.jpg?w=1280)
WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades and Highlights After SummerSlam 2025
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on August 8.
This was the fallout episode after last weekend's SummerSlam PLE. The show featured some big developments for the blue brand, especially in the main event of Night Two.
After Cody Rhodes defeated John Cena to win back the WWE Championship, Brock Lesnar made a shocking return and attacked the former champion, re-igniting their longstanding feud.
We also saw Tiffany Stratton, Solo Sikoa and The Wyatt Sicks retain their respective titles, and Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul defeated Jelly Roll and Randy Orton.
Let's take a look at how WWE dealt with the fallout from the first two-day SummerSlam event.
The Former Champ is Here
1 of 6
After a quick recap of what happened at SummerSlam in the main event, Cena made his way out doing his babyface routine. There were loud chants for the former champion as he spoke into the camera.
Cena spoke about how "The audience is the show" and put the fans over a bit to continue cementing his babyface turn. He was definitely sucking up a bit to keep getting chants and singing from the crowd, but it was the kind of thing that Cena can get away with at this point.
The former WWE champion got a little emotional when the crowd chanted "Thank you Cena." He then switched gears and said Lesnar can come find him if he wants a fight. Logan Paul came out and said Cena is making him sick with the way he has been acting.
The social media star said he wanted a match with Cena, but not tonight. He wants it in France at Clash in Paris. Before he could respond, Cena was blindsided by Drew McIntyre. They stomped him into the mat until Cody Rhodes made the save.
Cena accepted Paul's challenge, but he also suggested a tag match with him and Rhodes vs. McIntyre and Paul to take place on this show. While this was a pretty paint-by-numbers segment, it did what it needed to do and seemed to have the live crowd reacting accordingly.
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
—It's a little surprising how quickly everyone got back on board with cheering for Cena but with this being his retirement run, it makes sense that the fans are just along for the ride.
—The WWE crowd booing Paul will never get old.
—Getting a match with Cena in TV is a rarity these days. It will be interesting to see if it reflects in the ratings.
Motor City Machine Guns vs. JC Mateo and Talla Tonga
2 of 6
Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin were looking to bounce back after losing at SummerSlam, but they had a big challenge ahead of them with JC Mateo and Talla Tonga.
Mateo is the widest members of The MFTs, and Tonga is the tallest, so they dwarfed MCMG in every conceivable way. Add in Solo Sikoa and Tanga Loa at ringside and the Guns were at a huge disadvantage.
With Sabin and Shelley having worked all over the world, this was not the first time they have faced these two men. Even with experience on their side, MCMG were the underdogs throughout the match.
The first half was a bit on the slow side since the heels had the upper hand, but once the Guns started building some momentum, their fast-paced style of offense helped make the match more exciting.
Tonga scored the win for his team with a big chokeslam to Sabin. It's too bad it had to happen at the expense of the Guns, but it's good that WWE is giving Mateo and Tonga some wins to build them up a bit.
Result: Mateo and Tonga defeated MCMG
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
—Did WWE really need to show a replay of what happened right before the break?
—We were almost 30 minutes into the show before the first match got started.
—Sabin and Shelley both had some areas taped up to sell how beat up they were from the TLC match at SS.
—Sikoa cut a promo after the match saying Mateo and Tonga will be the tag champions someday. He said there was nobody left to fight him, but Nick Aldis came out and told him Sami Zayn would be his opponent for the night.
Sami Zayn vs. Solo Sikoa
3 of 6
Zayn got a warm welcome from the Quebec crowd as he came out to take on the United States champion in a non-title bout.
The former Bloodline teammates wasted no time getting to the action. They were trading punches shortly after they first made contact.
Predictably, Sikoa's crew gave him some assistance when Tonga took Zayn down with a clothesline while the ref was distracted.
Zayn began making a comeback when we returned from a commercial. He ran through most of his signature moves, but the rest of the MFTs started getting involved to keep Zayn occupied while Sikoa recovered.
The Street Champ missed a Samoan Spike and Zayn rolled him up for a quick pin, much to the delight of the Montreal crowd. This was a solid match with a somewhat surprising outcome.
Result: Zayn defeated Sikoa
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—The crowd was chanting and singing for Zayn louder than they were for Cena. He is more over with his hometown than anyone.
—The announcers finally realized it was Loa who ia back, not Tama Tonga.
Charlotte Flair vs. Chelsea Green
4 of 6
Charlotte Flair brought Alexa Bliss to the ring to help celebrate their title win and Alexa's birthday. She gave Bliss a doll to be Lilly's tag team partner, a blond doll named Charlie. Chelsea Green interrupted them, and it led to Nick Aldis booking Charlotte vs. Chelsea.
The match got started after a break and saw The Queen take control with ease. Green took a breather at ringside and hung Flair up on the top rope to take over.
The match got more competitive as it went, but it never felt like Green stood a real chance against Flair. Even with Alba Fyre and Piper Niven at ringside, the former U.S. champion seemed outmatched.
The Queen ended up slamming Green's face into the cake she had brought for Alexa. This allowed her to put on the Figure Eight for the win. This was pretty basic and not much happened, but it was designed for comedy, not to be a show-stealing match.
Result: Flair defeated Green
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
—It's surprising how well this team with Bliss has worked to make the crowd like Flair again.
—It's always a little weird when WWE does backstage segments while people are in the ring waiting to begin their match.
Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena and Cody Rhodes
5 of 6
This week's main event was the tag match booked during the opening segment with Cena and Rhodes taking on Paul and McIntyre.
That match didn't get going until there was only 10 minutes left in the show, so we knew this wouldn't be very long or have a chance to accomplish much.
Paul and Rhodes started for their teams as chants for Cody filled the arena. The 10-minute time was cut shorter by a commercial break, so it never felt like we got enough out of this match to make it feel as special as it should have been with this being Cena's final match in Montreal.
Paul ended up causing a DQ by hitting Cena with a low blow. They fought to the backstage area, leaving Rhodes and McIntyre to continue fighting near the ring.
The Scottish Warrior hit Rhodes with the WWE title, which is a good indication that he will be the next challenger for the belt. The show ended with McIntyre kicking Rhodes so hard that he went through the front of the announce table.
Result: Cena and Rhodes won by DQ
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
—John Cena and R-Truth had a quick segment backstage to settle their differences.
—McIntyre has one of the best headbutts in wrestling.
The Final Word
6 of 6This week's SmackDown did a little work to set up Clash in Paris, but other than that, it was a pretty forgettable episode.
The fact that it was so mediocre is kind of sad considering it had one of Cena's final matches as the main event.
Cena vs. Paul is set, and McIntyre vs. Rhodes seems like a lock for the Paris PLE. With limited spots on these cards, that is going to leave a handful of SmackDown champions without a match.
MCMG vs. Tonga and Mateo was decent, but Sikoa vs. Zayn was the highlight of the show.
Grade: C+
.jpg?w=600 "WWE Raw Results & Grades 🔠")
