WWE SmackDown 7/18/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that was real busy this week adding street fights and cage matches and women's tag team title bouts (oh my!) to the SummerSlam card! The WINC staff will be going through all three of those developments in this week's column, as well as the latest developments between Damian Priest and Aleister Black, the four-way tag team match to determine the No. 1 contenders for the Wyatt Sicks, and the Sicks themselves finally letting everyone have a turn to speak in the creepy vignette!

Our apologies for the very short match we're slighting — we love you, Stephanie Vaquer and Alba Fyre — but you can always read about that on our "SmackDown" results page. This space is for our opinions, and our opinions are what you're going to get! Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 7/18/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."

They may not be friends, but they sure as hell are a "WWE SmackDown" highlight.

I was initially apprehensive about the pairing of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, but I have to say, the two of them have grown on me. Bliss is great at playing the straight woman to Flair's new persona, who is not a true babyface (I don't know if she ever will be) while not being a full heel, rather being comparable to a spoiled, sheltered brat who is slowly learning how to interact with people after a "real world" experience. Flair and Bliss have an unexpected chemistry together that has shone in the recent weeks, and, considering how apprehensive I tend to be towards Flair's in-ring work, I can't believe that I am actually enjoying her storyline as much as I am.

I would typically be upset at the fact that Flair and Bliss were just handed a SummerSlam title opportunity, but they handled and presented the sudden match announcement with such character (and realism?) that I found myself enjoying the segment. If it weren't for Bliss' understandable and relatable surprise and skepticism when Flair casually mentioned (like, as casually as a rich kid mentions their new Aston Martin) that she pulled strings in WWE's administrative offices to get this match, this piece would have gone the completely opposite direction. It's the character choices both women are making that I find myself enjoying, and those character choices can easily explain away the admittedly rushed and nepotic nature of their SummerSlam match handout. The growth that both of these performers are displaying, even at this point in their careers, where they are considered veterans with seemingly nowhere else to progress, is really impressive, and honestly, they are a large part of keeping eyes on the women's division — perhaps even more so than the likes of WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill, who only got a video package and not many opportunities to connect with the crowd.

Of course, there's space for the dramatic in professional wrestling, but Flair and Bliss' performances are showing that there is value in casualness, in subtlety, in borderline realism. They are a funny duo, but not so much that it ventures into caricature. Professional wrestling, as a popular art form, seeks to create a connection between performer and audience, so when you have Flair and Bliss interacting in their very natural ways, their relatability goes up. Their interactions don't feel like that of an odd, shock-value — this feels like two women who are just friends (despite their adamant refusal to admit so) talking. It lulls us into a suspension of disbelief. We can more easily follow their story and laugh at the physical gags they do pull out, because we are presented with such a casual, "this could be two people in real life" pair of performers.

The key to making Flair likable is to make her anyone but "The Queen." To Bliss, Flair is anyone but "The Queen."

Written by Angeline Phu

After an exhausting week plus of wrestling, I didn't think I'd honestly find myself loving anything about tonight, especially not the Wyatt Sicks, as I haven't been too keen on what they've been doing since coming back at the end of May. I wasn't a huge fan of them coming back and going after the WWE Tag Team Championships after their gimmick of going after those who had wronged their "families" (or factions), so I really wasn't sure about them winning the titles last week from the Street Profits. While I'm still a little hesitant on it all, their short promo in a video vignette tonight was really, really good and helped convince me this is the right move for them after all.

We not only heard all of the members speak, which was a first since they debuted an entire year ago, but they offered an explanation of why they went after the titles, and it honestly made some sense. Dexter Lumis was the first to speak after Uncle Howdy said they were "where they belong." He said that the Street Profits showed their bond was only held together by "the lust for gold," and while I don't necessarily think that's true, as there aren't any signs of dissension between Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford just yet, it sounded really good coming from Lumis. I doubt it was on purpose by WWE, but we haven't heard Lumis speak much at all since he's been in the company, even back in his days in "WWE NXT," so him speaking first out of all the other members was really impactful for this segment.

