With just over a week to go until Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, the June 20 episode of WWE SmackDown turned up the intensity. The show featured semifinal matches in both the King of the Ring and Queen of the Ring tournaments, with the winners advancing to the upcoming premium live event. Friday’s matchups were Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss and Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn.
Additionally, R-Truth was set to get his rematch against John Cena, though not for the Undisputed WWE Championship. The question remained: would he get his retribution?
That, and more, from an interesting episode of SmackDown.
Best: King and Queen of the Ring Semifinals deliver in the ring
One King of the Ring and one Queen of the Ring semifinal took place on SmackDown, with Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn and Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss, respectively. Both represented fun, fresh matchups between top stars, veterans who’ve each been around for over a decade, yet still deliver when called upon.
Orton and Zayn delivered a strong bout, with the former Ring of Honor star taking a serious beating, especially after several back body drops onto the "reinforced" announce table. It felt like Zayn’s match to win, especially with Night of Champions taking place in Saudi Arabia, which could’ve made for a feel-good storyline. But the master of the RKO picked up the win, returning to the King of the Ring finals for the second consecutive year after losing to Gunther in 2024. He'll now face the winner of Cody Rhodes vs. Jey Uso.
As for the women, Asuka continued her torrid return from injury with a win over Bliss, who went toe-to-toe with someone often considered the superior in-ring performer. They worked a fast-paced match lasting around 10 minutes, and the Empress of Tomorrow came out on top to advance to Night of Champions, where she’ll face either Jade Cargill or Roxanne Perez.
Worst: Paul Heyman's ominous warning to LA Knight doesn't mean much
Something about the new Paul Heyman group with Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed just hasn’t clicked. The crowd reactions have been decent, but fans clearly want to cheer for Rollins and Breakker. Reed pulls off these wildly impressive Tsunami splashes from the top rope, which are hard to boo. And Heyman, of course, is beloved.
The opening promo between Heyman and LA Knight was entertaining, but it felt hollow, like it wasn’t leading to anything meaningful. Rollins wasn’t advertised for the show, and while Heyman kept teasing that something would happen to Knight by the end of the night, it ended up being a disqualification caused by Breakker during Knight’s match with Reed.
It’s good for Knight to be mixing it up with guys who feel important, no question there. But tonight’s segment didn’t move the story forward. It felt more like filler on an already long episode of SmackDown.
Best: Drama around the Women's Championship
We're well past the point where the WWE Women's Championship needs a fresh spark. Naomi and the Money in the Bank briefcase are starting to provide that, but the feud between Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax feels like a case of been there, done that. They've wrestled each other plenty of times and have shared screen time for the better part of 18 months.
Now they’re heading into another match, but this time, the champion raised the stakes—Stratton challenged Jax to a Last Woman Standing match. It's a different wrinkle, meant to shake things up and give the feud a more chaotic, anything-goes feel. No pinfalls, no submissions—just who can stay down the longest.
And as seen at the end of the segment, Naomi is clearly on the edge of the title picture. It feels like her cash-in is coming soon, and when it does, it should deliver a big moment that propels the women's division forward and sets the stage for a strong title run.
Worst: Ron Killings' momentum disappears
Remember about a month ago when R-Truth made his shocking return to WWE at Saturday Night’s Main Event, reintroducing himself as Ron Killings after being let go by the company? For a moment, he felt more important than he ever had in WWE.
That momentum came to a screeching halt tonight. Yes, Killings beat down a deer-in-the-headlights Kit Wilson, but he still walked out of SmackDown looking like a geek.
Killings squared off with John Cena in what felt like his biggest moment yet as a serious character. But just minutes into the match, Cena smacked him with the Undisputed WWE Championship, causing a disqualification. CM Punk ran out for the save, but not before essentially mowing over Killings on the entrance ramp. After that? Killings vanished from the rest of the show—which still had 12 minutes left.
That moment led into Cena’s version of Punk’s “pipe bomb” promo, which was good and hit some strong notes. But Killings became a complete afterthought. It's just... bizarre.
It’s hard to say where Killings goes from here, but this was undeniably a momentum killer. And that’s a shame, because he’s been getting great reactions. Sure, he might still be over with the crowd after 15 years of goodwill, but if the creative direction doesn’t back that up, it becomes tough to take him seriously, just in a different, more frustrating way.
Best: John Cena cuts his own "pipe bomb"
This was definitely a topsy-turvy episode of SmackDown, one that leaned more turvy than topsy. But to close the show, after all the Killings chaos, John Cena put CM Punk through a table and delivered his own version of the Second City Saint’s iconic “pipe bomb” promo.
Was it on the same level as the original in 2011? No, but it was easily Cena’s best work since turning heel at Elimination Chamber in February. He delivered a scathing promo, calling Punk a corporate sellout and dragging him for how much he’s changed since returning to WWE after walking out in 2014. Cena tore into the contradictions and chaos that have followed Punk over the past decade, and he didn’t hold back.
Where was this fire back in February when Cena first turned heel?
Even wilder, the 17-time world champion broke the fourth wall by name-dropping Claudio Castagnoli (formerly Cesaro), Nic Nemeth (formerly Dolph Ziggler), and Matt Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder). It’s a surreal time in professional wrestling, but Cena is one of the few people in WWE who could get away with something like that, especially referencing Castagnoli, an AEW talent. WWE typically avoids acknowledging AEW on TV and has been aggressively scheduling shows to compete with or undermine them in any way possible.
It’s a promo you have to see to believe, witness, and appreciate, easily the best work Cena has done during this retirement tour. Moments like this also make you wonder how long WWE will let him stay in this heel role, especially with only about six months left on the clock. The babyface turn will come eventually, but after a promo like this, there’s no sign of it happening anytime soon.