Browsing: Smackdown

Sol Ruca announced Tuesday on NXT that she will not be able to defend the Women’s North American Championship against Blake Monroe at Halloween Havoc on Saturday due to an injury.

Ruca’s tag team partner, Zaria, offered to defend the title against Monroe on her behalf, and Sol agreed to the proposal.

While no specifics were given about the nature or severity of the injury, Ruca was wearing a knee brace and using a crutch. She also said she suffered the injury during the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match she and Zaria had against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss last week on SmackDown.

Ruca added that she is unsure when she will be cleared to compete, noting that she only knew she would not be able to wrestle at Halloween Havoc on Saturday.

The originally scheduled match between Ruca and Monroe had been in the works for the past few weeks, stemming from a backstage encounter during which Monroe expressed her belief that Ruca was greedy for having both the Women’s North American Championship and Women’s Speed Championship.

Zaria stood up for Sol, leading to a singles match between Monroe and Zaria that saw Blake use unfair tactics en route to victory.

Ruca attempted to prevent Monroe from using a steel chair, but when the referee was distracted, Monroe poked Zaria in the throat with a hair pick and then hit her with a DDT to pick up the victory.

Zaria got her chance at redemption the following week when she was part of a battle royal to determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship.

Ruca was present at ringside to root Zaria on, but Monroe showed up and attacked Sol, which prompted Zaria to eliminate herself in order to save her friend.

After adequately getting under the skin of both Ruca and Zaria, Monroe was granted a women’s North American title shot at Halloween Havoc, giving her a chance to secure her first taste of championship gold in WWE.

However, if Monroe is victorious, it will now come at the expense of Zaria rather than Ruca.

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WWE Superstars unfortunately deal with injuries on a regular basis, and while there is no good time for such a setback, it can be devastating to be put on the shelf during a championship reign. A certain popular Superstar is facing the potential end to two championship reigns as WWE has just confirmed an injury.

Sol Ruca is currently 193 days into her first reign as WWE Women’s Speed Champion, and 185 days into her first reign as NXT Women’s North American Champion. Now it appears she may have to relinquish the titles due to an injury suffered on last Friday’s live SmackDown episode, where she and Zaria failed to dethrone Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.

There have been rumors on a potential injury to Ruca since last week’s 12-minute tag team showdown on SmackDown. At one point, the 26-year-old had an awkward landing after diving to ringside. She was later helped backstage by Flair, Bliss, and Zaria.

WWE will present tonight’s NXT episode as the go-home show for Saturday’s Halloween Havoc PLE from Arizona. It was previously announced that the first-ever Halloween Havoc to air on Netflix will feature Blake Monroe challenging Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. The former Mariah May of AEW won a recent Battle Royal to earn her first title shot in WWE.

Ruca took to X today to announce that she will be in the ring on NXT to address what she called “recent occurrences,” fueling speculation on Ruca needing to take time off.

“Well guys, due to some recent occurrences, I need to address the NXT Universe. So, I’ll see you guys tonight in the ring on NXT,” Sol Ruca said in the video below.

See ya tonight âš¡ï¸ðŸ’€ðŸŒ´ pic.twitter.com/LUEv7Wj9WV

— Sol Ruca (@SolRucaWWE) October 21, 2025

WWE Confirms Sol Ruca Announcement For Tonight

WWE has confirmed that Sol Ruca will address an injury suffered on SmackDown during tonight’s NXT. The updated preview for tonight’s live episode noted that Ruca will provide an update on her status.

“NXT Womenâ€s North American Champion and Womenâ€s Speed Champion Sol Ruca will provide an update on the injury that she suffered on Friday Night SmackDown. Donâ€t miss Ruca’s update on WWE NXT live TONIGHT at 8e/7c on the CW Network,” reads the official NXT preview for tonight.

WWE previously announced the following for tonight’s NXT: Men’s Speed Tournament matches with Zachary Wentz vs. Jasper Troy and Axiom vs. Sean Legacy, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater defending against Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, OTM vs. Hank & Tank, plus the Halloween Havoc contract signing for NXT Champion Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams.

