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WWE delivered its last "SmackDown" of 2025 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, sending fans home happy with some fun Christmas themes and an even more fun title match. Let's not waste any more time. Read away and then go watch the epic U.S. title match if you missed it.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

Surprise, surprise. The "SmackDown" Uncrowned Gem of the Night still belongs to the men's U.S. title scene. Ilja Dragunov just doesn't know how not to put on bangers, but this time he lost.

Stunningly, the champion was dethroned by one Carmelo Hayes, with whom he teamed last week.

I stand by the fact that Hayes should have advanced through the John Cena retirement tournament and been the one to defeat the legend. (If LA Knight wasn't going to.) But this was a great way to prop him up highly by beating the company's best work-rate champion since Dragunov returned. And for Dragunov, his run has been excellent, and practically a weekly seminar on how to have killer matches with zero storyline attached. Now, he can go on to bigger and better things. That's wishful thinking, but exactly what should happen.

As for the match itself, I mean, my God. It was perhaps Dragunov's best yet, and some of the late match sequences were absurd. A mid-air cutter reversal from Hayes, the H-Bomb reversal, then the First 48 counter off a coast-to-coast into a Nothing But Net. Madness.

When WWE tries and gives wrestlers time, you see brilliance like what these two did.

Three hours — I mean, stages — of hell

Perhaps lost in translation last week, Drew McIntyre was granted the decision of where his title match with Cody Rhodes would take place and what the stipulation would be. That was so wildly illogical that it's difficult even to dissect. If anything, it's only deepening the hole WWE has put itself in, where McIntyre has to win the match to avoid looking like a complete clown.

Before all that, however, McIntyre made Rhodes look like the clown in their face-to-face when McIntyre made the announcement of their match. The Scotsman antagonized and attempted to get Rhodes to hit him, cutting a devilishly excellent heel promo. The match will be a three stages hell match on "SmackDown" in Berlin, Germany, two weeks from now.

That's not a stipulation we get often, so I'm here for it — although it makes it easier to excuse a McIntyre loss. Well done there, WWE. But really, this entire segment only bolstered the notion that McIntyre should win.

Watch out for Miz-tletoe

Joe Hendry has officially arrived in WWE as a member of the roster, and I dare say his introduction on "SmackDown" was perfect.

This time, it was the silliest business you can think of, but in a fun, harmless way — not the way that makes you want to slam your head into a wall. Playing up the holiday season, WWE pitted Hendry against The Miz after their interaction at Saturday Night's Main Event, and made it a Christmas-themed street fight.

It all came after Hendry opened the show with a hilarious song about Miz.

Hendry shined, and as he should have, with Miz continually playing his role to perfection. Alpha Academy and R-Truth even got involved in the fun, battering Miz with their finishers, utilizing cookies, trees and tables.

Though it was intentionally comical, it makes one wonder exactly what Hendry's run on "SmackDown" will look like.

New wave on the horizon?

We've already seen it over on "Raw" with Je'Von Evans, but WWE is seemingly realizing it needs to freshen things up with its main roster. What's always an easy way to do that? Bring up the NXT stars.

Now, of course, the art of the surprise, while nearly dead in this day and age, is the best route. However, the teasing of "free agents" Evans — and now Trick Williams on "SmackDown" — is a pretty intriguing approach.

The former NXT and TNA Champion Williams has been pushed to feel like a big deal, and it was noticeable in his presence alongside "SmackDown" general manager Nick Aldis — and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Teasing that match alone is a great way to establish Williams early as a new threat, not lacking in confidence. To keep the storyline afloat, Williams mentioned "Raw" has made him a big offer, but he wants to hear out "SmackDown," or at least play the field. That's until Rhodes cut him off.

Even more interesting, Oba Femi received a brief vignette later in the night. Are times actually about to change?

🤷 IT HAPPENED 🤷

1. Charlotte Flair defeated Lash Legend with a roll-up. WWE had this in the palm of its collective hand here and entirely dropped the ball with the finish. Don't get me wrong, the match was perfectly fine, but how you don't have Legend beat Flair clean to establish her as the force she's been presented as is quite frankly absurd. It was barely a distraction, too. Flair would have lost nothing from taking the pin, as we've seen her lose plenty since WrestleMania 41.

