like Royce Keys stuck in the midcard, albeit winning. He has such potential, but he's stuck winning against jobbers. Kenny Omega said that WrestleMania is going to end up being Logan Paul vs. Mr. Beast, and it damn well looks like thats going to be the case as early as Mania 43. The highlights of this smackdown, one of the most important wrestling show in wrestling history is a wrestlers long-overdue debut, and a comedy wrestlers debut in the ring. I'm only going to watch mania for Oba vs Brock, and the intercontinental match."

[0.0] "Impressive how they manage to make Smackdown worse every week, Pat actively telling people to not go to night 2 to then proceeds to tell people to go to night 1 because it had a discount because he think people are broke, so fucking awful, the guy single handedly kills all the interest for this match, make Cody look like a fool, make Randy a third wheel, burying the night 2 mania which is main evented by Punk and Roman, is this the diabolical Randy Orton that Stephanie McMahon mentioned? A third wheel in his own feud with his long time friend Cody, and a lapdog to Pat McAfee? absolute dogshit. Then they once again make IYO look like a fool, she wants revenge on Jade while being injured, after getting beaten by Jade, Rhea and Jade didn't even brawl or throwing hands at each other to capitalize on that shit, this adds nothing to the feud and just a bad look for IYO SKY, she has no business being involved in this feud in the first place. Bunch of forced feuds and unnecessary celebrity involvement, refusing to tells a good story, shit matches, garbage show, the creative teams are fucking braindead man."

[4.0] "Without the celebrity nonsense, this would have been a great episode of Smackdown. Some fun matches, backstage antics, and moments (Jacob Fatu breaking free of the handcuffs was a highlight). It's a real shame they're overshadowed by Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll's garbage. (I'll spare Lil Yachty harsh words at the moment because it was funny seeing him take a Helluva Kick). It's especially embarrassing since WWE is doing a decent job of incorporating Ishowspeed into a WrestleMania match at the same time this garbage is unfolding."

[0.0] "Another awful episode of Friday Night Nitro, I mean Smackdown, Both are pretty much the same, They FUCKING SUCK. McAfee v Jelly Roll, I mean Cody v Randy has been the worst part of Smackdown. IYO is getting squashed, Cardona is getting squashed, None of these matches were any good, The Ruthless Depression era is truly in full swing. I would rather watch The Great Khali's 3 Summerslam matches in a row then watch this filth"

[7.0] "I loved this Smackdown show. Keys debut on WWE TV. I love Danhausen, he makes me laugh in his match. I can't wait to see the Fatu vs. Drew match."

[3.0] "Honestly, there's really not much highlights from this Smackdown episode that I really liked. There wasn't even a single good match (aka a 7 out of 10) on this show either. I guess my personal MOTN was Io Shirai vs Jade Cargill, but even that match was just decent. I guess Danhausen & R-Truth were entertaining last night. I liked Cody Rhodes's promo at least. I suppose the best part of Smackdown last night was the post-match attack with Drew McIntyre assaulting Jacob Fatu. Unlike the last 2 unpopular Smackdown episodes, I have fewer positives for this show. Smackdown is just getting progressively worse, which is unfortunate because I actually like the wrestlers that they're pushing. However, the Smackdown booking team is just creatively bankrupt. Pat McAfee is just awful. He's EASILY the worst part of the entire show, which is expected since I've hated that walking pile of crap for 5 years now. I'll give Smackdown a 3 on here. As for the Twitter geeks going " JADE CARGILL IS TRASHHHH", yea, they can rightfully shut the FUCK up. The woman clearly wants to wrestle more matches, and wants to defend her world title far more often. She's also not nearly as "terrible" or "bad" in the ring as critics make her out to be daily. Jade isn't in control of the booking for this shitty show, so quit blaming or attacking her for something that's out of her control."

