Tonight, on the With Spandex WWE Smackdown Live open discussion thread for May 23, 2017:
Jinder Mahal stunned the WWE Universe at WWE Backlash when he defeated Randy Orton to capture the WWE Championship. How will The Maharaja follow up on his historic championship win? With a celebration! See Jinder Mahal’s incredible Punjabi Celebration tonight on SmackDown LIVE at 8/7 C on USA Network! — via WWE.com
Our five-point preview:
1. Jinder Mahal is your WWE Champion. No, really! He’s planning on throwing a “Punjabi Celebration” on Tuesday night’s Smackdown Live. We’re not sure what that entails, but it’s pretty much guaranteed to be more fun than the Festival of Friendship was. The Jinder Era begins here.
2. Shinsuke Nakamura finally made his in-ring debut, and just wrestled the same match everyone else wrestles. Now that we don’t have to put off him actually wrestling for five weeks, hopefully he’ll mix it up on tonight’s episode. Aiden English probably needs something to do, after all.
3. The Usos need new No. 1 contenders to their titles. Who could it be? WHO?! WHO?! WHO?! Yeah, the New Day are almost certainly returning tonight. Prepare for a grand return slash Smackdown debut that will hopefully be much more entertaining than either Old Day or Sonny Boy. PRAY FOR THAT.
4. AJ Styles came up just short of capturing the United States Championship, so he’ll probably continue to gun for The New Face Of America, Kevin Owens. Maybe Owens will be magnanimous and give a title shot to a worthy contender, like James Ellsworth.
5. Shane McMahon has promised a big announcement for Money in the Bank on this episode. But “big announcement” in WWE never really means big announcement, so he’s probably announcing they’re cancelling Money in the Bank to make room for a new PPV called WOMP BOMP A LOO BOP or something.
Also happening tonight is the hot new show dedicated entirely to cruiserweights, 205 Live. Feel free to use this as your one-stop party shop for Tuesday night wrestling shenanigans, and be back here tomorrow for the full Best and Worst of Smackdown Live.
