WWE SmackDown Preview (10/24/25): Start Time, Match Card, How to Watch & Live Stream

Frustrations are starting to boil over for WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.

The American Nightmare uncharacteristically got himself disqualified last Friday night during his impromptu title defense against Drew McIntyre. Rhodes was expecting to witness a No. 1 Contender's Match between the Scottish Warrior and Jacob Fatu, but the Samoan Werewolf was taken out prior to the bout getting underway.

McIntyre has denied having anything to do with the assault on Fatu, but clearly Cody believes differently. As a result of Rhodes' actions this past week, SmackDown General Manager has ordered him to defend his WWE Championship one more time against Drew McIntyre at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Both Rhodes and McIntyre are expected to be at the Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona tonight as WWE SmackDown goes live at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on the USA Network.

Two matches are currently being advertised for the show. WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton will look to put her Crown Jewel loss behind her when she faces off against Kiana James, while Fraxiom and #DIY rekindle their rivalry in the SmackDown tag team division.

Both teams are looking to get back into the WWE Tag Team Championship picture, which is currently occupied by a mass of humanity. The Wyatt Sicks and The MFT's appear to be on the verge of an all out war, but neither faction has been willing to fire the first shot thus far. Solo Sikoa, meantime, continues to play mind games.

Now the US Champion, @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR is ready to unleash chaos on SmackDown! 😤 pic.twitter.com/g2d6FuWlar
— WWE (@WWE) October 23, 2025

The former Tribal Chief played a major role in last week's United States Championship Open Challenge, that saw Sami Zayn drop the title to the returning Ilja Dragunov. Both men were then taken out by The MFT's after the match.

What's next for Sami Zayn? Will Shinsuke Nakamura still receive his rematch after he was screwed out of a championship opportunity by the MFT's two weeks ago? Perhaps we'll get the answer to one of those questions tonight when The Mad Dragon assumes the responsibility of the United States Open Challenge.

Randy Orton and Jade Cargill are also being advertised for the show locally. Here's everything we currently known about tonight's episode of Friday Night SmackDown. Check back for updates as more matches and segments are announced throughout the day.

WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Kiana James

Tiffany Stratton may have suffered her first loss of the year when Stephanie Vaquer pinned her to become the 2025 Women's Crown Jewel Champion, but she's still the top women's champion on Friday Night SmackDown. At least in the eyes of everyone but Kiana James. She made the claim last week that her client, Women's United States Champion Giulia, never would have lost at Crown Jewel. That comment that had Tiffany more than fired up for tonight's bounce-back opportunity.

Fraxiom vs. #DIY

#DIY just couldn’t accept that Fraxiom won fair and square, but Motor City Machine Guns have Fraxiom's back! 👊#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/qzMCGy4Z5A
— WWE (@WWE) May 17, 2025

Fraxiom and #DIY have a rivalry that dates back to this past May when Nathan Frazer and Axiom upset the former WWE Tag Team Champions in just their third match as members of the SmackDown roster. After sitting on the sidelines for the past few weeks, both teams are more than ready to start earning their way into the tag team title conversation. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have never beaten Fraxiom. Will they finally get the job done tonight in Tempe?