[4.0] "Friday Night SmackDown episode 1390 was below average/boring at times show . Alexa Bliss (w/Charlotte Flair) vs. Bayley (w/Lyra Valkyria) (5/10), Jacob Fatu vs. Tama Tonga (w/JC Mateo, Solo Sikoa, Talla Tonga & Tonga Loa) (5/10), Trick Williams (w/Lil Yachty) vs. Matt Cardona (5/10), Jade Cargill vs. IYO SKY (6/10) I thought the Cody & Mcafee promo battle was good even though it doesn't make sense. Lol Ripley taken out Michin/ BFab was fine, also I like the slow turn of Sami Zayn to turning heel. Orton got to punt Jelly Roll next week we don't need Mcafee & Roll at this point we didn't need either one, but where we at take out Jelly Roll."

[1.0] "This show is the absolute drizzling shits, this is WORSE than McMahon era, and it's not even close. The Pat Mcafee/Orton vs Jelly Roll/Cody story may be the worst story ever told in the history of professional wrestling. Primarily because this feud should be a Wrestlemania Main Event worth storyline, and instead it feels like a story generated by a 6 year old in WWE 2K. This story is absolutely nonsensical, Jelly Roll has ZERO sympathy from any wrestling fans, they were BOOING him when the show opened. Nobody cares about Jelly Roll getting assaulted by Randy, in fact, this pleased most people. Cody's promo was garbage, not because of Cody but because of the circumstance, if Cody was truly the hero, the no contact stipulation shouldn't even have mattered, Cody should've gone to the ring and beaten THE ABSOLUTE PISS OUT OF PAT. Now having pat involved in this storyline makes ZERO SENSE, given he was a COMMENTATOR, and Randy has NEVER interacted with Pat in anything, but you can't turn back the clock now. The whole segment, the whole story, everything around it, has been an absolute joke, we all owe AN APOLOGY TO BRIAN JAMES. How this show has suffered with his removal of the creative team. Everything around this show is awful. Rhea has lost all credibility, her look has faded, her promos are stale, her matches haven't hit the same, it's like WWE has drained Rhea of all the pasion she had when she was tagging with Iyo, it's sad that the world title picture is a demotion. BUT THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE WRESTLERS WHO CAN'T FUCKING WRESTLE THE WORLD TITLE. JADE CARGILL IS TRASHHHH. She has yet to cut a SINGLE good promo she has yet to have a single GOOD MATCH. WHAT THE FUCK DOES WWE SEE IN HER? The womens tag division sucks, the mens tag division sucks, I've sad it all before, garbage. Anything involving Solo Sikoa and the MFTs is a WASTE OF TIME! The only takeaway of this show that was somewhat positive was Powerh- sorry Royce Keys' debut, he looked fine. This show is atrocious, 0.5/10 and that's generous."

[2.0] "Ripley and SKY kick off the show, which leads to Cargill having to step into the ring once again tonight. Just like the two women who open tonight's action in a rather unremarkable fashion, namely Bliss & Bayley. Royce Keys then officially begins to plow his way through the lower rungs of the WWE food chain. McAfee just won't let Cody off the hook until Orton presents Jelly Roll as a sacrificial pawn. The former footballer throws out some pretty nasty taunts, but that doesn't help make his point any more plausible. Right now, I'm expecting a Rhodes victory at Mania, though Jelly Roll will certainly play a decisive role in McAfee's downfall. Fatu has an easy time with Tama but significantly more trouble with McIntyre. Then Sami Zayn talks himself into a bit of a rage. Meanwhile, his WrestleMania opponent Williams has little real trouble with, you guessed it, Zack Ryder. I think we can safely call him that again based on his W/L record since his comeback. Danhausen jokes his way to his first WWE victory. Jade Cargill also scores one last win before Wrestlemania, though she benefits from her opponent entering the match already injured. If we take stock of this episode, all we can say is that WWE is practically stumbling towards the biggest show of the year. This is yet another admission of a lack of creativity and extremely subpar match quality."

