The final episode of WWE SmackDown before WrestleMania 41 has arrived. WrestleMania weekend at the T-Mobile Arena on Friday night, featuring a WWE Tag Team Championship match between The Street Profits and The Motor City Machine Guns as well as the annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. John Cena and Cody Rhodes have also been confirmed to appear on the Blue Brand in their final face-to-face confrontation before their Undisputed WWE Championship match on Sunday.

This will mark the first time Cena has appeared in front of a live United States crowd since turning heel and aligning himself with The Rock at the Elimination Chamber event back in February. The 16-time world champion would go on to explain his actions in a series of promos on WWE Raw during the company's recent European tour. He described his time in WWE as being the victim of a "toxic relationship" with WWE fans, and that he planned to "ruin wrestling" for them by winning Rhodes' Undisputed WWE Championship, breaking Ric Flair's record for most recognized world title reigns, and retiring with the title to damage its lineage.

Here are your key moments from tonight's Friday Night SmackDown for April 18, 2025:

  • LA Knight jumps Tama Tonga in the parking lot, smashing his arm in a car door before Solo Sikoa could stop him. It's later confirmed that Tonga has been taken to the hospital and that Knight will face Sikoa in a non-title match.
  • Seth Rollins arrives and sits cross-legged in the middle of the ring. He says CM Punk came back after being away for so many years, but notes his initial return (AEW) only happened because he got paid a big check. Then, once he left AEW, he received a massive payday again to come back to WWE. Punk loves to pretend he cares about WWE and its fans, but he’s a fraud. Rollins points out that at least Roman Reigns is honest, he doesn’t care about the fans either - he’s only in the Roman Reigns business. Rollin credits Paul Heyman with bringing The Shield to WWE. He recaps how much he sacrificed night after night, but everyone in the back wanted the focus to be on Reigns. He said those sacrifices continued, all the way up to him battling through a serious knee injury just to make sure Reigns lost the main event of WrestleMania XL. He promises to sacrifice everything again to make sure the WWE and the industry move forward in the right direction by winning the triple threat match against Reigns and Punk. He closes out his promo by saying, "That's not a prediction, that's a spoiler."
  • The 2025 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal begins. Rey Fenix and Shinsuke Nakamura are the only men to get televised entrances. After being eliminated by a group of luchadores early on, Chad Gable popped up late in the match as El Grande Americano to eliminate Fenix. Carmelo Hayes wins by eliminating Andrade and celebrates alongside The Miz.
  • A pre-taped interview between Charlotte Flair and Wade Barrett is shown. Flair reflects on the ugly turn this rivalry has taken. She its she doesn't love it, but she's focused on people being invested in her match.
  • Rhea Ripley arrives to cut a promo in the ring. She its she let Bianca Belair distract her and cause her to lose her Women's World Heavyweight Championship, but she's done making excuses. She vows to win her third Women's World Championship on Sunday. Iyo Sky arrives, but can't get a word in before Belair's music hits. Belair says she'll be walking out champion as the crowd boos her. Naomi appears and immediately addresses Belair, saying she's been trying to her for weeks. Belair says they're not having this discussion now. Naomi mentions finishing what she started with Jade Cargill, prompting Cargill to arrive. Belair stands between the two as Naomi rolls out of the ring. Ripley tries to approach Cargill, but Naomi attacks Cargill from behind to start a brawl. Sky wipes out Belair, Ripley and a group of security guards with a moonsault to the outside of the ring.
  • Gable and American Made poke fun at Fenix backstage over what happened in the battle royal. Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee appear, setting up a six-man tag match for later in the evening.
  • DIY attack The Street Profits and Motor City Machine Guns during their tag title match, forcing a disqualification. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa leave with the tag team championships.
  • Nick Aldis announces Chelsea Green will face Zelina Vega once again tonight and that The Secret Hervice are not allowed at ringside.
  • Aldis stops Gargano and Ciampa from leaving the building with the tag titles. He announces a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match between The Street Profits, DIY and Motor City Machine Guns for the April 25 episode of WWE SmackDown.
  • Randy Orton cuts a promo in the ring. He recaps his situation of not having a match booked for this year's WrestleMania and says there's no way he's sitting out this year. He announces an open challenge for Night 2.
  • Damian Priest cuts a backstage promo on Drew McIntyre, promising to bury him in their Sin City Street Fight.
  • Vega beats Green via a top-rope Code Red.
  • Knight cuts a promo, saying he'll beat Sikoa tonight and Jacob Fatu at WrestleMania. Fatu arrives after Knight and Sikoa wrestle for a few minutes. Braun Strowman runs out to even the odds. Aldis announces a tag team match on the spot. Knight winds up pinning Sikoa to win the match via his BFT finisher.
  • Tiffany Stratton is interviewed by Wade Barrett in a pre-taped segment. Stratton says she initially panicked when she and Flair had their split-screen interview, but used it as motivation for their contentious face-to-face promo. She says she's standing up to a bully at WrestleMania and she'll leave as champion.
  • Rey Fenix wins the six-man tag match against American Made by hitting a Meteora on Julius Creed. Mysterio appeared to suffer some sort of injury during the match and had to be helped to the back by WWE's medical staff.
  • Cody Rhodes and John Cena arrive for their face-to-face confrontation. Cena starts things off, saying there's nothing Rhodes can do to possibly prepare for the match. He says he's sticking to his claim of retiring at the end of the year and that he'll never need to come back. He tells Rhodes that on Sunday the WWE Championship will finally be too heavy for him to hold on Sunday, and that he'll lose because he cares too much about the fans. Cena says Rhodes' decision to not align with The Rock was the ultimate sign that he doesn't stand a chance - because it's only once you stop caring about what the fans want that you can truly be a winner. Cody tears into Cena, listing off all the ways he's become delusional in the final years of his career. He punctuates the rant with the line, "you still can't wrestle." Cena goes for a sneak attack and hoists Rhodes up for an Attitude Adjustment, only for Rhodes to counter with a Cross Rhodes. The show ends with Rhodes standing tall.

