4 Mistakes WWE made on SmackDown after Saturday Night's Main Event XLII

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre's feud on SmackDown has gotten so serious that Nick Aldis threatened to strip Rhodes of the WWE Championship if he laid a hand on McIntyre.

Aleister Black attacked Damian Priest after Priest claimed they were done. The Wyatt Sicks finally defended the WWE Tag Team titles against the MFTs. Ilja Dragunov teamed with Carmelo Hayes against DIY, while Alba Fyre fought Giulia.

Lash Legend and Nia Jax beat the Kabuki Warriors, but Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss attacked both sides after the match. WWE made the next four mistakes on the SmackDown after Saturday Night's Main Event XLII.

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#4. Destroying the credibility of Kabuki Warriors

Since winning the WWE Women's Tag Team titles from Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss on November 10th, Asuka and Kairi Sane have lost every match they been in.

This includes the losing side of WarGames and two singles losses for Sane against Bliss and IYO SKY. Lash Legend and Nia Jax defeated the champs in a tag team bout on the latest SmackDown.

Those losses are clearly to set up challenges, but going 0-4 since winning the titles greatly damages the credibility of the titleholders.

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#3. A strange dynamic in both women's matches

Giulia made quick work of Alba Fyre on SmackDown. (Image Credit: WWE.com).

An easy way for officials to book a match is to have a heel to boo and a face to cheer. Wrestling is more advanced in 2025, so there are levels to cheering.

Some fans like the heels no matter what, while some fans root for whom WWE tells them to root for. Both women's contests on SmackDown pitted heels against each other.

The Kabuki Warriors were cheered against Jax and Legend. Alba Fyre was the face by default against Giulia since fans like Chelsea Green. It made the matches have a weird dynamic due to the booking decisions officials made.

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#2. Cody Rhodes is still a hero, right?

By watching the latest SmackDown, it seemed like Cody Rhodes was the bad guy and Drew McIntyre was the hero. Rhodes not only crashed McIntyre at his home, but he also big-leagued friend and GM Nick Aldis.

McIntyre did attack Rhodes on his bus, but he brings his family to the arena on the bus for every show. Since Aldis has never punished Cody, he feels like he's above the law. That's intensified because he's the champion.

The American Nightmare also claimed that Aldis works for him, and not the other way around. With every passing week, The Scottish Warrior's claims seem more and more reasonable with how Rhodes acts.

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#1. SmackDown's tag team title main-event match ends in disqualification

WWE has built up a showdown between the MFTs and Wyatt Sicks for over three months. It's caused the Wyatts not to show up live for weeks on end. That's even worse, considering they haven't put the belts on the line in two months.

With such a highly-anticipated match, it felt like a waste of time when the contest ended in a disqualification. It popped the fans in attendance since the two sides continued the fight as SmackDown ended.

But since the titles have been an afterthought for two months, a disqualification ending on a night with only four matches felt like a lazy booking decision. Fans have waited long enough.

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Edited by Matthew Serocki