[7.0] "Cena is in Chicago for the last time and knows full well that this city has not always been kind to him, while he also recalls the momentous end of the MITB PPV in 2011. And Rosemont Horizon seems to like him after all. Sami Zayn brings powdered sugar and even a welcome match. It's extremely entertaining and even brings Brock Lesnar back into the picture. Cargil and Jax are still not quite on speaking terms, while Becky promotes herself a little to the GM. Giulia then ends the short interlude with Michin in a rather unspectacular fashion. The episode concludes with a major highlight in the form of AJ Lee's comeback, which was obviously saved especially for Chicago. This rounds off an already entertaining show in style."
[1.0] "This SmackDown was a mess. AJ Lee's comeback feels forced and pointless. Why is she even back after not wrestling for a decade? Is WWE really trying to drag us back into the eye-candy era? AJ doesn't belong in 2025, and pairing her in a storyline where 'The Man' Becky Lynch is supposedly scared of her is laughable at best. On top of that, it's killing the momentum of Seth's Vision storyline. Honestly, both AJ and Punk are washed up at this point, and creative is doing more harm than good by pushing this nonsense."
[10.0] "Wow you got Brock Lesnars Suprise interference in a match that was good. Giulia debuted a new look and had a decent match. And the moment so many people have wanted for so long finally happened. The return of AJ Lee and it was every bit of the moment you thought it could be."
[8.0] "Great show with some high highs and pretty low lows. Not a fan of the Zayn/Cena finish, and the Giulia/Michin match could've been a bit better had it gone longer, which I feel that US title desperately needs. That being said, Black/Priest was a good match and the AJ return was brilliant (hard carried this show). The Punk & AJ/Seth & Becky feud is SO entertaining so far and I cannot wait to see where it goes. One of the best storylines in recent memory in WWE."
[5.0] "The return of AJ Lee was so well done, placed and executed. You know, I criticize 2025 WWE and give Triple H's booking so much flak all the time (they deserve it though), but credit where it's due. I can't deny how good he and the company pulled off her return after a decade. AJ looked amazing, moved so well, threw good punches that so many should actually learn from and was super energetic to be there. Lots of nostalgic feelings there. I'm very happy for her and those who were inspired by her. Seth and Becky sold the moment perfectly too and together, they created one of the best moments of wrestling this year. The rest of the episode had three matches, two of them under 10 minutes. Giulia/Michin had its little moments here and there, but the time was so short it never found its groove. The crowd weren't into it and this Kiana James partnership doesn't have a good storyline or segments to boost Giulia. The draft is badly needed. Then we had Damian going against Aleister. I don't care about either of these guys. Their promos, characters and feud aren't compelling. They're talented, but they didn't structure something fun to enjoy and the writing isn't particularly interesting. Also for a match so short, it was too slow and they sold in a way that genuinely made me want to check out. Aside from AJ, this episode had one other notable thing and that was John Cena's match with Sami Zayn. The difference between this match and the Logan one was insane. Unlike Logan, Sami is one of the greatest wrestlers alive. He doesn't need to be carried and has mastered every aspect of in-ring artistry. There's actual depth to his work and he knows how to feed every single beat of the match with detail. Cena was going wild with his moves here; Pop-Up Powerbomb, Angle Slam, Ankle Lock, GTS, Edge's Spear, etc. Again, I appreciate how he pays tribute to those performers by using their finishers, but it still looks better on paper than in execution. He does moves for the sake of doing moves, yet his opponents kick out of EVERYTHING. The problem is he does them very badly and it makes the kickouts look ridiculous. Here's the thing: expanding his moveset in 2015-2017 was evolution of his wrestling identity and a reactive move. He had the mindset of a guy trying to prove people wrong and show he could keep up with the younger more athletic generation. That gave those 2015-2017 matches a meta psychology that worked. You had a top guy accused of having five moves suddenly spamming springboard stunners and Code Red. The sloppiness made sense because it looked like an old-school wrestler stubbornly trying to adapt to the newer style, whether or not he could actually hit those moves cleanly. That was the story and each time he was showing the desperation in his physicality. To me, he was never more comfortable than in 2005-2007 or even 2011-2014 when he was raw, physical and still had that fight-over-flash energy. Against Punk, Bryan, Brock or Umaga, he was more naturally in his zone than "Indy Cena" spamming flash, and those matches flowed better. But Cena made most of his runs work somehow from an in-ring perspective, even in his Thuganomics days (2003-2004). The problem with 2025 babyface Cena is that the tribute nature of the moves comes from outside, not the story he builds between the ropes. It feels like a checklist rather than necessity. This match wasn't some super intense physical bout to justify Sami's insane amount of kickouts, even though him doing his first title defense and trying to not lose it made a lot of sense. It only works from his story-based character position, not from the script of in-ring work and match flow. There was also a spot where Cena was literally talking to Sami about how they were doing certain things. Weird ways of doing things made the finisher spam not feel earned. Then Brock randomly showed up to beat them both and have this match awkwardly end due to No Contest just for WrestlePalooza, which currently has a horrid build and genuinely zero story. Outside of Cena/Sami stuff and the nostalgia for AJ, this episode was so empty, but it will always be remembered for its special main event segment"
[5.0] "Apparently all you need to be a good show in this day and age is two nostalgia ploys and a good but nothing great match, cool that we get Cena Sami one more time, and it was a pretty solid match but Cena's final run has been very disappointing still. Aleister Damian is alright, but nothing special. Same thing for Giulia vs Michin. Crowd was silent basically the whole night but popped huge for AJ's return, and I can't pretend I'm not happy to see her back but my question is just why now? This would've been awesome if this Punk Rollins hadn't already been going for ages at this point. It's legit been going since last summer, and was first teased when Punk first returned. Now it's kind of just feels like they are trying desperately to make the Punk Rollins stuff interesting, when it just won't make it interesting at all. And it's fucking 2025 guys, nobody wants to see Brock vs Cena."
[6.0] "Way better than any recent SmackDown (which is not saying a lot). These Cena's promos are feeling all the same to me, but hey I'll take them. The match was pretty good, way better than the move-after-move match with Logan and definetely better than any of the heel run matches, but the last part with Sami kicking out of all the finishers back to back felt to much. It would probably work better if the crowd wasn't so radically against him. Sadly, it ended in DQ. I feel like most good matches in weekly WWE end in DQ (well, and a lot of the bad ones too). Also, Michal Cole is terrible, he didn't get a single reference. And they saying that the spear was for Roman when Cena is obviously doing Edge's taunt? I skipped what happened after the DQ, not watching that sht. Aleister had a good promo in a vignette, but the match was bad, probably the worst a Priest vs Aleister match can be. The previous attack made most of the match unilateral and slow. Anything related with the women's world title has no interest at all, they have been repeating (bad) feuds for months. The USA title match was good, not at all like Giulia's work at Japan but it was fine, I didn't like the finish, tho. The last segment with AJ Lee return was pretty good. Obviously, it would be better if wweshop twitter didn't spoil it."
[8.0] "Strong show given Smackdown's recent history. Cena vs. Zayn was a surprising banger, despite the interference at the end. Creative really needs some new tricks. There are so many other ways to build a story. Priest vs. Black was alright. Finally, a Giulia match, albeit a pretty average one. Still concerned with her general direction, and the edge she had on NXT seems to have been diluted, but hey at least she's on screen. Punk/AJ/Becky/Seth promo was top tier. Wrestlepalooza is going to be absolutely stacked."
[7.0] "Great beginning and end. I really enjoyed Cena and Sami's promo exchange and match until Lesnar's interference. The ending of the show with AJ Lee's return is amazing. That being said those two segments take so much time that nobody else got the time and focus, the women's US title match specifically needed more time, and the thriving tag scene gets very little screen time. Feels like this show would have been better if it had 2 1/2 or 3 hours."
