Smackdown – May 9, 2025: They Didn’t Ask How

Smackdown
Date: May 9, 2025
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

It’s the last show before tomorrow’s Backlash event and that means we might be getting one more match added to the pay per view card. Other than that, John Cena is in the house and that means we should be in for a little more hype up between Cena and Randy Orton. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Damian Priest is ready to get his US Title back but LA Knight comes in to say he wants the title. They’re willing to work together tonight though.

LA Knight/Damian Priest vs. Solo Sikoa/Jacob Fatu

Sikoa jumps Priest to start things fast but Priest runs him over without much trouble. A rebound lariat misses for Priest though and Sikoa bails to the floor, where Fatu offers a distraction. Knight and Priest argue until we take a break. Back with Priest fighting out of a chinlock but Sikoa knocks Knight off the apron in a smart move.

The Samoan drop gives Sikoa two and hands it off to Fatu, which the fans seem to like. Priest fights up and drops Sikoa, allowing the hot tag off to Knight to clean house. The spelling elbow hits Fatu and Knight loads up the top rope elbow, only for Priest to tag himself in. Knight does the same to break up the South Of Heaven and the BFT plants Sikoa for the pin at 10:08.

Rating: B-. Perfectly nice story advancement here and that’s what it needed to be. The story of the title match seems to be Knight and Priest needing to get together to beat Fatu but not being able to work together. This match showed how well it can work when they are on the same page, but that isn’t likely to be the case tomorrow.

Post match Fatu takes out Knight and Priest but gets Claymored by Drew McIntyre. My goodness McIntyre vs. Fatu one on one sounds glorious.

A rather pro-John Cena R-Truth is in the back (complete with a sign) when Jimmy Uso comes in to ask what he’s doing. R-Truth still isn’t convinced that Cena has really gone bad, leaving Uso confused.

Drew McIntyre isn’t sure why Damian Priest is getting a title shot when McIntyre already beat him at Wrestlemania. He doesn’t think much of Knight either, and Fatu being all gas and no brakes means he’s going to hit a wall at some point. That wall is McIntyre as the US Champion. Good stuff here from McIntyre, as usual.

We recap Chelsea Green’s recent issues.

Green and the Secret Hervice held a funeral for her title reign when Nick Aldis and Zelina Vega came in. The three of them imply that Vega has no friends, so Aldis made a tag match for later tonight.

Video on Aleister Black.

Chelsea Green/Piper Niven vs. Zelina Vega/???

Vega’s partner is….the returning Alexa Bliss. Yeah that works. Vega takes Niven down to start but gets caught with a release World’s Strongest Slam. It’s quickly off to Green, who misses a splash, allowing Vega to hit a double 619. Green is back up to cut off the tag though and Niven elbows Vega as we take a break.

Back with Niven cutting off the tag attempt again but Vega plants her with a DDT. The tag brings in Bliss to clean house, including a running Blockbuster for two on Green. Bliss catches her in the Tree Of Woe for a running dropkick and Twisted Bliss connects but Niven makes the save. Bliss’ superkick sends Niven into a Code Red but Niven rolls out to the floor. Vega takes out Niven and it’s a Sister Abigail DDT to finish Green at 8:17.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to have Bliss back and hopefully she can just be herself without all of the Wyatt Sicks stuff. She’s a big enough star on her own already and doesn’t need to do all of the supernatural nonsense on the side. If nothing else, there is always the chance that she could go after Vega for the title, which isn’t a bad idea for both of them.

Rey Fenix cuts Santos Escobar off because he already beat Escobar last week. Legado del Fantasma runs in to jump Fenix until agents and Andrade come in to clear things out.

We look at John Cena vs. Randy Orton in the Cell in 2014.

Here is Charlotte for a chat. She’s fresh off the greatest women’s match in Wrestlemania history and she took Tiffany Stratton to the limit. Now she’s here to announce her path back to the title. The fans aren’t pleased and she wants to know why they are so disrespectful to her. If they don’t lighten up, she’s leaving and never coming back to this town. Charlotte goes to leave but gets cut off by Jade Cargill, who is here for a #1 contenders match. Cargill even tells her to go to the back of the line, which isn’t likely to go well for her.

