Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that saw titles defended by DQ, more Elimination Chamber entrants for both the men's and the women's matches, and perhaps most importantly,R-Truth's return to the blue brand. Here in the opinion portion of our "SmackDown" coverage, the WINC team will cover all those things and more though as always with a three-hour show, there's stuff we won't get to. That just means we have to be selective, though, which means what follows are only the strongest and most passionate of opinions we have on offer.
If opinion and analysis isn't your jam and you're more into unvarnished objectivity, consider checking out our "SmackDown" results page. For the rest of you, we hope you had a happyValentine's Day, though we regret to note that we did not take advantage of the date and change this week's format to just "six things we loved" (let's be honest, this one didn't deserve it anyway). As always, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 2/14/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
Qualifying matches should not make a mockery of two separate championships, but WWE is all about subverting expectations.
You would think that these matches representative of opportunities to forward progress on a wrestler's championship dreams would uplift the divisions that they feature. Nobody should truly lose after a qualifying match; even the loser typically gets some exposure and a chance to show their talent for, hopefully, future opportunities. Qualifying matches, functionally, are chances for wrestling bookers to showcase their less-featured stars. While it's not unfathomable that a qualifying match might bury one person, for a single qualifying match to bury two whole titles is impossible by design. Just how did WWE make the impossible possible?
WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Naomi took on Women's United States Championship Chelsea Green in a qualifying match for the fast-approaching women's Elimination Chamber match on Friday's edition of "WWE SmackDown," and they picked the wrong person to go over. Naomi should not have won her Elimination Chamber qualifying match.
Now, put away your pitchforks. I love Naomi, but let's take the glow-in-the-dark sunglasses off and look at this situation with a bit of a critical eye. Bianca Belair, Naomi's tag team partner and the other half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships, has already qualified for the chamber. Does it make a lick of sense for Belair and Naomi teammates renowned and recognized for their teamwork to be competing in the same event for the same WrestleMania opportunity? Is the foundation of Belair and Naomi's expertise not their friendship? Having both of them in the Chamber undermines the spirit of genuine tag team wrestling, which is to uplift the other person. Even if this was an attempt at foreshadowing a Belair/Naomi break-up despite the development of the Jade Cargill story feasibly implying otherwise having both of them qualify for the Chamber at this moment is antithetical to the teamwork aspect of tag team wrestling, and thus cheapens the overall legitimacy of your women's tag division (which, might I add, is already a joke at best).
Even if you don't care about the women's tag division (and I wouldn't blame you), it still doesn't make sense to put a tag team champion over when you have a mid-card title begging for development, especially when said tag champion already has a teammate in the chamber. Green is a fresh champion, attempting to put the Women's US title on the map. She does not need to put anyone over right now. To have Green take such a clean loss to Naomi delegitimizes her as a singles competitor and, consequently, a champion. The same thing happened to Lyra Valkyra on "WWE Raw." Why are we forcing our midcard champions (read: champions!) to put *established* talent over? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
I don't know how you can cheapen, devalue, belittle two titles with one booking decision. I don't know how you can be this poor of a booker and still call yourself a professional promotion.
Written by Angeline Phu
Professional wrestling has had no shortage of on-air personnel who are great when it comes to cutting a promo in order to further a storyline or bring more attention to something whether it's an upcoming match, another talent, or even a product. In theory, pairing up two guys like The Miz and LA Knight who are known for their skills on the mic should be a great idea and produces a segment that is fun, engaging, and entertaining for the fans to watch. Pairing up Miz and Knight ultimately ended up backfiring, though, and what instead ensued was a full body cringe experience that in no way was fun, entertaining, or engaging.
Listening to the minutes long verbal confrontation the two men had felt like listening to two toddlers arguing about which of them deserved a United States Championship more as they pointed out every single shortcoming the other has had. It became something of an agonizing experience, and made me less excited by the second about the possibility of either man being a Number One Contender or the match between them that followed. Unfortunately, not even the presence of the United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura couldn't even save the segment with him not really doing much of anything after his speaking portion at the top of the segment. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about any of this, and was a low point on a show that had overall been a messy and boring affair.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Two matches in a row, two wins in a row for Carmelo Hayes. One more win and he'll officially be on a streak. The opposite of his losing streak that lasted from mid-December until last week.
Last Friday, Hayes defeated Akira Tozawa in a match that was surprisingly not a squash. The match came about because Hayes kept Tozawa from entering the Rumble match. Tonight, he faced R-Truth in a match that lasted mere minutes. Although Truth got the jump on Hayes with shoulder tackles, Hayes hit both The First 48 and Nothing But Net to pick up a decisive win.
Of course, Hayes should be beating the likes of Tozawa and Truth, respectfully. Going on a months-long losing streak is ridiculous, especially after his excellent series with Andrade. He was also in the U.S. title picture in October. Hayes was one of "NXT's" standouts and that should've carried over to the main roster. His booking since his feud with Andrade has been questionable and that includes his last two matches. Hayes is clearly a star both in presence and talent. It's time to start booking him like the star he is, especially with "WrestleMania" right around the corner.
Written bySamantha Schipman
On a show where there wasn't too terribly much to love tonight, the short backstage segment involving Alexa Bliss, plus the Wyatt Sicks tease during the segment, were a welcomed addition to "SmackDown." Last week, we saw a little static blip during Bliss' Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Candice LeRae and there was some social media activity (which I think should have been mentioned on-air tonight, but I'll let it slide) where they Wyatt Sicks praised "SHE." Tonight, the tease got a little bit deeper and Bliss actually spoke to former frenemy Nia Jax, mentioning that "she and Lily" thought something, meaning the creepy doll is definitely still in play in the story, not just a hot merchandising prop Bliss is carrying around.
