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The latest episode of WWE SmackDown Live will take place at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, April 30.
One of the biggest stories heading into the show involves Kevin Owens, who shockingly attacked WWE champion Kofi Kingston, as well as Xavier Woods, last week following a short-lived run as an honorary member of The New Day.
WWE has announced that Kingston will discuss the incident during an exclusive interview on SmackDown Live, and it has also been confirmed that Raw and SmackDown Women’s champion Becky Lynch will go one-on-one with Bayley.
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Roman Reigns is advertised to make an appearance after he was ambushed last week by Elias and Shane McMahon, while the blue brand’s representatives in the men’s and women’s Money In The Bank ladder matches will be revealed.
Elsewhere on the show, SmackDown Tag Team champion Matt Hardy has said in a video on social media that both he and Jeff Hardy will address Jeff’s injury status on this week’s broadcast.
In this article, let’s take a look at five possible scenarios that we could see during the episode.
#5 Kevin Owens demands a WWE Championship match
In WWE’s storylines, Kofi Kingston overcoming multiple obstacles before defeating Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 was a story that was told to near perfection.
In reality, the original plan for WrestleMania 35 was for Kevin Owens to return from his injury as one of the top babyfaces on SmackDown Live just in time to build up enough momentum to challenge Bryan for the WWE title at the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
Needless to say, while the WWE Universe enjoyed the rise of KofiMania, Owens had more reason than most to feel bitter about Kingson’s sudden success, so it is no wonder he made his feelings clear on last week’s SmackDown Live by attacking someone who appeared to be his ally.
Given that Money In The Bank is only three weeks away, now seems like the right time for Owens to demand a WWE Championship opportunity, likely during Kingston’s exclusive interview, to set up this match for the next PPV.
#4 Becky Lynch and Bayley steal the show
WWE’s preview of SmackDown Live is suggesting that Becky Lynch will face “one of the toughest matches of her career” when she goes one-on-one with Bayley on this week’s episode.
While that statement might be a little over-the-top, it will certainly be interesting to see how this hastily arranged match plays out, especially when you consider that the two former allies have not met in a singles match on WWE television since their days in NXT.
It has already been confirmed that Charlotte Flair will face Lynch at Money In The Bank, so will “The Queen” make her presence known and cause a disqualification? Will Lynch win fair and square? Or will Bayley pick up a surprise win and stake her claim to be added to the SmackDown Women’s Championship match at MITB?
Whatever happens, expect Lynch vs. Bayley to take up lots of television time this week in a potential show-stealing match.
#3 Roman Reigns revenge
Roman Reigns immediately made his mark as a new member of the blue brand's roster by attacking Vince McMahon and Elias on the Superstar Shake-Up episode of SmackDown Live two weeks ago.
Last week, Shane McMahon fought his father’s battle for him by joining forces with WWE’s resident guitarist to ambush “The Big Dog” in the opening segment of SmackDown Live, leading to the announcement that it will be Reigns vs. Elias at Money In The Bank on May 19.
Since losing to Bobby Lashley at Extreme Rules in July 2018, Reigns has only been defeated in one of his last 17 televised matches (Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre def. The Shield, October 2018), which just goes to show how rare it is that rivals gain the upper hand on the four-time WrestleMania main-eventer.
With that stat in mind, we would be foolish to expect anything other than a vicious Elias beatdown at the hands of Reigns this week.
#2 The Miz invades SmackDown Live
Let’s face it, this Superstar Shake-Up has been a farce. Despite the roster changes supposedly ending two weeks ago, we have already seen several Superstars appear on opposing brands over the last week, with the latest Shake-Up surprise taking place on Monday when The Club inexplicably showed up on Raw.
Becky Lynch and The IIconics have appeared on both brands on the most occasions in recent weeks, but their circumstances are a little different because they hold titles that can be defended against roster members from both of WWE’s top two shows.
In the case of Shane McMahon, he is appearing on Raw and SmackDown Live just as much as Lynch and The IIconics, despite not being involved in any title pictures. Instead, Shane O’Mac is showing up everywhere at the moment for the simple reason that, as WWE’s most prominent villainous authority figure, he currently finds himself involved in storylines with The Miz (Raw) and Roman Reigns (SmackDown Live).
Following Monday’s announcement that it will be Shane vs. Miz in a Steel Cage match at Money In The Bank, it would not be at all surprising to see “The A-Lister” appear on SmackDown Live to attack his rival in the build-up to the pay-per-view. If not this week, then definitely one week before MITB.
#1 The Hardy Boyz relinquish their titles
Two nights on from WrestleMania 35, The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles. Since then, 21 days have passed and we are yet to see Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy compete again on SmackDown Live, while the blue brand’s tag division has been largely ignored on recent episodes.
Jeff suffered an injury to his right knee at a recent live event in Madison, Wisconsin, hence why Matt has been teaming with Apollo Crews at untelevised shows, and it has even been reported by the Wrestling Observer that “The Charismatic Enigma” may require surgery.
Matt took to social media on Monday to inform fans that both he and Jeff will appear on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live to provide an update on the injury situation.
If reports about Jeff needing surgery prove to be true, then the likelihood is that he will be forced to relinquish his SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
