It’s Tuesday. You know what that means… (May we see you again some day, Luke Harper.) That’s right, SmackDown Live is tonight! I must say WWE is on a minor roll right now, a string of pretty fun shows for the most part. Lot of awesome TV matches of late. It would certainly be no surprise to see more here with what’s been advertised. Let’s get into the preview, starting with the continuation of King Of The Ring Round 1!
King Of The Ring Round 1: Andrade vs. Apollo Crews
It’s amazing that Apollo still has his whole name after all this time. Andrade lost his middle and last name immediately upon call-up but they still haven’t officially clipped off either of Apollo’s thus far. I guess in a weird way it’s a sign of how rarely they consider him.
Anyway this match has been brewing for a bit and they’ll now get a chance to settle things here in the first round of the King Of The Ring. I predicted an Andrade win and would consider it a huge upset for him to lose. No reason we can’t have a fun match before then though.
King Of The Ring Round 1: Kevin Owens vs. Elias
So there’s a lot of history at this point here with Elias being Shane’s most loyal lackey. He’s been a constant thorn in the side of Kevin Owens and will presumably be dispatched here, barring some shenanigans. I don’t think it’d the best thing for Owens’ credibility as a top guy to drop out this quickly personally but I could be wrong.
One thing that’s a bit of a potential curveball here is that Elias is coming in as 24/7 Champion, assuming someone doesn’t get to him earlier in the show. In the past, WWE have made it policy that the 24/7 title is not up for grabs while the champion is competing so theoretically it shouldn’t be an issue. But WWE aren’t exactly known for being strict on things like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if people come out to try and beat him for it anyway.
When you think about it, Owens could just finish him off here, pin him for the win and then immediately pin him again to become champ if he felt the need… would be neat I suppose. Anyway, the KOTR matches aren’t the only things announced for SmackDown. We also have…
Daniel Bryan vs. Buddy Murphy
I’m not sure how confident I am that this won’t end in a quick DQ. I’d love for them to just have a real match, it’d be stellar no doubt. In contrast to last week, Buddy would have a pretty distinct size and strength advantage here I’d wager. He’s got quite a power game and this would be a fine time to use it. Gotta expect interference to some degree here but I’ve got my fingers crossed for a great bout!
It’s also been promised that we’ll find out the identity of Roman Reigns’ mystery attacker.
Last week, Bryan and Rowan conducted an investigation of their own and at the end of the show claimed that they had found the culprit. Bryan stated that they would reveal who did it tonight. God knows if that’s legit or not, we’ve certainly had our fair share of bait and switches lately, but they gotta pay that off somehow right?
Additionally, Randy Orton and the Revival injured the leg of Xavier Woods on Raw last night. Gotta have a follow-up to that on SmackDown, surely. Can’t imagine the WWE Champion will be his usual gleeful self tonight.
