None of the copycats would exist without EVM, and L2 chains wouldn't exist without Ethereum.
But that doesn't mean smart contracts at L1 was a good idea. They just can't reverse course from this software architecture, too much has been built using L1 smart contracts on Ethereum and the EVM copycats. And they probably won't admit smart contracts at L1 was a bad idea, just like bitcoin maxis don't see anything else but bitcoin.