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WWE had no interest in showing a fan’s sign on television this past Friday on SmackDown, which had Saraya’s former ring name on it.

The sign itself caught the attention of Saraya, who joked that somebody should find this particular fan for her. The fan, whose X handle reads @OaklandMando, disclosed that the Stamford-based promotion had confiscated his sign. However, he had clicked a snap holding the sign, which he shared in his response to the former AEW Women’s World Champion.

Find me this guy too!! Haha,” wrote Saraya, to which the fan responded, “That was me! And they legit came and took my sign away.”

Find me this guy too!! Haha https://t.co/nxN813dKvm

— SARAYA (@Saraya) October 18, 2025

On March 26, 2025, Saraya announced her departure from AEW. She had been with Tony Khan’s promotion for three years. It was Khan who allowed her to succeed after her WWE run ended prematurely. She suffered a serious neck injury in 2017, which forced her into early retirement.

As Paige in WWE, she was the youngest female champion in the company’s history, a two-time Divas Champion, and the inaugural NXT Women’s Champion. She is also the first woman to hold both a WWE and NXT Women’s Championship simultaneously. In AEW, she has held the AEW Women’s World Championship once.

Saraya’s Heartfelt Message To Her Former WWE Rival, AJ Lee

On SmackDown last month, AJ Lee made her return a decade after she retired from in-ring competition. Lee’s remarkable Divas Championship reign ended at the hands of Paige in 2014, in what was her main roster debut. At 21 years young, Paige defeated The Black Widow to become Divas Champion.

Following AJ Lee’s return on the September 5 episode of SmackDown, Saraya penned a heartfelt note to her former rival on X. She even called Lee her “fairy godmother.”

F**k, my heart is so full watching @TheAJMendez come back. Love you sister. Go show ‘em why youâ€re the best in the world â¤ï¸,†she tweeted.

After Saraya’s AEW exit, many fans felt she would return to WWE. With AJ Lee back, it only fueled rumors of the former Divas Champion’s comeback. Be that as it may, at the time of this writing, her future remains ambiguous.

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WWE

A chaotic episode of “WWE SmackDown” has come and gone. There were title changes, Wyatt Sicks videos, and impromptu title matches littered throughout the broadcast, but enough about “what happened” on the show, since that’s been handily covered over on the results page.

Instead, it’s time to break down what worked and what didn’t from the October 17 broadcast. WWE is on the road to Saturday Night’s Main Event, which itself will set the stage for Survivor Series, and so there were plenty of moving parts on Friday’s show. There was an open challenge that went poorly for Sami Zayn, but very well for fans of Ilja Dragunov. There was a lot -and I mean a lot- of backstage segments. There was even some great wrestling amidst it all.

The Wrestling Inc. Staff will break down the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of WWE’s trip to San Jose. Here’s what we loved and what we hated.

Loved: Blake Monroe, ZaRuca further NXT feud on main roster

WWE

I am never going to complain about more of the talent from the best women’s roster in wrestling right now, “WWE NXT,” getting time to shine on the main roster, but I love it even more when those women get to further their “NXT” storylines in front of a much larger audience. With Blake Monroe in attendance tonight at “SmackDown,” that’s exactly what happened.

Monroe is currently feuding on “NXT” with Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca and her tag team partner, Zaria, who faced Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss for the Women’s Tag Team Championships tonight. She was seen sitting ringside before the match, so while it was obvious she was going to get involved, I still really liked it. WWE doesn’t often bring up other “NXT” talent just to further their storylines and feuds with other developmental talent who are working matches on the main brands. But it makes sense to get Monroe even the slightest bit more exposure in front of a main roster crowd.

