WWE is making key stops on The Road to WrestleMania 41 now that the wrestling world is less than two weeks from the annual extravaganza. Friday's SmackDown saw the blue brand return to the United States after a historic European tour, and sources are still revealing details on a few of the happenings. A surprising update was just disclosed on a certain showdown.
Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair are set to lock up for the first-time-ever on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Charlotte is hoping to become a 15-time world champion in Las Vegas this month, while Stratton is looking to win her WrestleMania debut. The blonde grapplers have heat that reportedly goes back weeks, and remain a hot topic of discussion since their viral promo on Friday's SmackDown, where they allegedly went off-script with quite a few personal shots and tense lines.
The Center of The Universe and The Queen were both allegedly delivering scripted and unscripted lines during Friday's SmackDown face-off moderated by Wade Barrett. Wrestling Observer Live's Bryan Alvarez added that Flair took unscripted shots at Stratton by mocking her personality and high-pitched voice, but that was far from it.
Stratton labeling Flair as "WWE's least-favorite nepo baby" was reportedly part of the original script, but Flair's response was not as she said, "Nepo Queen... The #1 nepo, baby!" Sources noted how the talk about divorces was scripted, but Stratton's shocking "0-3" line to reference Charlotte's divorces, mainly the recent split from Andrade, was not planned. The legitimate heat was visible as the segment ended, and when the champion and challenger returned backstage.
Multiple sources have reported various accounts of backstage heat from the Stratton-Flair incident, but Alvarez reiterated there was more heat on the final Divas Champion because she's the veteran, and she went off-script more than the current WWE Women's Champion. There's a feeling that Flair should have kept debacles like this together, and the veteran seemingly burying the rising talent is a bad look.
WWE SmackDown updated lineup for Friday
WWE SmackDown will air live from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on April 11. This will be the final episode before WrestleMania 41 Week begins, and below is the updated lineup:
- Cody Rhodes returns to the show
- Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre will face off
- Rey Fenix vs. Berto
- Women's Gauntlet to determine new #1 contenders to the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
In addition to these matches and segments, several top superstars are also advertised by the company and the venue. The following names are scheduled: LA Knight, Tiffany Stratton, Charlotte Flair, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Nia Jax, Bayley, Naomi, and Bianca Belair.