4 Spoilers for WWE SmackDown This Week You Need to Know – Sami Zayn’s First Challenger Confirmed (03/07/26)

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That said, here are 4 must-know spoilers from the blue brand this week for those who want to know before watching the episode. And for the rest: This is a spoiler Alert.

#4. Carmelo Hayes interrupts WWE United States Champion Trick Williams

Carmelo Hayes is not being pushed by WWE of late, and since losing the United States Championship to Sami Zayn merely weeks after winning it in an epic battle with Ilja Dragunov, Hayes has had to feature in lower mid-card matches.

Things could finally be looking up for the young star, though, as he confronted current United States Champion Trick Williams on the latest SmackDown episode by interrupting his promo. Hayes and Williams have history from their time in NXT and are known to be able to put on a show together. Hayes told the man with the Lemon Pepper Steppers that he is next in line for the US Title. Williams eventually agreed to a match, but it isn’t going to be a title match, and it takes place next week.

#3. Rey Fenix defends his AAA Cruiserweight Title yet again

The new tradition of the prestigious AAA Cruiserweight Championship being defended on WWE TV has begun, and for a second straight week, Rey Fenix defended it successfully; this time against a top AAA star, El Hijo del Vikingo.

AAA is WWE’s Mexican sister promotion and has wrestlers crossover regularly from one show to the other. More recently, AAA title belts have been seen defended on WWE TV, with the likes of Dominik Mysterio’s AAA Mega Championship being on the line as well. The War Raiders, who are AAA Tag Team Champions, recently faced off against WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Damian Priest in a backstage segment, and a “winner take all” title match was announced during the segment.

Fenix’s title looks like it’s going to be defended more often on WWE TV in the coming weeks.

#2. Lainey Reid defeats Brie Bela in a huge upset

Lainey Reid of the Fatal Influence faction was in action against Brie Bella this week after the faction’s leader, Jacy Jayne, lost to Paige in the latter’s hometown of London last week. The Women’s Tag Team Champions weren’t so lucky this time, as Fatal Influence’s Lainey Reid managed to secure an unexpected victory over the Hall of Famer as Paige and the rest of Fatal Influence brawled on the outside.

Fatal Influence has begun to cement its grip as a heel faction that means business after their recent promotion to the main roster from NXT, and it won’t be long before they begin actively contending for the Women’s Tag Team Titles and other mid-card belts.

#1. Cody Rhodes earns a title shot at Sami Zayn’s WWE Title

Sami Zayn shocked fans by becoming WWE Champion for the first time in his career this past Saturday at Night of Champions by defeating Gunther and Cody Rhodes in a triple threat match. The crowd in Riyadh went wild for Zayn, who is Canadian but of Syrian descent, and chanted “You deserve it” to the newly crowned champion, who has been in the business for a very long time.

Zayn’s title reign was instantly in jeopardy, though, as on the latest pre-taped episode of SmackDown, when he kicked the show off with a promo, Cody Rhodes first came out to congratulate him on his victory but the pair were interrupted by Jey Uso who wanted a shot at the title. Acting General Manager Adam Pearce soon made a match official on the same night between Rhodes and Uso to become the #1 contender for Zayn’s title.

In what could be one of the most predictable turns of events when it comes to the company’s booking of Cody Rhodes, the American Nightmare defeated Main Event Jey to secure his spot against Sami Zayn’s title, a match that will take place on RAW next week in Chicago.

Chicago is the hometown of CM Punk who has been rumoured to return soon and where he left things last with Cody Rhodes, was teasing that he would go for the WWE Title.

It would be interesting to see how WWE goes about booking the next few weeks.