WWE SmackDown 4/10/2026: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that asks, "what if Pat McAfee announced a 25% discount, would you buy WrestleMania tickets then?" Yes, we here at WINC have some things to say about this week's McAfee segment, but that wasn't the only thing that happened on the blue brand. We also have thoughts on Royce Keys' WWE TV debut, Danhausen's in-ring debut, and much more!

As always, if you missed the show, you can catch up via our peerless "SmackDown" results page, which can clue you in on all the gritty details without any of our pesky opinions or analysis. If the pesky opinions and analysis is what you're looking for, this column is the place to be — even though we only cover the things we liked and disliked with the most passion. In other words, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 4/10/26 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"

You may have forgotten about Royce Keys and his impressive Royal Rumble debut because he hadn't been seen since. There was an appearance on Stephanie McMahon's podcast, but other than that, nothing. That finally changed tonight when he debuted in his stomping grounds of the Bay Area. Prior to his match, a vignette aired that was posted on social media the day prior. It introduced fans to Keys and gave background on his story, which included growing up in a rough area flooded with drugs and violence. Keys credits his grandparents for not letting him fall into a life of crime.

His first opponent was Berto, a solid choice. Berto has been in WWE for several years and has been featured more recently alongside his tag team partner, Angel. While it wasn't completely one sided, Keys showed off his biggest strength; his power (he was called Powerhouse for nothing). Commentary did a good job putting over Keys and his abilities. They honed in on his power several times throughout the match. Following his match, he had a backstage segment with Cathy Kelley. He used his "aight" catchphrase several times, which will become quickly tiresome. I was happy to see Keys get a vignette, a match, and an interview segment.

Creative reportedly had nothing for him when he first arrived. He's had several matches on "Main Event" to get him ready for WWE TV and how they do things. Does creative have much planned for him following 'Mania season? I'll keep my expectations low, but for now, I'm glad Keys is finally on TV. I've said since his debut, they'd keep him off TV until Oba Femi picked a brand and Keys would go to the other. Keys will be a welcome addition to the Blue brand and hopefully freshen things up with new matchups.

Written by Samantha Schipman

While I'm very glad WrestleMania tickets, for Saturday at least, are ever-so slightly cheaper for those who may want to go, this entire Pat McAfee "major announcement" promo tonight was a hot mess and everything about this angle tonight, outside of Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes' part of the promo, was terrible. I truly don't know where to begin, so first, I'll question why the heck Jelly Roll was involved, when I thought WWE creative was going back to the drawing board over that part.

If I had one positive thought going into this McAfee/Randy Orton/Rhodes thing tonight, it was that I thought, thanks to reports, that Jelly Roll wasn't going to get involved. Within the first few minutes of the show, however, there he was, talking to Aldis and then later on, with McAfee, before he got involved in the main segment with everyone. We do not need two celebrities involved with a 15+ year-long story we have going on with Rhodes and Orton, and it's all such a s***** mess.

As for McAfee's promo itself... What. It felt like one, big rambling advertisement, first for Dodge RAM trucks, if McAfee driving around in one backstage wasn't enough, then for WrestleMania tickets. It's also strange how they're going about it, like, "Wow! Night one Randy Orton saving the business! It's going to be so big! That's why we have to put THOSE tickets on sale!" Right now, it feels like the entirety of the WrestleMania build has broken down into "Hey, we can't sell tickets!" which is a truly terrible story.

I didn't entirely mind McAfee running down CM Punk, because he had some points I agreed with as one of Punk's top ten haters, but when it's coming from McAfee's mouth, it doesn't exactly mean much at this point. Especially, even I'll admit, after Punk cooked him in his promo on "WWE Raw." Thankfully, Rhodes got out there eventually to attempt to save the segment, but then, he was met by Orton quite literally dragging out Jelly Roll from the back.

After the beatdown of Rhodes and Jelly Roll in the ring, McAfee left alongside Orton with the Undisputed WWE Championship, and I am just so sick of that trope. You're not the champion. Don't take the belt. It's annoying, especially when you're the celebrity guest, for lack of a better term as to how to describe McAfee anymore. Thank goodness next Friday is the go-home show for this, but I can't say I'm anywhere near excited to see McAfee and Jelly Roll get involved in this match next Saturday. WWE has just ruined this match to the point of no return, and it's awfully disappointing.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I'm sure I won't be the only person out there who feels this way, but I don't think it's really necessary to have WWE tease a storyline between Jacob Fatu and MFT because it's something that they've already done. While I will say it adds a new dynamic heading into the WrestleMania 42 Unsanctioned Match between Drew McIntyre and Fatu, WWE has already done a storyline between Fatu and MFT.

