WWE SmackDown Preview: Undisputed Tag Team Titles Match, World Cup Debut, and More
WWE got the hype train for tonight's episode of SmackDown running early, as fans knew that The New Day would be challenging whoever left Crown Jewel as Undisputed Tag Team Champions. That ended up being The Usos, who defeated the Brawling Brutes to retain their Titles, and now they will face Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston later tonight. WWE also announced that there will be the debut of the SmackDown World Cup tonight, as well as a match to decide who will next challenge Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Throw in a possible Bray Wyatt appearance and a few other surprises and you've got yourself a big episode of SmackDown!
Last week WWE revealed that they would be introducing the first-ever SmackDown World Cup on this week's show, and at the time all we knew was that the tournament would feature 8 competitors. The entire lineup hasn't been revealed yet, but tonight will kick off the tournament with a showdown between Shinsuke Nakamura and Legado del Fantasmas' Santos Escobar.
Shinsuke joined Hit Row last week to help them battle Legado del Fantasma in a tag match, and now Nakamura will face Escobar one on one to move forward in the tournament. We also still don't know what the trophy will look like or if anything else is included as a reward for the winner, but hopefully, we'll get more clarity on that tonight.
The other big match of the night is a Six-Pack Challenge match that will decide who will next challenge Rousey for her Championship. The lineup includes Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Shotzi, Sonya Deville, Lacey Evans, and Xia Li, and outside of Xia, all of the other competitors have faced Rousey in singles matches at some point over the past year. Morgan had been feuding with Rousey previously, so perhaps this will continue that back and forth in some way.
Moving to the main event, Woods made sure to let The Usos know this is personal for them and that The New Day are intent on reclaiming the Tag Team Championships. These two teams have always been stellar in the ring when they collide, and tonight will likely be no different. It's difficult to see The Bloodline suffering a loss at the moment, but you never know what could happen.
Are you excited for SmackDown? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
