Stunning end to SmackDown after Drew McIntyre trolls Cody Rhodes before Wrestlepalooza 2025

The main event of SmackDown saw a contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to make their WWE title match at Wrestlepalooza official. As McIntyre hilariously trolled Rhodes, it also led to a stunning end on SmackDown.

This week, the two men competing for the WWE Championship at Wrestlepalooza went face-to-face, with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis supervising the segment after having multiple issues throughout the show with many different superstars, such as Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade Cargill.

Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes spoke about their past, referencing the one tag team title reign they had together, which hardly anybody remembers. A decade and a half on, they are in completely different positions, and McIntyre was using his phone while Cody was speaking to him. He trolled The American Nightmare with a "Thank you Cody!!!" tweet while sitting live, which is a trademark of McIntyre during live events (such as WrestleMania 40 & 41).

However, the segment still ended with a brawl between the two men, which was sparked by the Glasgow kiss. It ended with McIntyre hitting a big boot on Rhodes and then stomping on his head for good measure.

It was an incredible ending to SmackDown, with the two men expected to headline Wrestlepalooza instead of John Cena vs Brock Lesnar. That match is now set to open the show, which has led to speculation that something huge could happen in the main event.

We will have to wait and see what happens, but it will undoubtedly be a huge obstacle in Cody Rhodes' reign as the WWE Champion. He only regained the title at SummerSlam 2025 in early August, and his reign is already in jeopardy against a man who hasn't had a proper world title run in half a decade. McIntyre's only World Title "success" recently came at WrestleMania 40, and it lasted for a few minutes.

Edited by Rohit Nath