8 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (9 May - Results & Review)
WWE's go home before Backlash provides fun matches and banter-filled promos.
Drew McIntyre might've just won the award for 'Best Promo Face 2025'. His OTT impression of reigning United States Champ and 'All Gas, No Brakes' badass Jacob Fatu was a sneaky highlight on this week's episode of SmackDown. Drew's speech was full of personality and content, and it wasn't alone. John Cena and Charlotte Flair cut good-to-great promos on WWE's latest too.
Both stuck the boot in on fans for disrespect, but one was smartly kept on the shorter side to hammer home the point well. Anyone worrying that talking would dominate this week's SmackDown ahead of Backlash needn't have bothered - there was plenty of riotous in-ring action to sink your teeth into.
No less than four tag-team bouts served up lots of storyline context, and there was even time for an often-overlooked trio to work in some character development. It's a huge compliment to Legado del Fantasma that fans in Dayton, Ohio responded well to their segment. Now, the next challenge will be making sure that momentum continues in coming weeks.
Most WWE fans in Dayton bought tickets to see John Cena show up though. This company can sell tiks by the truckload just to see top stars talk; that might not be sustainable if the asking prices don't drop, but it's worth pointing out. Thankfully, the rest of the supporting cast on that WWE roster underneath made attending SmackDown even better.
Here's all the good and bad from the final stop before Saturday night's Backlash PLE. First, some pesky negatives that you may/may not even agree with...