The women's divisions' booking is almost unsalvageable at this point. Nothing but wrong decisions to close 2025.

2. Giulia and Kiana James defeated Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre in their tag team match, when Giulia pinned Green. So this was nothing special, and as Uncrowned readers know, this program is dumb. However, some pluses were highlighted in this match. The big one being that it was mostly a showcase for James, who looked great. Additionally, this program was an easy way to flip Giulia and James to faces. They just both deserve better. If anything, it would be more interesting to see James go for the U.S. title than Giulia.

👎 DOWN & OUT 👎

Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab all cut promos on each other backstage. The mind legitimately can't stop being boggled by WWE taking this route for the first extended program of Cargill's title run. Even if they wanted to do a short-lived one, there are better options than someone who lost their way out of the U.S. title picture.

👑 It's a Christmas miracle. The last "SmackDown" of the year was pretty solid. I give this show a Crown score of: 7/10. 👑

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The stage was set and the retirement tour booked. John Cena's goal was made loud and clear upon the start of his final year in pro wrestling — he wanted to hoist a world title one final time and make history as WWE's only 17-time champion. A loss at February's Royal Rumble left him with seemingly one final Hail Mary option: WWE's Elimination Chamber in Toronto in March. And in the end, Cena did it. He overcame the odds, defeating five other men — including one of his greatest rivals, CM Punk — to earn his opportunity to challenge the Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, at WrestleMania 41.

But it was what happened immediately afterward that dropped jaws around the globe.

When heroes become villains

WWE wanted its moment to ignite the road to WrestleMania 41, and with Cena back at its disposal, it delivered an all-timer.

It was a unique scene. Rhodes was also in the midst of potentially giving his "soul" to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. What precisely that soul business was about, we may never know. But it led to a fascinating standoff between Cena, Rhodes and Johnson after Cena's win. (And rapper Travis Scott, but that part we all like to forget about.) A "go f*** yourself" from Rhodes ultimately shut down The Rock's request, and Rhodes moved to embrace his next challenger, Cena. Good seemed to overcome evil once again, and all was right in the world. 

But there was no happy ending on this night.

Looking over Rhodes' shoulder and locking eyes with The Rock, Cena made the flip. Expressionless, the all-time good guy betrayed more than 20 years of babyface lore with one swift low-blow to Rhodes. The subsequent beatdown created one of the biggest shocks in wrestling history — Cena had succumbed to the dark side to increase his odds of getting what he wanted from his final run before the game was over.

What made Cena's turn so special and shocking was that it was beyond overdue, to the point where fans had long given up on it ever happening. All the goodwill in the world had been built up for WWE's resident superhero, yet he channeled his inner "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and joined his version of WCW's New World Order. It was unpredictability at its peak and execution at its most uncensored.

There are countless ways to dissect Cena's heel turn as a whole in the aftermath. But in a vacuum, and remembering it for what it was as it unfolded, it's impossible to deny that scene in Toronto as 2025's Wrestling Moment of the Year.

Best of the Rest

As with every year, the past year in wrestling was filled with plenty of notable moments. Here are the others the Uncrowned team all voted for in 2025:

2. Hangman Adam Page ends Jon Moxley's title reign of terror: Moxley and the Death Riders swiftly became AEW's version of the Bloodline with its seemingly never-ending storyline. Fans begged for a title change over and over again, yet several defenses made it seem as if it would never come. But then AEW's longtime "main character" and former champ returned to the mix, completing yet another phenomenal character arc. It was one of the most blatant "this must change" moments in recent pro-wrestling history, and the match that led to Page's coronation at AEW All In 2025 was nothing short of amazing.

3. John Cena taps out to Gunther in final career match: Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. Three words Gunther vowed to smear in Cena's face with his promise to make the WWE icon drop the "never" from his "Never Give Up" slogan. In the final appearance of Cena's iconic career, Gunther did just that, locking on a lengthy sleeper hold to force the tap. It was the first time Cena tapped out to lose a match in more than 20 years, and it added a second legendary name to Gunther's retirement résumé in 2025.

4. Jey Uso wins the Royal Rumble: Speaking of surprises and unpredictability, Jey Uso wasn't on anyone's bingo sheets to win the year's Royal Rumble match and challenge for a world title at WrestleMania 41. In doing so, Uso also inadvertently kick-started Cena's heel run, as the "Never Seen 17" was the man Uso last eliminated to cement his title run.

