Cody Rhodes prepares for Night of Champions amidst SmackDown buildup

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 26: GUNTHER knocks the taste out of Jey Uso's mouth during SmackDown at The O2 Arena on June 26, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Andrew Timms/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images At the end of the day, Sami Zayn is a good guy. That’s what he said on Friday Night SmackDown this week, telling WWE Champion Cody Rhodes he may have been a little out of line as special guest referee and he regrets how it went down. He was provoked, of course, and pushed to his limit but still. He claimed he never wanted any of this and that’s when Rhodes finally had enough — he’s wrestling for the WWE championship in a country he’s beloved in with a stipulation on it that favors him over the champion. Things have been looking up for him quite a bit since he’s been pulling all this nonsense. Cody then name dropped Kevin Owens — I’m going to pray that means he’s close to a return — saying at least he would stab you in the front. That pissed Sami clean off, and he finally outright said Rhodes should be thanking him for still being champion but he won’t be come Night of Champions. Finally, GUNTHER showed up to remind us of the third man in all this and actually he really should be WWE champion right now. He called Zayn a non-factor as a wrestler, and it cut deep, but closed it out by saying he will be the one facing the King of the Ring winner at SummerSlam. What a surprise, then, that Jey Uso made his way out next and cut what might be my favorite promo of the year. He sent a warning shot — complete with an awesome little sound effect — to Rhodes and Zayn that he’ll do them if and when he needs to before saying he almost hopes GUNTHER wins because he’ll tap him out just like a little bitch. The brawl broke out, and it was Jey and Cody left standing when Oba Femi made his presence felt. They made sure to give Femi a staredown with literally everyone, ending with Rhodes holding the title up over his head right in front of Femi. This was one hell of a preview with teasers for every possible outcome. I thought everyone looked good here. At this point it feels like the entirety of LA Knight’s career in WWE has been spent feuding with The Bloodline and its various members. Here, he was out to say “my heart doesn’t pump purple piss” for Solo Sikoa and his MFTs leaving him. Yeah, that’s a real line he used on this program. Earlier in the night, Tama and Talla told Solo they’re done and walking out on Sikoa. We actually got some explanation here — Solo showed some fire saying he absolutely hates the entire family, from Jacob Fatu to The Usos to The OCT. He was so pissed, he screwed up the line, but the passion was so strong I didn’t mind it one bit. He’s been a ham of late, but I loved seeing this side of him. Knight wasn’t really buying it, seeing as every other member of The Bloodline has gone running right back to Roman Reigns. How is it different? “It’s different because I have nothing to lose. … The enemy of my enemy can be my friend.” Sikoa pitched Knight on an alliance, born from their shared hatred of The Bloodline and desire to take them out. Ol’ LA wouldn’t agree to it, though, because he simply can’t trust the man. I don’t really see where this goes for Knight but Solo got me mildly intrigued in his future after everything that happened here. All the rest I love that we are now at a point where Trick Williams is the guy holding a championship, kicking off a show, and getting a huge reaction. He announced to all that he ran off last week to get married. My man went out and said “she said ‘I do,’ so I did, and then we whooped that trick all night long.” I love this guy so much. Meanwhile, Ricky Saints got “who are you” chants and he called himself “your wife’s favorite lover,” which isn’t terrible but boy does he look lesser standing opposite Trick. They had him get a couple of cheap shots in on Lil Yachty and Trick Willy but nothing about this made it seem like he’s any real threat here. Alexa Bliss wanted to get some revenge for Charlotte Flair, even if that meant teaming up with Tiffany Stratton for a tag match against Michin & B-Fab. She didn’t get that, because Jade Cargill showed up in the nick of time, knocking Stratton off the ropes and giving B-Fab a pinfall win for her team. This was sold as Cargill getting inside Stratton’s head before their big showdown at Night of Champions. Chelsea Green made the segment when she ran in to make the save for Tiffy but dropped the kendo stick when going through the ropes. Of everyone involved here, Green seemed to be the most over to me. Naturally, they had Cargill beat her in a match later in the show. Blah. Rey Fenix is the AAA Cruiserweight Champion, and WWE wants more eyes on AAA. They hope to get that by showcasing matches like Fenix vs. Nathan Frazer, a fun back-and-forth showcase that saw Fenix go over clean. They got a standing ovation from London, and they deserved it. Speaking of AAA, the War Raiders showed up to this show to pick a fight with World Tag Team Champions R-Truth & Damian Priest. Truth did his best Tony Montana impression, and it popped me, I must say. Paige defeated Jacy Jayne straight up in a singles match here, and I just don’t see how it makes sense even one little bit. In fact, Paige overcame outside interference to do it, and I really don’t get snuffing out the momentum of Fatal Influence like this. Los Garza running out and absolutely mauling shocked Miz & Kit Wilson made me outright belly laugh. This entire angle is so incredibly stupid. To make it even stupider, Zack Ryder ran in to team with Danhausen against Los Garza and they won the damn match. It’s all so ridiculous. This is what Triple H was talking about when he said we all need to learn to have some fun with this already. Giulia beat Kiana James with the Northern Lights Bomb before Blake Monroe finally made her debut proper. We thought she was going to be Veer but instead she’s out here doing the damn thing, looking every bit the part. Not bad, not great. Grade: C Your turn.

