SmackDown airs tonight (Oct. 2) with a live show emanating from Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. This is the ninth episode of SmackDown during the ten week build to Money in the Bank, which takes place on October 10.
WWE is running out of time to fix Blake Monroe’s very bad booking
WWE initially announced Blake Monroe’s call up to the main roster on the April 24 episode of SmackDown, nearly six months ago. Her debut appearance took place backstage one month later and lasted less than 20 seconds. She finally stepped foot in the ring on June 26 to attack Giulia. Now
it’s October, and we are still waiting for Monroe’s main roster debut match against Giulia.
GM Nick Aldis says the match will finally happen on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Plenty of fans remain skeptical about that being true, but we’re beyond the point where WWE needed to pull the trigger. If WWE’s goal was to make the in-ring debut of “The Glamour”‘ feel like a big deal, the strategy has largely backfired. That’s partially a result of Giulia being booked into the ground for much of 2026. WWE has drilled the message into its fans that Giulia is a low card talent who doesn’t matter, which makes it harder to care about Monroe’s debut match happening against her.
This isn’t the exact same way WWE rolled out Veer Mahaan onto the main roster years ago, but there are enough similarities there to wonder how much damage WWE has already done to Monroe. Winning a standard wrestling match tonight probably won’t be good enough to fix the problem. Monroe really needs to do something special tonight to captivate WWE fans and give them a reason to want to see more.
How quickly can Blake Monroe turn around the stalled momentum of her main roster run in WWE? Tune into her debut match tonight (assuming it isn’t canceled again) on SmackDown to find out.
The rest of the card
Tonight’s lineup also features the final two qualifiers for the Money in the Bank ladder match. The women’s match is Tiffany Stratton vs. Candice LeRae vs. Tatum Paxley. This is LeRae’s first match on SmackDown since February, and also her reward for helping Sami Zayn retain the WWE championship. Stratton looks like the favorite to win, which could make things more tense in her friendship with WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green.
The men’s qualifier is Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens vs. Johnny Gargano. Owens stayed out of CM Punk’s business during his qualifying match last week, so perhaps CM will keep his word to GM Nick Aldis and also stay out of KO’s way tonight. If so, the winner may come down to how effective WWE Champion Sami Zayn is at interfering on Gargano’s behalf, compared to how successful Randy Orton is at RKO’ing Rhodes outta nowhere. There are no disqualifications in a 3-way match, so this would all be perfectly legal.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Nikki Bella says she is a Hall of Fame legend who can skip the Money in the Bank line and just get an automatic title shot against WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green. Has anyone asked GM Nick Aldis about this? Is WWE planning to book Green vs. Bella for the Money in the Bank PLE, or is the idea to run it on a future episode of SmackDown?
– Damian Priest has yet to wrestle a match since turning heel on R-Truth last month. Is there a big overhaul coming to Priest’s presentation the next time he walks down the aisle for a fight?
– Will Charlotte Flair and Jade Cargill resume their feud now that they aren’t in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match? Are they both gunning for either Jacy Jayne’s United States championship or Fatal Influence’s WWE women’s tag team championship?
– What adjustment has Bakusai made to prepare for Haku’s interference the next time they face WWE Tag Team Champions MFT?
– GUNTHER and Finn Balor are probably branching out into their own feud after they both failed to qualify for Money in the Bank last week. Can Balor convince Danhausen to curse this gooner ASAP?
– After losing last week’s blowoff steel cage match against United States Champion Trick Williams, is it Baron Corbin’s turn to be relegated to one of this week’s digital exclusive segments instead of making the cut for TV tonight?
– Do the War Raiders have any interest in helping Ricky Saints win the AAA world cruiserweight championship from Rey Fenix?
– How obnoxious will the Irresistible Forces be now that Lash Legend is in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match?
– WWE’s web site is advertising a 6-man tag team match tonight pitting The Bloodline’s Jacob Fatu and The Usos against Royce Keys’ 946 faction. I guess Jacob Fatu wasn’t hurt too badly by Jaida Parker’s car on Raw after all. This is likely a dark match, if it’s even happening.
– Where the f*** are Carmelo Hayes and Jordynne Grace?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
