What To Expect On Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live

WWE has their work cut out for them in following up last week’s SmackDown Live. We saw Kevin Owens and AJ Styles have a great match, a very good bout between Chad Gable and Rusev, and finished it off with a dream match between John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura.

What does WWE have planned for tonight’s show? We’ve got three announced matches (so far) and a few more segments. One of these matches we’ve seen now on a loop seemingly for months, so hopefully it will be the last installment of the series.

Let’s get on with it. Here’s what you can expect on tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live.

Grudge Match: Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton

Just when you think that you have seen the last of it, they circle back around one more time. In what will seemingly be about the 300th match between these two over the last couple of months, Randy Orton and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal will go one on one in a non-title grudge match.

Orton inserted himself into a feud with Rusev on last week’s show. Following Rusev’s victory over Chad Gable, the Bulgarian Brute got on the microphone and said there was nobody he could wrestle at SummerSlam that he hadn’t already defeated. This brought out Orton to set up their match at the PPV.

So now, with a new feud for Randy Orton, we come back to an old feud. Hopefully for the last time. 

The Women Will Be Featured

The WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi will take on the holder of the women’s Monday In The Bank briefcase, Carmella. Will this be a preview of what could go down at SummerSlam?

In trying to predict which Money In The Bank holder will cash in at the PPV (Corbin or Carmella), the odds seem to be more in favor of Carmella. This makes this match all the more interesting. The next time they clash, we might be seeing a beaten down, worn out Naomi trying desperately to hold on to her gold. 

The women’s division is getting even more spotlight on tonight’s show, with Charlotte Flair set to take on Lana. While Charlotte will likely make quick work of the least tenured female wrestler on the roster, this is a chance for Lana to show upper management that she is advancing as a performer. 

Setting Up The U.S Title Match

The WWE U.S. title picture got even more murky last week as AJ Styles was victorious over Kevin Owens in controversial fashion. Though Styles won by pinfall, Owen’s shoulder was clearly up. The story was that the referee had been hit in the face and his vision was impaired.

This lead to Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan making a rematch for SummerSlam with a special referee who would make no such error. At Bryan’s suggestion, that special referee was announced to be Shane. 

WWE’s official preview for tonight’s show says that Shane will be explaining the “rules of engagement” for the SummerSlam match. Everyone had assumed this was just going to be a basic singles bout. Perhaps they are going to add some stipulations to the match in order to have a clear winner? No count-outs? No disqualifications? A ladder match (doubtful, but one can wish)? We’ll know soon. 

John Cena’s Busy Tuesday

John Cena started out Tuesday morning by guest hosting on NBC’s TODAY show, as he often does nowdays. Luckily for John, SmackDown is in Toronto, just a short flight away, so he doesn’t have to travel all the way across the country to make tonight’s show. 

Following his loss to Nakamura last week, it has been reported that Cena will be taking on Baron Corbin at SummerSlam, Mr. Money In The Bank himself. Look for them to set this match up tonight by showing clips of what went down when SmackDown went off the air last week. If you weren’t in Cleveland or haven’t read reports, Corbin attacked Nakamura after his victory. Nakamura fought him off and Cena gave Corbin an AA through an announce table. 

The question is, what kind of match will they have? Will Cena want Corbin to put his briefcase on the line? That could be an interesting twist which would give Cena another path to capturing championship number 17 down the line. 

The Search For Fandango Continues

If you haven’t been enjoying these “Fashion Files” segments of late, I’d advise you to lighten up and enjoy them for what they are. This is campy, goofy wrestling at its finest. I’ve enjoyed every second.

Last week’s edition was a take on the popular television show Twin Peaks. WWE notes in their official preview that the segment was covered by Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Kyle MacLachlan of Twin Peaks itself. I don’t doubt it. It was very good and really funny. 

Last week, the segment concluded with Breeze making the statement that he knows what has happened to Fandango. Will we get a conclusion tonight? Breeze will be reprising the “Fashion Peaks” theme once again this week on SmackDown.