WWE SmackDown takeaways: Sami Zayn turns back on Cody Rhodes, Blake Monroe debuts

Posted on by GoalVerseNews

WWE SmackDown on May 22, 2026, took place at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., and featured a singles match between Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn.

This week’s show served as a primer for Saturday Night’s Main Event. Talla Tonga picked up a win over Shinsuke Nakamura, and the team of Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair managed to work together well enough to defeat Fatal Influence’s Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Ripley also accepted a title match against Jade Cargill at Clash in Italy, and Cargill sent a message with a post-match Jaded. Danhausen also caused an electrical issue in the arena while continuing his large experiment.

Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:

Tiffany Stratton defends US title vs. Lash Legend

The Women’s United States Championship was on the line when Tiffany Stratton put it up for grabs in an open challenge. The call was answered by Lash Legend, who entered with her tag partner Nia Jax.

As the match got underway, Chelsea Green joined ringside to give Stratton some support. The match was solid. Stratton hit a nice springboard stunner, and Legend showed off her power game well.

Things broke down when Jax got involved by grabbing Stratton’s leg when she was on the top rope. Green rushed over to send Jax into the ring post, and Legend grabbed Green. This allowed Stratton to score a quick pin with a rollup. Green celebrated with Stratton, but isn’t quite sure about having Green in her corner.

If we’re just spamming open challenges on every show now, I guess we’ll live with it, but the matches have to steal the show to substitute storylines. This one was nice, but at best, it was the third-best match of the show. Arguably fourth behind the women’s tag match.

Rivalry renewed: Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes

Trick Williams entered with Lil Yachty and was soon joined by Carmelo Hayes, who made his case for a United States title match on the spot. Williams agreed to give Hayes a match after a funny bit from Yachty, who went over his appointment schedule. However, this wasn’t for the title since he shut down the open challenge.

The match was the best of the show. Given their history in NXT, the chemistry in the ring is off the charts, and the crowd loved the action. As a manager/hype man for Williams, this was the best Yachty has done thus far. He prevented Hayes from diving to the outside by just stepping in front of Williams, and teased like he would hit Hayes with his cane a little later. Everything in the match flowed nicely. Ricky Saints appeared to cause a distraction, leading to the opening for Williams to hit a Trick Shot knee for the pin.

Usually, such a good match being ruined by interference would be a big disappointment, but I was already disappointed when Williams didn’t put the title on the line to begin with. However, that decision did keep things consistent with his declaration that title shots had to be earned now. I’m more excited to see Hayes and Williams keep this rivalry going. One of these days, they’re going to put on a hell of a WrestleMania match – or two, or three.

Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga confusion

Something strange happened with the MFTs storyline in this episode. After the match with Talla Tonga and Shinsuke Nakamura, Sikoa went to hit a Samoan Spike, but was stopped by Tama Tonga. It turned out to be a pump fake, as Tonga hit a cutthroat on Nakamura instead. Damian Priest then rushed out to stop further damage.

Then things got interesting backstage when Tama told Sikoa that he had to take care of Priest himself, alone, for the family. He thought people viewed the family as weak, so it was time for Sikoa to pick up a big win on his own to lead the way. Sikoa agreed.

Fast forward to the match, and Tama and Talla didn’t allow Sikoa to win on his own. They were with him ringside the whole time and then interfered in the match. At least their interference led to the win for Sikoa. Royce Keys rushed out to save Priest from the post-match beatdown.

A couple of things here. First, we’ve seen Tama consistently go against the grain with Sikoa, but it feels we won’t see the turn anytime soon. These aren’t seeds being planted; WWE is selling us trees already bearing fruit. Second, the whole backstage segment made no sense. Tama told Sikoa he had to do something on his own, which was agreed upon, and then that just didn’t happen at all, as if that backstage segment was thrown out.

Blake Monroe debuts backstage

This is a quick takeaway, but we saw Blake Monroe make her SmackDown debut, although it was in a short backstage segment with Chelsea Green. After a few weeks of teaser vignettes, it was nice to see her actually on screen. Maybe we’ll get her in the ring next week.

Sami Zayn turns back on Cody Rhodes

Sami Zayn complained to Nick Aldis about getting a spot on this week’s show, and Cody Rhodes, who was fed up with Zayn’s complaints, took it upon himself to have a match against him, which ended up as the main event.

Zayn worked the leg throughout the match, and Rhodes played up the psychology aspect of their rocky friendship. This was the second-best match of the show, as both had strong moments, and the story of everything going on between them showed as well.

Rhodes got finishing momentum and was ready to line up a Cross Rhodes, but Gunther attacked out of nowhere. Zayn rushed over to knock Gunther off the apron, which Rhodes took advantage of by hitting a Cross Rhodes for the pin. Rhodes’ celebration was immediately cut short by Gunther, who picked up where he left off with a powerbomb and a sleeper. Zayn stood there for a moment, debating whether he would stop the attack, but decided to walk away instead.

Zayn’s character has been growing in recent weeks as he embraces his heel side more and more. This was a solid ending to the show, with Gunther and Rhodes set to meet at Clash in Italy, adding another layer to that build.

This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE SmackDown takeaways: Zayn turns back on Rhodes, Monroe debuts

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