Tonight, on the With Spandex WWE Smackdown Live open discussion thread:
After Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn interfered to cost Randy Orton and Team SmackDown the battle for brand supremacy at Survivor Series, The Viper was sent home from Houston to prevent him from unleashing his fury on the two. This Last week, Sami Zayn was barred from ringside by Shane McMahon for the match between his best friend Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, but Zayn defied the order, waiting until the bout spilled to the top of the stage and away from ringside to clobber The Viper with a steel chair, aiding KO in winning the bout. Will Zayn face any repercussions for his defiance? Find out on SmackDown LIVE, tonight at 8/7 C on USA Network! (via WWE.com)
Our five-point preview:
1. Shockingly, for the second straight week, Smackdown has booked their show in advance. Tonight, we’ll see Bobby Roode against Baron Corbin, the New Day versus Handsome Rusev and Aiden English, Charlotte Flair challenged by Tamina, and the Bludgeon Brothers will face an opponent to be determined. Like, I know we come here to make jokes and get depressed about how dumb wrestling can get sometimes, but this sort of advance preparation goes a long way in making the product watchable, so thanks, WWE creative.
2. Oh, right: Over the weekend, WWE announced via social media that both the U.S. and Tag championship matches at Clash Of Champions will each be triple threats — Corbin/Roode/Dolph Ziggler and the Usos/The New Day/Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin respectively. I don’t know about you, but the last person I would ever want anywhere near a threesome is Dolph Ziggler. So look forward to Dolph inserting himself into Corbin and Roode’s match tonight, I guess?
3. The main headline on WWE.com’s preview is “Will Sami Zayn face any consequences for his actions last week?” In case you need a refresher, Zayn got involved in a no-disqualification match, hitting Randy Orton with a chair and helping Kevin Owens win. Again: No. Disqualification. Match. I’m no David Otunga, but this looks like an open-and-shut case to me — which means we’ll see Sami eat a few RKOs and maybe a punt to the head for old time’s sake.
4. In a shocking reversal from Absolution’s actions on Monday Night Raw, The Riott Squad will surround a female competitor and Ruby Riott will tell them that she hates them, but that Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan say they’re actually okay, so they’ll all hug in the middle of the ring and then go get Pinkberry or something.
5. Stop the presses, y’all: There’s an official Happy Rusev Day T-shirt! Holiday shopping just got that much easier.
As always, we’re including 10 of our favorite comments from tonight’s open discussion thread in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of Smackdown column, so reply to your favorites with a +1 to nominate them for consideration. Enjoy the show!