Being one who was never the quickest to decode the Wyatt Sicks teasers, QR codes, websites, and the like, I took to X to see what others were saying about the segment which was just a little over 30 seconds. Fightful provided provided a screenshot of a portion of the tease with a little more information. Thankfully, this wasn't an entirely new website about Bliss or anything QR code related (yet, at least), but there was some good stuff there. The glitch showed the Wyatt Sicks logo, of course, alongside footage of Bliss at the 2023 Rumble, her last appearance before maternity leave prior to this year's match. It also featured the question, "Do you feel in charge?" with the letter mixed up to be unscrambled, with a silhouette of Uncle Howdy in the ring immediately following.
That last part is super intriguing to me, because it almost sounds like, despite the social media praising of "SHE," that Bliss and Howdy could be in some kind of battle for control of the Wyatt Sicks moving forward? I could be thinking too much into it, but I suppose that's the fun of all the teases. We still have two weeks until the Elimination Chamber and I don't think that Bliss is going to officially join the stable until after the match. I don't see it happening during the Chamber, but it could be a cool thing to incorporate when Bliss gets eliminated (I don't believe she's winning this and heading to WrestleMania with so many unanswered questions) and heads up the ramp, to further their story and give the women in the ring a quick breather.
I'm happy that this is all happening and maybe the Wyatt Sicks can finally get back their momentum they had when they initially debuted last summer. I've always been a Bliss fan, and I love this iteration of her character, so I have high hopes that she can elevate the Wyatt Sicks and make the story interesting once again. Here's hoping that whoever is reportedly injured in the stable can be cleared, healthy, and good to go in a few weeks after Elimination Chamber so we can get this show on the road, as "SmackDown" desperately needs it to fill three hours.
Written by DaisyRuth
Apart from the way-too-frequent cuts to Charlotte Flair watching backstage, I was really enjoying the WWE women's title match between Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax until it very predictably ended in a disqualification. This was a really good example of a match that successfully escalated with a lot of big moves and kick-out spots while largely avoiding finishers, which I appreciate. It also had tons of build going into it, as Stratton and Jax have been working together since summer but somehow are only now returning to their storyline after Stratton cashed in on Jax a month and a half ago. Even after the DQ finish, I was still optimistic following Jax's post-match beatdown on Stratton, since surely this meant a rematch for the title at Elimination Chamber.
Alas, my calculations had failed to account for The Toronto Of It All. See, Trish Stratus was ringside for the match and happened to get involved in the post-match beatdown, leading to her and Stratton agreeing to team up at Elimination Chamber against Jax and Candice LeRae. Don't get me wrong I love Trish. But booking this just to get her in the ring with the champ in her hometown at the expense of the match Stratton and Jax have been building to for months seems short-sighted. Furthermore, the move places Stratton pretty firmly in babyface territory, at least for Elimination Chamber, whereas she had previously been doing a pretty admirable job of navigating her popularity while remaining a heel character. And oh, by the way, none of this has ANYTHING to do with Flair, who announced she was challenging Stratton at Mania for what appears to be no reason following a segment that didn't involve her.
Honestly? Until the finish, I was enjoying Stratton vs. Jax way more than I can imagine myself enjoying any version of Stratton vs. Flair. Jax's inexplicable run of good-to-great work continues, she and Stratton have chemistry, and at this point since we're almost to WrestleMania anyway, I would vastly prefer to see a Stratton/Jax Mania match than watch Flair win number 15 or whichever one it is. Unfortunately, this Valentine's Day "SmackDown" bout with a DQ finish might be the closest we ever actually come to the blowoff these two deserve.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Tonight saw an interesting dynamic emerge where I had admittedly not expected it go, but all the more welcomed it as a step in the right direction. Jacob Fatu came out to confront WWE Champion Cody Rhodes a position he is remarkably deserving of ahead of his Elimination Chamber qualifier (which he would eventually lose, to this one's ire), until he was cut short by the arriving Solo Sikoa. Sikoa returned out of the blue last week to deliver a Samoan Spike to Rhodes, indicating he will be picking back up with the "American Nightmare," and that's not necessarily something I was pining for. But it was cool to see Fatu tell his adversary he would be having the first words with the man he proclaimed his undying love for only to be left in the dust. It was ever more cool to see him follow up with that, alongside the hyena-coded Tama Tonga, and confront Sikoa with the same energy.
It mirrored the dynamic between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns during their time in The Bloodline I guess that makes Tonga the Bizarro to Jimmy Uso's Superman (complementary) in the sense that the chief and his right-hand-man were butting heads. Likewise, Sikoa managed to talk his way out of the dissension by building up Fatu's pursuit for the WWE title. Now it was also cool, amidst the totally subjective ire at him losing, that Fatu was cost by Rhodes' very own promise; Sikoa emerged to help the "Samoan Werewolf," only to draw Rhodes out for their own re-acquaintance. It's left a bit of ambiguity around the current title picture on the trudge along the road to WrestleMania, and that for me just reinforces a desire to see what comes next. So long as this eventually leads to Fatu and by extension, Sikoa and Tonga getting the flowers they deserve and pushed to the moon, I'll continue to love what they've got cooking.
Written by Max Everett