Tonight, she simply distracted Ruca, which thankfully distracted me and hopefully a lot of others from the not-so-great looking Sol Snatcher Ruca attempted to hit Flair from the ropes to the outside. The distraction let Flair take out Ruca at the knees to weaken her for the figure eight, which Ruca tapped to. I like that there’s now a little story that WWE could always go back to there, with Flair owing Monroe something after “The Glamour” helped her a bit there. That gets me thinking about how much I’d love to see a Monroe versus Flair feud, though I’m not sure who would be the face and who would be the heel there.

Either way, I loved that Monroe got some screen time alongside “ZaRuca” tonight. Commentary was able to mention their Women’s North American Championship match coming up at Halloween Havoc, getting “NXT” a little more exposure. If this is how things are going to be with the main and developmental rosters working together just the tiniest bit more in places where it makes sense, I’m absolutely all for it.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Hated: Carmelo Hayes Is Lost In The Shuffle

Wwe/Getty Images

While former WWE NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov won the United States Title, and fellow former champions like Bron Breakker ascend to the top of the “Raw” roster, Carmelo Hayes remains in a go-nowhere feud with The Miz. Some Fridays can be a glaring reminder that WWE has a bad habit of fumbling NXT stars on the main roster.

There was a time when Hayes was getting comparisons to Seth Rollins or John Cena, someone who could be a franchise face for years to come, and yet it feels like he’s being held down, held back, or just plain restrained in some fashion. It doesn’t feel like WWE fans are getting the best of what Hayes can do, and it also doesn’t feel like his feud with Miz is doing anything to add what wasn’t already there for the former NXT Title holder. It feels like the big match is always around the corner, but like the tag division in general, Hayes can never find his way onto PLEs to show off what he can really do.

At this rate, I am going to have to wait until the f***ing Royal Rumble to see Hayes eliminate Miz and get any semblance of catharsis from this feud. I get it, TV time is limited, and top stars that can take a loss are limited even more so. It doesn’t change the fact that Hayes has swiftly gone from “Him!” to “him?”

Written by Ross Berman

Loved: Sami Zayn’s United States Open Challenge goes off the rails

WWE

Where do we even begin?

No, really — how do we even begin to talk about everything that happened during Sami Zayn’s United States Championship open challenge? When Zayn took to the ring to mark the halfway point of Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown,” I doubt he could have anticipated being present for the amalgamation of storylines that were presented to him. At least, I wasn’t anticipating the absolute avalanche of information (and chaos) we were presented with on Friday’s episode of the blue brand.

I’ll tip my hat to WWE for continuing the Carmelo Hayes and Miz implosion storyline. While this appreciation is mostly self-indulgent (I love Hayes and despise the Miz), I do appreciate how WWE is not just letting the storyline drop off the face of the Earth, only to be built up over the course of two weeks for some C-tier “premium” live event. They’re following up on Hayes, especially, which is absolutely necessary, considering that this is a pivotal time of growth for him in this company. I’d also like to give a shout to the MFTs, Rey Fenix, and the Wyatt Sicks for their contributions. This segment never relented in its shock value, and I found myself having the most fun I’ve had watching “SmackDown” in months.

Now, to the Mad Dragon. Ilja Dragunov made his stunning return to WWE programming after thirteen months on the shelf to answer Zayn’s United States open challenge, and the match they had was magnificent: some of “SmackDown’s” best contests. The man who put down “WWE NXT: UK’s” Walter (now known as GUNTHER) came out in full force and set San Jose ablaze with nothing but his rage and vicious strikes. Dragunov is an absolutely insane performer. He is flat-out. He is explosive. The sparks that fly off of him when he lands a Senton, Torpedo Moscow, or H-Bomb could light up even the darkest of spaces. If this is his first match back after over a year on the shelf, we are in for a stunning reign from Dragunov.

Zayn was right there with him, and we got to see a downright belligerent Zayn as the technician was forced to slug his opponent just as hard. The refreshing change of pace from Zayn and the shared aggression made this one of the most captivating, dare I say “realistic” matches WWE has put on. Dragunov is just built differently, and Zayn is both experienced and flexible enough to match his freak. I was shocked to see Dragunov walk out of his first match back in WWE with the title, and as much as I’ll miss Zayn’s open challenge series, I’m glad to see WWE pull the trigger on Dragunov. They need to push that guy to the moon.

Written by Angeline Phu

Hated: Why so many backstage segments?

WWE

For once, I don’t have many complaints about an episode of “WWE SmackDown.” I thought the matches we had were utterly insane, and the blue brand’s highlighted storylines, while not the most sophisticated or thought-provoking, were almost always high-stakes, explosive, and downright chaotic. I don’t think there was a match on Friday’s card that didn’t hold severe repercussions for its outcome, either in its stipulation, cast, or final result.

Can’t say that I feel the same way about the backstage segment and video packages, though.

I’ll give WWE some grace: I know that certain backstage segments, like Jacob Fatu’s backstage assault, did have tangible ramifications on the show. Other segments, however, like Fraxiom’s interaction with #DIY and Candice Lerae, didn’t really strike me as anything that special. It didn’t help that some of the dialogue in these promos was far from the best. Like, Los Garzas and Motor City Machine Guns’ backstage promo exchange was far from any man’s best work, and it read like a bunch of somewhat-buzzed dudes at the bar trying to get in a fight fueled by the masculine urge to fight for glory (no matter how low the stakes were). Don’t even get me started on how useless Aleister Black and Zelina Vega’s video package was — or do, because it was so inconsequential that I completely forgot to write about it until I was reading back this paragraph. I understand that backstage segments are necessary to progress storylines (we can’t be in the ring, in front of fans, all the time), but compared to the rest of “SmackDown’s” high-octane, engaging on-camera segments, these backstage and prerecorded broadcasting beats simply fell flat for me. I would have much preferred to have an extra few minutes of Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov’s insane United States Championship title match, or maybe even a post-match angle for Sol Ruca and Blake Monroe following ZaRuca’s unsuccessful WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship bout, over whatever Black and Vega’s general brand Karrion and Scarlet pitch. I would have taken an official broadcast of Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes’ ad break crowd-side brawl over whatever Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa had to say to Nathan Frazer and Axiom.

I know that cool-down segments are necessary, especially in an episode of “SmackDown” as jammed-packed as this one was — generally, I don’t mind a cute little backstage segment or two. I just felt like there were a bit too many in this episode, placed in spaces that could have been given to the show’s more exciting in-ring moments. It’s a hard balance to strike, but if anyone can do it, it should be the company that has monopolized the professional wrestling game for the past three decades. Right?

Written by Angeline Phu

Loved: A Fight in The Main Event

WWE

Drew McIntyre’s pursuit of the WWE Championship, currently weighing down Cody Rhodes’ shoulders, continued this week with a number one contender’s match booked between him and his rival, Jacob Fatu. There had been rumblings heading into the show that Fatu was injured, so naturally, a question loomed over the status of their match that had, up until the very last moment, continued to be advertised as going ahead. But then it was at the very last moment that at least half of that question was answered, with Fatu having been discovered backstage, attacked by some unknown assailant – one would presume McIntyre had done so, but we all love a “Who done it?” when the opportunity arises – and thus the match was unable to take place.

McIntyre made his entrance, Nick Aldis tried to get a handle on the situation, with one man apparently attacked by another, and him having to manage the fallout. But before he could, McIntyre got to defending himself and begging for Aldis not to be another to cost him in his quest through, what he perceives as, unjust means. And then Rhodes emerged because he, like most of his colleagues and rivals, had grown tired of McIntyre’s drilled whinging, taking the situation further out of the control of Aldis as he stomped to the ring suit and all to get into a fight. The bell rang like there was a match between them, commentary struggled to ascertain whether the title was on the line, and still, they continued to fight through the arena and ringside area.

