6 Surprises At WWE SmackDown After WrestleMania 42

Published: 4 hours ago by SP3 | Last Updated: 4 hours ago by SP3

Born in Harlem, New York and now living in the Bronx, Sid Pullar III aka SP3 is a lifelong wrestling fan who has been covering the industry for over nine years as a podcaster and writer. His passion for the industry has been documented with over 3,000 videos on YouTube and 8,000 written pieces across multiple outlets, such as WrestleTalk, Sports Illustrated and more.

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WWE

The April 24 edition of Friday Night SmackDown will serve as the show’s first episode since WrestleMania 42.

Coming off the heels of “The Showcase of the Immortals,” fans should expect some surprises throughout the night on Friday night.

From new storyline directions to main roster debuts, there is plenty that could go down on SmackDown this week from Fort Worth, Texas.

Here are six potential surprises at WWE SmackDown After WrestleMania 42.

6. Solo Sikoa and The MFTs turn on Tama Tonga

Tama Tonga was the first man brought into Solo Sikoa’s version of the Bloodline in the fallout of WrestleMania 40

Over the past few months, fans have seen Tama Tonga start to stand out on his own away from his stablemates in The MFTs.

Despite staying loyal to Solo Sikoa, Tama has been picking up singles wins and even chose to hand over the sacred lantern stolen by The MFTs back to The Wyatt Sicks.

Then on the April 17 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Solo stole the pinfall away from Tama during The MFTs’ win over The Wyatt Sicks in an eight-man tag team Street Fight.

After weeks of dissension and issues, Solo and The MFTs could turn on Tama and excommunicate him from the group on the SmackDown After WrestleMania 42.

5. Sami Zayn embraces his villain arc after losing the United States Championship at WrestleMania 42

Sami Zayn has slowly been undergoing a heel turn on WWE SmackDown since defeating Carmelo Hayes for the United States Championship

Heading into WrestleMania 42, Sami Zayn has been garnering some boos from the fans that once loved him.

Following his win over Carmelo Hayes to capture the United States Championship, Zayn stopped receiving a positive reaction from the fans despite maintaining his babyface characteristics.

Meanwhile, Zayn’s rival Trick Williams has garnered loud cheers from the audience every time he appears. This led to Williams defeating Zayn to win the US Title at WrestleMania 42.

Now that Manis is in the rearview mirror, Zayn should fully embrace his villain arc and the response from the fans by becoming heel obsessed with finally winning a world title for the first time in WWE.

4. Ricky Saints makes main roster debut by aligning with Royce Keys

Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs making AEW entrance

Ricky Saints and Royce Keys were both part of Team Taz together in AEW

The Raw and SmackDown episodes following WrestleMania are known for seeing NXT stars making their debuts on the main roster.

On the April 20 WWE Raw After WrestleMania 42, Ethan Page, Joe Hendry and Sol Ruca either made their debut or were confirmed to now be part of the red brand moving forward.

This means the April 24 Friday Night SmackDown should also see some NXT talent making their debut as well.

Ricky Saints making the jump to the blue brand and joining forces with his former Team Taz stablemate Royce Keys could make this pair of AEW stars a force to be reckoned with in the weeks and months to come.

3. Jacy Jayne gets called up to the WWE main roster

Jacy Jayne’s second reign as NXT Women’s Champion came to an end back at Stand & Deliver

At the April 14 NXT Revenge Week 1 show, Lola Vice defeated Jacy Jayne to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.

After losing the top prize of the NXT women’s division, it feels like Jayne is more than ready to make the jump to the main roster.

Whether it be alongside her Fatal Influence stablemates or on her own, Jayne should be someone who could make an immediate impact on Friday Night SmackDown.

With Rhea Ripley now holding the WWE Women’s Championship, Jayne’s addition would certainly make the SmackDown women’s scene even more interesting in the fallout of WrestleMania 42.

2. CM Punk officially joins the Friday Night SmackDown roster to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes met in a face to face in-ring promo the night before WrestleMania 42

On the April 20 WWE Raw After WrestleMania 42, Cody Rhodes came out to interrupt CM Punk’s post-Mania promo.

Wondering why Punk was so calm following his loss, Rhodes was confused by how calm “The Best In The World” was, while he felt and looked like a loser despite retaining his Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton at “The Show of Shows.”

After giving Rhodes some words of encouragement, Punk let it be known that his eyes were on his friend’s championship gold.

Now that he lost the World Heavyweight Championship, Punk might need a fresh new scenery and could make the jump to Friday Night SmackDown where he can take Cody up on his offer for “just saying when” he wants his shot at the gold.

1. Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton undergo a double turn

Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes at WWE WrestleMania 42

Although Cody Rhodes retained the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42, Randy Orton was the last man standing

At WrestleMania 42 Night One, Cody Rhodes defeated Randy Orton to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

During the course of the match, it felt like Rhodes was the heel, while Orton was more of a sympathetic heel throughout the bout.

While Orton would affirm his status as a diabolical heel with a post-match attack that saw him punt Rhodes, the company could still go in the direction of pulling the trigger on a double turn on the WWE SmackDown After WrestleMania 42.

Rhodes turning heel would embrace the reaction he’s been getting from the fans as of late, while Orton going back to his babyface role would go with how the audience has been reacting to him even after his heel turn ahead of Mania.