SmackDown airs tonight (May 31) with a live show emanating from MVP Arena in Albany, New York. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the three week build towards Clash at the Castle, which takes place on June 15 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Queen Nia Jax is the most dangerous woman in WWE
Nia Jax won the Queen of the Ring tournament last weekend in Saudi Arabia, and now she is lined up for a guaranteed championship match at SummerSlam. WWE has stated that Nia’s coronation ceremony will take place tonight on SmackDown, so we’ll see if her personality changes at all now that she’s officially the queen of WWE.
Jax had to get through both Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill in order to win the tournament. When you consider that Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley, two of the only women who can beat Nia in a fair fight, are gone from WWE for now, it stands to reason that Jax is now the most dangerous woman in the company.
WWE Women’s Champion Bayley looks to be in a world of trouble here, because she’s facing a rough couple of months where she’ll have to beat both Piper Niven (at Clash at the Castle) and Nia Jax (at SummerSlam) in order to make it through the summer with her championship reign intact.
Will Jax confront the champ tonight and laugh at her upcoming misery? Tune into SmackDown tonight to find out what Nia does in her first official act as queen of WWE.
The rest of tonight’s card
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes is scheduled to appear on SmackDown, where I assume he’ll want to talk about what’s next for him after defeating United States Champion Logan Paul in Saudi Arabia. Clash the Castle is coming up in three weeks so Cody will need to find a new opponent ASAP. Then again, Clash at the Castle already has local hero Drew McIntyre in the main event, so maybe Cody can take it easy for now or get it on with opponents who are a little lower down the card.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Last week’s episode of SmackDown ended with Kevin Owens showing up to save Randy Orton from The Bloodline. Will any other babyface join Kevin and Randy as they look to fight back against Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa?
– Speaking of Tonga Loa, he was originally going to have his WWE in-ring debut take place last week on SmackDown, but it turns out that he’s too dangerous for Saudi Arabia. If Albany, New York doesn’t give a shit about wrestler safety, perhaps Loa will make his in-ring debut tonight instead.
– AJ Styles desperately asked General Manager Nick Aldis for another title match against Cody Rhodes, but his request was denied. A frustrated Styles said he doesn’t have time for this, which some people have interpreted as a sign that retirement is looming. Will AJ take out his frustrations on Aldis, or will someone else backstage get under his skin?
– Carmelo Hayes is a young punk who has no respect for a veteran like LA Knight. Will these two end up fighting at Clash at the Castle, or is this a SmackDown TV match?
– Tiffany Stratton taunted Bianca Belair while The EST of WWE was icing her knee following a deflating loss in the Queen of the Ring tournament. I think Stratton will learn very quickly that it’s not wise to make an enemy of Belair.
– Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa and the Street Profits are pursuing WWE Tag Team Champions Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. The champs already retained their belts against Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins earlier this month in France, so perhaps it’s time for DIY to get their title shot.
– The members of Legado del Fantasma have their eyes on Andrade. I was hoping WWE creative would keep Andrade away from Legado for now, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
– Giovanni Vinci is totally screwed on this new SmackDown roster, isn’t he?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
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