McIntyre tried to make it a match within the ring, because of course he would, while Rhodes had, as you would expect from a man in dress shoes, zero interest in wrestling a cookie-cutter wrestling match. As such, he ended things via disqualification with a shot to the head with his championship belt, and then they fought until the officials got involved; well, Rhodes did hit a final splash from the top rope to put an exclamation point to things, but aside from that, that was it. For what it was, the segment did well to bridge the gap between injury-forced match cancellation and the next stage of McIntyre and Rhodes’ feud for the title. They couldn’t find the final resolution during this week’s show and on such short notice, so this was a great way for them to extend the story while circumventing the need to put a winner to things as of yet.

Written by Max Everett

Hated: Fatu backstage attack drug out, leading to chaotic main event

WWE

I thought this was one of the best episodes of “SmackDown” in quite some time, and I was trying to look at this main event angle through the eyes of someone who hadn’t seen the news that poor Jacob Fatu is injured and who didn’t see the spoiler about tonight ahead of time. However, it’s pretty difficult for me to even try to imagine that. Even if I weren’t writing wrestling news, I’m certain I would have seen it on social media, so it’s impossible to look at things any differently.

That being said, I thought General Manager Nick Aldis was going to announce Fatu wasn’t cleared to compete at the beginning of the show. I guess WWE was trying to play at some kind of swerve, because Aldis just announced it was a number one contender’s match. And with that, it was pretty obvious that Fatu was somehow getting taken out before that match, presumably by McIntyre, though I guess we aren’t exactly sure about that.

The way Fatu was taken out backstage was kind of silly, too. It looked like some kind of light fixture fell on him, rather than just a straight-up beat down by another star with a chair or kendo stick, and they went as far as putting fake teeth in the fake blood by his mouth. Gore doesn’t bother me, especially stuff that looks pretty cheesy, but that just felt really goofy.

The spoiler earlier in the day revealed that the main event would then be changed to Cody Rhodes versus McIntyre, but it wasn’t initially clear if it would be for the championship. And it still wasn’t clear even after the bell rang for the match, which didn’t happen until well after their initial brawl throughout the crowd during a commercial break. Commentary didn’t have any clue either because Rhodes mentioned McIntyre could have his title match right then, but Aldis didn’t say anything, which didn’t help and only added to the chaos.

While it’s unclear what the plan was before Fatu’s injury, I’m not looking forward to seeing Rhodes and McIntyre for the title at yet another premium live event. It’s getting sad to see McIntyre keep losing every title match he gets. And Rhodes’ motivations for snapping at the end of tonight’s segment are very unclear. Is he that furious at McIntyre for taking out Fatu? I highly doubt it, so we’re bound to get some half-baked story about Rhodes losing his mind after losing the Crown Jewel Championship.

Written by Daisy Ruth

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MFT unleashed another demolition again, this time towards a returning star, and Solo Sikoa issued a stern warning on SmackDown.

Earlier on the show, Sikoa and his “Family Tree” attacked Rey Fenix backstage during a photoshoot. The MFT leader subsequently appeared during the United States Championship match between Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov.

Then, after Dragunov surprisingly won the title from Zayn, the villainous faction attacked both men to further send a message to the whole SmackDown locker room.

Solo Sikoa and the MFTs interrupt a moment of respect between Sami Zayn and new United States Champion Ilja Dragunovpic.twitter.com/uMaf9kErZ0

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) October 18, 2025

Fenix tried to get back at the MFTs but got quickly decimated, with Talla Tonga taking him down with a Chokeslam.

Solo Sikoa Emphasizes Nothing Will Stop MFTs From Taking Over SmackDown

After the MFTs’ beatdown on Sami Zayn, Rey Fenix, and new US Champion Ilja Dragunov, Solo Sikoa reminded everyone in San Jose, California, that MFTs run SmackDown. The faction leader also expounded that his disciples will bring back everything that his family lost over the past couple of years.

Sikoa then guaranteed that he would make them champions again. It can be remembered that the group (then known as the revamped version of The Bloodline), which consisted of Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu, held the WWE Tag Team Championships under the Freebird Rule.

