SmackDown airs tonight (July 25) with a live show emanating from Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the second episode of SmackDown during the three week build towards SummerSlam, which takes place on the weekend of August 2 & 3.
WWE has an LA Knight problem on its hands
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about what really happened with Seth Rollins’ injury from a couple weeks ago at Saturday Night’s Main Event. But regardless of which aspects of it are a shoot or a work, the bottom line is that LA Knight has no creative
direction for SummerSlam now that Seth is on crutches and off WWE programming.
The megastar does have some beef with Seth’s henchmen Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker, but those guys already have their SummerSlam plates full with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. The PLE is here in just eight days, so LA needs to find a new creative plan ASAP in order to land a match on the two-night card.
The megastar pretty much has to address this problem on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Will he confront General Manager Nick Aldis and propose an idea like beating former TNA Champion Joe Hendry in three minutes at MetLife Stadium? Or will another heel on the SmackDown roster force the issue by getting involved in LA’s business tonight? Could LA be thrown into Jacob Fatu’s story against Solo Sikoa’s MFTs?
Tune into SmackDown tonight to see what WWE is cooking up for the megastar, if anything, at the biggest party of the summer.
The rest of the card
Jelly Roll is back on SmackDown this week to continue his SummerSlam celebrity angle with Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, and YouTube douchebag Logan Paul. Roll has already taken one Claymore from McIntyre. Can Drew find a way to inflict even more punishment on Jelly tonight, or will RK-Roll send the heels packing?
Andrade and Rey Fenix are the hottest tag team on the blue brand and have pretty much beaten all the non-champions. Now they go for the gold tonight against WWE Tag Team Champions Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy of the Wyatt Sicks. Is it time for the Wyatts to demonstrate that Fenix and Andrade are nothing special, just like all the other teams they’ve dominated on SmackDown? Will former champions Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins try to ruin the end of this title match?
Alexa Bliss has a singles match tonight against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Roxanne Perez. Whose ringside ally (Charlotte Flair or Raquel Rodriguez, respectively) will make the bigger difference in helping their partner win ahead of the title match at SummerSlam?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
- WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton defends the gold against Jade Cargill at SummerSlam. This story has lost some steam now that Naomi is gone from SmackDown after cashing in her Money in the Bank contract at Evolution 2. Jade and Tiffany only got the video package treatment last week, so WWE needs to come up with a compelling in-ring angle for them tonight.
- WWE Champion John Cena and Cody Rhodes are not both under one roof tonight, because Cena is a part-timer who has better things to do than appear on this episode of SmackDown. Will Rhodes cut a promo on his SummerSlam opponent and reveal that he changed their rematch to a Street Fight because now he can do Sonic Booms and Flash Kicks?
- Damian Priest tried to beat the shit out of Carmelo Hayes last week, but he was instead laid out by Aleister Black once again. Will Priest vs. Black be made official for SummerSlam?
- Is Stephanie Vaquer available tonight to beat another member of Chelsea Green’s Secret Hervice?
- United States Champion Solo Sikoa thought he was so smart last week when he staged a car crash in an attempt to get Jacob Fatu locked up by the police. Fatu had the last laugh when the video evidence caused Solo’s plan to blow up in his face. What kind of convoluted scheme will Solo concoct tonight to target Jacob now that they are scheduled to battle over the belt inside a steel cage at SummerSlam?
- Kiana James was spotted on last week’s episode having a conversation with Women’s United States Champion Giulia. Will we find out what they were talking about?
- WWE legend Hulk Hogan died yesterday at 71 years old. He’s arguably the biggest star in WWE history, so there will surely be an appropriate remembrance of Hulkamania during tonight’s show.
- Where the f*** is Shinsuke Nakamura?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
More from cagesideseats.com:
- Not everyone is marking out about Eva Marie’s return
- Mansoor’s Raw Debut was classic WWE
- Is this who caught Lilly’s eye?
- Former WWE champs face off on (checks notes) Main Event
- Yes, Angel Garza shoved a rose up Drew Gulak’s butt on Raw
- Raw recap & reactions: Flip the switch
- Flair already added to title match at WrestleMania Backlash
- EVA MARIE IS BACK
