WWE SmackDown 5/22/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that featured, among other things, the official main roster debut of Blake Monroe! In a very brief backstage segment. Yes, the WINC crew has some thoughts about that, as well as some thoughts on Tiffany Stratton's open challenge, Sami Zayn's main event match with Cody Rhodes, and of course, Danhausen.

If you missed the show and need to catch up, please feel free to do so via our 5/22/26 "SmackDown" results page, which include all the objective facts of all three hours of the latest installment from the blue brand. If you want to know what the WINC staff thought of that installment (or at least the parts that stood out to us the most) this here column is the place to be. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 5/22/26 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"

I think that the Women's US Open Challenge from this edition of "SmackDown" can be pretty well summed up by the lack of reaction from the crowd that Lash Legend got for challenging Tiffany Stratton for the Women's United States Championship. Don't get me wrong, I think that Legend has a bright future in the ring and has improved immensely across her time in "NXT" and the main roster. Joe Tessitore also did everything he could to put over Stratton and Legend throughout this entire thing, but I still don't think that was enough for how much of a let down it felt to have Legend be the one to answer the call.

There are just better choices that WWE could have gone with here as Stratton's challenger, whether it was Giulia who has yet to get her rematch from Stratton or Blake Monroe who hasn't done much of anything on "SmackDown" as of right now. If WWE insisted on doing the finish with Chelsea Green, that could've easily been translated into pretty much any other match Stratton could've had tonight. Moreover, Legend and Nia Jax have a Women's Tag Team Championship match against Paige and Brie Bella at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event tomorrow night. I know that Legend said she had interest in getting more gold, but The Irresistible Forces should really be focused on their upcoming match and Legend could've answered the call on a different night should Stratton's Women's US Open Challenge become a weekly occurrence.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

It was one of those nights where "SmackDown" felt every bit of its three hours, but one of the bright spots was Carmelo Hayes calling out United States Champion Trick Williams. Sure, Williams cost Hayes the gold over a month ago, before WrestleMania, but at least we're following up on a storyline rather than WWE expecting us to forget.

Which is great, considering all of the mega-fans of Hayes (myself included) were not going to let it slide, especially with the history between the two men. They had a great feud in "WWE NXT" before Hayes was the first to be called up, and it was inevitable that they'd be back on the crash course after Williams won the United States Championship.

I really liked that when Hayes confronted Williams tonight, he made it clear he wasn't going out there to try and discredit the champion for everything he's accomplished so far in such a short amount of time. Hayes said he always believed in his former friend, but there's a huge difference between holding a championship and being a champion. He called him out for a rematch for the gold tonight, but Williams reminded everyone that the US Championship Open Challenge ended with him, but he'd give 'Melo an "a** whooping for free," meaning a match without the title.

Lil Yachty was great through all of this, and by that, I mean he didn't take up too much of the spotlight. He pulled out Williams "schedule" ahead of the match as if he were penciling Hayes in, then almost went after him with a kendo stick on the outside. His involvement was good, and just enough.

I know these guys were involved in a triple threat match since Williams' call-up a while ago, but it was so nice to see them in singles action. They have so much chemistry, but with Williams currently the bigger deal on "SmackDown" with the title, him throwing Hayes around just felt so different from their time in "NXT," when Williams was Hayes' sidekick, which was a good thing.

Another part I really liked about all of this was the involvement of Ricky Saints, who I think should also be in the United States title picture. He was defeated by Hayes last week, but that didn't stop him from getting in his business tonight. Williams wasn't having it, however, and at one point, pushed Saints down hard at ringside. Saints continued to get involved, though, and did end up costing Hayes the match. While I do want to see Hayes vs. Williams for the title, I think Saints needs to be involved to give him something exciting to do since his main roster call-up.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Remember when Blake Monroe was being hyped as a big deal when she jumped ship from AEW to WWE? Her initial run in "NXT" was slow going, but she eventually started adjusting to being in a new company. She even won the Women's North American title, although she lost it in controversial fashion. WWE has spent the last few weeks airing repackaged vignettes from "NXT" for her eventual arrival on "SmackDown".

She hinted that her arrival was imminent when she posted on X that "tomorrow is Friday." When Tiffany Stratton had an open challenge for the US Championship, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for Monroe to make a splash on the blue brand. But no. That's too easy. Lash Legend answered the challenge. Now that Chelsea Green has no Slaygents, she's been trying to be friends with Stratton to get closer to her former title. She tried to help Stratton in her match, but was sent face first into the turnbuckle by Legend.

Green was walking backstage when Monroe suddenly appeared and introduced herself to Green. Green introduced herself and stated that she probably knew that. Monroe replied that she watched her "out there and I wish I didn't." What? That's it? All that hype for a boring backstage segment that lasted less than a minute? It didn't do anything to establish her. After that segment, she doesn't seem like someone to be excited to see for those who aren't familiar with her already. It was such a mediocre debut on the main roster.

