SmackDown airs tonight (Sept. 30) with a live show from Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This is the fourth SmackDown episode during the five week build towards Extreme Rules, which takes place on Oct. 8.
SmackDown could be in disarray thanks to Hurricane Ian
It’s SmackDown’s turn to deal with the consequences of Hurricane Ian. As a result, there may be a lot of late changes to the show tonight.
As of last weekend, WWE advertised three matches for this episode.
First up is Shotzi vs. Bayley. This match came about after a couple weeks of Shotzi taking Aliyah’s spot and helping Raquel Rodriguez fend off Damage CTRL.
Next up is Hit Row vs. Los Lotharios. Dolla and Adonis are looking for revenge after Angel & Humberto ruined their party last week.
Finally, Ricochet & Madcap Moss are teaming up to take on Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa. The babyfaces were laid out by The Bloodline last week, setting up this match.
These fights were all booked before Hurricane Ian touched Florida. WWE has not announced any new segments or matches over the course of this week.
It sounds like WWE is very worried that the storm will prevent some wrestlers from traveling out of Florida to make it into Winnipeg for tonight’s show. A few wrestlers may have traveled to Canada earlier than usual to get around this issue, but tonight’s card could be in disarray depending on which wrestlers are unable to make it to the show.
More so than normal, I’d say this card is subject to change as a result of the storm.
The title scene
SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan actually requested an Extreme Rules match against Ronda Rousey at Extreme Rules. Rousey is supremely confident that she will take the belt off of Liv in Philadelphia, even after watching Liv annihilate Lacey Evans with a kendo stick and a table last week.
Women’s Tag Team Champions IYO SKY and Dakota Kai are expected to be in the house tonight, standing ringside to provide backup for Bayley in tonight’s match against Shotzi.
Intercontinental Champion Gunther will defend his title against Sheamus next week in a rematch from Clash at the Castle. Will the Brawling Brutes or Imperium get the last laugh tonight ahead of next week’s championship bout?
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has a match coming up in November in Saudi Arabia against Logan Paul. Neither Paul nor Reigns are booked for Extreme Rules, so they are both unlikely to appear on SmackDown tonight.
The Usos are the undisputed WWE tag team champions but they don’t have to worry about defending the titles tonight. That’s because they don’t work Canada.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
- Drew McIntyre and Karrion Kross will try to settle their issues in a Strap Match at Extreme Rules. I think fireballs are legal in that kind of match, so Karrion Kross and Scarlett still have some time left to figure out how to throw them correctly.
- Braun Strowman scored a massive ratings win last week in his match against Otis. The Monster Among Men still has Chad Gable in his sights after taking out Chad’s top student in Alpha Academy.
- Max Dupri may have reached a tipping point with all of the losses that are piling up for Maximum Male Models. Are we on the verge of LA Knight’s return?
- The Viking Raiders’ push has stalled out now that Erik is apparently injured.
- Has anybody seen Happy Corbin or JBL?
- Lacey Evans hasn’t found any success in the ring since she returned to WWE television a couple weeks ago.
- For what it’s worth, the Events page of WWE’s web site is advertising Raw wrestlers Matt Riddle and Austin Theory for tonight’s card.
- We might learn the identity of the person behind the White Rabbit gimmick at Extreme Rules. Will there be any new and interesting twists on these teases before then?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
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