WWE SmackDown Winners and Losers – Randy Orton Laid Out; New Champions Crowned Controversially; R-Truth Teases Heel Turn [07/11]

Written by Debottam Saha • Published Jul 11, 2025 23:13 EDT
WWE SmackDown Winners and Losers July 11

The go-home episode of WWE SmackDown before Saturday Night’s Main Event and Evolution saw a lot of action and the return of a top talent. A lot of things unfolded on the show, including the crowning of new champions and the return date for John Cena being announced.

The latest episode of SmackDown kicked off with LA Knight as he tore into Seth Rollins’ new faction. The star was then confronted by The Oracle, Paul Heyman, who quickly fled the scene upon the arrival of Solo Sikoa – talk about past trauma! Jelly Roll was also present on the show as he made his return to WWE for the first time since SummerSlam 2024. He was interrupted by Logan Paul before Randy Orton came to his rescue.

John Cena’s return date to WWE has also been officially announced, along with the crowning of new champions.

Let’s get into the winners and losers from WWE SmackDown, dated July 11, 2025:

#4. Winner: The Wyatt Sicks are the new WWE Tag Team Champions

The Wyatt Sicks added the first title to their ranks as Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy won the WWE Tag Team Title by defeating The Street Profits on SmackDown. The team has been on a roll since returning to WWE SmackDown and taking out the entirety of the tag team division. The ominous group led by Uncle Howdy used some controversial means to win the match.

However, it was great to see Uncle Howdy and co. get the win after what has been a rollercoaster last few months.

#3. Loser: The build to Tiffany Stratton vs Trish Stratus fell flat

Despite some cheap shots here and there, the build to the WWE Women’s Title between Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus fell flat. The stars were in the ring taking cheap shots at each other, but nothing seemed to work as there was not enough time to build to what will arguably be the main event of Evolution 2.

While Stratton stated that Stratus was from the VHS era, the Hall of Famer retorted by saying that the champion must have watched her clips on TikTok. Overall, there was much to be desired at the end of the segment, and the crowd reaction made that apparent.

#2. Winner and Loser: A chaotic Randy Orton segment

The Randy Orton segment on WWE SmackDown was both a hit and a miss. While Orton was superb in his role as a babyface, his being associated with Jelly Roll en route to SummerSlam seems not to have worked. More importantly, having Logan Paul and Jelly Roll get in the ring with Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton for one of the biggest shows of the year seems shortsighted booking to say the least.

That being said, the potential for a Logan Paul-Randy Orton feud down the line and some great heel work by Drew McIntyre really made the entire segment stand out, despite an initial botch from Jelly Roll.

#1. Winner: R-Truth teases heel turn

It seems that R-Truth is done playing the babyface as he teased a massive heel turn on WWE SmackDown. The star was in a match against Aleister Black on WWE SmackDown. He inexplicably introduced a chair to the ring before Black stopped him. The legendary star then took advantage of a distracted Black to take home the win via a roll-up.

It was very unlike Truth, who immediately fled the scene after the win. The star could turn heel soon in what would be a desperate character change for him.