One contender down, one to go. Seth Rollins will be competing to be the inaugural WWE World Heavyweight Champion (this version of it, anyway) at Night of Champions, but he’s just one man who will fight for that honor, as Peter Cetera once said long ago, and needs someone to oppose him. That’s where tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown from Knoxville comes in.
Just like on Raw, there will be two Triple Threat matches with the winners advancing to face each other later in the night — and the winner of that match will face Rollins in Saudi Arabia. These bouts are absolutely stacked, including one with AJ Styles, Edge and Rey Mysterio. That’s two Hall of Famers and a future inductee in one match if you’re scoring at home.
The other three-way dance isn’t too shabby either, as it features Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley and Sheamus. There are a lot of ways WWE can go with the SmackDown winner, which is part of what makes it interesting. We picked Sheamus, and not to toot our own horn, but we also called Rollins moving on from Raw.
One very significant member of the SmackDown roster who isn’t in the title tourney is also going to appear on the show tonight. We’re talking, of course, about Roman Reigns, who already has plenty of gold of his own. What he doesn’t have is clarity within his Bloodline, as Solo Sikoa has been super reliable but The Usos certainly have not. Will the Tribal Chief address the mess in his own house — and will someone come forward to challenge him at Night of Champions?
It’s quite possible those answers will await us tonight on Fox. Tune in at 8 p.m. ET to see for yourself, or join us back here at Wrestling Junkie as we’ll be recapping all of the action live.