4 Mistakes WWE made on SmackDown (May 1, 2026)

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Cody Rhodes welcomed Ricky Saints to SmackDown by beating him. The segments with Danhausen, R-Truth, and Chelsea Green always land, but WWE need to stop what it’s doing with Sami Zayn and the Gingerbread Man.

Some fans may find it funny, but it feels like officials are trolling the fans who want to see a good product through their treatment of Sami Zayn. WWE made several mistakes on SmackDown, including the next four.

#4. Going with the same tactic a third time

Sol Ruca debuted and immediately stepped up to Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan. It took four women to beat her. That makes the champion and Judgment Day look inept.

After attacking Paige, Brie Bella, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss, Jacy Jayne’s first match was against WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley last week. It ended in a disqualification.

Proving that WWE has very few ideas for the recent NXT callups, Ricky Saints confronted and faced Cody Rhodes on his first night on SmackDown. What’s wrong with Ethan Page? Is he not good enough to face a champion?

#3. Enough already with the Bloodline oversaturation

This is a broken record with four shows since WrestleMania. It’ll be fitting if the Usos start showing up in NXT each week as well. Jimmy and Jey have been on every episode of RAW and SmackDown since WrestleMania.

They’re back with The Tribal Chief, so they do his dirty work. As if going to SmackDown last week wasn’t enough, they showed up again this week to tell Solo that Jacob Fatu belongs to Roman Reigns.

Since Sikoa is a SmackDown star like Fatu, he said it didn’t matter. After big-leaguing their little brother, Talla decked both men. It led to a main-event tag team match on the same show.

#2. Doing the men’s WWE Title matches backwards after WrestleMania 42

Jacob Fatu, a member of SmackDown, was the first person to challenge the new World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns. If he were moving to RAW full-time, it would have made sense. Instead, he appears on both shows.

If that wasn’t strange enough, the same thing happened after Cody Rhodes beat a debuting Ricky Saints. Gunther showed up and choked The American Nightmare out with a Sleeper.

The Ring General is a RAW star but will probably show up on both shows like Fatu. Why didn’t officials just go with Reigns vs. Gunther and Rhodes vs. Fatu?

#1. WWE replaces the US Open Challenges with the Gingerbread Man

Some fans love Trick Williams despite him ending the United States Open Challenge. Instead of actually representing the title he won at WrestleMania, he’s more concerned with continuing to troll Sami Zayn with the costumed character.

Zayn came out and said he doesn’t like the character because it feels disrespectful and mocks how he cares more about the in-ring game than the flash. He then tore the Gingerbread Man apart before Williams made the save.

Trick cares more about the fake character than the title. WWE then has a horrible segment with the medical staff saying Gingy is not well. An “In Memoriam” graphic airs for what feels longer than some of the matches on SmackDown.

While running down the schedule for next week, they reveal a funeral segment for the Gingerbread Man. Who thinks this was a good idea? Do Shinsuke Nakamura or Rey Fenix have to dress up in a costume to get used?