5. Naomi cashes in Money In the Bank contract, steals title amid Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky classic: Among all the stars of 2025, few shined brighter than Naomi. The veteran truly came into her own, turning over a new leaf with the best work of her career as a jealousy-driven heel. It all culminated with one of the steals of the year. In the main event of WWE's second-ever all-women Evolution PLE, Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky were bringing the house down with one of the year's best matches. But just as the action reached its crescendo, Naomi's music hit — and she took full advantage of the beaten-down competitors to snag the WWE Women's World Championship.

Uncrowned's voting breakdown for Moment of 2025:

Honorable mentions:

• Paul Heyman aligns with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 41

• Seth Rollins cashes in his Money In the Bank contract at SummerSlam

• John Cena's in-ring tributes

• Randy Orton vs. Joe Hendry at WrestleMania 41

• Toni Storm vs. Mariah May in AEW's Hollywood Ending

• John Cena's pipebomb promo

• Brock Lesnar returns at SummerSlam

More from Uncrowned's 2025 Wrestling awards:

• Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year

Jake Paul didn’t leave the ring with the result he wanted in Miami this past Friday. But in the eyes of Paul's promotional partner, MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, the loss to Anthony Joshua still revealed exactly what kind of fighter the former YouTuber has become and where his boxing future is headed.

Speaking on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" in the aftermath of Paul’s sixth-round knockout loss, Bidarian pushed back against the idea that the bout represented anything close to a “moral victory.” However, he still framed Paul's performance as an important data point in the 29-year-old's development against elite boxing opposition.

"I don't think it was a moral victory because he expected to win," Bidarian said. "I do think he showed who he is as a fighter. I think he deployed the strategy that he was very clear about going into — that he was going to look to make AJ miss, and AJ missed a number of times. Ultimately, I think the weight of AJ caught up to Jake Paul."

Bidarian believes Paul executed his plan early, using movement and distance to frustrate the former two-time unified heavyweight champion.

Joshua’s size, however, became increasingly difficult to manage once the bout drifted into close quarters.

"You look at the first three rounds, AJ wasn't really able to touch him, but when AJ was in a clinch with him a couple of times, [Joshua] pushed down on the back of his neck, pushed down on the back of his head, got him to the ground," Bidarian said. "There was a few times where Jake looked like he was going for a takedown. Again, that was Jake trying to engage in the clinch, and AJ smartly moved back."

The loss, and the broken jaw Paul suffered in the process, immediately raised questions about what comes next. Obviously, Paul will first need to heal before setting up his boxing return.

Bidarian made it clear that, physically and mentally, Paul is already focused on a comeback rather than calling it quits. He added that he "very much so" expects Paul to fight again in 2026.

"He's doing great," Bidarian said. "Obviously there are periods of time during the day where there's a lot of pain, where there is no pain, actually. Recovery process is five to six weeks, and he's focused on coming back as a boxer in 2026. This is a sport that he loves. This is a sport that saved him from the path that he was on in the past."

Ed Mulholland via Getty Images

Bidarian also dismissed any notion that the injury or the loss should redefine Paul’s career arc. Drawing from his own background as an executive with the UFC, he framed the setback as just another chapter.

"I don't view a broken jaw as career-ending or defining," Bidarian said. "There's plenty of examples from my past in MMA. [Rafael] dos Anjos broke his jaw, had plates put in, came back and became champion after that. I think Jake, very much so, showed the kind of chin he has, showed the kind of movement he has in the ring, and the heart that he has. So I'm looking forward to what defines him going forward. Not what we've done in the past five years.

"In terms of who we fight next, we haven't had that conversation. I have certain ideas. Tommy Fury is not it — I don't think he's reliable to do that. But it's really up to Jake — I need to hear from him, how he sees it going, and he does want to win a belt. And so I think there's ways of doing that in the right way, to allow him to get back to that top of the mountain, in terms of getting a belt, and also continue to do big spectacular events."

For Paul, the Joshua fight marked the largest test yet of how far his boxing experiment can realistically go. For Bidarian, it also served as confirmation that the journey isn’t over.