WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From October 25

WWE SmackDown Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From October 250 of 6

SmackDown.WWE

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of WWE SmackDown on October 25.

With just over a week to go until Crown Jewel, WWE is preparing for the event by pushing the feuds that will occupy the card.

Cody Rhodes and Gunther have had a few confrontations since their showdown was announced, and this week they came face to face once again to hype the match.

We also saw Carmelo Hayes and Andrade continue their feud with the seventh encounter in their series. With them tied 3-3 and hoping for a future U.S. title shot, both men had more on the line than just pride.

Let’s take a look at everything that happened on Friday’s show.

Randy Orton Demands a Match with Kevin Owens at Crown Jewel1 of 6

Randy Orton was shown talking to Triple H backstage before he made his way to the ring to kick off this week’s SmackDown. Corey Graves said Nick Aldis refused to give Orton a match with Kevin Owens because it was above his pay grade.

The Viper asked The Game to come out and explain why he wouldn’t get a match against KO at Crown Jewel. Orton accused Triple H of protecting Owens, but Trips said he was doing it to protect Orton.

They had a long discussion about it and called back to their 20-year friendship a few times. Orton pleaded with Hunter to let him handle business the way he always has in the past. Trips finally agreed to give him the match but told The Viper to watch his own back.

This was a solid segment to book a match we all knew would happen. Orton has really settled into his role as one of WWE’s veterans.

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

It’s kind of funny how Orton is so much bigger than Triple H now when it used to be the opposite. Orton can fire up a crowd really fast. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes2 of 6

SmackDown.WWE

LA Knight was out first to serve as the official for the seventh match between Andrade and Hayes.

El Idolo scored a quick near-fall to take control right out of the gate. He maintained the upper hand and hit a plancha over the top rope to the floor as we went to a break.

It seemed like Andrade was firmly in control as we returned from the commercial, but Melo began to show signs of life as they began trading shots.

Hayes accidentally kicked Knight out of the ring after a few close calls, so the United States champion yanked him out of the ring and slammed his head into the announce table.

Andrade got in his face and Knight hit him with a BFD. He hit Hayes with one a moment later and then rung the bell himself before declaring himself the winner.

This was an outstanding match that ended in the way nobody wanted. Everything up until the ending was incredible and WWE clearly did this to set up a triple threat for the belt, but it wasn’t an ideal way to end the seventh bout in this series.

Result: No Contest

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Andrade’s entrance music leaves a lot to be desired. It’s too simple. Knight was still wearing his vest, sunglasses and title belt while officiating. Andrade’s dive over Knight was awesome. His inverted Spanish fly was even better. Naomi vs. Candice LeRae 3 of 6

Candice LeRae was looking to stay on Nia Jax’s good side, so she took on Naomi this week.

The Poison Pixie took control with a simple wristlock, but Naomi quickly countered. This was only the second time these two have been in the ring and the first time for a singles bout, so you could see them struggling to find their flow a bit early on.

They picked up the pace a bit and brought more aggression to the match, so it got better as it went along. The clunky moments earlier in the bout were easily forgotten once both women began to bring more energy to each move.

Indi Hartwell got involved and Bayley ran down to take her out. Naomi used the distraction to pin LeRae for the win. Bayley and Naomi celebrated together to end the segment. This match got better, but as a whole, it left a lot of room to grow.

Result: Naomi defeated LeRae

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

Naomi continues to have the coolest gear and hair in WWE. LeRae’s flatliner on the apron looked great. Naomi’s rope-assisted bulldog was cool. DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns4 of 6

Gunther and Rhodes had another face-to-face meeting this week to discuss their upcoming Crown Jewel Championship match. This wasn’t much different from the last time they spoke.

The American Nightmare lost his cool and attacked Gunther. Ludwig Kaiser showed up to help The Ring General. Orton ran down to make the save and drive Imperium away.

After both teams won a qualifying match last week, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano took on Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley in a No. 1 Contender’s match.

This is the kind of match a lot of fans thought would be impossible for a long time, so getting to see MCMG vs. DIY was a bit of a dream match for a certain sect of fans.

Gargano and Shelley started with a quick exchange of holds and reversals. They came to a stalemate and shook hands before Ciampa tagged in.

Both duos used their patented brand of double-team offense and it became clear that MCMG heavily influenced DIY due to the similarity in their offense. The big difference between the two teams was Ciampa’s level of aggression once he got mad.

This was a fast-paced and high-energy match that made both teams look awesome. Either duo could have won and fans would have been happy, but a miscommunication led to Gargano superkicking Ciampa. This allowed Shelley and Sabin to hit their finisher for the win.

Result: Motor City Machine Guns defeated DIY

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

Lin-Manuel Miranda was shown sitting in the crowd. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were told they would be defending the women’s tag titles in a Fatal 4-Way at Crown Jewel during a backstage segment. The pyro for MCMG is kind of funny because the first few pops barely made any noise, but it kind of worked, too. Michael Cole and Graves gave a good rundown of the history between Gargano and Shelley. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa vs. Motor City Machine Guns5 of 6

The Bloodline came out and introduced itself to Shelley and Sabin. This ended up leading to MCMG asking for their title shot right now, so Nick Aldis called a referee to the ring and the match got started.

MCMG had the upper hand at first, but their bigger and fresher opponents took control as the show cut to the final break of the night.

Jimmy Uso showed up and attacked Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu at ringside. Roman Reigns soon joined his cousin and they fought on the stage as the match continued in the ring.

A masked Jey Uso came out and took out the tag champs with a chair while the ref was down. Sabin and Shelley took advantage of the situation and scored the win to become the new tag team champions.

The match itself was kind of a mess, but it was a lot of fun and gave us a surprising title change. If WWE can surprise us, it will almost always be a good thing.

Jimmy and Jey ended this episode of SmackDown by embracing in the middle of the ring as Reigns looked on from the stage.

Result: MCMG defeated Tama and Loa to win the tag titles

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

The crowd was genuinely surprised we got the title match instead of just a tease. Sikoa showed a split second of humor during the talking portion of the segment when he impersonated Sabin. The Final Word6 of 6

Friday’s SmackDown seemed like it would be business as usual. Some matches would take place, some videos would air, and some work would be done to hype the next PLE.

Most of the show was exactly that. Melo and El Idolo didn’t get a satisfying conclusion to their series of matches, but Knight’s actions led to both men getting a U.S. title shot.

The best match was easily DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns, but what nobody expected was that Shelley and Sabin would get their tag title shot immediately following their victory over Gargano and Ciampa.

What was even more unexpected was seeing them win the titles in what was only their third match since debuting in WWE. It was a genuinely surprising moment and one that will make longtime MCMG fans incredibly happy.

However, the show didn’t end there. We got one more surprise to cap things off. The Usos finally reunited as Jey and Jimmy hugged after helping MCMG win the belts. It was a moment many expected to happen at a later date, so it was a great way to end the show.

How Jey and Reigns will reconcile is yet to be seen, but the original lineup of The Bloodline is slowly beginning to come back together. If Paul Heyman and Sami Zayn get on board, the New Bloodline is going to have a war on its hands.

Grade: B+