[6.0] "Probably the best Smackdown in a while we got the standard 2025 Cena promo to open the show thanking all of the fans and stuff like that. We then got a Really good match between Zayn and Cena for the US belt veered a bit into tribute finisher spam like the Paul match but this had match better flow and psychology between the spots which helped the ending was fucking god awful with a certain someone coming back (criminal). That took up the first hour of the show the next 40 minutes were bog standard 2025 forgettable Smackdown with two pretty eh matches and so many fucking adds. The last twenty minutes were something we got another Becky lynch and Seth promo (i find them to be so cartoony and annoying more than anything which just makes them bad.) but i can see why people like it. AJ Lee returned that was pretty cool she hit some decent looking strikes which was cool bit sad see did not do the black widow. Overall a mixed bag of a show we got 40 minutes showing why smackdown has been so bad this year but then we got 60 minutes of some pretty good stuff and a lot of adds. We got one really good return but then we got an appearance that ruined the best match on the show so yeah pretty mixed."
[9.0] "Very good opening segment with a great match and perfect last segment with AJ Lee's return made this show so great. I can name this episode one of the best for the last time. We saw 3 matches that were good, but maybe not all of them have a great booking, but overall with a 2 segments I love this show very much. Minimal of the secondly things and many time for the main stories. AJ Lee really made a magic and emotionally this have a big impact for an episode."
[7.0] "There were so many creative ways to bring AJ back, they chose the least creative one. I know HHH has never been known a creative mind but it cannot be this bad as we are seeing WWE in last few months. I think they are not trying. Taking audience for granted as record profits are coming in. You could argue the problem is with the people who are still watching such a boring product. Because this show has AJ LEE return, you can't rate it low, but we know the following shows will come back to their boring normal."
[6.0] "First hour was just cena against Sami. Nice refering but it's not good at all for some reasons. Aleister match was kinda good, Giulia... womens midcard on smackdown was on down profile and returning of AJ lee was very excited but its sounds more like playing on nostalgia. That's the word for today's Smackdown - Nostalgia. 6/10"
[3.0] "AJ Lee, overrated even in her time as a diva, has an unsurprising return to drag out the Punk/Rollins feud even longer. She also proved like many of her contemporaries that vowed they were done that the Million Dollar Man will forever be correct. EVERYBODY has a price. I'm looking least forward to the fans swearing she was always great and now we'll see her equally as predictable hall of fame induction. I haven't even touched on the 3 hour show with 3 matches. Two of which were under 10 minutes bell to bell. The 1 point is for the Sami/Cena match even though it hit every beat. They at least got plenty of time even if it ended in true WWE classic "no contest" fashion. This company is exactly like the UFC and the NFL, advertising first."
[8.0] "his was one of the rare occasions where SmackDown truly delivered. John Cena and Sami Zayn had a very good match, with Cena taking a trip down memory lane by using moves from his former rivals as a tribute. Aleister Black gained the upper hand against Damian Priest to score a victory. Michin challenged for the WWE Women's United States Title, but Giulia put her down in an okay main event. My favorite moment, though, was AJ Lee's return after 10 years, attacking Becky Lynch in retaliation for what she did to Lee's husband, CM Punk. Overall, it was a solid show."
[7.0] "Decent show I think I'll go a 7/10 purely for the opening segment and match between cena and Sami which was awesome. For the epic return of Aj lee which was just fucking awesome and surreal to watch. Everything else was whatever basically just filler oh and also way too much fucking commercials good lord."
"Pretty much the aj lee show other than that not really a good show as many people make it out to be. Just a show relying on Pops. 4/10 show and thats including AJs return."
[7.0] "The show was pretty solid and had a lot of stardom floating around. Brock Lesnar getting involved in the opener, leading to a no-contest. Sami Zayn getting boo'd. The opener was solid, but the remaining matches felt rushed and did not have time to develop, potentially because the opener went on a tad too long. The segments were alright. The promos were alright. AJ Lee returning is fantastic, as she was always one of my favourites growing up, and she doesn't look like she's aged a day since her last match in 2015. Time to bring some entertainment into this feud now."
