Best and Worst of SmackDown before WWE Money in the Bank 2025

Seth Rollins and his alliance kicked off SmackDown ahead of Money in the Bank. He claimed no one, not Sami Zayn, CM Punk, or the absent Roman Reigns, could stop him. Meanwhile, Tiffany Stratton said she's ready for whoever wins Money in the Bank.

Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis also announced the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments, kicking off soon. Zelina Vega beat a member of the Green Regime yet again, keeping up her streak of only facing Green, Piper Niven, or Alba Fyre.

This time, Giulia helped her get the win, only to turn on her seconds later. Bo Dallas cut another cryptic promo, saying they're coming for what they are owed.

While he's focused on the tag division, the rest of the WWE Universe is focused on Money in the Bank. Here's the best and worst of SmackDown ahead of the big event.

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#3. Best - Following The Visionary of the future ahead of Money in the Bank

Penta and Andrade teamed against the Creeds after a backstage argument with Chad Gable ahead of Money in the Bank. The Creeds aren't members of SmackDown, but backed Gable up before his showdown at Worlds Collide.

The crowd ate everything up as Penta and Andrade teamed together as if they'd been doing so for years. Gable tried to interfere, but Vikingo, his opponent at Worlds Collide, took him out of the equation.

The post-match stuff was just as good as Rollins and his allies continued to target anyone in the Money in the Bank match. They leveled El Idolo and Penta before Paul Heyman cut a promo to hype Rollins up ahead of the ladder match.

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#3. Worst - Killing momentum and aura three weeks after debut

JC Mateo faced Jimmy Uso after SmackDown's opening segment. Solo still tried to recruit his older brother to his side, but to no avail. Mateo should have easily beaten Jimmy, especially since he's a month into his official WWE career.

Since bookers have to keep Jimmy relevant, he beat Mateo after he clashed with Jacob Fatu on the ring apron. The contest was more about sowing dissension between Mateo and The Samoan Werewolf.

However, it didn't need to come with a loss for the new star. He's supposed to be an imposing threat, but he lost a throwaway match so soon after his debut. Mateo could have won, and been angry that Fatu nearly cost him the victory.

Triple H must book more of the newer stars strongly. Losing a match so soon after hotly anticipated debuts hurts their credibility. Rey Fenix and Penta also inexplicably lost matches they shouldn't have.

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#2. Best - Money in the Bank is every person for themselves

The participants of the Women's Money in the Bank match squared off in a six-woman tag team match on SmackDown. Roxanne Perez teamed with Naomi and Giulia against Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer, and Alexa Bliss.

All six women shone the night before the ladder match, with a spot between Ripley and Perez determining the outcome. After Perez countered a move into a spike DDT, Naomi refused to tag in and walked away.

This allowed all of the faces to hit a move on The Prodigy for the win. With Naomi walking off and Perez eating the pin, it feels like a telegraph win for either of those stars since they lost ahead of the PLE.

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#2. Worst - John Cena isn't the only one ruining wrestling

John Cena, Logan Paul, Jey Uso, and Cody Rhodes had an unnecessarily long segment with too-long entrances and a flat promo exchange to end last week's SmackDown.

They did the same this week with Cody calling Cena desperate for hanging out with streamers. Rhodes did the same with a rapper and streamers himself, so it felt a bit hypocritical.

Cena came out and only talked after The Maverick blindsided both opponents. The Champ then cut the same promo about walking out with the title. Paul would be the future of the company.

The former mega face has stayed true to his promise to ruin wrestling, but officials are doing the same by running the same segments/promo exchanges. They need better material or to book different matches for the stars.

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#1. Best/Worst - The required disqualification finish on SmackDown

Just like every other week on RAW, SmackDown featured yet another great match that was ended due to disqualification. Aleister Black and LA Knight were having a great back-and-forth featuring strikes and power moves.

The Megastar hit Black with a Burning Hammer, but Seth Rollins stomped him to cause the messy finish. Knight mentioned Rollins in a pre-match promo, but the fluky ending protects both stars.

It still wouldn't hurt for bookers to find alternative ways to end matches instead of relying on the same tactics.

Black could have beaten Knight via rollup, getting a slight measure of revenge. The Megastar isn't definitively beaten and has a little sheen off his back ahead of a potential Money in the Bank win.