Preview for the November 8, 2013 episode of WWE Smackdown: Only love can break your heart

What you need to know

Did you know that Big Show is suing WWE? And that HHH and Stephanie McMahon agreed to lift the "lifetime ban" on the World's Largest Athlete and give him a shot at Randy Orton's WWE Championship at Survivor Series? Or that, after some technical difficulties and a distraction from the new Director of Operations, The Shield triple powerbombed the new #1 contender through the announce table?

Well, if you didn't, expect to be shown and told about it tonight on SyFy.

John Cena returned to Friday nights last week, and as his World Heavyweight Championship redemption tour (for the strap, not him) rolls on, he's been doggedly if not credibly pursued by Damien Sandow. The champ who is here has been doing a fair amount of palling around with the kings of the tag division, The Rhodes Brothers, wrestling by their side as their issues with The Real Americans escalate.

Curtis Axel returned from maybe being injured to lose a non-title match against Dolph Ziggler on Raw. Axel still owes Big E Langston a shot at his Intercontinental title, but maybe he can use the history between Ziggy and Biggy to his advantage, even though they're both fighting on the side of the angels now.

Whither fellow former(?) Heyman guys CM Punk and Ryback? Big Hungry is back to squashing jobbers for now, while the Straight-Edged Superstar has a problem with being jumped by hillbillies. So does a fellow internet wrestling community (IWC) darling, but we're not sure if Punk realizes that or not.

And Eva Marie is horrible. Never forget that.

What to look out for

From the heart of Flair country in Charlotte, NC...too bad Ric is on the outs with the powers-that-be. As always, previews are spoiler-free, but Cageside Seats can tell you all about what went down if you click right here.

Daniel Bryan continues his new life as not-a-contender-for-the-WWE title with his first sanctioned bout against a Wyatt Family member when he faces the First Son in one-on-one action tonight. Luke Harper already has an exciting win over a former Ring of Honor star on WWE programming this week; can he make it two? Or even, three? While it's unlikely that Punk will get any sanctioned revenge on the Fam, he's likely to make his presence felt tonight.

The WWE title has a match made for the November pay-per-view (PPV)...will John Cena get one tonight? In addition to the Intellectual Savior, former champ Alberto Del Rio has been stalking the Big Gold Belt. Could a triple threat be coming our way at Survivor Series?

Divas champion AJ Lee and her enforcer Tamina Snuka have to be reeling from their pinfall defeat at the hands of a Maxim model on Raw. With increased buzz around the in-ring skills of The Bella Twins and the return of a certain E! show this Sunday...well, I'm worried about what might happen, but expect the women to be featured tonight.

What they should do

I don't know if it makes me a good smark or a bad smark, but I've had a hard time getting excited about the WWE product this week. If the optimists who believe that Show's inclusion in the title scene is just to delay DB's inevitable rise to holding that championship for more than 24 hours, then, job well done, Creative. You've manipulated my emotions and caused me to feel sad for a semi-fictional character in a scripted competitive entertainment. If the pessimists are right and The Beard will Yes his way around the mid-card until next Summer or later, then, well, fudge.

Either way, it is bad for business to leave a chunk of your most passionate fans wondering if they should invest themselves in your product. Even if most of them end up sticking around, you don't want to drive any into "lapsed" status.

Great thing is, even if you're right that a run by Bryan at the top of the card isn't best for business, you can have your cake and eat it to. But they shouldn't waste too much time. He's gotten a measure of retribution for Hell in a Cell by tapping Shawn Michaels, and we've had a week of he and Punk being targeted by The Wyatts. Tonight's match-up of Harper and the Goatfaced Killah should be a good one, and shine a spotlight on where the workrate in this program is going to come from.

Building dramatic tension is great, but let's see a hot match and some mic work from the Eater of Worlds and the Second City Saint to start to give this thing some momentum.

It sure would ease the sting of the RK-Show title scene.

What we're afraid they will do

Mostly, that they'll let Eva Marie wrestle. But there's a small part (the bad smark part, most likely) that is worried that despite Nikki and especially Brie's improvements and AJ's going on a nearly two year streak of making the absolute most of whatever time WWE gives her, that the power of Total Divas will lead to the butterfly belt being worn by the red-haired beauty.

Based on the commercials we've been subjected to seen, her villainy is a focal point of the second half of the first season of the "reality" show. And they have slowly increased her screen time on the wrestling shows. Even the persistent and unsubstantiated rumors of "heat" on her backstage seem more like working the sheets than anything else.

Crap, the little devil smark on my shoulder just drowned out the little angel one on my other shoulder and convinced me Eva Marie is our next Divas champ.

Just don't let her talk. The only thing more grating than her "wrestling" is her voice.

Can Smackdown use the power of good wrestling and storytelling to heal our broken hearts?

Be sure to join the open thread, if you're watching. The Smackdown version is much less hectic than it's Monday night counterpart - there are even occasional pics and gifs!