It is the first WWE programming on the European tour, with Barcelona, Spain, hosting SmackDown for the first time ever. The show focuses on Cody Rhodes’ appearance on Miz TV just days ahead of his face-off with John Cena—the first time they’ll share the ring since Cena’s turn on Cody at Elimination Chamber.
Off the heels of Roman Reigns interfering in Punk-Rollins, The Wiseman was scheduled to appear so we could learn more about what transpired on Monday. Still, with Cena scheduled for Belgium this Monday and no preannounced appearances from Punk, Rollins, or Roman, you have to wonder if this initial stop was used to set up the rest of the leg on this tour—SmackDown is scheduled for Italy next Friday.
Must-Miz Tv
Cody Rhodes was scheduled for MIZ TV, but after Miz cut the crowds’ singalong portion of Cody’s entrance—claiming that he had ‘hard-hitting questions’ prepared. The Miz was clearly there to antagonize Cody, reminding everyone before Cody’s entrance that he warned “The American Nightmare” of the repercussions of declining The Rock’s offer.
The segment was over faster than it began, as Cody Rhodes was not putting up with nonsense tonight. He hit The Miz and then delivered his ‘End of Rhodes’ finisher to Miz, ending the segment. Cody grabbed the mic and made it clear that if Cena were ready to show up on WWE TV, Cody would be in Belgium on Monday for RAW.
The whole segment was a promotional ploy for the women’s championship match (see below) and the briefest of commercials promoting the Rhodes-Cena showdown on Monday—guaranteed to pop a rating.
LA Knight And Shining Armor
WWE U.S. champ LA Knight kicked off the show in front of the hyped crowd and even threw in a little Spanish. Knight lit the crowd up for a bit before Jimmy Uso ‘entered the chat’ by admitting he is “desperate” for an opportunity with all his WrestleMania opportunities squandered. He said his best shot was to demand a title opportunity against Knight in Barcelona.
Solo Sikoa would get his own “super chats” in as he complained about Knight ‘stealing the pin’ a few weeks ago in the very match that produced Knight as the number one contender. Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga accompanied Sikoa, but it was Solo playing a similar role of leader. The segment broke into a brawl, with the Solo-led group maintaining the upper hand with the numbers game, but that’s when Braun Strowman made a run-in to make the save.
LA Knight, Braun Stroman, & Jimmy Uso vs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga
The schmoz turned into a six-man tag between these groups, and even though Strowman would pick up the win for his team, the real action came when Fatu singlehandedly put Strowman down post-match. Fatu hit Strowman with several pop-up moonsaults before leaving him flat on the mat. This could end up breaking into a multi-superstar title defense for LA Knight, but the lingering feud with Strowman possibly hinges on Jacob’s chances to win the title by Mania.
Jade Cargill Speaks
Jade Cargill opened in a pre-recorded interview produced earlier in the day with the empty arena as the backdrop. She spoke about Naomi and how she hated hearing her describe herself as a victim, but her position still seems unclear. Does she suspect anything from Bianca? Does she plan to pursue a feud with Naomi? A lot of this is unknown, but what was clear is that Jade is being kept from full exposure as she cuts empty arena promos and the occasional run-in since returning at Chamber.
Whether it is meant to protect her character or ability, it is working to make her feel like a genuine attraction. Oddly enough, Liv and Raquel crashed the interview, and the three superstars started screaming at one another. With Jade’s partnerships unclear, what does a feud with the current tag team champs truly accomplish? Still, there is a narrative with Liv and Jade as The Judgment Day tag champs received the blame (physically and literally) for injuring Jade while she knew the whole time and said nothing.
Gunther’s A-Side Cherry Picking Continues
Gunther has given the ‘boys in the back’ Rocky-esc opportunities over the past several weeks. It started when Gunther called out Tazawa, and it was followed by Otis. Gunther beat them both, but the ‘open challenge’ (not really) continued tonight on SmackDown.
After Gunther insulted the Barcelona crowd by claiming he’d ‘rather be in Madrid,’ he brought out Axiom, the hometown hero and co-NXT tag team champion. Gunther has vowed to ‘hurt Jey’ by taking these challenges, but with the amount of offense that Axiom got off it is hard to understand his logic since the champ is the one on the brunt end of the punishment.