Here are your results from tonight's Friday Night SmackDown for April 11, 2025:

  • Carmelo Hayes wins the 2025 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
  • WWE Tag Team Championships: The Street Profits def. The Motor City Machine Guns via disqualification
  • Zelina Vega def. Chelsea Green
  • LA Knight def. Solo Sikoa (disqualification)
  • LA Knight & Braun Strowman def. Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu
  • Rey Fenix, Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee def. American Made (Chad Gable, The Creed Brothers)

Cody Rhodes Stands Tall Again

History Indicates This Is Actually A Bad Sign

Rhodes and Cena's final face-to-face confrontation may have been the briefest of the bunch, but it still managed to keep the hype for the WrestleMania 41 main event rolling. Cena drove home just how far he's turned to the dark side by emphasizing how not caring about the WWE fans fuels him, while Rhodes put on a master class of getting a divided crowd back on his side with a flurry of cutting insults. Cena also finally addressing the events of Elimination Chamber and bringing up The Rock was a nice touch, even if Dwayne Johnson's absence still feels like the biggest missed opportunity of the entire WrestleMania season.

But the decision to have Rhodes once again knock Cena out could be a massive red flag for his chances on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. Typically, WWE will have a wrestler that is booked to lose a major match on a live event stand tall over their opponent at least once in the weeks of build-up on television. But Rhodes has gotten the better of Cena twice. So now, if Rhodes wins, it'll feel like his championship reign was never in real jeopardy - not to mention it'll make Cena look incredibly weak for the final eight months of his farewell tour. If history is any indication, all signs now point to Cena winning his 17th world championship by the end of the weekend.

Rey Mysterio Injured

This Could Put His WrestleMania Match In Jeopardy

Mysterio seemed to suffer some sort of injury during Friday night's six-man tag match. There's no official word on his status, but videos from the arena showed he had to be carried to the back by WWE's medical trainers after struggling to walk.

The former WWE Champion is scheduled to face El Grande Americano on Saturday. If he's unable to compete, WWE will likely have to find a replacement (Fenix or Lee could fit right in) or scrap the match completely.

"Melo Don't Miss"

Carmelo Hayes Finally Picked Up A Big Win

When Carmelo Hayes was drafted to the WWE SmackDown brand a year ago, it felt like one of the company's next big stars had arrived. Hayes racked up accolades during his time in NXT, including a six-month reign as NXT Champion and an outstanding rivalry with Trick Williams. But outside of a "Best of Seven" series with Andrade, it felt like there was nothing for him to do on the Blue Brand beyond take the occasional loss to bigger names like Rhodes or Randy Orton.

But now he finally has a big accomplishment to his name by winning the annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Between that and his budding tag team storyline with The Miz, it looks like WWE is finally ready to start giving him a push.