"I mean this was just AWFUL, almost nothing good with this show. The only silver lining was the dominant debut of Royce Keys but that still falls in the shadow of what an awful show this was. WHY IS PAT MCAFEE HOLDING THE TITLE? Give it to Randy my god, and let's not talk about that horrible promo that felt like an unskipable ad for WrestleMania tickets. Cody tried his hardest and he couldn't save that promo, it didn't help that Jelly Roll kept getting involved, and I think Jelly Roll can cut a decent promo, but sticking him into this feud is ridiculous. I enjoy Danhausen's comedic acts but the little pyro on the turnbuckle just looked weird and stupid. Iyo Sky is the best women's wrestler on the roster and she's being used as a sacrificial lamb in a Rhea-Jade feud that hasn't landed well with anyone. Give this episode a FAT ZERO"

[0.0] "Another terrible show this week. Awful workshoot Pat McAfee promo. I'm sure the heel telling you that the show sucks, the champion sucks, the 2nd night main event sucks and you suck will help sell tickets to your biggest show of the year. This is turning into TKO vs WWE and it looks worse and worse every week. I'm sure Cody/Jelly Roll vs Randy/McAfee tag at Backlash will be as good as the segments leading up to it. Also the wrestler with the best matches in 2025 WWE Iyo Sky is being sacrificed to this terrible Rhea/Jade feud. Good job."

"This show was a slap in the face of anyone who loves professional wrestling, and I extend that to anyone who loves sports entertainment. It was tiresome to watch the McAfee segment last week. An overall weird angle, forced into the main event picture out of nowhere. However, CM Punk's promo on RAW did the heavy lifting, kind of rebuilding anticipation and giving the audience a reason to stay invested despite what came last week. I was waiting for a course correction by WWE, hoping they would reassume their creative role and take ownership of their final product. A cry for damage control a week away from WrestleMania is unfathomable given the stakes, but I was at peace settling for anything less horrible than what we got last week. Instead, they did what they have been doing best recently: doubling down arrogantly on the same poor television they pushed the week before. With 20 years of history between Cody and Orton, none of this sits on solid ground. None of this is needed, not creatively, and especially not from a business standpoint. Is this really how WWE and TKO are hoping to sell more tickets? It is appalling that something like this clears the creative and business pipeline without a single person who matters raising their hand to stop it. The entire WWE creative apparatus, as it currently stands, is built on legacy practices that simply do not hold up in 2026. The system needs to be overhauled and replaced with a more rigorous, genuinely creative set of wrestling minds. The one-person validation model, with HHH at the top surrounded by people who echo his decisions back to him, is what produces redundant, uninspired television. It is the same structural problem the company had with Vince, just under a different name at the helm. This is not only about WrestleMania season panic mode, which seems to get triggered every year for the past three years. It is about a broader business mindset that consistently underestimates the importance of building WWE Creative into the actual brain behind producing quality wrestling television on a weekly basis. It is like watching a Netflix series and accepting poor storytelling for entire seasons, only cherishing the few episodes that genuinely break through. WWE should hold itself to a higher standard than that. No single SmackDown or RAW should settle for being trash."

[0.0] "Watching SmackDown has legitimately become a waste of time. This was literally as bad as last week's episode, what even was that Pat McAfee segment..."

"Want to fix SD? Move Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley to Raw they just drag down the show. And maybe actually try to put even a ounce of creativity in coming up with segments instead of "Wrestler A & B brawl" "Wrestler C cuts an in-ring promo and is interrupted by Wrestler D""

[0.0] "I'm a lifelong WWE fan and will be a WWE fan again once they (hopefully) get their shit together. But I can't abide by whatever it's become currently. TKO and Ari Emanuel have turned this into WCW 2000 level buffoonery. Another awful worked shoot promo from Pat McAfee so corny that it would make Vince Russo cringe while he buries the product again. Pat holding the WWE title giving off David Arquette vibes. Both Cody and Randy reduced to supporting characters in their own feud so Pat's agent Ari Emanuel can force this nightmare on an audience that absolutely does not want this. You can see Cody's soul leaving his body as he's put through TKO's stupid non-sensical meddling yet again. Sami Zayn being booed out of the building despite being a face because creative refuses to change his tired stale whiney underdog character while taking a spot that should have been reserved for Carmelo or Ilja. And on top of all that, you have IYO SKY, arguably the most talented woman on the roster, jobbing cleanly to Jade Cargill and seemingly left off the WrestleMania card. I really can't think of any positives from this show. Just a sad state of affairs."

