6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (18 July - Results & Review)

1. John Cena Tries To Get Out Of SummerSlam

John Cena has been a fan-bashing menace for months now. Typically, most of Cena's promos since going rogue at Elimination Chamber have sneered at the WWE audience for booing him when he was the company poster boy a generation ago. That made this week's speech stand out. Refreshingly, Cena delivered a nice snaky promo about missing SummerSlam because he’s filming a movie and is “emotionally exhausted”.

It was a bit of a different slant on his heel stuff thus far in 2025, because he didn’t cut down the WWE audience or even Cody Rhodes. Cody obviously didn’t buy it, and he chased down Cena for a hot end to SmackDown. Also, it was great to have both guys involved in the main event actually present rather than just one of them talking about the other before their music hits and they vanish. There's only so much one person can do on their own pre-PLE.

Rhodes “pulled the trigger” by hitting John with the WWE Title too, so it seems he’s learned his lesson from before. Again, good segment with some action and meaningful character development. Cody signing the contract after putting Cena through a table with a splash, then forcing JC to sign it too, was cool. So, mind you, was the announcement that their SummerSlam bout will be a feisty ‘Street Fight’.

Side note: That blended in shot showing the facial expressions of both guys during the contract signing sit down needs to stay. It was badass and meant WWE's cameras could zoom in on Cena without missing Cody's intensity. What a neat trick.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 12 Misconceptions About WCW You Probably Believe and 10 WWE Name Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired!