5 Mistakes WWE made on SmackDown before Night of Champions

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LA Knight and Solo Sikoa share a common enemy, but they couldn’t get on the same page. With Night of Champions set to go down, WWE made the next five mistakes on SmackDown ahead of the PLE.

5. Nick Aldis favors certain WWE stars

Nick Aldis gave Jade Cargill a match after she interfered in Tiffany Stratton and Alexa Bliss’s bout earlier in the night. As the SmackDown GM, shouldn’t he be more upset that The Storm interfered in a match yet again?

Wouldn’t banning B-Fab and Michin or everyone from ringside at Night of Champions provide the best chance of a clean match?

General Managers are supposed to be neutral, but Aldis does whatever Rhodes and Cargill want. Adam Pearce caters to Roman Reigns on RAW. No wonder stars like Sami Zayn and LA Knight speak out.

#4. Finn Balor shows up for 20 seconds

Finn Balor beat Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42, but has been an afterthought since the show. He was quietly moved to SmackDown in the King of the Ring Tournament, which he lost.

Instead of regularly booking The Prince in his new home, he’s only wrestled once since moving to SmackDown. He’s shared backstage segments, but on the latest SmackDown, he only had about a 20-second appearance with the Tongas.

#3. So much for momentum

Fatal Influence burst onto the SmackDown scene after WrestleMania. The trio attacked top names like Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Paige. Jacy Jayne picked up a victory over Flair, albeit thanks to outside interference.

Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid faced Paige and Brie Bella in non-title action and lost. Jayne was one of the stars Flair beat to advance in the first round of the Queen of the Ring.

While it’s nice for the Anti-Diva to get a win in her home country, another loss greatly stalls the momentum the new trio had built after their debut. The trio is now 0-3 in its last three matches.

Sol Ruca, who debuted around the same time, lost her first two matches but was given a title shot. She then won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.

#2. No update on WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley

The Women’s World Champion, Liv Morgan, is in the Queen of the Ring Finals. Cody Rhodes is defending the WWE Championship at Night of Champions. Rhea Ripley’s injury status was briefly addressed on last week’s SmackDown.

This week’s show didn’t provide an update. It could have been a strategic omission or something that WWE didn’t want to address. Whatever the reason was, it was strange as the Queen of the Ring could challenge Mami for her title.

#1. Not treating the King and Queen of the Ring as equals

Both the King and Queen of the Ring finalists had in-ring segments on RAW. Each feud also had a video package on SmackDown.

When it came to in-ring appearances on the blue brand, however, only Jey Uso and Oba Femi were featured live.

They joined Rhodes, Zayn, and Gunther in the show’s closing segment. It makes sense as the WWE Championship is also on the line at Night of Champions.

But after years of fighting to be treated the same as the men, not dedicating the same, or even a brief segment, to IYO SKY and Morgan shows a disparity between the divisions.

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