5 possible surprises for WWE SmackDown
The Road to WrestleMania 40 will continue on tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown. The show will take place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
So far, WWE has announced two matches and one segment for the show.
DIY will face off against Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate for a shot at the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at Elimination Chamber, while Bianca Belair and Michin will battle for a spot in the Women's Elimination Chamber match.
Moreover, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis will announce United States Champion Logan Paul's next challenger on the show.
With just about two weeks left until the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event, WWE may have some surprises planned to create more hype on the Road to WrestleMania.
Let's take a look at five possible surprises WWE may have planned for tonight's SmackDown.
#5. Nick Aldis announces a United States Championship Elimination Chamber match
It is clear at this point that Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins will not defend their titles at Elimination Chamber this year.
The Tribal Chief is already booked to face Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania this year. On the other hand, WWE has not announced an Elimination Chamber match to determine Seth Rollins' opponent at The Show of Shows so far.
The company may be planning to surprise fans by having an Elimination Chamber match for the United States Championship instead.
Kevin Owens already stated on last week's episode of SmackDown that he is not done with Logan Paul, so he and Paul would probably be in the match.
Grayson Waller could be a part of the match as he is from Australia. Other names like Randy Orton, Solo Sikoa and Bronson Reed, who is another Australian, could join the match.
#4. Dakota Kai turns on IYO SKY and The Kabuki Warriors
On last week's episode of SmackDown, 2024 Women's Royal Rumble winner Bayley discovered that WWE Women's Champion IYO SKY and Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors were planning to betray her.
The Role Model chose SKY as her opponent at WrestleMania, after which her former Damage CTRL stablemates tried to take her out. However, they were not successful and Bayley was the last one standing tall.
It is likely that they will try to get payback from The Role Model tonight, so Bayley would probably need some backup.
Dakota Kai could return tonight to join forces with Bayley after she tricks IYO SKY, Asuka and Kairi Sane into believing that she will side with them.
Fans expect Kai to turn on Bayley due to her betrayal of Tegan Nox in the past, but the former Women's Tag Team Champion turning babyface would be a good twist in the story.
She has been out of action since May 2023 due to a torn ACL and recently gave an update on herself, and it seems like she will be back in the ring soon.
#3. WWE decides to split the Undisputed Tag Team Titles
WWE merged the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championships in May 2022 when The Usos defeated RK-Bro to capture the RAW Tag Team Titles in a Title Unification match.
There have been reports over the past several months about the company wanting to split the titles ahead of WrestleMania 40.
Since Triple H took over as Chief Content Officer of WWE, the Stamford-based promotion has managed to build a pretty stacked tag team division on both of its flagship brands, so having separate tag titles on both brands is quite possible now.
The Judgment Day could interrupt the match between DIY and the team of Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, which may plant the seeds for the titles to be split.
Finn Balor and Damian Priest could defend the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate and the RAW Tag Team Titles against DIY heading into WrestleMania.
#2. Bron Breakker signs with SmackDown
Bron Breakker put on an impressive showing in the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble match as he eliminated stars like Jimmy Uso, Finn Balor, Omos, and Ivar.
On last week's episode of SmackDown, the former NXT Champion was offered a main roster contract by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis.
There is a possibility that Breakker may agree to join the blue brand tonight, as there is not much left for him to do in NXT now.
WWE could have Breakker come out to set his sights on the United States Championship when Nick Aldis announces Logan Paul's next opponent.
#1. Cody Rhodes gets traded to SmackDown for LA Knight
At the WrestleMania XL Kickoff press event, Cody Rhodes made the big decision to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania for the second straight year in a row.
The American Nightmare's decision infuriated The Rock as well as The Tribal Chief, as the cousins wanted to face each other at The Show of Shows.
After Rhodes' big decision, there is nothing left for him to do on RAW, so WWE could permanently move him to SmackDown as he will be feuding with Reigns and Rock on the Road to WrestleMania.
One of the ways the company could do this is by having Nick Aldis trade one of his top stars with Adam Pearce in return for Rhodes.
LA Knight, who is one of the biggest babyfaces in the company, would be a good contender to join RAW.
While speaking on the In The Kliq podcast recently, Knight stated that he considers Reigns "The Guy" in WWE over World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.
"Look, for me, again, I never got into this to be a background player. I want to be the guy and in order to do that, I need to be the champion. I need to be the WWE Champion, 'THE guy.' Right now, I feel like Roman Reigns is holding that role. Some could say it's Seth Rollins, but I look at that streak that Roman Reigns is on and he's holding, and I want that."
This could lead to a feud between Knight and Rollins heading into the Show of Shows.
The Visionary does not have an opponent for The Show of Shows yet. His persuading Knight to face him would make for an interesting feud that would surely catch the interest of fans who have been calling for a Knight push since last year.