WWE SmackDown

About the series

Contains story spoilers.

SmackDown's continuing stories take shape through matches whose consequences carry into later episodes. A tournament win can send someone to the next round; an ambush can replace a scheduled title bout with a singles match; interference may deny a clean decision and keep a feud alive. The weekly format includes interviews and challenges as well as wrestling, so a segment can establish what a match is meant to settle. These are WWE's scripted sports-entertainment rivalries, not documentary accounts of real conflicts. The dated episodes show how the program moves between individual competitions, group alliances and title stakes: May 10, 2024 linked tournament advancement for several wrestlers to separate consequences in the men's and women's brackets.

On May 10, 2024, the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments gave several matches a clear next step. Nia Jax beat Naomi to advance in the women's bracket, while Jade Cargill overcame interference from Chelsea Green and a corner cannonball from Piper Niven to advance as well. On the men's side, Carmelo Hayes caught Baron Corbin in a small package and moved forward; Tama Tonga defeated Angelo Dawkins after Solo Sikoa and Tonga Loa attacked Dawkins' partner Montez Ford at ringside. The main event ended with Randy Orton evading AJ Styles' Phenomenal Forearm and hitting an RKO to reach the quarterfinals. Each result changed the bracket, while outside interference shaped how two of the wins were achieved.

The June 21, 2024 episode mixed a singles title rivalry with a sudden alliance. Paul Heyman warned CM Punk about The Bloodline; when the group surrounded Punk, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes entered with baseball bats and stood beside him. That intervention connected the champion to a conflict that was not originally his match. Later, Rhodes faced Solo Sikoa in the main event, and Jacob Fatu appeared after the contest to attack Rhodes. The sequence moved from warning, to rescue, to a new physical threat. It gave SmackDown a way to make a single episode matter across more than one feud: characters could interrupt another story, then become directly involved in the match or aftermath that followed.

On August 2, 2024, Rhodes and Sikoa agreed that their Undisputed WWE Championship match at SummerSlam would use Bloodline Rules. Elsewhere, Andrade beat Carmelo Hayes by escaping a pin attempt involving a grab of his tights and turning it into his own quick pin. Santos Escobar defeated Apollo Crews after Angel and Berto attacked Crews’ ally Baron Corbin, providing the distraction. LA Knight disrupted United States Champion Logan Paul’s homecoming celebration and drove away in his Hummer. The episode combined preparations for SummerSlam with immediate results and provocations. On September 13, Rhodes and Sikoa met inside a steel cage on the USA Network premiere. Rhodes retained by countering Sikoa’s final Samoan Spike into a Cross Rhodes. When The Bloodline attacked after the match, Roman Reigns returned to fight them off, bringing the championship dispute back into the group’s struggle over leadership.

On December 20, 2024, Solo Sikoa spoke about the coming Tribal Combat with Roman Reigns and said he intended to keep the Ula Fala. Drew McIntyre interrupted, then Jimmy Uso struck McIntyre with a crutch as other wrestlers became involved in a ringside brawl. The episode's six-man tag match extended that conflict: LA Knight, Andrade and Apollo Crews faced Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga, while United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura attacked Knight during the bout. The Bloodline regained control, and Sikoa and Fatu helped defeat Crews. Elsewhere, Carmelo Hayes challenged Braun Strowman to a rematch; Hayes slapped him, and Strowman was counted out while still outside the ring. One night thus closed one team contest and opened questions around two separate rivalries.

A title match can also change format at the last minute. On August 29, 2025, Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre attacked Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair before their planned defence. Flair was injured in the assault, so General Manager Nick Aldis changed the contest into a singles match between Green and Bliss. Bliss won by pinning Green, but the challengers attacked her afterwards, leaving the episode's immediate result short of ending the dispute. In the main event, Sami Zayn defeated Solo Sikoa to become United States Champion. This episode paired a title change with a disrupted defence: one belt changed hands through the match itself, while the women's tag rivalry remained unresolved because the attack altered who could compete.

On September 5, 2025, Zayn invited John Cena to answer an open challenge, recalling that Cena's challenge had led to Zayn's debut a decade earlier. Their match repeatedly came close to a finish, but Brock Lesnar entered before a decision, attacked both wrestlers and caused a no-contest. The intrusion left Zayn's championship defence unsettled. A month later, on October 3, Seth Rollins interfered in a tag match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton and Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed; Rollins' help enabled Breakker and Reed to win, although Rhodes then struck Rollins with a Cross Rhodes. On December 26, Drew McIntyre announced a Three Stages of Hell challenge to champion Rhodes for a January SmackDown in Berlin, while Carmelo Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov for the United States title. These dated turns show rivalries and championships being advanced, interrupted and reset from week to week.