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SmackDown airs tonight (June 26) with a taped show (spoilers here) emanating from The O2 in London, England. This is the final episode of SmackDown during the four week build to Night of Champions, which takes place tomorrow (Sat., June 27) in Saudi Arabia. The biggest threats to Cody Rhodes’ WWE title reign are all on a different roster Cody Rhodes retained the WWE championship in a rematch against GUNTHER last week on SmackDown. It was an overbooked mess that included a very fast count from special guest referee Sami Zayn. That’s why GUNTHER is getting one more shot at the belt this weekend at Night of Champions. Rhodes proved that he really is the law in WWE when he somehow convinced GM Nick Aldis to reward Zayn with a title shot too, even though Aldis blamed Sami for ruining the WWE title match. Therefore it’s Rhodes vs. GUNTHER vs. Zayn in a triple threat title match on Saturday’s PLE. There is at least a small chance that Rhodes’ title reign will go up in smoke in a little over 24 hours, but the main takeaway for me after watching last week’s show is that GUNTHER is a huge dumbass for choosing Sami as the ref. I don’t really see why things will go any differently at Night of Champions thanks to GUNTHER’s frequent dumbassery and Zayn never being able to win the big one. The biggest threats to Cody’s WWE title reign are actually none of these guys on the SmackDown roster. Just look at what’s happening over on Monday Night Raw, where either free agent Oba Femi or a Bloodline-backed Jey Uso are on the verge of becoming the next King of the Ring. CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns are two more Raw stars who also stand a much better chance of ending Cody’s current title reign than these two dopes in GUNTHER and Zayn. Tonight is the go home show for Night of Champions, where GUNTHER and Zayn will surely try their best to convince the WWE audience and themselves that they are going end Rhodes’ story in Saudi Arabia this weekend. However, I’m far more interested in seeing what happens if Oba Femi or Jey Uso decide to crash the blue brand to send a warning message to the champ about SummerSlam, before possibly attacking each other. Will Cody stay focused on GUNTHER and Zayn tonight, or does he sense the bigger danger that’s coming his way from Raw? Tune into SmackDown to find out. The rest of the card WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Paige hasn’t wrestled a singles match in WWE since her last run in 2017, but that changes tonight when she goes one-on-one with Jacy Jayne. Is Fatal Influence going to ruin Paige’s return to her home country, or will Brie Mode prove to be too much for the heels to handle at ringside? The mid card mega powers explode tonight when Giulia and Kiana James finally fight each other in a singles match on SmackDown. Will Kiana seek out help from a new friend if that’s what it takes to put down her former business partner? Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green is booked on SmackDown. This looks like a tune up match of sorts for Jade before she challenges United States Champion Tiffany Stratton at Night of Champions. Will Stratton provide backup for Green if Michin and B-Fab eventually join Jade for a 3-on-1 beatdown on her? Or is Tiffy Time better off looking out for herself and reading up on what SGT means? AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix vs. Nathan Frazer is also scheduled for tonight’s broadcast. Fenix might as well complete his sweep of Fraxiom after beating Axiom a couple weeks ago. There will be plenty of Cool Moves in this bout, that’s for sure. Other stuff to keep an eye on – Does WWE have anything new to say about the status and return timeline of injured WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley? – Is Roman Reigns sending his lap dog personal assassin Jacob Fatu back to SmackDown to come for Solo Sikoa’s head after Solo showed up on Raw to attack Jimmy Uso? How will MFTs Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga react after Solo blatantly defied their wish for him to stay out of their WWE tag team championship match last week? Where does Royce Keys fit into all of this? – What does Ricky Saints have to say to United States Champion Trick Williams now that they are fighting over the gold at Night of Champions? Will Saints try to get under Williams’ skin by taking out Lil Yachty? – Unlike Los Garza, Matt Cardona has made the wise career choice of getting on Danhausen’s good side. Will Danhausen send his mindless electrocuted drones Miz and Kit Wilson to beat up Los Garza, or is that a job for Cardona and himself? – Is there anything R-Truth can do to get his partner Damian Priest to lighten up when it comes to trusting his former Judgment Day stablemate, Finn Balor? Has Truth figured out who AAA World Tag Team Champions War Raiders are yet? – How will Alexa Bliss try to get revenge on Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab after they injured Charlotte Flair last week? – Blake Monroe has been coming for more than two months. Does she have what it takes to beat Veer Mahaan’s record for coming? – Where the f*** is Ilja Dragunov? He hasn’t wrestled a match since the night before WrestleMania 42 in April. What will you be looking for on SmackDown?

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BOLOGNA, ITALY - JUNE 5: Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Unipol Arena on June 5, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Andrew Timms/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images WWE SmackDown is live was taped to air tonight (June 26, 2026) from the O2 in London, England, in the United Kingdom, and it’s the blue brand’s go-home show for Night of Champions! Advertised for tonight: “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes will address both GUNTHER and Sami Zayn before defending his title against both of them tomorrow. Plus, Paige goes one-on-one with Jacy Jayne, Rey Fenix defends the AAA Cruiserweight Championship against Nathan Frazer, and more! Get ready with our preview here! Or, since this is a pre-taped show, check out spoilers here! Come right back here back at the normal start time of 8 pm ET. That’s when the SmackDown live blog will kick off in the space below once the show starts on USA. WWE SmackDown RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JUNE 26