As we jingle our bells across the 2025 finish line, the last major event in WWE will be Saturday Night’s Main Event, earmarked for John Cena’s final match a week from Saturday. WWE Friday Night SmackDown, live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, played host to the final round of the ‘Last Time Is Now’ tournament—created to fairly decide which WWE superstar will share the ring (and spotlight) with Cena for his final match on December 13.
LAST TIME IS NOW TOURNAMENT
GUNTHER VS LA KNIGHT—FINALS (Winner Faces Cena at SNME)
John Cena’s final match has been a topic of discussion as fans and media alike speculate on expectations for the Saturday show. It is fitting that Cena’s final gift to the WWE will be popping a rating on a program that has become synonymous with ‘meh’ (that’s “mid” in internet talk).
Since prior to the ‘Last Time Is Now’ tourney was officially announced, Gunther’s name led the pack of contenders to give Cena his final tussle in the squared circle. Round by round, Gunther made his way through the tournament, but rarely as expected. The former heavyweight champion went life and death with each opponent he faced—Je’Von Evans in the first round and Carmelo Hayes in the second.
As for LA Knight, his tournament highlight was a back-and-forth banger with Jey Uso that resulted in a backstage ‘crash out’ from Mr. Yeet. Knight did in this tourney what he constantly does with his bookings, cashing in on the moment and getting over by over exceeding.
Knight was teased as the potential upset artist in yet another match for Gunther in which he is forced to go life and death with his opponent in the corresponding bracket. In one sequence, Knight was able to bring the crowd to their feet with a near-fall that saw Gunther’s boot barely reach the ropes in time to break the ref’s count.
Gunther would go on to tap Knight, though Knight fought longer than most, en route to a finals victory that earned him the right to be John Cena’s final opponent… as expected.
CODY GOT 2 NXT PROBLEMS AND A SIDE OF MCINTYRE
The cold open for this episode was a chaotic scene as the suspended Drew McIntyre tried to plead his case to get into the building, only to be forced back into his vehicle by WWE officials. Waiting for Drew inside was Cody Rhodes, returning the favor in the form of a beatdown from ‘shotgun’ position.
Rhodes kicked off SmackDown with his best Michael Corleone impression, railing against Drew McIntyre’s actions last week when he attacked Cody on his own tour bus—where his ‘wife sleeps, and kids come to play with their toys.’ Cody’s energy was elevated to levels that question his control, and the veins in his neck were visible as he shouted into the mic. He wanted GM Aldis to reverse Drew’s suspension, though his off-putting berserker approach was probably not helping his case with the WWE brass.
Later in the evening, Cody revealed to NXT champion Ricky Saints and #1 contender Oba Femi that the winner of their “Deadline” NXT championship main event will go on to face Cody Rhodes on the night of Cena’s final match. The addition of Rhodes facing the NXT champion on the Dec. 13th edition of SNME falls right in line with Cena’s own details for how the card would be booked.
ALEXA BLISS VS KAIRI SANE—Singles Match
Promoted on commentary in a mostly throwaway line as ‘the first singles encounter’ between Bliss and Sane, a monumental moment that WWE rarely treats with any real importance these days, these two faced off a week removed from their WARGAMES encounter. Alexa Bliss picked up the win with the aid of her tag partner, Charlotte Flair, who worked to keep the singles match just that, a singles match. Bliss and Flair were attacked in the post-match by Nia Jax and Lash Legend, who were then attacked by Auska—this in the wake of the big Monday Night RAW schmoz involving the competitive and jampacked women’s tag division.
SOLO IN SEARCH OF THE SICKS
In Solo and the MFTs’ in-ring segment tonight, he finally acknowledged the ongoing beef with the Wyatt Sicks, specifically addressing Uncle Howdy. Solo said that Howdy was unworthy of the name “Wyatt,” insinuating that Howdy ‘took everything’ from Bray before claiming he would take ‘it’ from Howdy.
Solo, who was slower in his promo delivery tonight, took a shot at Howdy’s former Bo Dallas character by saying he only needed to “Bo-Lieve.” The lights would go dark, and the entire Wyatt Sicks army was seen standing on the apron once the Moody Center was relit, minus one, with Uncle Howdy standing behind them center ring.
U.S. OPEN CHALLENGE
ILJA DRAGUNOV(c) VS CARMELO HAYES—United States Championship
Ilja Dragunov is unlikely to win ‘wrestler of the year,’ but the consistency he has displayed in these open challenges throughout his time as champ garners consideration for one of the pound-for-pound best on the roster.
On the docket in Austin was Melo Hayes, who has put together some momentum of his own since breaking away from The Miz. Unfortunately, this match did not receive as much consideration as prior affairs, but that is likely because creative will pull the trigger on the weeks-long out-of-ring feud with Ciampa (the ruthless half of DIY).
Ciampa has been campaigning for his turn in the open challenge rotation, but, so far, he has received nothing but ‘epic trolls’ from Dragunov. Next week, these two will finally face off for the strap, and it has the opportunity to be the best of the ‘open challenge’ matchups.
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