As valiant as Axiom was, he also was on the bad side of some brutal power bombs. In one sequence, Gunther power bombed Axiom so violently that the fans were sure that was the finish. Yet, Axiom kicked out to the surprise of every single fan in attendance, and that is when they started to believe in the possibility of their first-ever Spain-born signee in WWE history pulling off the upset.
But it was not long before multiple power bombs were delivered on Axiom, and he was not kicking out of those. The champ won the match and slapped a post-match submission on his beaten opponent for good measure.
Charlotte Flair vs. B-Fab
Charlotte Flair, the number one contender for Tiffany Stratton’s world championship, worked over B-Fab in this singles contest. It was as heelish as Flair has worked since returning and winning the 2025 Royal Rumble. The match felt like a snapshot of a potential big-match showdown in the future, but it was all about keeping Charlotte’s legitimacy rolling for now.
She would go on to tap B-Fab, but the segment was only beginning as Stratton made her entrance, and what ensued was a full-out brawl between champion and challenger. Stratton dove at Flair, and they started to ground and pound as WWE security and various officials attempted to temper the mayhem. The crowd broke out into a ‘this is awesome’ chant, and the segment delivered big for the feud.
They went to a commercial break and came back for Miz TV only to see Stratton and Flair still going at it. Stratton stole the show by flipping off the top of the entrance stage and onto a dozen or more security guards and Flair. It was a terrific spot in a smart position. Cody is likely to have the highest ratings of any segment, not to mention online views, and having Stratton and Flair showcased before the segment is brilliant and could really help the feud achieve a new level of interest.
In-Ring Action/Other Tidbits
The Wiseman Introduces Roman Reigns…Day
It was a big fat nothing burger of a segment. The Wiseman took a full entrance and came down to the ring, slightly touching on the possible ramifications of Monday, though he focused on Seth more than anything. Paul declared today ‘Roman Reigns Day’ because he was on the cover of WWE2K25—released this week.
It was a commercial for the game and for next Friday as he announced that Roman would be in attendance next Friday when SmackDown comes to Italy. The crowd did not like that announcement and began to boo. Paul played it cool and told them to catch a plane on ‘Cheap-O-Airline,’ which was not the cleverest zinger but certainly par for the character. This promo could have been accomplished with a simple graphic—which appeared shortly after Paul’s announcement and literally summed up everything Paul said in 5 words.
Main Event: DIY(c) vs. The Street Profits
The tag team division has been a mess for the past several weeks, and the convoluted title picture has prevented the champs, DIY, from going on a real run. They were finally forced to defend their titles in a no-nonsense match. Thus, they were given the spotlight of the main event in order to maximize the focus of the match.
It was a competitive match, and DIY indeed showed why they were the ‘decorated champs’ in the ring facing off against the, by comparison, up-and-coming tag team—though the Street Profits had held the tag titles once before when they captured the RAW tag belts in 2019.
In the end, The Street Profits were able to capture their second major tag team championship and simultaneously become Triple Crown Tag champions after capturing the SD titles to add to their NXT and RAW tag titles, respectively.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest
Damian Priest was trying to ‘catch’ Drew McIntyre for most of the night but was told he’d left the building. That allowed Priest to focus on his match with Nakamura, but Drew would end up making his presence felt anyway by interfering in the match and causing the DQ.
What followed was a vicious beat down on Priest at the hands of McIntyre, though Nakamura managed to get in a knee to the head post-match. Once Drew had thoroughly taken care of Priest, he began to scream and berate Priest for interfering in all his opportunities heading towards Mania. So, Drew promised to make Priest’s life a living hell.
Randy Orton vs. Carmelo “Melo” Hayes
Orton received his ‘good guy’ ovation with a singalong included as he readied himself for singles action with Melo. Randy played all the hits, and it hits differently as a face. The crowd was super-hot for the veteran. It felt like Randy might get a quick victory, but Melo wrestled smartly and utilized his quickness to his advantage.
Still, it was a valiant effort, but eventually, Orton was able to hit the RKO—only after he got hit with the ‘First 48’—and that led to the pinfall victory.
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