5 mistakes WWE made on SmackDown after Night of Champions

The latest SmackDown saw both the King and Queen of the Ring put their respective world champions on notice, as both Cody Rhodes and Jade Cargill will be challenging for titles at SummerSlam.

While Tiffany Stratton appeared to select her opponent for Evolution, John Cena did not show up. Solo Sikoa introduced the newest addition to his family, Tala Tonga.

New Women's United States Champion Giulia said she was ready for any challengers coming her way. With Evolution only a week away, a lot felt rushed. WWE made the next five mistakes on SmackDown after Night of Champions.

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#5. Strange placement of Jade Cargill/Trish Stratus segments

Tiffany Stratton kicked off the second hour of SmackDown by conversing with both Jade Cargill and Trish Stratus. The champ selected Stratus as her opponent for Evolution.

The Storm said it didn't matter who left the premium live event since she'd be taking the belt at SummerSlam. When SmackDown came back from commercials, Cargill was backstage and acted like she just found out about Stratus/Stratton at that moment.

The pre-taped nature of the episode could have played into the strange interactions. It made it seem like Cargill forgot what had just happened in the ring.

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#4. Predictable outcome for women's tag match

While booking a match to determine who got a spot at Evolution made sense, the teams involved made the outcome extremely predictable. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss have over 18 singles championships combined.

Michin and B-Fab and the Secret Hervice have been primarily used to put other stars over, like Chelsea Green, Zelina Vega, and other stars further up the ladder in the division.

A little uncertainty would have helped, like if Green competed, or Nia Jax and Candice LeRae were involved. They could have explained it as one last chance for gold for both.

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#3. No singles matches on SmackDown

SmackDown had four tag team matches, including an eight-man contest pitting a member of four teams against The Wyatt Sicks.

The women's tag team triple threat determined SmackDown's representative in the Women's Tag Title contest at Evolution. Fraxiom lost to Rey Fenix and Andrade.

Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso defeated Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo in the main event. While the matches were decent, a bit more variety would have been beneficial. Damian Priest and Aleister Black could have squared off.

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#2. The same promo from Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton

If you didn't know it, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton are friends who respect each other. This was the basis of their opening segment, as Orton reluctantly congratulated Coyd for winning King of the Ring.

The issue is that they've had the same promo exchange at least three other times this year alone. If bookers run with the same segment, the material needs to be different.

Drew McIntyre came out to end the pats on the back, claiming The Viper hesitated at Night of Champions, but Rhodes did not.

Commentary tried to make it seem like the old Orton was back after he hit McIntyre with an RKO. The old Apex Predator would be back had he done that to Cody, and not to a heel.

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#1. Solo Sikoa is pinned in his first match as United States Champion

While he had help to overcome Jacob Fatu at Night of Champions, most stars aren't pinned so soon after winning a title in WWE. That wasn't the case for Sikoa as he, and not Mateo, was pinned by Fatu in the main event.

His group got the heat back by putting The Samoan Werewolf through the commentary table. Losing in his first match as the champ, however, devalues the win and the title.

Mateo could have been pinned after some offense, or Fatu could have been pinned after outside interference. It was probably done as an excuse for Fatu to get a rematch.