While Cena vs. Paul is set in stone, WWE heavily indicated that McIntyre will soon challenge undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes. SmackDown went off the air with McIntyre leaving Rhodes unconscious after clutching onto the champ's title.

Plus, R-Truth (Ron Killings) will take on Aleister Black next Friday on WWE SmackDown. Black confronted Truth backstage. Truth, who was excited to talk about Cena returning to babyface form, switched to Killings, taking on a more serious tone.

After missing this week’s show, Cena will be back for next Friday’s SmackDown in Dublin, Ireland as the build to his Clash in Paris PLE match against Logan Paul continues. That bout is set for Sunday, August 31. Two matches are also official for next week’s episode.

Babyface John Cena is back in a different kind of match with Cody Rhodes, and the American Nightmare finds his next feud.

Following his unexpected return to WWE programming at SummerSlam this month, Brock Lesnar is being advertised to appear on consecutive episodes of SmackDown in September.

This is Wrestling Inc.’s live coverage for “WWE SmackDown” on August 8, 2025, with a tag team match between MFT and The Motor City Machine Guns!

The 17-time world champion is tied at 1-1 against the Final Boss. Cena has said he'd be excited to face Rocky one last time.

It’s clear that R-Truth has had a roller coaster of emotions regarding his childhood hero, John Cena, in WWE this year. WWE Superstar R-Truth recently sat down with Justin Barrasso of Undisputed. When asked about his recent return to SmackDown that saw him in a memorable backstage segment with John Cena,

WWE legend John Cena is coming to Ireland next week. The 17-time world champion won't be part of a match on Smackdown. But he will have a segment before his match against Logan Paul at WWE Clash in Paris.