"Somehow just as bad as last week, I'm genuinely impressed they couldn't make a single thing better about smackdown"

[4.0] "Not a completely horrid show but the overall build to the biggest show of the year has been so underwhelming. Two of the most disappointing builds (Cody/Randy, Jade/Rhea) happen to be on Smackdown though raw is barely doing better"

"WWE is slowly becoming like WCW in 2000, bad booking, the overuse of celebrities in shows and matches. What's next?"

"I don't get it, I just don't. Are they actively trying to get whatever audience they have left to throw up their hands and say enough is enough? Also, what are they doing with Iyo? Like, cool that she's in a main event with Jade, but 9 minutes and nearly half was in a commercial break? Also, it's clear they cut segments and video packages since MAGAfee went 26 minutes without a single commercial. Bring back Road Dogg at this point, it can't get worse."

"[0.0] Smackdown continues the trend of disastrous shows, with another insulting episode on the road to WrestleMania. I'm dumbfounded at how much they don't give a shit and how they spit in our faces and expect us to like it, especially with the whole abysmal McAfee, Jelly Roll, Cody, Orton WM "main event" saga. Can't believe how WWE allows this shit from TKO to infiltrate creative input on a WM world title main event for "corporate synergy". The rest of the show from WWE's creative is definitely not any better. Absolutely dull with zero urgency at all. The show started with Nick Aldis and Cody outside the arena, with freaking Jelly Roll afterwards. Hope it's not true that he's going to be beside Cody in the main event at WM. Nick Aldis, the GM of this brand, told Cody that under "strict" orders, he warned Cody not to put his hand on McAfee at all, which was later revealed that he got that order from McAfee. So, McAfee, who's not under any contract in this company, is just giving orders to the GM of SD on whatever he wants? Ripley and Iyo promo in the ring about Iyo wanting Cargill in a match. Not the most exciting stuff, especially because of Rhea's and Jade's low-effort feud, but Iyo has a match at least. Bliss vs Bayley was ok, with another expected distraction finish. Again, not anything special or interesting, as the women's tag team division is not intriguing at all at the current moment. Decent cinematic promo package from McIntyre after that. Royce Keys, yes, he's in the roster. They gave him a video package and a squash match, where he looked decent. I wish they didn't actually keep him out for so long, where everyone basically forgot about him, only to add him now, because he's in his hometown, and most likely to showcase him before winning the battle royal match next week. McAfee promo. Here we go. McAfee, for basically 10 minutes, was flipping off and mocking the crowd, responding to Punk's comments from Monday as if he was feuding with him. Only, in the end, to shout out a freaking sponsor and announce through them a FUCKING 25% OFF DEAL for goddamn WM night 1. That was the most pathetic promo in the history of this business, and the most desperate WWE and any wrestling company has ever been. Then, he proceeds to BURY WM night 2 and say it is ass and nobody should buy tickets for it because Orton isn't in it. I couldn't believe what I was watching. They manage to completely fucking ruin their main event title program for WM, bury it in the promos, then lower the overpriced tickets and ask people to buy them in the most sleaziest of ways because they're too lazy and up TKO's ass to put any actual effort for people to get invested and attend WM, as if Pat fucking McAfee and Jelly Roll is going to generate interest because of "celebrity" involvement & "corporate synergy" and not a 20 year old, rich of history encounter between 2 of the best in the business. Cody's promo was great and referenced what we all think about McAfee's inclusion in all of this. It's as if they're building McAfee vs Cody, and Randy is the 3rd wheel in all of this, not having said a single word in the past 2 weeks, not having done anything remarkable. There's a bigger focus on Jelly Role than on Orton, who had 3 segments in this show, and even the title. McAfee has GO AWAY HEAT, and nobody wants or gives a shit about him on TV. It's like an edgy 12-year-old after seeing one Rock promo and learning wrestling lingo to throw it around like marks, IWC, etc. The inclusion of all 4 of them also indicates the possibility of a rumoured tag team match at Backlash, which kind of spoils the result of the main event, since McAfee said he'll be gone forever if Orton loses. I pray to God that's not the case. This segment is going down in history as one of the worst, along with last week's promo, maybe even worse than that. They're doubling down McAfee's and Jelly Roll's involvement in this feud, and they acknowledge the massive outrage they received through the promos, yet they don't give an ounce of shit, and they laugh in our faces about it. Horrendous. Next, the 1000th Raw recap, because they can't fill a 3-hour SD, and they add multiple useless matches on the spot with no anticipation behind them. Fatu vs Tama Tonga. Didn't really care. The beatdown afterwards from McIntyre was great and intense. Where was that animosity and intensity during the Orton & Cody WM main event title program? Oh yeah, Jelly Roll & McAfee had to get involved. Sami's promo later didn't do anything for me, as he basically wondered why they booed him. Lil Yatchy's partnership with Trick Williams is quite fitting, though. Cardona vs Trick. Another match made on the spot. It was alright. Danhausen vs Kit Wilson. Reviting stuff. Danhausen was quite decent in the ring, though. Main event match, Gargill beats Iyo clean and has a faceoff with Rhea, as if anyone cares about their feud. Iyo & Carmello are not featured in any capacity at WM, but Jelly Roll & Pat fucking McAfee are. Honestly, if you miss this show, you won't miss anything. Smackdown is uninteresting and low effort, matches are subpar and made on the spot with no stakes or intrigue, bad to basically non-existent storytelling, multiple recaps throughout, burial of their own product through promos and overreliance on "celebrities" as seen in the Orton/Cody feud. If that's an indication of the quality of the show on the road to WM, imagine what's going to happen after WM. Smackdown hasn't been this awful since the first months on Fox in 2019/2020 and the Jinder Mahal days as WWE champion in 2017. The difference with Raw is significant, and that show is average/decent at best, but much more digestible. SD was actually quite decent before the Rumble. What happened? Just awful fucking garbage."