Post break, Charlotte goes to leave but Alexa Bliss is waiting in her car for a staredown.

Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax

For a future Women’s Title match so here is Tiffany Stratton to watch from ringside. They trade lockups to start with Jax shoving her down. It works so well that she does it again so Cargill fires off her own running shoulder. The Samoan drop cuts Cargill off for two and we take a break.

Back with Cargill powering her up for her own Samoan drop (nicely done) and grabbing a regular suplex. Some superkicks into a spinebuster give Cargill two but Jax is back with a sitout powerbomb for the same. For some reason Jax goes up top but gets slammed down (there’s your reason), setting up Cargill’s frog splash for two more. A pump kick gives Cargill two more…and here is Naomi to jump Stratton at ringside. The distraction lets Jax run Cargill over and hit the Annihilator for the pin at 10:03.

Rating: B. This turned into a heck of a fight because Cargill was getting to show off her power stuff, which not many people can do with Jax. I was getting into seeing these two hammer on each other until one of them couldn’t get up. Unfortunately they had to go with the screwy ending, but at the end of the day, you can’t have Cargill take a clean fall and Jax needs to get the title shot.

Michin and B-Fab praise the Street Profits for their TLC match.

Here are the Street Profits for a chat. They’ve been the talk of the town in recent weeks and just had the greatest TLC match of all times (eh….) and it even involved a prosthetic leg. Cue Fraxiom to interrupt and say they’re happy to be here. Now they want a title shot, but the Profits are a bit shocked after Fraxiom has only been around for a few weeks.

Street Profits vs. Fraxiom

Non-title and we’re joined in progress with Dawkins (with his bad arm) flipping over Frazer. A headlock takeover takes Dawkins over with a headlock but he’s right back up to tackle Frazer onto the announcers’ table. Ford (with his bad ribs) comes in to take over on Frazer and it’s quickly back to Dawkins for a running splash.

Dawkins’ spinning splash in the corner gets two but Frazer spins up to hit a dive to the floor. Axiom hits his own dive and we take an early break. Back with Frazer and Dawkins making a double tag, with Ford hitting a hard clothesline to Axiom. The standing moonsault gives Ford two and it’s back to Frazer, who gets superkicked down.

Frazer fights back but gets caught in a Doomsday Blockbuster for two, with Axiom making the save. Axiom superkicks a diving Ford in the ribs and super Spanish Flies Dawkins down. Frazer adds the Phoenix splash but Ford dives in for the save, taking out Axiom as well. Ford kicks Frazer down, only to miss the frog splash and bang up the ribs again. A missile dropkick/legsweep combination finishes Ford at 13:32.

Rating: B. Fraxiom continues to have one good match after another and that was the case again here. It’s great to see them getting out there and doing their thing with the better teams, because there was nothing left to do in NXT. There’s a good chance we’ll see this again soon and I’ve heard far worse ideas.

Respect is shown post match.

Tiffany Stratton is looking for Naomi but finds Nia Jax instead. Jax is ready to win the title back, but Stratton is going to send her to the losers’ table with Charlotte.

Video on Gunther vs. Pat McAfee, including a long recap of how they got to Backlash.

Miz gives Carmelo Hayes a pep talk before he faces Aleister Black. Granted this one should go better, because Miz won’t be out of place like Hayes was last week.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Aleister Black

Miz is here with Hayes. Black chills in the corner to start before pulling him into a headlock. Back up and Hayes strikes away in the corner, earning him some glaring from Black. They head outside with Black hitting a middle rope moonsault but Hayes kicks him over the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Black hitting a running boot to the head to catch Hayes on top. One heck of a jumping knee to the head drops Hayes again and it’s time to trade forearms. Black gets the better of things and hits a springboard moonsault but Hayes knees out of a suplex. Back up and Black grabs a brainbuster for two so Miz gets on the apron. Black sends them together and rolls Hayes up for the pin at 9:11.

