WWE SmackDown Results, Winners, Live Grades Highlights Before Wrestlepalooza 2025

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE SmackDown on January 19.

This was the final show before WrestlePalooza, so it was the last chance WWE had to hype up its newest PLE.

Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar were both advertised to appear, and Sami Zayn defending the United States Championship against Carmelo Hayes was set up on last week's show.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on the final SmackDown before Saturday's big event.

Brock Lesnar Wants to Get Home Quick

SmackDown opened with Michael Cole acting like he was about to go backstage to interview Lesnar, but The Beast ended up coming out, picking up Cole and carrying him to the ring.

When it looked like he might actually hurt Cole, Corey Graves got into the ring and tried to plead with Lesnar not to do anything, which just ended up leading to him receiving the F-5 instead.

He grabbed the camera and spoke directly to John Cena saying, "It's D Day tomorrow. I'm coming for blood." He then proceeded to destroy the Prime display before giving Graves another F-5.

This segment definitely had the crowd's attention, but taking out an announcer who hasn't wrestled in years isn't exactly the best way to make him look unstoppable. Lesnar looked unhinged, but he would have looked a lot more dangerous had he taken out a tag team or something like that.

That being said, this wasn't a bad segment. It was short and sweet, which is something WWE is not always good at doing, so it was nice to see everything wrapped up without overstaying its welcome.

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• No matter how strong you are, picking up and carrying a grown man around the ring like Lesnar did to Cole would still be impressive.
• The way the officials all scurried out of the ring when Lesnar came back was pretty funny.

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Alba Fyre and Chelsea Green

Last Time in Action: Bliss and Flair defeated The Culling (NXT, September 16), Green lost to Bliss (SmackDown, August 29), Fyre lost to Tyra Mae Steel (NXT, August 26)

The first match of the night saw Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss battle Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre for the women's tag titles.

The Queen and Green started for their teams, but Bliss tagged in after about 30 seconds for some double-team spots. Fyre helped Green bring Bliss to their corner so they could return the favor.

The Miz joined the commentary table during the break. We returned to see Flair being yanked off the apron by Fyre to avoid a tag from Bliss. When The Queen finally got the tag, she came in and started chopping everything in sight.

This was a decent match with some fun moments, but the ending was pretty predictable. Flair and Bliss retained, but Fyre and Green put up a good fight. It wouldn't be the worst thing for them to be the ones to dethrone the champs eventually.

Result: Flair and Bliss defeated Fyre and Green

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Fyre was dealt a bad hand after Isla Dawn was released, but it has been great to see how she has thrown herself into this version of her character.
• The way Fyre spun Bliss around on the apron and then slammed her face into the ring post looked good.
• The commercial break happened so early in the match. It makes it hard to get into the action when we get about a minute before an ad for tacos or Halloween candy.

Fraxiom vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed

Last Time in Action: Fraxiom defeated Los Garzas (SmackDown, September 12), Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker defeated LA Knight and Jimmy Uso (Raw, September 15)

Fraxiom came to the ring for a match, but they were immediately taken out byBreakker and Reed. Paul Heyman got in the ring with a mic, but as he was giving a promo, Nathan Fraser and Axiom went after the men who attacked them.

Nick Aldis came out and said on his show that when someone starts a fight, they have to finish it, so he booked them into a match that got started during the break. We returned to see Breakker dominating Axiom.

Fraxiom got in minimal offense in this one. They had some short bursts, but this was mostly Reed and Breakker absolutely destroying them. Reed got the pin with a Tsunami. This was too short to be anything special, but it definitely made the Brons look like beasts.

The Usos made an appearance on the big screen and taunted Breakker and Reed.

Result: Breakker and Reed defeated Fraxiom

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Is Heyman supposed to be on speakerphone or does he just not know how to hold a phone when talking into it?
• Breakker is really good at selling just enough to make his opponents' offense look good while still allowing himself to look like a monster.

Women's Title Match Booked

After a break, Nia Jax came to the ring. She gave a promo mocking the entire women's division and called herself the alpha female of the division.

Tiffany Stratton came out to offer a rebuttal and said everyone is sick of Jax running her mouth and pretending she runs the division. Jade Cargill came out and beat up a few officials before she was held back from getting to the ring to get to Jax.

Aldis showed up and said there will be a triple threat for the women's title next week with the three of them. This was a pretty paint-by-numbers segment to set up a match, but at least Cargill got to hit a few people.

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

• WWE ran multiple segments trying to explain to people how to use the new ESPN app, but they conveniently forgot to mention the cost for people who don't have ESPN through one of the approved providers.
• R-Truth and The Motor City Machine Guns confirmed they are fans of The Great British Bake Off.

Sami Zayn vs. Carmelo Hayes

Last Time in Action: Zayn defeated Rey Fenix (SmackDown, September 12), Hayes and Trick Williams defeated DIY (NXT, September 16)

Zayn continued his defense of the United States Championship this week when he put the title on the line against Hayes, who had an excited Miz on commentary to cheer him on.

They started with a simple exchange of counters and takedowns before Hayes nailed a dropkick to take the champion off his feet. They made this feel competitive right away. Hayes hit a nice springboard leg drop as the show cut to a break.

Melo kept control through the commercials, but Zayn began to make a comeback when we returned. Melo stayed in the fight and the match lasted through another break.

To nobody's surprise, Melo and Zayn put on a great show. They are both known for their ability to have exciting performances, so putting them together was practically a guaranteed recipe for a good match.

After a clean, hard-fought battle, Zayn retained the belt with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Surprisingly, The Miz did not try to get involved at all.

Result: Zayn defeated Hayes

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The Miz brought a lot of energy to the commentary table throughout the show. He wouldn't be good in this role weekly like this, but it was a nice change of pace.
• Someone had a sign that said "Not even Carmelo's mom thinks he's HIM."
• The springboard leg drop Melo did looks simple but is probably one of the hardest moves to hit accurately that he does.

Contract Signing

After a long video package for Cena vs. Lesnar and some more filler, the contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre closed the show.

Rhodes reminded McIntyre that they won the tag titles 15 years ago on this exact date, but nobody is talking about it because the world doesn't revolve around them.

McIntyre said all he wanted was a legit shot at the title with no interference, and he knows Rhodes is going to make that possible because he is a company man.

The Scottish Warrior eventually attacked The American Nightmare and was about to kick him through the announce table again, but he changed his mind and said he was going to take what means the most to Rhodes away.

This was a pretty tame segment. Even the crowd didn't seem too excited about it. The show went off the air with McIntyre hitting Rhodes with a big boot and then stomping on his head.

Grade: C+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The video for Cena and Lesnar took up an entire segment by itself.
• During a backstage segment, Damian Priest threw Kit Wilson through a wall.

The Final Word

Friday's SmackDown included one really good match, a couple that were passable, and a ton of filler and ads for WrestlePalooza.

WWE clearly knows a lot of fans are confused about how to get the new ESPN service to watch the PLE, so it went overboard with ads trying to explain it during the show. 

If you only have time to watch one thing from this episode, make it Zayn vs. Hayes. It was the only standout match on the show. Everything else was either too quick or just not very exciting. 

WWE is really trying to make WrestlePalooza feel like a big deal, but right now, it feels like any other event on the calendar. We'll see if they manage to make it good tomorrow. 

Grade: C