Heading into the day of the show, WWE had only promised some storyline updates for the April 23 SmackDown.
In an official WWE.com preview posted this afternoon, they’ve fleshed those out a bit more - and announced a championship match. We don’t know who the challenger will be yet, though.
.@WWEApollo will defend the #ICTitle TONIGHT on #SmackDown! https://t.co/BLDJPgfVk3 pic.twitter.com/YpUDkORbKv
— WWE (@WWE) April 23, 2021
In the wake of his controversial victory over Big E at WrestleMania, new Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews will put his title on the line tonight with the menacing Commander Azeez in his corner.
The brutal Crews stands as the pride of his Nigerian ancestors. Who will dare oppose him for the illustrious title?
E is coming for revenge after Azeez (fka Dabba-Kato) appeared during the no disqualification Nigerian Drum Fight on Sun., April 11 at Raymond James Stadium, but he probably won’t be tonight’s challenger. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him show up during or after Crews’ first title defense, however. That WrestleMania Backlash rematch isn’t just gonna book itself, you know.
WWE’s also teasing an answer to “Who is left to challenge The Head of the Table?” after Seth Rollins took Cesaro’s focus temporarily off Universal champion Roman Reigns. They’re that “the era of SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair begins” tonight, too.
Join us in our live blog for all that, plus whatever else Vince McMahon & team cook-up... and the debut of Megan Morant!