Rating: C+. I was expecting a bit more, as Black still has one of the coolest finishers in wrestling. That makes a heel collision and a rollup finish a bit less than optimal, especially so soon after Black returned. Not much to this one, but at least some of the spots before the ending were impressive.

Post match Black gives Miz Black Mass. That’s better.

Solo Sikoa says he and Jacob Fatu need a game plan, but Fatu just wants to wreck people. Sikoa: “Ok.”

The Motor City Machine Guns are proud of Fraxiom and they know they’ll face each other one day. DIY runs in and lays both of them out.

Los Garza vs. Rey Fenix/Andrade

Fenix cleans house to start fast, including a cradle for two on Garza. Berto comes in to take Fenix into the corner and a dropkick gets two. Fenix rolls over for the tag off to Andrade to take over without much trouble. We take a break and come back with Andrade grabbing a poisonrana on Berto, allowing a double tag. Fenix hits a quick rope walk kick to the head, plus a wristdrag, to take both of them down.

Andrade comes back in for a knockdown but gets kicked in the head by Berto to leave everyone on the mat. Berto is back up with a moonsault to Fenix with Andrade making a save. Fenix grabs a hurricanrana but gets reversed into a sunset flip, only for Escobar’s distraction to take the referee away. Fenix’s rope walk kick takes out Garza and Andrade hits the Message to pin Berto at 10:25.

Rating: B-. This was more fun stuff and that’s what you would expect from these four. It made for a good showcase of Fenix and Andrade, the latter of whom usually does well when he is given the chance. Los Garza might not win very often, but at least they look good while they are out there.

Post match Escobar yells at Los Garza, with Berto standing up to him and leaving on his own. Garza isn’t sure what to do.

Backlash rundown.

Here is John Cena for the big closing. After getting his corrected introduction, Cena says everyone’s childhood dies tomorrow. Randy Orton is not here tonight and that is because he took Cena’s advice from last week. Cena goes over his history with Orton and how much success they have had. If you are part of this generation, you have picked one of them over the other but tomorrow, everything ends.

Everyone has to pick one more time and the reality is Orton has been lying to himself for years. Orton has never been held accountable for any of failures. He is the greatest of all time at not living up to his potential. Cena is the greatest of all time at hustle. Orton is a Laz-E-Boy and coasts, which is what he describes as loyalty. Cena is the greatest of all time at being loyal.

Orton has to beg for respect because no one knows Bob Orton Sr. and the only thing Bob Orton Jr. ever accomplished was knocking up Orton’s mom. The only thing Randy has ever done is ride on Cena’s coattails. Tomorrow, Randy kills his own legend, by being just like his 2006 drug test (that gets a gasp): a FAILURE. Cena is the greatest of all time because he IS respect.

Someone in a mask comes in to try an RKO but gets caught with an AA. Then the real Orton comes in for an RKO to leave Cena laying. I’m not sure what to make of Cena’s promo, but given that it’s the last time he’ll probably ever talk about Orton (barring a rematch), he probably wanted to get in every line he had about him. I’m not sure the whole thing worked though, as this felt like something Cena would say as a hero rather than a villain.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual, this was a good example of how Smackdown does not need to be three hours. There is a strong go home show to Backlash in there somewhere with stuff being made for later, but a lot of it feels like filler because they had too much time to cover. It could have been a lot worse, but cutting this down by about 30-45 minutes would have been so much better. I’m fairly interested in Backlash and this show boosted it up a bit, so we’ll call it enough of a success.

Results
LA Knight/Damian Priest b. Solo Sikoa/Jacob Fatu – BFT to Sikoa
Alexa Bliss/Zelina Vega b. Chelsea Green/Piper Niven – Sister Abigail DDT to Green
Nia Jax b. Jade Cargill – Annihilator
Fraxiom b. Street Profits – Missile dropkick/legsweep combination to Ford
Aleister Black b. Carmelo Hayes – Black Mass
Rey Fenix/Andrade b. Los Garza – Message to Berto

 

 

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