SmackDown before Saturday Night’s Main Event did more damage than good, feels WWE veteran (Exclusive)

On Friday, WWE hosted the go-home episode of SmackDown before the 40th edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. The show set fans up for the WWE takeover this weekend, as the promotion is hosting back-to-back events in Atlanta, Georgia. SNME is scheduled to take place on July 12 and will be followed by Evolution on July 13, 2025.

WWE veteran and former manager Dutch Mantell did not seem too pleased with this week's Friday Night SmackDown. On the latest edition of BroDown on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Mantell expressed his disappointment with the program.

Mantell felt that the show did more damage than good ahead of the huge weekend.

"I saw what they were trying to do. And it was, you know, like Vince [Russo] said earlier, it was a maintenance show. He said they're all maintenance shows. That is true. But nothing really happened tonight. I think they did a little bit more damage than they got anybody over," Mantell said. [From 19:45 onwards]

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The former Zeb Colter also took a shot at Saturday Night's Main Event, saying that it will feature just regular stories apart from the Gunther-Goldberg match.

"What I want to see tomorrow night is, of course, Gunther and Goldberg. I want to see what the finish is, if they're going to put Goldberg over. That's the only thing really that, because everything else is just like you've seen it over and over again. It's just regular, you know, just regular wrestling stories,'' Mantell added. [From 20:18 onwards]

The 40th edition of WWE SNME is expected to be an exciting one with some big bouts on the card. In addition to Goldberg's last match, LA Knight is set to take on Seth Rollins at the event as well. Many fans are expecting Roman Reigns to make his long-awaited return on the show.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Pratik Singh