This week's episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from Bologna, Italy. The show took place in front of a lively crowd as the company continues on The Road to WrestleMania 41 next month in Las Vegas.
CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins brawled to close this week's show, and there were several teases for potential matches at WrestleMania 41. However, there were also some major mistakes made during tonight's show.
Listed below are five huge mistakes WWE made during this week's episode of SmackDown.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will be defending his title against John Cena at WrestleMania 41. The Cenation Leader won the Men's Elimination Chamber Match earlier this month and turned heel to align with The Rock following the victory. Rhodes and Cena cut a promo this past Monday night on RAW, and The American Nightmare scolded the legend for betraying the fans.
Neither Cody Rhodes nor John Cena made an appearance on tonight's episode of SmackDown. Rhodes could have cut a follow-up promo after his confrontation with Cena on RAW but was not featured on this week's edition of the blue brand at all. Instead, Rhodes and Cena will be having another promo on RAW next Monday night.
Jacob Fatu battled Braun Strowman tonight on WWE SmackDown. The two stars clashed at Saturday Night's Main Event earlier this year, and The Monster of All Monsters picked up the victory via disqualification. The loss cost Fatu an opportunity at the United States Championship. Strowman will be challenging The Megastar for the title next Friday night as a result of tonight's victory.
Tonight's match had the same result after The Bloodline's Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga interfered. Sikoa and Tonga got involved while Fatu was clearly in control, and it didn't come off well on WWE television. Fatu and Sikoa then argued backstage following the loss, as the two stars are rumored to be facing each other at WrestleMania.
Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were the reigning Women's Tag Team Champions when the former AEW star was attacked last November on SmackDown. The culprit was later revealed to be Naomi, and The Glow cost Cargill her match against Liv Morgan on SmackDown this week.
Belair won the Women's Elimination Chamber Match and will be competing for the Women's World Championship at WWE WrestleMania 41. However, she should still have some kind of role in the storyline between Cargill and Naomi, as she held gold with both stars while teaming with them. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case as The EST was nowhere to be found during this week's edition of the blue brand.
The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) defeated #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) last week on SmackDown to become the new WWE Tag Team Champions. Ford and Dawkins defeated Los Garza tonight on SmackDown in Italy.
The popular duo was given a new theme song after becoming champions, and it debuted during tonight's show. Wrestling fans did not react to the new theme well on social media, and the crowd in attendance didn't make much noise either as the champions made their way to the ring.
Jade Cargill went on hiatus for several months after she was brutally attacked on the November 22, 2024, episode of WWE SmackDown. She returned during Elimination Chamber 2025 to get revenge and beat Naomi down.
The former TBS Champion battled Liv Morgan tonight in a singles match. Naomi returned during the bout and attacked Cargill as the referee wasn't paying attention. Morgan capitalized on Naomi's attack and won via pinfall after connecting with an Oblivion.
It was the first time Cargill had been pinned as a WWE Superstar, and it was due to outside interference. While it was still an impressive victory for Morgan, Naomi getting involved cheapened the moment.