Liverpool hero discusses if Arne Slot's success in his first season is tarnishing Jurgen Klopp's legacy
Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that occasionally broadcasts a few hours earlier internationally than it does domestically because they're in Spain! As a result, it's possible you might have seen some of the spoilers coming out of Barcelona or you have may have been waiting around for our "SmackDown" results page and watched it live with us here in the United States.Either way, it was quite the newsworthy evening, as Tiffany Stratton finally got the better of Charlotte Flair, Axiom got a huge moment in front of the fans in his home country, and The Street Profits officially took the smoke by winning the WWE Tag Team Championship in the main event.
What did the WINC staff think of all these events, and more? These are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 3/14/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
The United States Championship segment that opened "SmackDown" just wasn't for me, and not just because I've been writing and complaining about LA Knight and Shinsuke Nakamura for what feels like forever now. It wasn't Knight who bothered me, for once, since he's lost his luster in my eyes, but Jimmy Uso. It made sense to start off the episode with Knight to get the crowd hot, but Uso just came out and demanded a United States Championship match at WrestleMania, of all places.
Uso literally used the word "desperate" when he spoke with Knight in the ring. He said he was desperate and tired of all the speedbumps on the Road to WrestleMania, and the only way he thought he could get in to 'Mania is if he challenged Knight for the title. I looked up Uso's recent record and while he's defeated Drew McIntyre in recent memory, McIntyre got that win back.He also lost in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match to McIntyre, and before that was the Royal Rumble. So, Uso's not been on a losing streak, per say, but he hasn't done enough to go out there and demand a WrestleMania championship opportunity.
He was of course interrupted by the Bloodline with Solo Sikoa on the mic, who said if anyone deserved the shot, it was Jacob Fatu. And, honestly, no arguments there. Fatu needs strapped up sooner rather than later and the United States Championship makes sense, as the Undisputed WWE Championship scene is well set and the World Heavyweight Championship is on the other brand. So, honestly, I agree with the heels here and Uso just seemed kind of silly out there demanding a spot at WrestleMania. There are so many other good matches with established stories already, Ican see the US title being defended on the "SmackDown" before WrestleMania. Also, Jimmy, your last WrestleMania match wasn't so great, maybe you can take a year off and just be ringside for your brother? Could be a nice thought.
This all seemed silly and of course, it set up the multi-man match that was next up on the night which was pretty good, so there wasn't any real harm done. It also set up Fatu versus Braun Strowman next week, which should also be good. But for whatever reason, Uso's desperation just wasn't it for me on a relatively good episode of "SmackDown."
Written by DaisyRuth
Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair's pull-apart brawl was one of the best things on "SmackDown," especially because it was finally "Tiffy's Time" to stand tall over "The Queen." Before that, however, I was glad to see B-Fab in the ring with Flair, and she had an excellent backstage promo, partially in Spanish, which I also really liked. If B-Fab is really putting in all the work that's been rumored in regards to her training, she's going to be a star and is already well on her way. The outcome of that match was easy to predict, but she hung in there with Flair and took the Figure Eight well before Stratton ran down to make the save.
Over the weeks, it's been Flair getting the best of Stratton, which is doing what it's meant to ... It's annoying me to no end. It's a bit obvious that Flair is going to be winning the championship from Stratton at WrestleMania, but I at least want to see Stratton put up a good fight not only just in that match, but in the lead-up, so she continues to look strong. On this episode that's exactly what we got, as Stratton hit not one, but two big moves on Flair in the brawl. She hit an initial moonsault from the top rope to Flair and all the officials below on the outside. She hit another from the top of the tron, which even though it looked like she missed Flair, still looked incredible.
While it was a bit funny to see so many officials try and pull apart these two women, if the men get to have massive pull-apart brawls like this, the women absolutely can too. Especially when it involves the powerhouse that is Flair, which helps it make a little more sense and be a bit more believable. This really got me believing how much these two dislike each other.
Most importantly, I think it was really beneficial to the feud and the WrestleMania match ahead, as there are so many good matches with stars that are fighting (pun not intended) for a prime spot on the card. Give me Stratton and Flair fighting all over the place for the next few weeks, and it'll look right at home amongst the other big matches.
Written byDaisyRuth
Going into this episode, I wasn't really looking forward to the idea of Cody Rhodes being interviewed on MizTV. There just didn't seem to be much point to it Cody had said his piece on "Raw," John Cena was going to be on the next "Raw," what really needs to be added? Fortunately, Cody apparently agreed, as the entire segment (following an initial interruption by Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair continuing to brawl) consisted of Rhodes wordlessly ending Miz with a Cross Rhodes before declaring that he doesn't want to talk to anyone before he talks to John Cena, and he'll do that on "Raw." Mic drop. Which, honestly? Perfection. 10/10.