Erick Rowan's line about being a family forged through pain, not defined by the blood they share, followed by Nikki Cross' line about "but by the blood they shed," was an excellent piece of writing. Joe Gacy was the one to deliver the line that made sense of the Wyatt Sicks going after the titles. He said that one by one, they'll strip the other times of "their wicked desires and burn their vanity." First, I forgot just how good Gacy sounds at being weird and creepy, and two, while a vague explanation of their motives, it makes sense for the Wyatts. 

While they're no longer going after others who abandoned their families, they're still doing a whole spooky thing of going after teams they believe have sinned, for lack of a better term. After tonight's little promo, which was just over a minute, I'm more interested in them than I have been in weeks, and I think the direction WWE is going in with the Wyatt Sicks may very well actually work. I don't expect to see these titles defended at SummerSlam or anything, since they are defending against Rey Fenix and Andrade next week, but they're going to at least keep "SmackDown" interesting, especially if they up the spooky factor.

Written by Daisy Ruth

This week's Bloodline spin-off tale starring Solo Sikoa and his newly-named MFTs was an all-new dose of Looney Tunes tomfoolery, and I was unequivocally entertained by how everything went down – and more importantly, advanced the story. The show started with an apparent collision between two SUVs, with Sikoa and his posse being checked out by EMTs and Tonga Loa specifically donning a half-crimson mask for the spot. 

Then, of course, Sikoa laid the blame at Jacob Fatu's doorstep, evoking the classical wrestling trope of the badass babyface getting arrested by the police because the chicken s*** heel wanted them out of the picture. However, towards the end of the show that trope was entirely flipped on its head for Fatu to emerge, having been cleared of suspicion and let go by the, in his words, "Punk-Ass Police." He came down to the ring and ran a play with Jimmy Uso to take out the MFTs and get Sikoa in the position to be folded between a steel chair. 

JC Mateo saved Sikoa and he made his escape up the ramp, but then Adam Pearce emerged to confirm that Sikoa's plan had well and truly backfired. Pearce lambasted him for trying to frame Fatu, to which Sikoa outright admitted he had with a shrug, before confirming the rematch we all really knew was coming, Sikoa vs. Fatu inside a steel cage for the United States title at SummerSlam. Then the icing on the cake came in the form of the police once more, emerging on the ramp and being gestured by Pearce to get their man, and thus Sikoa was taken away in handcuffs to foil the Wile E. Coyote-esque villain until the next time. That's the thing with the evolution of Sikoa's character and why everything seems to be clicking into place, leaning on the genuinely goofy humor that seems to come so naturally to him, rather than trying to make him the second coming of Roman Reigns or Umaga. 

The transformation of the New Bloodline to the MFTs, removing the pressure and the expectation that comes with that name, has allowed them to freely be something else and there is the potential for them to carve their own path. And with all that said, it makes for compelling and enjoyable interactions with the "Samoan Werewolf" and Uso. Fatu turned on Sikoa, not the other way around, because he was sick and tired of the delusion that he had to be beneath him, and in doing so lost his title to Sikoa at Night of Champions after his spot was filled with Tala Tonga. If this week was a testament to anything, as a group the MFTs have the numbers and they have the muscle, but despite what Sikoa thinks of himself he is not a mastermind. It's going to be interesting to see how he retaliates to this week's failing next week – potentially even a cell promo or police interview segment, because wrestling is weird in the best way.

Written by Max Everett

I'm all here for a feud between Damian Priest and Aleister Black, as I think it would be interesting to see play out and I could see the two experienced veterans putting on a good match with one another. That being said, the continuation of the storyline shouldn't have come at the expense of another star in Carmelo Hayes.

Not only was Black's interference in the match between Priest and Hayes completely unnecessary as a post match attack would've sufficed just fine, but he inadvertently cost Hayes the chance to score a win by giving it to Priest via disqualification. Moreover, there wasn't really any follow up after the match, making the whole thing feel overall nonsensical when there was a much better way to do it in the first place. It was another prime example of WWE having a match end in interference for the sake of utilising interference, and took away from what was otherwise an eventful back and forth contest between two great performers.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

These entries, you can imagine, are easy when I feel justifiable disgust at a wrestling segment. However, there is something truly vexing about seeing a great match, and simply not caring. That apathy makes me feel a stronger hatred than any horrible, flat, or otherwise cringe segment wrestling can put out.

