Layin' da SmackDown - SmackDown recap for March 28, 2025

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes heads to the ring to start tonight's show. Cody gets the "Daddy Cool"-style chant, then states that at WrestleMania 41, he will face John Cena - who gets booed - as he tries to break the record and win his 17th world championship, but in a few nights, he will be face-to-face with Cena. Suddenly, Randy Orton shows up and heads to the ring, and admits that while he is not the sentimental type, he will make an exception for London, England. He compares Cody now to when Cody was in his early 20s working to break into the business. He mentions that Cody was more frustrated than happy because he could not grow in a WWE, and that it took courage to leave WWE to strike out on his own, change the industry, and come back. Orton says Cody is the same guy, yet Cody did what he set out to do. Cody, who is about to break down into tears of accomplishment, gets the "Daddy Cool"-style chant, then Orton recalls Cody's return match in Hell in a Cell against Seth "Freakin'" Rollins and his subsequent accomplishments. Orton then says there is another story, as Cody is in charge of his legacy and business is bigger than ever because of him. He then says that he is very proud of Cody, but it is time for WrestleMania. Orton says he will kick Kevin Owens so hard in the head that he can feel it already, while Cody will enter and leave WrestleMania as champion before beating John Cena all over the Las Vegas strip. He then proclaims that after the smoke clears, he will want to go after his fifteenth world championship, but instead of kicking Cody in the balls like some coward, he will look him in the eyes, consider him an equal, and challenge for the title. Suddenly, Drew McIntyre shows up and calls Orton and Cody "a couple of nepo babies having a lovefest," which he says makes him sick, then asks Orton what he has done to justify getting a title match. He says more people talk about Orton being on the shelf for months upon months more than his World Heavyweight Championship match, then says Cody should have listened to him, but shunned and ignored him, and Cena proved him right. He says he should be in the main event, not Cena, but it is not because of Damian Priest. McIntyre then gets the "Seven Nation Army"-style chant as he says he will be the one to take the title at WrestleMania. He says that Kevin Owens might have a point and while Randy Orton looks great on the outside, his back is hanging by a thread on the inside, and he will break it if provoked. Cody punches McIntyre when McIntyre addresses him, and Orton goes for an RKO on McIntyre only for McIntyre to barely escape it.

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre is official for later tonight.

The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) retain the WWE Tag Team Championships against Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince).

In backstage footage from earlier today, Zelina Vega, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter are met by Chelsea Green, Piper Niven and Alba Fyre. Zelina does not take well to Chelsea cheating to beat her, and challenges Chelsea and company to a six-woman tag match.

It is announced that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Bret "The Hit Man" Hart at WrestleMania 13 will be the first-ever match inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in the Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Paul Heyman is seen entering the arena, and so is Roman Reigns. Security soon shows up behind them.

The Secret Hervice (Piper Niven and Alba Fyre) beat Katana Chance and Kayden Carter following the distraction by Chelsea Green. After the match, The Secret Hervice go on the attack on Kayden again, then Zelina Vega runs towards the ring and makes the save only for Chelsea Green to get the jump on her. Chelsea goes for the Un-Pretty-Her, but Zelina breaks free. She goes for the Mexican Destroyer, but gets superkicked by Alba and flattened with a senton by Piper.

Singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi and UFC welterweight fighter Oban Elliott are seen in the crowd.

LA Knight retains the WWE United States Championship against Braun Strowman after Strowman is suddenly attacked by Jacob Fatu. After the match, Jacob Fatu hits Strowman with a Samoan Drop on the announce table. As Jacob Fatu is about to hit Strowman with a hip attack in the corner back in the ring, Knight fights Jacob, but Jacob hits him with a pop-up Samoan Drop before Jacob hits Strowman with the hip attack twice. He hits the hip attack one more time, then runs to the corner and hits Strowman with two top rope moonsaults.

Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviews Jimmy Uso. Jimmy says he would slap Gunther again and that he will keep doing it if he needs to, as Gunther is in "Main Event" Jey Uso's head. He says Gunther is not unbeatable, and that he will beat Gunther on Raw before Jey beats him at WrestleMania. On the way out, Jimmy Uso run into The Miz and Carmelo Hayes mocking him. The Miz says that Jimmy is trying to be a tough guy but is just "the other Uso" and that he and Jey are blips on the radar while Gunther will win. He also says that if Jimmy were to slap him, he would not be walking away. Jimmy goes for a slap but stops when Miz cowers, then Jimmy says he will get a match between the two of them from General Manager Nick Aldis.

Backstage, Jacob Fatu is confronted by Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga for going on the attack earlier tonight. Jacob says he does not have to explain himself, and Solo warns Jacob to watch his tone of voice before Jacob says he will be the last man standing against Braun Strowman and that he is taking the United States Championship home with or without them.