Written by Samantha Schipman

I thought tonight's episode of "SmackDown" was a pretty "meh" one overall that didn't accomplish much of anything, but if there's one thing we here at WINC consistently love — we love that Danhausen. Last week, he was shown setting up shop in a lab backstage, and of course, that lab traveled with him and made it to the Rupp Arena.

The first time the lights flickered in the arena and Joe Tessitore made a passing comment about the light bill, I just figured it was a technical issue. Things happen, whatever. The second time, however, "SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis was backstage with referee Charles Robinson and they went out again, which still had me thinking it was a fluke for a moment, then it hit me. Of course Danhausen's experiment where he's trying to re-animate a body would be causing "power issues" throughout the arena. Which I thought was pretty cute.

Aldis was told that it was Danhausen's lab causing the issues, but when confronted about it, Danhausen showed that everything was correctly plugged in and everything was fine, in his ridiculous Danhausen way. He pushed a button, set off some sparks, killed the power again, and was gone.

I thought maybe we were going to see a clue about whose "body" is under the sheet in the lab, as rumors are running rampant that it's a soon-to-be-returning Baron Corbin, though I don't necessarily love if this is how he makes his return. But when Aldis looked to peek under the sheet, a disembodied Danhausen yelled at him not to touch it.

This was such a minor segment over the course of the three hour show, but when not much else is going on and the stories feel like they're just absolutely dragging (see: Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys), Danhausen is forever a bright spot. I'm so curious to know who may be debuting or returning through his shenanigans, but it seems like we have a few weeks left of mystery.

Written by Daisy Ruth

This week's show was a chore to get through, one of those episodes that manages to accomplish nothing but insult the audience for allocating their time to watching it. That's a bit more of a regular occurrence when it comes to "SmackDown" than one would like, but at least there are usually some bright or brighter spots on the show.

Not this week. And the main event really encapsulated how rough it was with an ambling match between two that normally can be relied on to deliver something better.

Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn fought in the main event of the show after having fallen out from Anti-Bloodline best buds to frosty colleagues – one just so happening to hold the title the other is desperate to hold. It feels almost too easy for the story to be one of jealousy and desperation, Zayn going against the heroic moral code and any kinship they had for the prize that has eluded him thus far. It does feel too easy.

Which is maybe why WWE in its infinite wisdom did not go that route, offering up instead a single line about Zayn being patronizing. That is what spurred on tonight's match, and it's not even entirely clear where this shift in their relationship really came. It's almost as if there is an internal list of characters, heel and face, and they interact as dictated by that list.

Either way, they had a match that followed its choreography to the tee and was sanitized beyond the point of intrigue. But since this is all happening with the backdrop of GUNTHER's refusal to sign a contract for a WWE Championship match at Clash in Italy, the "Ring General" naturally had to rear his head at some point. He did, grabbing Rhodes in a choke on the apron.

The referee was checking on Zayn at the time by the ropes, and because he is contractually obligated to wear blinders on his face he, understandably, didn't see what was happening a few feet away from him. Nor did he hear it or in any way sense it, because those blinders extend to all of the senses.

So Zayn, seeing Rhodes was being choked out by GUNTHER, while the referee continued to just crouch and check, stood up and ran at Rhodes for a Helluva Kick. He got GUNTHER, because of course he did. Rhodes hit the Cross Rhodes to win the match, and then got choked out some more to close the show as Zayn watched on, conflicted.

It was nothing no one had ever seen before. Nothing was resolved or progressed. In other words, it was a "SmackDown" main event, through and through.

Written by Max Everett

To be clear: I don't love Sami Zayn's current character. I don't love his role in getting Carmelo Hayes bumped off the WrestleMania card, or the fact that he gets booed now, or really any of it. But if Sami has to be a heel now, at least this episode did a decent job of solidifying it — and at least it happened against Cody Rhodes, who has really been the catalyst for the change in Sami's character dating back not weeks but months.

Ever since Cody took advantage of Drew McIntyre interference to cost Zayn his shot at the Elimination Chamber match, Sami has been slowly getting tired of Cody Rhodes, "the golden boy." He's been dancing around a heel turn ever since, but never quite fully getting there. Sure, he took advantage of an injured Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams' interference to win and retain the US Championship heading into WrestleMania, but that could all have be framed as accidental — or at worst, opportunistic. He was never fully heel during the Williams feud either, with the whole Gingerbread Man funeral reading more like someone who just couldn't understand why everybody around him was going insane.

Tonight, though? There's no way out of this one. Not only did Sami ruthlessly attack an injured Cody's leg during their main event match, he actively sat back and allowed GUNTHER to choke Cody out after the match was over. He was conflicted about it, sure, but he absolutely did it. That's a turning point — the first real act of villainy Sami has committed since splitting from the Bloodline more than three years ago. I might not love where the character is going, but the turn has been overall well-executed, and I thought everyone did a good job of selling it tonight, particularly Sami himself. On an episode like this one, that's about the best you can hope for.

Written by Miles Schneiderman