WWE SmackDown Live Preview – October 23, 2018

A quick reminder that it’s Evolution this Sunday. Yes. THIS SUNDAY.

On the SmackDown Live side of things for WWE‘s first ever all-women’s (except Michael Cole) pay-per-view event, the headliner is a Last Woman Standing match between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair for the former’s WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship. And no, it’s not the first ever Last Woman Standing match. It’s not even WWE‘s first ever Last Woman Standing match. Don’t let them trick you into thinking it is.

Despite that, it should be really good. Last week’s ‘Cutting Edge’ segment at SmackDown 1000 was great, and something you may have missed is this little altercation between champ and challenger at the WWE Performance Center, tweeted out on the NXT Twitter account earlier this week:

There was a physical altercation between @BeckyLynchWWE and @MsCharlotteWWE at the @WWEPerformCtr yesterday morning. @WWE and #SDLive officials are investigating the matter. pic.twitter.com/q275mHpZNC

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) October 21, 2018

This is a great way to add fuel to this particular fire, and talking of fire, I’m sure I speak on the half of the majority of people when I say that if ‘Straight Fire’ Becky Lynch doesn’t retain on Sunday, that will be a bit of a kick in the teeth.

This week, we’re likely to see some sort of fallout from the PC brawl, that will probably just result in another one.

And it’s downhill from there, really

Are you excited for the historic Battle Royal this Sunday, featuring stars from the past, present and future?! Nope, neither am I.

But, tonight on SmackDown Live, we’re gonna have a reason to, because we’re getting a FIRST TIME EVER match between… Naomi and Mandy Rose.

Ah.

“How has this match come about, then?” I hear you ask inquisitively pretending to care. Well, in a nutshell, Mandy Rose tweeted that she’s going to win the Battle Royal, and Naomi replied telling her that she isn’t. Riveting.

At least it’s not on a pre-show

The #BulgarianBrute @RusevBUL is out for payback as he goes one-on-one with @WWEDramaKing THIS TUESDAY on #SDLive! @LanaWWE https://t.co/pKWzRla76i

— WWE (@WWE) October 20, 2018

The rivalry between Rusev and Aiden English has been one of the main plot points of SmackDown Live in recent weeks.

The pair went from arguably the most popular act in the entire wrestling world to English pretending Lana was a dishonest wife, before making himself look like the biggest mug on the planet.

After weeks of drawn out accusations and tomfoolery, the ‘Shakespeare of Song’ cost Rusev his World Cup qualifier last week against the Miz, leading to the ‘Bulgarian Brute’ absolutely destroying his former tag team partner.

And now they’re going to have a match tonight. This is a clear example of why WWE‘s current pay-per-view/special event calendar is a bit wonky and is detrimental in many ways.

What are the odds on tonight’s match ending in a DQ or a roll-up?

Talking of WWE’s wonky pay-per-view situation…

Crown Jewel is scheduled for next Friday, and it is very much a mess.

The latest development in the ongoing controversy around the event are the reports that John Cena and Daniel Bryan are “refusing” to work the show, which, if true, is a bit of an issue for the blue brand.

This is because Bryan is set to square-off with AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at the November 2 event. Yes, you see the issue here.

Nonetheless, as evidenced by John Cena appearing in the hype for the World Cup last night on Raw, WWE is just soldiering on like none of this is happening, and tonight we’re getting an SD 1000 rematch in which the Usos – who were victorious last week – will take on Bryan and Styles in tag team action.

Last week it was miscommunication between the Crown Jewel opponents that cost them the match, so will we see a repeat of that this week?

Miz-terio TV

That sounded funnier in my head.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKxlWohd4w/?taken-by=mikethemiz

Rey Mysterio made his WWE return last week when he defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a World Cup qualifier in the main event, and will be The Miz’ guest on this week’s edition of Miz TV.

I guess that means we won’t be getting Truth TV this week. Sad face.

Miz is also a participant in the World Cup. As mentioned earlier, he defeated Rusev in his qualifier, so it will be very interesting to see how both men interact tonight.

Maybe we’ll end up with a Miz & Nakamura vs. Truth & Mysterio tag team match playas! And that, I would not mind seeing at all.

The Rest

• Why on earth did Big Show help the Bar win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships last week?
• Randy Orton will pretend last week’s Evolution reunion never happened
• Byron Saxton

What are you most looking forward to on tonight’s SmackDown Live? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter, or on Discord!

• rey mysterio
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