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 week, there will be no hiding from the seething Apex Predator for Owens, as the two will meet in one-on-one competition. What will happen when Orton gets his hands on Owens? Find out tonight on SmackDown LIVE at 8/7 C on USA Network! (via WWE.com)
Our five-point preview:
1. Incredibly, Smackdown has already announced a full card tonight. We’re getting Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton, AJ Styles in a handicap match against the Singh brothers, the New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable and the in-ring debuts of Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan in six-woman action against Charlotte, Natalya and Naomi. A wrestling program announcing their card in advance, instead of waiting for random wrestlers to saunter out to the ring to challenge one another — what a novel concept!
2. Regarding point No. 1, there is absolutely zero way all four of those matches happen as planned tonight. If last week’s Groundhog Day scenario is any indication, Ruby, Liv and Sarah will jump Nattie and Naomi backstage before beating up Charlotte in the ring. They will also call their team The Resistance, or maybe Black Holes & Revelations.
3. The Bludgeon Brothers debuted last week, then they lost their first names immediately afterward. Let’s hope they lose their cranberry sauce outfits next, followed by their hammers. (Seriously, how dumb is a “We carry hammers!” gimmick? This isn’t CZW, those things are useless here!)
4. Is Baron Corbin still feuding with Sin Cara? God, I hope not. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Shinsuke Nakamura will start the chase tonight.
5. In case you missed them in the lumberjack match melee on last week’s Smackdown, somehow, the Colons are still a tag team that is apparently employed by WWE. How many times a week do you think they send calls from the 203 area code to voicemail? I’m guessing at least four.
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!
