WWE SmackDown preview (Sept. 29, 2023): John Cena doesn’t have any friends

SmackDown airs tonight (Sept. 29) with a live show from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. This is the fourth episode of SmackDown during the five week build towards Fastlane, which takes place on October 7.

John Cena doesn’t have any friends

It looked like John Cena was all set to team up with AJ Styles for a tag match against The Bloodline at Fastlane when disaster struck. Solo Sikoa and Jim Uso ambushed Styles backstage and sent him out in an ambulance, leaving John all alone for the contract signing.

Cena tried to stand up to The Bloodline all by himself, of course, but the numbers game was too much for him to handle. The heels beat the crap out of Cena, and nobody came out from the back to help him. It quickly became evident that John Cena doesn’t have any friends on the SmackDown roster.

Unless Cena can find a partner ASAP, it looks like he might be walking into a two-on-one match at Fastlane. If only there was a certain megastar in the back who no longer has COVID and might be able to lend John a helping hand tonight...

The title scene

United States Champion Rey Mysterio defends the belt tonight against fellow LWO member Santos Escobar. Will the loser be able to accept the outcome in peace, or will we start to see the first signs of cracks within the LWO?

WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY retained her belt last week against Asuka, thanks in part to an assist from Bayley. Charlotte Flair and Bayley got into it late in the fight, so they’ll have an actual match tonight to settle their issues. Will a victory for The Queen put her in position to challenge for SKY’s title?

WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and Finn Balor just barely escaped this week’s Raw with their championship reign intact after wrestling Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a rematch. Will they return to SmackDown to mark their new territory, or do they need a little bit of a break?

WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is a part-timer who isn’t booked for Fastlane and won’t appear on SmackDown again until after that event takes place. His next match will likely happen at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 4.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are taking credit for the curse of the WWE women’s tag team championship. Will Piper Niven and Chelsea Green make the trek over to SmackDown to try do something about it?

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- An irate Bobby Lashley is this week’s guest on Grayson Waller’s talk show. The All Mighty is demanding changes from the Street Profits after they lost last week’s match against Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar. Will Austin Theory join Waller in antagonizing Lashley and the Street Profits?

- Elton Prince has landed in a wheelchair thanks to his shoulder injury. What kind of antics will Pretty Deadly be up to tonight while Prince continues his recovery?

- What’s going on with Karrion Kross and his tease of a shitty new faction?

- It sounds like Sheamus is out with a really bad shoulder injury, which doesn’t bode well for the win-loss record of Ridge Holland and BUTCH on Friday nights.

- How much longer do we have to wait until a wrestler from Raw is officially moved over to SmackDown as trade compensation for Jey Uso?

What will you be looking for on SmackDown?