Dos pueden jugar a ese juego, Solo Sikoa.

Los Wyatt Sicks tienen su propio mensaje… 👀#SmackDownpic.twitter.com/cYMDwYnH5r

— WWE Criollo🇻🇪 (@WWECriollo) October 18, 2025

After the former US Champion’s declaration, the reigning tag team champions, The Wyatt Sicks, appeared following a vignette from their leader, Uncle Howdy.

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Blake Monroe made her surprise SmackDown debut this week.

This week’s episode of the Blue Branded show, coming live from SAP Center in San Jose, California, featured the Women’s tag team champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair in action.

The champs defended their title against NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca and her partner Zaria. The former AEW Women’s Champion was shown sitting in the crowd for this bout.

The ending of the bout saw Zaria countering a hurricanrana attempt from Alexa Bliss outside the ring and then throwing the Goddess into the barricade.

Flair then attacked Zaria, only to be taken out by Ruca herself. Instead of focusing on the match after this, however, the Women’s North American Champion got into Monroe’s face.

Charlotte did not miss this opportunity and she targeted Ruca’s leg. The Queen then got her opponent back in the ring and locked in the Figure Four, which ended up being the deciding move of the bout.

Blake Monroe had explained recently why she chose to start her WWE career in NXT, and tonight’s appearance doesn’t seem to indicate a main roster call-up for the former champion.

The company did confirm after this match that Monroe will get a shot at Ruca’s NA title at the upcoming Halloween Havoc event. You can check out the other matches announced for the NXT special here.

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Sometimes a WWE Superstar will get injured outside of the ring, and the company has to deal with it. They handled things uniquely with Jacob Fatu.

WWE SmackDown went down at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on October 17. Sadly, that episode included getting Jacob Fatu off television, and that absence could be a longer one.

WWE SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis opened up the show this week by stating that Drew McIntyre versus Jacob Fatu is now a #1 contender match for Cody Rhodes†Undisputed WWE Championship. Then Cody came out to a roar from the crowd.

Cody Rhodes addressed his WWE Crown Jewel loss, but then he moved it along by saying that he will handle SmackDown business. He then hyped the upcoming #1 contenders match, including Jacob Fatu in San Jose, as those fans cheered big time for their hometown boy.

Later on in the night, Jacob Fatu had a backstage segment with Cody Rhodes, where he promised to show him the real meaning of “ghost ride the whip,†after he beats Drew McIntrye. Rhodes seemed down to face Fatu as he said, “I hope youâ€re right.â€

Later on, right before the main event started, Jacob Fatu didnâ€t make it to the ring. Instead, he was shown pinned to the ground under a bunch of production equipment, bleeding from his mouth.

The show cut to commercial after that, as WWE SmackDown personnel flocked to Jacob Fatu as he laid bleeding on the ground. This was a shocking move, but it also wrote him out of the storyline, and itâ€s likely he will be out of action for the rest of the year. After that, Drew McIntyre took to the ring as Jacob Fatu was left injured backstage.

Fans were shocked to hear that Jacob Fatu was sidelined due to a non-wrestling related injury. He will be out of action for some time now. That certainly halted his momentum just as he was really picking up steam.

It was later revealed that Cody Rhodes was set to replace Jacob Fatu during tonightâ€s SmackDown. That was a shame for fans who wanted to see the Samoan Werewolf do his thing.

Whatâ€s your take on Jacob Fatuâ€s WWE absence? Will you miss seeing him on television? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

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Corey Graves has officially made his return to the WWE Friday Night SmackDown commentary desk. After a multi-week absence due to a storyline attack by Brock Lesnar, Graves was back in his familiar seat alongside Michael Cole on the October 17 broadcast from the Kia Center in Orlando.

His return was a quiet one, with no special segment or fanfare. Instead, he was simply seen back at his post during the opening segment of the show, which featured Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis. During his time away, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T had filled in on commentary, but the familiar voice of Graves is now back on the blue brand.