"TKO has fallen into the same trap that every major American corporation has in 2026: The assumption that higher prices will always equal higher profit. It's just so much easier than increasing demand for your product by creating quality content that *people want to fucking see*. Pulling a Constable Corbin and trying to turn bad content and exploitative pricing into some kind of meta-storyline is embarrassing and patronizing. It reeks of desperation. Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton literally writes itself yet the clueless, soulless, out-of-touch c-suite vampires that don't even watch the product think people will be more likely to fork out money in this economy if random football players and rappers are inserted into the company's biggest storyline. It's a sugar high that might temporarily bring in a handful of curious Jelly Roll fans but does nothing to build the longevity or quality of the product. It's like they saw the success the company had with Bad Bunny but didn't understand AT ALL how or why it worked. TKO obviously learned nothing from the Travis Scott fiasco and will continue to obstinately step on rakes despite itself until Jesus comes back because at this point they're simply too big to fail."

[1.0] "Just giving a pity 1 only because of Drew McIntyre's brutal beat down of Jacob Fatu, only because of that. Pat McAfee's promo was not all that bad, some major shots at Cody and yet it felt pushed and phony, which it basically is. I've probably never seen a WWE product so dead and buried a week before WM, that's incredible. You know, that's actually harder to do than to book a sub-par or even good product with the incredible talent/roster that they have. But no, we need to put the spotlight on face-tatted blob Jelly Roll and the insufferable, hideous Lil Yatchy, really sad if you think about it. Danhausen's terrible comedy does little to save this war-crime of a product. It really does pain me to see WWE in such a horrible state, I don't have any other way to put it. SmackDown should be pulled off the shelf, its not watchable anymore."

