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WWE SmackDown Live preview (May 1, 201
: Oil and water
By Meangene45 May 1, 2018, 10:00am EDT
WWE.com
Here’s hoping Montreal is as fired up for night two of WWE action as they were for night one!
The Headliners
During periods where WWE has split its brands, it’s common for there to be a pay-per-view (PPV) after a Draft or Shakeup where a few matches end up being between Superstars who are now on different shows. It’s also not unusual for some of those to be for secondary titles.
But the addition of a Saudia Arabian supershow to the schedule has made it so there were a couple rounds of those matches in about ten days. And they’ve served to remove pretty much all the suspense from an Intercontinental Title match between SmackDown’s The Miz and Raw’s Seth Rollins coming up at Backlash.
The A-Lister will be interacting with another titleholder, United States Champ Jeff Hardy, on Miz TV tonight. Hardy will be facing Randy Orton in Newark on May 6. Meaning, no matter who wins or loses, the red, white and blue strap stays on the blue brand.
Another way to look at that is, there’s not a lot of suspense about Miz/Rollins, because WWE probably won’t put both the lower tier men’s belts on Tuesdays - especially when Raw’s top title is currently held by a part-timer.
So we’ll probably get a hot match between Seth and The Awesome One on Sunday, and we may be setting up Hardy’s next program during this evening’s episode. But it’s past time to put The Shakeup behind us. And next week’s shows - after the Intercontinental Championship match and Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns - will finally allow us to do that.
The Title Scene
We’re getting ready for our third WWE championship match of the past month between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at Backlash. The challenger is heelishly demanding an apology from Styles for the extended post-double countout beatdown he laid on Nakamura at last Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble. Sure, it was in retaliation for weeks of low blows, but that’s why it’s heelish.
There will be a singles match for the Women’s title on Sunday, with Charlotte Flair trying to reclaim her belt from Carmella. But their rivalry’s been built on multi-person matches from even before IIconics attack allowed Carm to cash-in her Money in the Bank contract, and after Becky Lynch and Asuka ran in to save Flair from a Mella, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay attack last Tuesday, a six-woman will send us on to their PPV bout.
After a successful defense against The Usos at Greatest Royal Rumble, tag team championsBludgeon Brothers don’t have a match announced for this weekend’s PPV. With seven matches on the card already and a reported three hour runtime for the show, plus Jimmy and Jey not really having a reason to demand another rematch, could Harper and Rowan get Sunday off?
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- WWE seems to have big plans for Big Cass. He continued his backstage attacking ways last Tuesday when he took out Daniel Bryan, then showed off his improved promo skills. He came up short in the main event in Saudi Arabia, but made it to the final two after eliminating Iron Man Bryan. The former General Manager will be looking for payback, both during their planned Backlash match - and before.
- Speaking of General Managers, Paige is supposed to be back tonight after a week off. She’s got plenty to manage, not the least of which is the impending debuts of former NXT titleholders Andrade “Cien” Almas (with business manager Zelina Vega) and SAnitY.
- They lost their bid to win the red and silver straps and return to Raw, so will Cesaro and Sheamus continue to channel their frustrations toward The New Day and their platters full of pancakes?
It’s the Backlash ‘go home’ - and the Greatest Royal Rumble fallout - show!
What will you be looking for on SmackDown Live tonight?
: Oil and waterBy Meangene45 May 1, 2018, 10:00am EDT
Here’s hoping Montreal is as fired up for night two of WWE action as they were for night one!
The Headliners
During periods where WWE has split its brands, it’s common for there to be a pay-per-view (PPV) after a Draft or Shakeup where a few matches end up being between Superstars who are now on different shows. It’s also not unusual for some of those to be for secondary titles.
But the addition of a Saudia Arabian supershow to the schedule has made it so there were a couple rounds of those matches in about ten days. And they’ve served to remove pretty much all the suspense from an Intercontinental Title match between SmackDown’s The Miz and Raw’s Seth Rollins coming up at Backlash.
The A-Lister will be interacting with another titleholder, United States Champ Jeff Hardy, on Miz TV tonight. Hardy will be facing Randy Orton in Newark on May 6. Meaning, no matter who wins or loses, the red, white and blue strap stays on the blue brand.
Another way to look at that is, there’s not a lot of suspense about Miz/Rollins, because WWE probably won’t put both the lower tier men’s belts on Tuesdays - especially when Raw’s top title is currently held by a part-timer.
So we’ll probably get a hot match between Seth and The Awesome One on Sunday, and we may be setting up Hardy’s next program during this evening’s episode. But it’s past time to put The Shakeup behind us. And next week’s shows - after the Intercontinental Championship match and Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns - will finally allow us to do that.
The Title Scene
We’re getting ready for our third WWE championship match of the past month between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at Backlash. The challenger is heelishly demanding an apology from Styles for the extended post-double countout beatdown he laid on Nakamura at last Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble. Sure, it was in retaliation for weeks of low blows, but that’s why it’s heelish.
There will be a singles match for the Women’s title on Sunday, with Charlotte Flair trying to reclaim her belt from Carmella. But their rivalry’s been built on multi-person matches from even before IIconics attack allowed Carm to cash-in her Money in the Bank contract, and after Becky Lynch and Asuka ran in to save Flair from a Mella, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay attack last Tuesday, a six-woman will send us on to their PPV bout.
After a successful defense against The Usos at Greatest Royal Rumble, tag team championsBludgeon Brothers don’t have a match announced for this weekend’s PPV. With seven matches on the card already and a reported three hour runtime for the show, plus Jimmy and Jey not really having a reason to demand another rematch, could Harper and Rowan get Sunday off?
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- WWE seems to have big plans for Big Cass. He continued his backstage attacking ways last Tuesday when he took out Daniel Bryan, then showed off his improved promo skills. He came up short in the main event in Saudi Arabia, but made it to the final two after eliminating Iron Man Bryan. The former General Manager will be looking for payback, both during their planned Backlash match - and before.
- Speaking of General Managers, Paige is supposed to be back tonight after a week off. She’s got plenty to manage, not the least of which is the impending debuts of former NXT titleholders Andrade “Cien” Almas (with business manager Zelina Vega) and SAnitY.
- They lost their bid to win the red and silver straps and return to Raw, so will Cesaro and Sheamus continue to channel their frustrations toward The New Day and their platters full of pancakes?
It’s the Backlash ‘go home’ - and the Greatest Royal Rumble fallout - show!
What will you be looking for on SmackDown Live tonight?
