A fter his death on Thursday, WWE made it known they’d be paying tribute to Hulk Hogan on SmackDown the following night.Adding that to a show that was already advertising SummerSlam headliners John Cena and Cody Rhodes, and the July 25 show figured to do well in the ratings. And it did.

WWE SmackDown kicked off a jam-packed weekend of pro wrestling Friday night on USA Network, with a show headlined by a WWE Tag Team Championship Match and a special appearance by recording artist, and fan,

It was a good idea on paper to have Jacob Fatu beat The Miz to tune up for SummerSlam’s steel cage war with Solo Sikoa, but the match fell flat. SmackDown was in Cleveland, and Miz’s pre-match promo played out more like he was a spirited babyface returning to avenge an injury. He even slapped Fatu to big cheers from the Ohio masses. It was weird.

This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown opened with Solo Sikoa and The MFTs getting into a car crash, with Tama Tonga bloodied in the incident. The police were called and quickly pegged Jacob Fatu as a suspect in the incident.

The road to SummerSlam continued Monday night as WWE Raw emanated from Houston with the first appearance of Roman Reigns since his epic return last week.

The Chadster reviews WWE SmackDown, including a flawless if weirdly-timed tribute to Hulk Hogan and the creative team's perfectly scripted matches!

A tribute video narrated by Paul "Triple H" Levesque encapsulates Hogan's career, from the beginning to his top moments in the ring — from WrestleMania main event matches to the New World Order to "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. It also touches on his career outside of the ring, from movies to becoming a worldwide celebrity.

WWE formally unveiled both Night 1 and Night 2 of the SummerSlam 2025 card - but only after adding one more match to the overall lineup.