SmackDown airs tonight (Mar. 6) with a live show emanating from Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the seven week build to WrestleMania 42,
which takes place on the weekend of April 18 and 19.WWE is forcing Cody Rhodes into the WrestleMania main event, whether you like it or not
Cody Rhodes surprisingly failed to win both the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches, which means he doesn’t get to challenge for the WWE championship at WrestleMania 42. But why bother challenging for the belt at WrestleMania when you can just win it on SmackDown
a few weeks ahead of time?
Cody has the chance to do exactly that tonight thanks to GM Nick Aldis, who is punishing WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for screwing Rhodes over in the Rumble and Chamber. Now it’s McIntyre vs. Rhodes for the gold in a singles match tonight; the winner walks into WrestleMania 42 as champion to defend against Elimination Chamber winner Randy Orton.
On the one hand, some folks might look at Drew’s constant interference and say he’s getting exactly what he deserves for not heeding Nick’s warnings. On the other hand, I wonder why isn’t Jacob Fatu getting the same opportunity as Rhodes? Aldis assumes that Drew is the one who took out Fatu in a backstage attack last October, and Drew also screwed Fatu out of qualifying for the Elimination Chamber multiple times. Nick already promised Jacob that he will give him Drew, but he just needs to be patient. Aldis rewarded Jacob’s patience by…giving Cody a title match against Drew first?
Something doesn’t add up here. The sudden booking decision to put Cody in this title match, just minutes after he lost in the Elimination Chamber, comes off as WWE’s way of forcing the golden boy into the other main event of WrestleMania 42. Rhodes looks like the favorite to reclaim the gold tonight, unless Fatu and/or others get involved for a DQ finish.
For whatever it’s worth, Drew says his legal team is trying to have tonight’s match “fixed,” which in this context I think means canceled. If that doesn’t happen and the match proceeds as scheduled, Drew said he does have a game plan in mind for retaining the belt. He will have to be the smartest guy in the room again to escape with the belt this time.
Will it be Drew McIntyre or Cody Rhodes who walks into WrestleMania 42 as the WWE champion? Tune into SmackDown tonight to find out.
The rest of the card
Uncle Howdy beat Solo Sikoa last week, but he couldn’t secure the Wyatt family lantern afterwards due do an MFT attack. Aldis says new number one contenders for MFT’s WWE tag team championship will be determined tonight, but he didn’t specify who is involved or how it will go down. Will someone large like Royce Keys come out and make it a moot point by destroying every jabroni tag team in the mix?
Rhea Ripley is heading to SmackDown tonight after winning the Elimination Chamber and earning a title match at WrestleMania 42 against WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill. Assuming Ripley and Cargill have a promo battle tonight, will they continue the talking points from their awkward social media beef this week that some news outlets say is a work and others say is real?
Lash Legend and Nia Jax won the WWE women’s tag team championship last week, and they plan to have a celebration tonight on SmackDown. Will Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss crash the party and challenge the Irresistible Forces to a title match at WrestleMania? What about the Bella Twins? Where the f*** have they been over the last month?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Tiffany Stratton doesn’t have an obvious path to a match at WrestleMania after coming up short in the Elimination Chamber. Will she find a path by sticking her nose in the business of United States Champion Giulia?
– What does Randy Orton have to say after sticking Cody with an RKO to win the Elimination Chamber match? Does Orton have to finish dealing with Aleister Black and Zelina Vega while Cody and Drew figure out who is walking into WrestleMania as WWE champion?
– Sami Zayn is a frustrated loser who keeps blaming other babyfaces for his own shortcomings, before coming to his senses and immediately apologizing. After giving that kind of treatment to Rhodes and Fatu in recent weeks, which babyface will Sami yell at and then weakly apologize to tonight? Does Trick Williams plan to be conveniently standing there so he can rub it in Sami’s loser face afterwards?
– Even though Oba Femi is now dealing with Rusev on Raw, does he still plan to come over to SmackDown to kick the shit out of a low card heel like The Miz or Kit Wilson again?
– Did the mystery assailant who attacked Jey Uso last week follow him back over to Raw, or is the culprit still hanging out on SmackDown waiting for his next victim?
– Does Ilja Dragunov need to build up some momentum before he is willing to accept another open challenge from United States Champion Carmelo Hayes? Will Tama Tonga answer the call in the meantime?
– Jordynne Grace bounced back with a win over Candice LeRae last week, thanks in part to Johnny Gargano being useless at ringside. What can LeRae do to get Johnny Wrestling to snap out of this funk?
– Michin is back on SmackDown and wants a title match against Jade Cargill. Will she force the issue by interrupting whatever segment Jade has going on with Rhea tonight?
– Does Danhausen plan to make his SmackDown debut tonight and curse someone on the blue brand?
– Where the f*** are the Street Profits?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
