5 things that could happen on SmackDown Live next week

triple threat tag match — Xavier Woods hits a crazy dive

#1 AJ Styles lays out a challenge for the Royal Rumble

My expectation for the main card at the Rumble PPV is both Rumble matches, the Universal Title match, a WWE Title match and the US Title tournament final. It looks like they’ve made it clear that neither of the Women’s Championships will be defended, and the IC Title will probably fall by the wayside as well. The CW Title will probably hit the pre-show.

With that in mind, we need a challenger for AJ Styles. I postulated above that it could end up being Owens and Zayn in a triple threat match, and while it would be entertaining that’s not where I would go with it. I don’t know what they are planning, of course, but as a fighting champion, I would expect that AJ wants to defend his title, so he will announce that he will defend the title against anybody who wants to step up.

About the author

I got my first big break writing for 411Mania back in 2004. I did a small spot in a big weekly piece that was written by one of the site's top writers. I quickly added the duty of being the live recapper for episodes of SmackDown, and in 2005 was given my own weekly column, which I did for a few years. I gave up writing (mostly) to start a family but got back into it, still at 411, a little over 3 years later. For another couple of years, I wrote 2-3 columns per week for the website before finding paid work elsewhere, and eventually wound up at SportsKeeda.

I am also the co-founder of the RBR: Weekly Wrestling Talk podcast, which started in the summer of 2005 and is still going strong today, almost 15 years later. Due to school, work, and family commitments, I left the team in 2011 but still remain a part of the family.

Know More

Becky Lynch has been challenged HERE.

Edited by Tanya Rudra