The storyline reason for Graves’s absence was a brutal assault at the hands of “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar on the September 13 episode of SmackDown. The attack was positioned as a final, violent statement from Lesnar as he headed into his clash with John Cena at the WrestlePalooza Premium Live Event.

The assault effectively wrote Graves off of television for several weeks, leaving fans to wonder when and how he would return. The quiet nature of his comeback suggests that the angle involving Lesnar is likely concluded, and the focus for Graves will be returning to his role as the lead color commentator for SmackDown.

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One of Brock Lesnar’s recent victims returned to WWE SmackDown after being away for a month.

The October 17 episode of WWE SmackDown kicked off from San Jose, California, with the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes addressing the crowd. He made his first appearance since Crown Jewel, following his loss to Seth Rollins for the Crown Jewel Championship.

More importantly, a fan-favourite WWE superstar made their first official return nearly a month after the Beast Incarnate’s vicious attack.

WWE Star Returns After Brock Lesnar’s Vicious Attack

As the show kicked off, SmackDown’s General Manager Nick Aldis appeared inside the ring to address the 11,000 fans present in the SAP Center. He announced that the singles match between Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu later that night is now a #1 contender’s match for the Undisputed WWE Championship against Rhodes.

Following this, the camera turned towards the commentary desk with NXT’s Vic Joseph, along with the returning Corey Graves. Joseph announced his return, saying,

Joseph: Welcome at ringside, I’m vic Joseph, and someone who’s excited with Cody coming out, about to jump out of here soon, RETURNING COREY GRAVES.

Graves: I could not be any more excited to be right back here, in this saddle.

Joseph: Welcome back, I’m glad you’re in one piece.

Graves: Oh, as far as you know, reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Corey Graves is back at the announce table

Vic Joseph is also on the call tonight#SmackDownpic.twitter.com/3KKy8dyJ1U

— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) October 18, 2025

This marked the first TV appearance of Graves following the attack by Lesnar on the September 19 episode of WWE SmackDown.

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Our WWE SmackDown results for tonight include Sami Zaynâ€s United States Open Challenge, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes returns to address his Crown Jewel defeat, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss defend the WWE Womenâ€s Tag Team Championship against NXTâ€s Zaria and the Womenâ€s Speed and NXT Womenâ€s North American Champion, Sol Ruca, and Drew McIntyre battles Jacob Fatu. Hereâ€s our review and grades for tonightâ€s show, live from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

WWE SmackDown Card:

• Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Returns
• WWE Womenâ€s Tag Team Championship Match: Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Zaria and Sol Ruca
• Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu

WWE SmackDown Results:

As the show kicks off, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis is in the ring. Aldis announces that the winner of the Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu match is now a number one contenderâ€s match. That match will be against this man. Aldis points to the stage, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes‘ music hits.

The Champion Returns

The crowd sings for Rhodes as he stands in the ring and takes it all in. Rhodes notes that Seth Rollins beat him for the Crown Jewel Championship. After all of this, Rhodes doesnâ€t think he ever needs to be in the ring with Rollins ever again. Rhodes knows it doesnâ€t work like that, but Rollins has the Brons and an Oracle to deal with. While Rollins deals with that, Rhodes is going to handle his business. Will it be McIntyre or will it be Fatu? The battle at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event runs through San Jose!

Grade: B

Solid and quick promo. Itâ€s always best when these things donâ€t run too long. Itâ€s interesting that we got so many reports today that the main event would be changed to Rhodes vs. McIntyre due to Fatu being injured. So far, it seems that was a crock of you know what. Letâ€s see how it plays out.

Backstage, Solo Sikoa has his MFTs beat up Rey Fenix.

NXTâ€s Blake Monroe is in the crowd to watch the next match.

WWE Womenâ€s Tag Team Championship Match: Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Zaria and Sol Ruca

This event is ongoing. This information will be updated as the event progresses.

Read More: Jacob Fatu Could Miss Extended Time Due To Injury

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