[1.0] "An utter dumpster fire of a Smackdown. The only reason it is getting a 1 from me is because of the Danhausen debut being worth a laugh. Otherwise it would be a 0, because WWE doubled down on the worst parts of last week's Smackdown, and also fed one of their most over babyfaces to Jade Cargill in their ten millionth attempt to get audiences to care about Jade."

"It wasn't that bad. Not good, not bad show just average. We got some wrestling but still MFT vs W6 why? Can we just get rid of this story? Leave it. Tag team division doesn't exist anymore. Sorry but how from last year 6 teams brawl each SD we get to Priest and Truth as a main SD tt champions. Yes Dauhausen is funny but it's too much: every RAW, every SD we have new segment with him. Stop squeezing him as a lemon. And 6 weeks between EC and WM day1 is too long, last 2 weeks before Mania are usually boring"

[0.0] "After the McAfee reveal, Cody and Punk's terrible empty water pistol shoot/worked shoot promos, and the terrible matches, I asked my friends to tell me to watch Smackdown or Raw only when it's bad. Not below average, not kinda sucked, not even underpants on head bad. I said when it's like driving past a car accident or train wreck and as you're rubbernecking you see a naked man standing on his head with pro-life signs. "What? that doesn't make any sense? " I said exactly. I don't think this is as bad as last week but if that episode never happened and this one did, I'd make the same request."

[0.0] "Let's start with Pat's promo truly, truly pointless. First of all, the censorship of the middle finger was unbearable... what was that? Don't we already know this isn't a show meant for kids? And all of this just to discount WrestleMania tickets? Are we serious? Do they really think they can boost WrestleMania with Pat? And then staying five minutes with a 25% discount banner for WM tickets? It was hard to watch and honestly disrespectful to those watching the show. Anything else? The matches were pretty bad the only thing worth saving was Hobbs' pre-match promo, and honestly nothing else. I'd also add that Rhea is getting tiring; they're turning her into or maybe she already is the female version of Cody. I still don't understand why Drew is without a title; everything was going well before they made that monumental mistake. I honestly have no words... except please remove Pac and Roll from wrestling."

"Greatest smackdown in WWE history. Thank you Pat and thank you WWE! Never seen a better show than that."

"[2.0] "The forced involvement of Jelly Roll and Pat McAfee is continuing to kill interest in WrestleMaia. They killed an easy Cody/Randy Evolution 'teacher versus student' storyline that would have been compelling."

[5.0] "As usual, the SD is average. The opening segment is completely random. Bayley vs Bliss is average. There were a few coordination issues at times, but the in-ring action was far from bad. FINALLY ROYCE KEYS IS ON OUR SCREENS, three months after his debut at the Rumble. It was great to have a video clip introducing this wrestler to us. His match against Berto wasn't interesting. You can't judge a wrestler's talent in just three minutes. Why not give him a proper match against Ilja, for example? The Cody/McAfee/Orton/Roll segment is rubbish. 22 minutes for something uninteresting is unacceptable. McAfee says he wants to be the hero whilst he's insulting the crowd and giving them the middle finger. NO SENSE. Cody failed to make this segment interesting. Orton attacking Jelly Roll: SHIT. The brawl was just out of this world. Pat McAfee looked ridiculous mimicking Orton's moves. Cody/Orton feud is a wrestling joke. Drew's video clip is very good. The staging was cool with the cell. What Drew said was brilliant, with Drew stating that Jacob was and will remain a criminal and that he'll be his judge and executioner at WM. Fatu/Tonga was decent. Both delivered. Fatu's as good as ever. The post-match segment was very good. The brawl was intense, with Drew handcuffing, whipping and bleeding Fatu. The segment between Trick and Sami was decent but nothing special. Trick/Cardona was nothing special. The in-ring action was basic. A shout-out to Sami's Helluva Kick on Yachty - it was spot on. Danhausen/Wilson could have been a good match if it'd gone on a bit longer. Cargill/IYO was decent. As usual, IYO was on top form. Cargill had a few nice moves. Cargill beating IYO clean is good, but I'm afraid IYO might not be at WM. The backstage segments were uninteresting."

