WWE Friday Night SmackDown in Perth, Western Australia, Australia on the USA Network | October 10th, 2025 — The Episode Recap:

Aleister Black with Zelina Vega as he stands tall in the Main Event of his Last Man Standing Match against Damian Priest. Aleister Black is now aligned with Zelina Vega, as for Damian Priest, he ate a fireball to the face. (Photo by WWE)

The October 10th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — Match Results:

The Opening Match: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a WWE United States Title Match | via No Contest — (13:29)

The 2nd Match: Stephanie Vaquer & Tiffany Stratton defeated Giulia & Kiana James in a Tag Team Match | via Pin-Fall — (08:38)

The 3rd Match: The Wyatt Sicks (Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy) (with Erick Rowan & Nikki Cross) (c) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (with B-Fab) in a WWE Tag Team Title Match | via Pin-Fall — (06:32)

The Main Event Match: Aleister Black defeated Damian Priest in a Last Man Standing Match — (17:27)

My Thoughts on the October 10th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown:

My Thoughts: I can't believe I'm giving a SmackDown a high grade, but here we are. This SmackDown wasn't bad whatsoever after hearing about the Creative Changes that were coming. It seems like SmackDown had a different tone tonight. All the matches weren't bad at all. The opening segment with Cody Rhodes was great. If this is how SmackDown is going to be from here on out, I'm going to be happy because this is how a wrestling show should feel, no comedic relief or bad wrestlers fighting, it should be some top-tier competitors who have a good story going, and that's what we saw.

The October 10th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — The Match Ratings:

The Opening Match: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a WWE United States Title Match | The Match Rating: ***.50 — Shinsuke Nakamura returns as his babyface persona with his old theme song and surprisingly had one of his best matches in recent memory. This was a hell of a match, and I was genuinely surprised that Shinsuke Nakamura still got some juice left in the tank. Sami Zayn looked great in this match as well, as they were going back and forth, throwing everything at each other. Not going to lie, I thought Grayson Waller was going to answer the call, but I assume he'll have some match on Monday Night RAW of a sort. The match was going well until we saw the return of Tama Tonga donning the face paint he wore in New Japan alongside his two brothers, Talla Tonga and Tonga Loa, with Jeff Cobb. They took out and dismantled Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura as they left them both in [ieces as we see the reformation of the MFTs with Tama Tonga back from injury. MFT, I'm not interested in, but I'll see where this goes. I hope Sami Zayn doesn't drop his title because he has made the WWE United States Title look like a million bucks.

The 2nd Match: Stephanie Vaquer & Tiffany Stratton vs. Giulia & Kiana James in a Tag Team Match | The Match Rating: **.75 — This wasn't a bad match by any means. Two WOmen who will be facing each other tomorrow at Crown Jewel for the WWE Women's Crown Jewel Title, tagged together against the WWE Women's United States Champion, Giulia. Her manager, Kiana James, by the way, Kiana James has some good potenial. She looked excellent in this match, and I was very impressed by her and with how she has been looking since her return from injury. But Stephanie Vaquer and Tiffany Stratton got the win, and now they focus on tomorrow to see who's the better Women's Champion, and who will walk out as WWE Women's Crown Jewel Champion.

The 3rd Match: The Wyatt Sicks (Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy) (with Erick Rowan & Nikki Cross) (c) vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (with B-Fab) in a WWE Tag Team Title Match | The Match Rating: *** — This wasn't horrible by any means, a very short match, but it had a lot of action. The Street Profits came out with their old theme songs, which are very good by the way, and suit the team. The Street Profits continue to not be able to conquer the Wyatt Sicks as they are 0-3 against them now and have been struggling as a team, as there has been recent tension within the tag team. After the match, we saw the MFTs make another appearance, signaling they are targeting the WWE Tag Team Champions in the Wyatt Sicks.

The Main Event Match: Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest in a Last Man Standing Match | The Match Rating: ****.75 — This was a fantastic Last Man Standing Match. Aleister Black, who has been targeting Damian Priest, finally can do his worst to him in which he did. I liked how they got the Main Event Slot, but I felt like this match should've taken place at WWE Crown Jewel. It was a very chaotic Last Man Standing Match. I liked how Aleister Black has been looking as of late. He has been wrestling some of his best matches as of late, and in AEW, I didn't see this much of Aleister Black, more so of him not even trying at his fullest. The Razor Edge onto the table was s sick spot. Them are going into the crowd, and Damian Priest also, Zelina Vega is aligned with her real-life husband Aleister Black, and Aleister Black hit a fireball to Damian Priest's eye then a Black Mass, which prompted Damian Prioest to fall onto a bunch of tables, which gave Aleister Black the win and is 2-0 over Damian Priest and fuilly established himself back in WWE. Great Match, and a great show from Australia.

The October 10th WWE Friday Night SmackDown — The Match of the Night: Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest in a Last Man Standing Match | The Match Rating: ****.75 — This was a fantastic Last Man Standing Match. Aleister Black, who has been targeting Damian Priest, finally got his shot. I liked how they got the Main Event slot, but I felt this match should’ve been at WWE Crown Jewel. It was chaotic, and Aleister Black has been looking great lately, wrestling in some of his best matches. In AEW, I didn’t see this much of him, and he seemed to hold back. The Razor Edge onto the table was a sick spot. They went into the crowd, and Zelina Vega is aligned with Aleister Black, her real-life husband. Aleister Black hit a fireball to Damian Priest’s eye, then a Black Mass, leading to Priest falling onto tables, giving Black the win and making him 2-0 over Priest, fully reestablishing himself in WWE. Great match and show from Australia.

The October 10th Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — The Episode Grade: 8.50/10 (A-) — I can’t believe I’m giving SmackDown such a high grade, but here we are. Despite the news of upcoming creative changes, this episode was far from bad. In fact, SmackDown had a noticeably different tone tonight. The matches were all solid, and the opening segment with Cody Rhodes was excellent. If SmackDown continues like this, I’ll be pleased—this is exactly how a wrestling show should be. No unnecessary comedic relief or subpar wrestlers; instead, we saw top-tier competitors with compelling stories.