SmackDown
airs tonight (Nov. 6) with a taped show (spoilers here) emanating from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This is the final episode of SmackDown during the four week build to Crown Jewel, which takes place tomorrow (Nov. 7) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.CM Punk and Kevin Owens have a great reason for not going on WWE’s very dumb flight to Saudi Arabia
TKO / WWE has no problem sending its wrestlers and crew on a flight to a dangerous war zone in Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel, because shareholders are getting nervous about WWE missing out on that 55 to 60 million dollar payday from the Saudi government.
In theory, a show with that kind of money on the line should feature some of the biggest matches WWE creative can come up with. The No Holds Barred rematch between CM Punk and Kevin Owens qualifies as that kind of fight, but it’s instead happening on tonight’s episode of SmackDown in Brooklyn. You see, Punk and Owens hate each other so much and want to end each other’s careers so badly that there is just no way they can wait one more day and get on a flight to Saudi Arabia to do it. That’s smart.
It didn’t sound like Owens and Punk were all that interested in even doing this match two weeks ago when they reluctantly sat down with GM Nick Aldis to talk about it. But last week’s hype video made it clear that KO wants to make WWE a better place by permanently getting rid of CM from the promotion. And Punk is now fuming after KO cost him the NXT championship match against Grayson Waller this week.
Punk defeated Owens back in August thanks to an assist from Sami Zayn. Will someone else interfere this time to influence the outcome, or is it up to Owens to figure out how to get his win back on Punk all by himself with No Holds Barred? Tune into SmackDown tonight to find out.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Cody Rhodes was so fired up in his promo addressing Randy Orton last week that WWE commentators were concerned his blind rage could be his undoing at Crown Jewel. Then on this week’s Raw, Cody just stood there and did nothing while Orton verbally ran him down. Which version of Rhodes will appear on SmackDown tonight as the two stars get ready to punt each other’s heads off in a Last Man Standing match in Saudi Arabia?
– Speaking of saying nothing, WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green didn’t have enough time to respond last week when Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan called her a joke champion who was lucky to barely score a win over Nikki Bella. Will Green get some mic time tonight to address Morgan’s harsh words before they fight for the Crown Jewel championship in Saudi Arabia? If Chelsea does lure Liv out to the ring, will it be a ploy for Tiffany Stratton to successfully cash in her Money in the Bank contract on Green Morgan this time?
– WWE Champion Sami Zayn crossed the line on this week’s Raw when he snuck in a Helluva Kick on World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns following a beatdown from 946. How will Sami justify his actions tonight if The Bloodline comes to SmackDown looking for answers (or violence)?
– Damian Priest is very frustrated by the fact that United States Champion Trick Williams received a shot at the WWE championship last week, which is a title that Damian has never sniffed. Does this mean that El Malo is coming after Trick very soon?
– It looks like Blake Monroe is on a collision course with Paige as both women are trying to position themselves for a future title shot. With The Glamour seemingly moving on to a new feud, where does this leave Giulia?
– Danhausen helped bring back Finn Balor’s Demon form to beat the shit out of GUNTHER last week. Was the return of The Demon just a one time thing to help celebrate Halloween, or is WWE about to officially book GUNTHER vs. The Demon at Crown Jewel?
– Does Fatal Influence need to beat Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley to earn a shot at WWE Women’s Tag team Champions Michin and B-Fab? When will Charlotte Flair return to get a piece of Jade Cargill’s ass?
– After Kyoki stole Haku’s stick a couple weeks ago, what kind of unpredictable chaos does Bakusai have in store for WWE Tag Team Champions MFT tonight?
– Does Ricky Saints fall to the back of the line after failing yet again to defeat AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix last week? Will they both be part of a Team USA vs. Team Mexico match at Survivor Series?
– The Miz finally ended his losing 40+ match losing streak with a tag team win over Fraxiom on WWE’s C-Show. Can the A-Lister now find a jabroni to beat for his first singles victory since early 2024?
– Where the f*** is Jordynne Grace?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