[0.0] "There was an awful lot of awful here that is lightly balanced against the small nuggets of merely bad. There was nothing to like and enjoy in this show unless car crashes amuse you. What I wouldn't give for a slightly inconsistent build to WM because this has been awful. As Pat McAfee put it "ASS! I wouldn't spend money on that.""

[2.0] "A lot of awful things: Pat vs Jelly face.off and the disgracing promo about how saturday don't sell tickets and sunday is bad; Iyo, who after last WM was praised in the WWE sphere as the best wrestler in the world, just a sidekick who loses against Jade; an horrendous Sami promo, whose character is completely lost and I'm still missing a lot of stuff. But there were some little (really little) good things, so I'm not considering this as terribly bad as last week's show."

[0.0] "Triple H has officially entered 2019 WWE and 2000 WCW level booking. Celebrities in the main event scene, celebrities in the crowd and in mid card feuds, your best female wrestler being jobbed out to a wish version of Goldberg that draws no crowd reaction, a dude cursing people, boring matches with no heat. It's somehow gotten back to where NXT is the only watchable WWE product. AAA as well if you consider that in the weekly rotation"

[1.0] "Possibly one of the most depressing WWE main roster shows of the Triple H era, along with the previous week's. If anything, this one might be even worse, swinging between incredibly boring, baffling, and astonishingly disastrous. The Pat McAfee segment alone is so baffling it would take an essay to unpack. WWE throws any semblance of logical storytelling out the window, turning the segment into a bizarre and desperate full-on ad (on top of the countless ads that already dominate the show), while simultaneously burying its own product and then asking you to buy into it in the same breath. And that's not even getting into Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton somehow becoming secondary to Jelly Roll and McAfee in the build to a WrestleMania main event between the first two. At one point there's an unintentionally hilarious moment where Randy urges Cody to look at him through the titantron, as if he's metaphorically begging for attention in a feud where he's slowly and inexplicably becoming the sidekick. If there's any faint positive, it's that, unlike the worst Triple H era shows so far, which were simply dull and lifeless, the worst parts here are such a spectacular car crash that I can't help but cringe but still can't look away. The chaos-lover in me almost missed this during the relatively smooth run of the last few years after the disaster of Vince McMahon's booking. So in that sense, they've got my attention (which is why this gets a single point instead of a full zero), but at what cost?"

[0.0] "Another Smackdown that was soulless, dreadful and empty of substance and WrestleMania is next week. McAfee was bad again yes but Cody is clearly checked out and resents much of the story, or lack thereof, that he has to tell. Noone buys him as a anti-TKO/anti-authority face when he has made the fact that Vince signed him back a kayfabe part of his character. Cody/Orton was the easiest story to tell for WrestleMania and they managed, in their usual stupidity, to fumble the ball anyway. Also, the Jade/Rhea feud also stinks because not only do both women have no interest to make this a feud worth caring about but it has also made Iyo Sky, the undisputed WWE WOTY last year, a bit player who may not even have a Mania match this year or will get one at the last minute as an afterthought. How pathetic. Speaking of pathetic, the Danhausen schtick is running on fumes already with the overbearing usage of his bits. The new car smell will wear off and he'll get a Mania spot but hey, we can't do that for Carmelo Hayes, Tiffany Stratton, Iija Draganov or the WOMEN'S UNITED STATED CHAMPION GIULIA. The best thing was the Royce Keys debut but you have no faith or trust for this company to do right by the former Powerhouse Hobbs. Awful show, awful Mania build, awful creative, awful company."