Friday's episode of "WWE SmackDown" put four of their finest tag teams in competition to figure out the new contenders for the Wyatt Sicks' WWE Tag Team Championships. Let's be clear: #DIY, Fraxiom, Rey Fenix and Andrade, and Motor City Machine Guns put on a fine match — great, even. #DIY was as crafty as ever (I personally love heel Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa is as intense as ever, and welcome back to TV, Candice LeRae), Fenix and Andrade were on point with their luchador work, Fraxiom met them in the impressive agility department, and Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley worked well with all the styles in the ring. Sure, there might have been some slow moments in the match, but I can acknowledge how difficult it is to coordinate a match with eight people (and it's not like this episode of "WWE SmackDown" had a high bar to clear, anyway). For all intents and purposes, this match was good — quite possibly the best of the night.

If this match was that good, why can't I find myself caring?

This is frustrating, because I genuinely want WWE's tag division to be good. There are so many talented performers in WWE's tag team division: Street Profits, Wyatt Sicks, everyone in Friday's match. This tag team division, with all of the talent that is within, should be one of WWE's prime selling points. How come it simply isn't? Why can't I find myself caring about the tag team division I desperately want to vouch for and support?

WWE is just so flimsy with the booking of their tag team division. WWE treats their tag team division like an afterthought, where even the top dog of the tag team division is just a midcarder with a title accessory on them at best. There's just a lack of care put into all of these tag teams: like, how do you expect me to believe that Fenix and Andrade have the tag team synergy to take down the Wyatt Sicks? Why aren't teams like Fraxiom and #DIY involved in anything else but the title picture? What do Motor City Machine Guns do when they're not in these weekly contendership matches (because WWE cannot consistently book a tag team storyline)? WWE's tag team is full of exhibition matches that are cool, but is severely lacking in stories that can grip us to actually care about the tag team division. They don't even have to be super deep stories; I just need something that I can follow for more than two weeks in order to actually remember the tag division exists, much less care for it.

I want to care. WWE, give me something to care for!

Written by Angeline Phu

Yes, you are supposed to read that title like the "John Cena sucks!" chants. It's no secret that I have not been a fan of his heel turn. I really wanted it to work and it's been terrible. Tonight was further proof after Cena tried to get out of his match with Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam because.. *checks notes*... he's filming a movie for Netflix and he's emotionally exhausted. What even is this storyline? It's not even a chickens*** heel move; it's absurd (as absurd as the weird camera shot when Cena was delivering the news).

By becoming King of the Ring, Rhodes was guaranteed a title match at "The Biggest Party of the Summer." He came down to the ring for a contract signing and because he's a dumb babyface, he assumed he'd just sign the contract to make it official. He addressed the Texas crowd and talked about his dad and brother being from Texas (a nice shoutout to Dustin, who became the TNT Champion six days ago in Arlington).

We all know contract signings never go as planned, but I'm sure Rhodes didn't think his opponent was going to make that dumb of an excuse not to defend his title in a few weeks. He claimed talks with Netflix came down to the last minute and that's why he was making the announcement tonight. Did the USA Network know? What about Peacock? That's where the PLE is airing after all. He didn't say he never wanted to face Rhodes. No, he suggested Paris or in Perth. Why does he specifically not want to face Rhodes at SummerSlam?

Cena attempted to walk away, but Rhodes wasn't having it. Rhodes kicked Cena in the gut and the title just happened to land in his hands so he could clock the champ with it. He grabbed the contract and splashed Cena through the table, placed a pen in his hand, and made Cena sign the contract (which is not legally binding, if you were wondering). Before he left, he kneeled next to the champ to let him know the fine print said their match would be a Street Fight.

Recently, Rhodes has hinted that a heel turn could be coming. We saw flashes of it in his actions tonight after seeing a more aggressive style against Randy Orton to become QOTR. Many predicted Cena would go out as a babyface. This awful segment seems to be the start of new character turns for both men. While Cena tried to get out of his match, he was calm and never tried being the brash heel he's been the last few months. Although his reasoning was stupid, he tried to come off as reasonable when explaining his reasons. Rhodes may be justified in making sure he gets his title shot next month, but this was an over-the-top way to get it. Maybe he really is going to be "The American Nightmare" after all this time.

Written by Samantha Schipman