We hear from Naomi. She says she always does the right thing, and that attacking Jade Cargill was no different from doing that. She says that after all she has done and sacrificed, she happens to be the bad person in the situation. She asks how Jade comes in out of nowhere and takes her place with Bianca and wants Bianca to ask herself who inspired her over the last decade and always had her back since day one. Naomi says that one teaches others how to be treated, and that she is done being treated as a third wheel and being too nice, set aside and underappreciated, and moving forward, if Bianca continues to be in her way, she should proceed with caution.

Backstage, General Manager Nick Aldis meets with Jade Cargill, who says that it is "on sight" if she sees Naomi. As she leaves, she runs into Michin and B-Fab, who know that Jade will take care of business as Naomi deserves everything coming to her.

We see the image of smoke as well as a brief image of a snake.

Before the next match, Michin and B-Fab are suddenly attacked by Naomi. As this attack goes on, Jade Cargill runs to their aid and chases Naomi away before helping B-Fab to the back. The next match then begins.

Charlotte Flair beats "Michin" Mia Yim by submission with the Figure Eight.

Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviews Tiffany Stratton. Tiffany says Charlotte Flair loves to her herself talk and barely let her get a word out, then says that Charlotte Flair has more to lose in their match at WrestleMania, as she will just lose a title while Charlotte will lose to someone she looks down on. She says that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and hopes Charlotte's massive ego will stay there when Charlotte loses.

Drew McIntyre beats Randy Orton following the distraction by Kevin Owens. After the match, Owens drags Orton out of the ring and onto the announce table. He goes for a powerbomb, but Orton slips out and trips Owens. Orton then goes for the punt, but Owens jumps over the barricade while security stops Orton from chasing after him.

We see another orange-tinted vignette of what looks like a Mexican luchador. We then find out the luchador is none other than Rey Fenix, who debuts next week.

Jimmy Uso beats The Miz. After the match, Jimmy Uso gets on a headset and tells Gunther he is coming after him on Raw.

Backstage, Drew McIntyre meets with Lewis Capaldi, then takes an interview from Jackie Redmond, saying that he does not care about anybody else's business and that nobody screws him over. He then heads out to the pub, but gets beaten up by Damian Priest. When Priest headbutts McIntyre into the back of a BMW convertible, the driver comes out of the car to object to this only for Priest to toss him around. McIntyre strikes back, but Priest takes McIntyre South of Heaven into the front windshield.

CM Punk is heading to the ring with security guards behind him when he sees Drew McIntyre down on the hood of the convertible and simply laughs at him.

General Manager Nick Aldis is in the ring to oversee the contract signing for Seth "Freakin'" Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 41. Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman are the first to show up, with security behind them. Roman gets the "Daddy Cool"-style chant before he demands that the crowd acknowledge him. Heyman wipes down a chair for Roman after placing it at the head of the table. Roman admires the "Daddy Cool"-style chants, calling them beautiful, and even lets Heyman join in on the microphone before saying he is here for two reasons: to be acknowledged and to sign the contract, which he does. Shortly after Roman signs the contract, Seth "Freakin'" Rollins shows up, with security also behind him. Shortly after Roman signs the contract, Seth "Freakin'" Rollins shows up, with security also behind him. Rollins also takes a seat, and Heyman does not partake in the sing-along for Rollins' entrance theme. Rollins talks about his history with Roman in London, England when they were both part of The Shield and beating The Undertaker, and while a lot has happened in the last twelve years, he and Roman have accomplished their mission to change the industry. Roman says "we" died a long time ago, and it is just "me." He says Rollins has been here, but he has made WWE what it is today and took them both to the level they are at today and left WWE better than he found it. Rollins says the "me" mindset is why he has to keep screwing Roman, especially after he let "the snake" CM Punk back in the garden, and when he could have cut his head off, he shook his hand, and he has to clean up his mess again like he always does. Rollins signs the contract, then CM Punk shows and heads to the ring. He, too, has security guards behind him. Punk says he has come here to chew bubble gum and sign a contract, and he is all out of bubble gum. He takes the remaining seat and browses the contract. Roman gets impatient and tells him to read "Page 4, Clause 5." Roman tells Heyman to smarten Punk up, and Heyman says to Punk "I know what you're looking for, and it's in there...you're closing the show at WrestleMania." He then tells Punk that he gets to live his dream of main eventing WrestleMania. Roman loves the sound of this, and Rollins tells Punk to take the tears out of his eyes as he furiously states that Punk does not deserve it. He considers the main event sacred and blames Roman and Punk for this and throws his microphone down. CM Punk thanks the world and the fans who stood by him and chanted his name for ten long years before starting a hole at Rollins, and Roman tells Punk he should be thanking him, as he is in the main event because of him. Roman demands a thank you and an acknowledgement to end everything in what he deems "the right way," and Punk thanks Roman and acknowledges him for the WrestleMania main event and says he will see him in the main event of WrestleMania. Punk signs the contract, then says that this is not the favor he is owed. The show then fades to black.

Here are the highlights from tonight's show!