[10.0] "A fantastic show, the opener was fantastic (except Brock interruption), the others match were good and deserved more reaction. And of course the return of one of the greatest female superstar of all time!"
[7.0] "Die Folge in Chicago lebe klar von der Return einer Person die auch echt auftauchte. Auch wenn ich alle Matches bewertet und kommentiert habe der Opener ist einfach mein klares Match of the Night. Ich gebe insgesamt, 7 gute Punkte."
"How a freaking 3 hour wrestling show is gonna have 3 matches. Smackdown hasn't put a worth watching show since the change to 3 hours. It has to have a minimum of 5-6 matches per show. Boring ahh show, not watching next week"
[5.0] "Good to know we can add yet another wrestler to the 'massive hypocrite' list with AJ's return. Show was average. Cena and Sami the easy high point. But that gets notched down due to inevitable the finish. Kinda makes the whole match pointless because I doubt we get a rematch."
[5.0] "Again, bar the Cena vs Zayn match I thought this show was rather boring. I have no nostalgic feelings regarding AJ Lee to speak of, so while it's nice to see everyone else enjoy themselves, her return did very little for me on a personal level. The very limited ring work displayed (so not saying it's her actual standard) didn't blow me away. The other matches just sort of happened and were fine. The return of Brock Lesnar from a quality point of view was actually quite poor. He interrupted a good match and just bimbled about hitting F5's while Cena and Sami just lied there for an eternity. It was the least imaginative way to bring him back. Absolutely no energy. Now from an ethical standpoint, it's totally abhorrent to see him back on this show. Arguably, it shows the creative desperation of WWE as the only really highlights that they had were two cheap pops for older wrestlers."
[7.0] "Finally, a very decent SD. The promo between Cena and Zayn was okay, but nothing special. Their match, on the other hand, was enjoyable. Cena was better than Sami, which is very surprising given that Sami was booed by the crowd. The ending was lame with Brock Lesnar's return. I'm not interested in Cena/Lesnar, but I hope the promos change my mind. Priest/Black was cool, the in-ring action was very decent, living up to their talent. Priest's selling on the holds is still excellent, and the ending was very good with Black using the referee to win the match. Giulia/Michin is the worst match of the evening, despite its decent quality. At least Giulia is defending her belt, which is nice. The ending segment is cool. Becky is as detestable as ever, but excellent. AJ LEE's return is excellent, the Becky/AJ segment is very cool, for the first time since her heel turn, Becky is afraid, which is cool. The segment was still not as good as the one on RAW. The rest was forgettable. Fortunately, the three matches and the closing segment were there to save an SD that could have been on par with its predecessors, i.e. average. I hope this SD will set a positive tone for the next episodes."
"The only thing interesting about this smackdown episode was the Cena/Sami and Brock part, I don't get the hype behind this AJ Lee lady, first Nikki Bella, now her, next will be who, Brie, then Eve, then Alicia Fox and so on...just nostalgic shit and nothing else, Excited Giulia finally got to defend her title again"
[10.0] "Historic show to say the least. We've had two title defenses, with one wonderful match between Cena and Sami, and and a final point between Aleister/Priest and Giulia/Michin. And, cherry on the cake, you get to have one of the greatest comebacks of all time in Chicago... AJ is finally home! Plus Punk, Becky and Seth? Great way to prepare Wrestlepalooza. Too bad Cody's filming SF movie."
[5.0] "Good to see AJ Lee back after all these years. I just wished it would be for a bigger stage like Wrestlemania or Summerslam and not just a B Level PPV with a weird name. Besides AJs return it was a mediocre episode of Smackdown. WWE running a nostalgia act with Lesnar and Cena, where I'm not interested in in the year 2025."
[10.0] "What a beautiful show with that great opener Sami Zayn and john cena put a banger match and then the beast brock lesnar come back to attack john i can't wait for their match aliester thankfully won and Giulia finally defend her title and that main event god aj you are missed so much thank you wwe thank you cm punk and thank you aj lee"
"Decent smackdown for the segments but I just couldn't get into the matches. Idk why Michin is in every US title match we all know she is losing it's so predictable. I enjoyed Cena paying homage to his former rivals but making someone like Sami Zayn kick out of 5 finishers just ruined the entire match for me they're starting to overdo the unexpected kick outs way too much nowadays it's like finishers don't even mean nothing anymore"
[10.0] "I have to get up and clap for this SmackDown, cutting a streak of weeks with horrendous SmackDown, here you have history, and no moment of the MFT, Bloodline, Samoans, etc. that explains it all, but we had Cena vs Sami Zayn (after 10 years) and then with the middle matches of Aleister vs Damian that was fine like also Giulia vs Michin but the real Main Event for everyone was definitely the moment we were waiting since it was official during the week, WWE gave us the return of AJ Lee and she's doing a full time return, so we're cooking now, amazing, well done not including the bloodline, they finally learned from that mistake. 10/10"
"[7/10] Best SmackDown episode in a long time. Decent in-ring quality, with a pretty entertaining Zayn vs. Cena. Unfortunately, the entire final segment revolved around a Raw storyline, symbolizing the lack of interesting storylines on the Friday show. Nice nostalgic moment with AJ Lee's return."
[10.0] "best Smackdown of the year so far, do i have to tell more? besides brock's unnecessary return, it was a GREAT show, John vs. Sami was the first men's match that i really felt something watching after a while, AJ LEE RETURN WAS DEFINITELY THE REASON FOR THE 10, NOT GONNA LIE. (this rating i despise everything about Brock Lesnar.)"
[7.0] "Cena started off the show with a heartfelt promo thanking the fans for their support then he had a pretty good match with Sami Zayn, although I don't quite get the need to spam other people's finishers. That seems to be something WWE does more now than ever before. The other two matches were pretty good. AJ Lee's return was very well done and she looks amazing even after all those years. I don't know if Brock returning is a good idea, not just because of the Janel Grant situation but also just because Lesnar's not really that interesting to watch imo. His formula is very tired, and he's basically just a part timer who appears every occasion for a quick paycheck. For a smackdown this show was pretty good. The promos and matches were fine but the bar is very very low for this show at this point and Brock being there to randomly attack Cena for no real reason is not what's needed."
[2.0] "You're gonna tell me that in 2025 we're STILL running Cena/Lesnar; the neeeever ending feud of Seth and Punk and now let's brings back AJ after the obviously shelled out the bag so that the ESPN show feels bigger! ? Nahhh man. Cheap pops get people so easy that this gets a 10 lmao. Meanwhile Black, Priest and especially Giulia are relegated as filler. TKO is robbing the live crowd blindly of their money and us of 2 hours of our time at home. Hot live crowds don't always equal good shows"
"6/10. Match quality was fine but nothing to write home about, but Cena v Zayn was pretty aight for TV standards, and even had some decent action during ad breaks. Brock's interference led to an awkward no-bell-rang ending but sure thing I guess. Wonder if they'll run with this supposed Sami US title open challenge. Not a whole lot else happened besides the AJ Lee return (Doesn't excite me but the place erupted for it to it's a win I guess). Ad breaks were also a bit more intrusive this time around, plus we're putting sponsors in vignettes now like Twisted Tea over the Drew v Randy one, like save them for the matches, bruv!"
[10.0] "Incredible episode, bookended by an incredible 1st hour with Cena, Sami, their proceeding match, and the main event segment that made me feel things like the end of Survivor Series 2023 all over again. The 2 matches sandwiched in between were also good for what they were and luckily didn't detract from the show's quality at all as, in a rarity for 2025 smackdown, the entire 2 hours flew by"
[10.0] "THE RETURN OF AJ LEE! Sami vs Cena was great & this was truly the last time in a long time SmackDown has felt special. Although Brock is a scumbag and they ruined the match for his return, it 100% got overshadowed by AJ. This was the first time I sat through an entire WWE show since SummerSlam and thankfully nobody left disappointed. Hopefully they keep up this momentum!"
