4 Mistakes WWE made on SmackDown after Crown Jewel

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SmackDown stars Cody Rhodes and Tiffany Stratton didn’t have success at last weekend’s Crown Jewel PLE. Rhodes fell to Seth Rollins in the Men’s Crown Jewel Championship contest.

Stephanie Vaquer beat Stratton in the women’s match. The American Nightmare said he’d refocus on defending his title, and by the end of the night, he made good on his promise.

The war between the Wyatt Sicks and the MFTs continued. Aleister Black laid out that his alliance with real-life wife Zelina Vega was always part of the plan.

The booked matches delivered high-octane action, but WWE still made the next four mistakes on SmackDown after Crown Jewel.

#4. Kiana James appears on SmackDown without Giulia

WWE’s handling of Giulia since winning the Women’s United States title has been confusing. She came to the company and main roster with a lot of hype and quickly won the title from Zelina Vega.

As champion, however, she either doesn’t show up or does so in a brief segment. It may get her on SmackDown, but she’s one of the brand’s titleholders. Kiana James mocked Tiffany Stratton for not winning at Crown Jewel on SmackDown.

The entire conversation was to set up a match with Stratton for next week. James’s whole purpose is to advocate for Giulia, who didn’t accompany her associate.

#3. A predictable distraction in the Women’s Tag title match

Any time a star who isn’t competing shows up in the crowd when the person they’re feuding with competes, it’s a guarantee that the idle performer will cost their rival the match in some fashion.

Whether by interfering behind the referee’s back or simply distracting their foe, having a star’s next competitor present is always done for that reason.

Blake Monroe was in the front row during Sol Ruca and Zaria’s title match with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. Monroe distracted Ruca long enough for Flair to take advantage.

While it wasn’t blatant interference, it still felt like the NXT duo could have lost without the distraction. If they were so worried about keeping Ruca strong, she wouldn’t have been the one to tap out to The Queen on SmackDown.

#2. Another short United States title reign

By the way it’s been booked over the last few years, the United States Championship feels like it’s at the bottom of the list of priorities. It’s hard to book over eight championships consistently every week.

That still doesn’t mean a brand’s secondary titleholder should have a title to have a title. Sami Zayn may have defended the title seven times due to his Open Challenge status, but he was only champion for 49 days.

Of the last six stars to hold the US title, only LA Knight had a run exceeding 100 days (119 days). That was his first reign after beating Logan Paul. The last three titleholders – Fatu (70), Solo Sikoa (62), and Zayn (49) – had less-than-average runs.

If there were a match to interfere in, it would have been Zayn vs. Ilja Dragunov. The Mad Dragon shouldn’t have lost, and interference would have protected both men. Another quick title swap diminishes the belt.

#1. Not having the highly anticipated Fatu vs. McIntyre match

SmackDown GM Nick Aldis opened the night by making the massive clash between Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu a #1 Contender’s match. It got the fans in San Jose, California, hyped, as The Samoan Werewolf is from near the area.

Rhodes and Fatu had a backstage encounter, but before the main event, officials found that someone had attacked The Samoan Werewolf. He wasn’t able to compete, and McIntyre demanded that he be named Rhodes’ next challenger.

The American Nightmare wasn’t happy, so he ran out in his suit and made the title match in San Jose. The act may have given the audience another title bout, but they were initially promised Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre.

Cody then cheated by hitting McIntyre with the title belt, allowing The Scottish Warrior to win via disqualification. It felt like a bait-and-switch to deprive everyone of an eagerly-awaited fight.