WWE had a pretty packed SmackDown last night, but next week’s episode is primed to be even bigger, as WWE revealed that next week’s SmackDown will be a supersized episode. The episode will extend by half an hour, which will also run it against the first half hour of AEW Rampage. SmackDown will be airing on FS1 though and not FOX due to the MLB Playoffs. As for what will actually be on the show, WWE is pulling out the big guns, including bringing in Brock Lesnar for an appearance, which they cued up perfectly in last night’s SmackDown during the Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman segment.
Reigns and Lesnar are set to face each other for the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel, and it’s likely that Heymans’ allegiences will also be put to the test here, so we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.
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Before they go to their separate brands, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks will have a non-title match during the episode, which comes after both of them were slammed through a table by Bianca Belair. Belair, Banks, and Lynch will meet at Crown Jewel in a battle for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a Triple Threat Match as well.
Next we’ll get the next round matchups for both the King of the Ring and Queens Crown tournaments. That will include semifinal matchups between Finn Balor and Sami Zayn for King of the Ring and Carmella and Zelina Vega for Queens Crown. We’ll have to wait and see who makes it through for Monday Night Raw’s side of the tournaments.
Then we’ll get Sonya Deville’s return to in-ring action. Deville hasn’t wrestled in WWE since her match against Mandy Rose at SummerSlam 2020, and when she did return to WWE she took on a General Manager role alongside Adam Pearce. She’s been great in the role, but she recently came into conflict with Naomi, who made a surprise SmackDown debut weeks ago but hasn’t actually wrestled yet.
Naomi has become increasingly frustrated with the situation, and that led Deville to revealing that she will face Naomi next week on SmackDown.
Overall it’s a pretty stellar lineup, and will be one of the last times we see some of these people on SmackDown due to the WWE Draft, which sent Belair, Lynch, The Street Profits, Morgan, Carmella, and Vega to Raw.
Are you excited for next week’s SmackDown? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
