Next week, WWE SmackDown takes place on Friday, August 1, 2025 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, as the go-home show for WWE SummerSlam to go down the following two days later.
It will undoubtedly be a big one, with more announcements to come, but as of tonight's episode of SmackDown on July 25th, two matches were scheduled for the show.
One of those is Aleister Black against Damian Priest. This was announced via a vignette with the two talking about their rivalry as of late, which all spawned from Ron Killings getting involved in Black's matches, leading to Black turning heel and attacking him. Priest stood up for R-Truth more than once, and that turned into a feud between Black and Priest.
Next week, we'll see them battle it out for the first time.
The other match that was announced will be Zelina Vega against Giulia for the WWE Women's United States Championship. Vega dropped the title to Giulia last month (the June 27th episode of SmackDown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to be precise). Since then, she hasn't had a proper chance to win the title back, so she's getting her rematch.
In the process of announcing that, we were reintroduced to Kiana James, who was previously drafted to the Monday Night Raw roster from NXT in the 2024 WWE Draft, only to suffer a leg injury a few weeks later. She's been out of action since June 2024, and only recently returned to the ring in a dark match a few days ago.
On top of that, John Cena has been announced as making an appearance, and Jelly Roll will also be in attendance to continue to build up to their matches for SummerSlam (Cena against Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship, and Jelly Roll teaming with Randy Orton against Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre)
To recap, here is your lineup for next week's Friday Night SmackDown at the moment:
- WWE Women's United States Championship Match: Giulia (c) (with Kiana James) vs. Zelina Vega
- Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest
- John Cena will appear
- Jolly Roll will appear
What do you think of Kiana James having this role as Giulia's manager? Who do you think will win next week? Drop your thoughts and predictions in the comments below!