With that being said, I still very much enjoyed the match between Fatu and Tama Tonga on its own. On a show that had segments and matches ranging from mediocre to downright questioning all of my life choices up to that point (looking at you Pat McAfee), this was the one match on the show that I actually thought was really fun to watch. Fatu and Tama are no strangers to the ring as competitors, so it's probably not a surprise that they would have a good match against one another. However, for something that I didn't really have much interest in watching, they really managed to capture my attention and keep it throughout the entire bout.

I also have to admit that I quite enjoyed the post-match beatdown Drew McIntyre launched on Fatu. Was it over the top? Absolutely, but I would argue that the entire storyline between McIntyre and Fatu has been incredibly over the top. They are having an Unsanctioned Match after all, so WWE may as well go big and go home for the build up. For something that I overall expected not to be that big on, the match and subsequent beatdown was one of the only pleasant surprises on this edition of "SmackDown" for me.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

If you've been following Wrestling Inc. for the last few years, you know there are very few people who love Sami Zayn more than me. I've largely enjoyed Sami's feud with Trick Williams, and I thought both men did quality work on this week's "SmackDown," particularly during the promo segment that preceded Trick's match. But it's a little difficult to truly get into this program with Carmelo Hayes apparently on the outside looking in, nursing a storyline injury and evidently being left off the WrestleMania card.

Hayes had a stellar run with the United States Championship and got himself over with the crowd as a result; I think the biggest reason Zayn has some heat with audiences right now is the fact that he ended Melo's title reign, which basically everyone was enjoying. Hayes has also been intricately involved in the Zayn-Williams feud, and he has longstanding history with Trick. So why not do some wrestling booking and make it a triple threat match, giving Hayes a spot at WrestleMania and rewarding him for all his hard work? It honestly makes no sense, and seeing Hayes relegated to a lone backstage segment this week really sucked. As much as I liked everything that happened with Zayn and Trick, Melo being sidelined casts a long shadow over the entire storyline, because he's a starter who doesn't deserve to be benched for 'Mania season.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

There were a few things I liked about "SmackDown" tonight, including Royce Keys' debut close to his hometown, and the ongoing dynamic between Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga ahead of the latter's match against Jacob Fatu, and that match as a whole, but the best thing of the night was Danhausen. I think that's a consistent in our weekly column here, but the difference tonight was the fact the "Very Nice, Very Evil" one wrestled in his WWE in-ring debut. Of course, it was full of shenanigans, but he got a victory, is now undefeated, and it was a nice breath of fresh air during the blue brand after earlier shenanigans with the seemingly-universally hated Pat McAfee stuff.

Danhausen started out by squaring up to Wilson. He nailed him quickly with a dropkick and bridged into a pin attempt, which was an impressive amount of action from the silly guy we've seen so far. He took some pretty good bumps, too, eating Wilson's big flying shoulder tackle move more than once, both in and outside of the ring. The best spot was when Wilson was going for the elbow drop on the top rope, and Danhausen sat up like the freaking Undertaker. He cursed Wilson once again, and some pyro went off behind the turnbuckle, startling Wilson and knocking him down. After a poke to the eyeballs of The Miz, Danhausen hit a big boot to Wilson (though it could have looked much better, but I'm going to look past that, I'll have to watch it again and see if it was maybe the camera angle) to score his first WWE victory.

WWE could easily have left the Danhausen stuff tonight with just his backstage segment with R-Truth and Damian Priest, which was cute, but thankfully, he got himself a match. While he's certainly not going to be Undisputed WWE Champion anytime soon, getting him out there in front of the crowd in a physical capacity every now and then can't be a bad thing. Danhausen continues to be a ton of fun, especially where it's desperately needed on "SmackDown."

Written by Daisy Ruth

It certainly doesn't feel like we're heading into the biggest event on the company calendar and another week of "WWE SmackDown" has passed and I feel... something even less than hatred. Just a general disinterest, almost aggressively so. There were some good bits, as my colleagues have attested to, but even then it's like the opposite of whatever nitpicking is.

They were fine, but the premier storyline heading into the company's premier event is ticket prices and how the business is in dire straits, according to Pat McAfee. It feels as though the attention economy of bold and hyperbolic takes has permeated a company that boasts itself as a storytelling powerhouse. Everything else feels as though it is tainted, insignificant, and carrying more working against it than for it. Danhausen managed to be one of the better parts of the show, and the same people who find that to be ridiculous should take it as an indictment.

One of the better parts of the show was Danhausen wrestling a match and winning said match with a curse to the top rope – and an assist from pyro as a result. Jade Cargill and Iyo Sky wrestled a perfectly fine match in the main event that existed to continue telling the story of Cargill beating Rhea Ripley up through her partner.

Which is, again, okay but it's rooted in the absence of anything more substantial. The Women's United States Champion was nowhere to be seen, Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre fought some more. It was just a highlight show dressed up as something more grandiose. Three hours and two minutes of it.

Written by Max Everett