Here's the problem: Why was this here at all? Why book the MizTV segment only to have Cody stomp all over it? I suppose you could argue it made Cody look like a bad-ass who was taking all this very seriously, but he basically already did that on "Raw." This segment honestly felt like a pivot due to a creative change and in that light it's hard to ignore that the show overall enjoyed a marked increase in quality this week. In any case, it's wild that it look this long for somebody to realize that nobody cares about The Miz three days before John Cena FINALLY shows up to address his heel turn. They already made us wait more than two weeks; anything more would have been, and was, a continued waste of time that could have gone to someone else even on a three-hour show.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Gunther wasn't the only one to cross the brand divide as "WWE SmackDown" kicked off the European tour in Barcelona, calling out the "Spanish Sensation" and NXT Tag Team Champion, Axiom, for a rematch of their spectacular 2021 bout for the United Kingdom Championship.
The crowd were primed from the moment as soon as he had referenced Axiom's former "NXT UK" moniker, A-Kid, before truly erupting when his entrance hit, marking a home nation cameo as well as a good look at how he could fare on the main roster. But that was just in what happened before the bell rung; if you watched A-Kid vs. Walter in 2021, you would have had a good idea of what to expect if you haven't and enjoyed their match, then definitely give it a look because it was the much better of the two. But once again it was a contest of true clinicians of wrestling. As the adage goes, styles make fights, and it's very much the case that the nimble and rapid style of Axiom merges perfectly with the domineering power of the naturally larger "Ring General."
It made for a really exciting flowing bout between them where nothing seemed out of place in the context of a wrestling contest, capped off with a closing stretch that sold the fine margins between them. Like before, Axiom hit Gunther with his best shots, a Golden Ratio and a Ring of Saturn submission, but neither were enough as Gunther rose to squash the underdog. And while the match had no stakes and no belief that it could end any other way, this was still a fine tune-up match and arguably a better way to build the World Heavyweight Champion heading into WrestleMania than constant brawling with Jey Uso week-in-week-out. It builds the idea that Gunther is infallible in the face of Uso's challenge at the "Show of Shows," with the rationale that Axiom and Uso are both underdog champions of the people.
Written by Max Everett
Damian Priest vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was painful to watch, but not as painful as the memory of the wrester Nakamura used to be. You know what's even more painful than the memory of the wrestler Nakamura used to be? Seeing Drew McIntyre in the ring with him, stumbling his way toward a WrestleMania match that's nowhere near his level.
I've been seeing some criticism of McIntyre's work lately, and it's something I have a hard time getting behind because I don't think it's really his fault. The problem is that WWE has consistently refused to pay off the storylines McIntyre has been trying to build, especially since Survivor Series. With the CM Punk feud finally over and the original Bloodline back together, McIntyre went back to hunting Bloodline members, a course that seemed destined to conclude with another encounter with Roman Reigns. But it never happened McIntyre beat Sami Zayn a few times but took flash pins against both Usos before the entire direction was seemingly dropped. Teases like McIntyre's interaction with Paul Heyman before the Royal Rumble went nowhere, the post-Rumbe worked shoot stuff with LA Knight went nowhere, Cena's heel turn made us all instantly forget that Chris Featherstone was ever a person we knew existed, and now here we are. McIntyre vs. Priest at WrestleMania in a match that will receive precisely zero fan interest no matter how catty McIntyre is on social media.
And for the record, I like Damian Priest. I just think McIntyre's work has been on another level, and it's kind of insane that after the year he's had since WrestleMania 40, he's getting a sauceless midcard feud for WrestleMania 41.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
After three long years, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford are once again tag team champions. It has been far too long since they've held gold (August 2021 to be exact and they last held the "Raw" tag titles in 2020, back when those were still a thing). They have long been one of WWE's best tag teams, whether they held gold or not.This iteration of the Street Profits is more focused. They have been channeling their anger of being overlooked into action. At Royal Rumble, they cost Motor City Machine Guns the titles while also attacking #DIY. They have targeted Pretty Deadly and Los Garza too. Their efforts paid off when Nick Aldis granted them a title shot in Barcelona.
Not only did they get a title shot, but they got it in the main event. Although Los Garza tried to throw them off their game before the match, Dawkins and Ford brought intense focus and a plan for Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. #DIY gave them a hell of a fight and it was one of the best matches during their title reign. Street Profits were relentless and capitalized on Gargano's mistake when he mistakenly hit Ciampa with a superkick.
Street Profits will have their hands full as Pretty Deadly are already the Number One contenders. Los Garza challenged them if they won before the match. They have to answer to MCMG for costing them the titles at Royal Rumble and #DIY will certainly want a rematch. In the meantime, long may the Profits reign.
Written by Samantha Schipman
