WWE SmackDown Notes: Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens Set for WrestleMania 41, Braun Strowman Earns Shot at US Title, New Mystery “4” Video Airs, New Rey Fenix Vignette Airs, 3/28 Show Card

WWE
Mar 21, 2025

Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens Set for WWE WrestleMania 41

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Bologna, Italy featured one new match announced for the card of WrestleMania 41, which takes place on April 19-20 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This new match announced was a singles match of Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens.

This new match was initially setup over Orton and Owens bad blood issues with each other involving Owens hitting a package piledriver to injure Orton and Orton making his return at Elimination Chamber 2025 to attack Owens in revenge. During today’s show, Orton came out to the ring as the crowd sang along to his entrance theme. Orton grabbed a microphone but before he could say anything, Owens music played to interrupt and came out to the stage.

Owens stated that he knows what Randy wants to do but for him to hear him out as the crowd chanted “stupid” at him in Italian. Owens stated that he admits that what he did to Orton was wrong. Owens stated that Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn got what they deserved but not Randy. Owens then talked about how he can forgive Randy for picking Cody’s side if Orton can forgive him for the piledriver. Owens then stated that the reason why he pulled Carmelo Hayes away from a punt from Orton last week was to keep Orton from getting back to that place. Owens then offered for them to go after the tag titles at WrestleMania as the crowd kept chanting “no” and Owens responding telling them to shut up.

Orton responded stating that he should leave the ring and beat up Owens but he appreciates that Owens could admit that he was wrong. After giving it some thought, Orton told Owens to take his half-hearted apology and shove it up his ass. After some more words, Orton issued a challenge to Owens for a match between them at WrestleMania 41 and he will kick Owens’ head clean off his shoulders.

Later in the show, it was announced that this match was made official for the event.

Current card for WWE WrestleMania 41:

  • Undisputed WWE Championship – John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (c)
  • WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Jey Uso vs. Gunther (c)
  • WWE Women’s Championship – Charlotte Flair vs. Tiffany Stratton (c)
  • WWE Women’s World Championship – Bianca Belair vs. IYO SKY (c)
  • Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

Braun Strowman Wins Shot for WWE U.S. Title at Friday’s WWE SmackDown Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Braun Strowman defeating Jacob Fatu in a #1 Contender’s match for the WWE United States Championship.

Near the end of the match, The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa ran out and attacked Strowman leading to the referee calling for the bell. This led to Fatu giving an upset look at first over them costing him a shot at the United States title before joining in on the post-match attack that was broken up by LA Knight running out to save Strowman.

As a result of his victory, Strowman will be facing off against LA Knight for the United States Championship at next week’s show in London, England.

New Mystery “4” Video Airs on Friday’s WWE SmackDown Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured a new mystery “4” vignette airing teasing the arrival of a new mystery person to the SmackDown brand.

During the show, a video aired featuring the same smoke flowing and the text of “4” being displayed on the screen as with last week’s video. This video also featured several brief glitches and the teaser of a mystery person at the end.

This new mystery vignette is currently speculated to be for the return of Aleister Black to WWE. Black was previously known as Malakai Black during his time in AEW.

New Rey Fenix Vignette Airs on Friday’s SmackDown Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured a new mystery vignette airing revealing Rey Fenix making his debut soon in WWE.

During the show, a brief video aired similar to last week’s video teasing the debut of a new mystery wrestler before revealing this mystery person being Fenix.

Current Card for Next Week’s Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured two new matches announced for the card of next week’s show on March 28th at The O2 in London, England.

These matches were setup following promos, storyline angles, and match card graphics throughout the show.

Current card for March 28th WWE SmackDown show:

  • WWE Tag Team Championship – Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (c)
  • WWE United States Championship – Braun Strowman vs. LA Knight (c)
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