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WWE SmackDown Results [10/17/25]: Jacob Fatu Taken Out, Cody Rhodes Goes Ballistic On Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre got exactly what he wanted Friday night after Jacob Fatu was taken out on SmackDown, but his WWE Championship match did not go his way. Here are all the results and highlights from the show in San Jose.
Rick Ucchino|
Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes | WWE

The march toward Saturday Night's Main Event is on and it appears as though it's going to be a chaotic one.

Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown was filled with twists and turns. Jacob Fatu went from competing in the main against Drew McIntyre, to picking up his teeth in the backstage area. The Scottish Warrior went from wrestling to become the No. 1 Contender to fighting in an impromptu WWE Championship Match.

That title bout dissolved into a full on brawl after Cody Rhodes blasted his challenger with the very belt he had hoped to win for the third time in his career. The American Nightmare continued to take the fight to McIntyre until both men were finally separated as SmackDown came to a close.

The ending of the show was far from the only shocking turn of events for the Blue Brand. Ilja Dragunov is back! The Mad Dragon made his return to WWE after missing over a year with a torn ACL, and it was a triumphant comeback.

Dragunov defeated Sami Zayn to capture the Men's United States Championship, thanks to a small assist from Solo Sikoa. There would be no time to celebrate as the MFT's rushed the ring to take out both men. Here's everything you may have missed on Friday's episode of SmackDown from San Jose, California.

SmackDown Match & Segment Results:

Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes | WWE

NXT Commentator Vic Joseph was on the call Friday night, giving Michael Cole a night off. Corey Graves also returned to his role as lead analyst for the first time since being given an F-5 by Brock Lesnar.

SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis kicked-off the show by announcing that Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu would be meeting in a WWE Championship No. 1 Contender's Match later in the night. He then introduced Cody Rhodes, who received a spectacular ovation from the crowd .

The American Nightmare said after Crown Jewel that there was no reason for Seth Rollins and himself to ever face each other again, but he knows that another showdown in the future is inevitable. He said The Visionary currently has his hands full with a myriad of issues on Raw, and while Rollins handles that business, Rhodes will handle his business on SmackDown.

Cody hyped up the No. 1 Contender's Match between Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu and alluded to facing the winner at Saturday Night's Main Event in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 1.

Solo Sikoa and The MFT's were shown walking backstage. They picked a fight with Rey Fenix for no reason and left him laying.

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss defeated NXT Women's North American Champion Sol Ruca & Zaria to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Blake Monroe was ringside to scout her Halloween Havoc opponent. Ruca put forth another strong showcase of her athletic ability and scored a very close near fall after hitting Charlotte with the Sol Snatcher. Ruca would later get distracted by Monroe's presence at ringside and it cost her. Flair surprised her with a chop block from behind and then locked in the Figure-8 for the submission victory.

Cody Rhodes bumped into Jacob Fatu backstage and the Samoan Werewolf promised he was going to dog walk Drew McIntyre en route to facing the American Nightmare for the WWE Championship. Rhodes said he hoped Jacob was right.

WWE aired an excellent vignette for Aleister Black and Zelina Vega. The real life couple have officially aligned with each other following their actions last week during the Last Man Standing Match with Damian Priest. Black said he's not one to lay all his cards on the table, but he revealed that this on-screen alliance has been in the works for months.

Black said there is no one more violent and methodical than his wife, and together, they are a necessary evil, the balance and the salvation of Friday Night SmackDown.

The Miz was shown chatting with SmackDown General Nick Aldis in his office. He was overheard saying that he wanted something to be big, when Sami Zayn walked in. The Men's United States Champion wanted to know why he wasn't booked for another open challenge match. Aldis said he had a lot to consider after the MTF's attacked him last week. Zayn said he wasn't going to let a bully dictate what he does and that he was going to head to the ring.

Carmelo Hayes attacked The Miz from behind as he attempted to answer the Men's United States Open Challenge. Hayes blindsided his former tag team partner as retribution for The Miz doing the same thing to him two weeks ago.

Ilja Dragunov defeated Sami Zayn to win the Men's United States Championship! The Mad Dragon took advantage of Hayes' actions and returned to the ring for the first time since tearing his ACL last fall. Dragunov looked better than ever before as Sami and himself had fans on the edge of their seats throughout this hard-hitting affair. Solo Sikoa would emerge on the entrance ramp toward the end of the match, which provided a momentary distraction for Zayn. Dragunov immediately took him down with the Torpedo Moscow and then dropped the H-Bomb to win the title.

The MFT's swarmed the ring after the match was over and took out both Zayn and Dragunov. Solo Sikoa hopped on the mic after the attack and promised that he would make his family champions once again. Just then, the Wyatt Sicks appeared for another face-off. For the second week in a row, however, there was no physical altercation. 

Kiana James interrupted a backstage interview with WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton. She talked smack about Tiffany's loss to Stephanie Vaquer at Crown Jewel until Stratton heard enough and challenged her to a match next week.

The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Los Garza. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin celebrated their one year anniversary in WWE by defeating the very team they beat in their first ever match with the company. History repeated itself after MCMG hit Skull and Bones on Angel Garza.

A backstage segment between Fraxiom and #DIY set up a future match between both teams.

Jacob Fatu was mysteriously attacked backstage. There were reports that the Samoan Werewolf had suffered an injury ahead of SmackDown and there certainly appears to be some validity to what was reported. Fatu was left bloodied and battered, and was ruled medically unable to compete in the main event.

Drew McIntyre made his way to the ring and told the referee to declare him the new No. 1 Contender for the WWE Championship. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis came out and demanded to know if Drew had anything to do with the attack on Jacob Fatu. McIntyre said he had nothing to do with it, but Cody Rhodes didn't buy it.

The furious WWE Champion, still wearing his suit, made his way out from gorilla position and let his anger over what happened to Fatu get the better of him. He said if McIntyre wanted a match for the WWE Championship, he could have it right then and there. Rhodes then rushed toward the ring and the fight was on.

Drew McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes via Disqualification. It was several minutes before this match officially got underway. Rhodes and McIntyre battled all across the ringside area before they finally got into the ring and the bell rung. This really was more of a fight than a match, and one that Cody eventually threw away when he cracked Drew with the WWE Championship belt.

Rhodes and McIntyre continued to brawl until dozens of security personnel arrived to pull them apart. They continued to shout at each other as the show came to a close.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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