WWE SmackDown on FOX: 5 last-minute predictions for the premiere episode
The first episode of WWE SmackDown on FOX takes place at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California on Friday, October 4.
Four matches have been announced for the milestone episode, including a WWE Championship encounter between Kofi Kingston and Brock Lesnar.
Another high-stakes match will see Kevin Owens take on Shane McMahon in a ladder match, with the stipulation stating that the loser will no longer be allowed to work in WWE.
Elsewhere, two days before the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, Becky Lynch will team with Charlotte Flair to face Bayley and Sasha Banks, while Roman Reigns is set to go one-on-one with Erick Rowan.
The following legends have also been announced for the show: The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Lita, Mick Foley, Booker T, Trish Stratus, Jerry Lawler, Mark Henry and Sting.
In this article, let’s try to predict the outcome of every match and segment that has been confirmed so far.
#5 Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
Erick Rowan handed Roman Reigns a rare one-on-one defeat when he received help from the returning Luke Harper to defeat “The Big Dog” in a No Disqualification match at the Clash of Champions pay-per-view in September.
Since then, Daniel Bryan has surprisingly aligned with Reigns to take on the former Wyatt Family members, setting up a match between the two duos at this Sunday’s Hell In A Cell event.
Before that match takes place, either Reigns or Rowan will gain the upper hand for their team heading into Sunday by picking up a win on the debut episode of SmackDown on FOX.
History suggests that Reigns will win – he has only lost four singles matches in the last 18 months – but it is worth noting that Rowan has not been defeated one-on-one in a televised match since March.
In past prediction articles, the safe bet would have been to predict a disqualification finish. However, if WWE’s matches on FOX really are going to have a more sports-centric approach, Reigns vs. Rowan will surely need to have a clear winner.
With that in mind, let’s go for Reigns.
Prediction: Roman Reigns def. Erick Rowan
#4 Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley & Sasha Banks
In 2016, Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks in the first women’s Hell In A Cell match in WWE history to reclaim the RAW Women’s Championship.
Three years on, the second all-female encounter in the match type’s history will take place on Sunday, with Banks going head-to-head with RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch in one of the most anticipated women’s matches of the last six months.
WWE has booked a Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen tag match for the first SmackDown episode on FOX, presumably as a way to showcase the best female Superstars in the company in the same match whilst also building to Lynch vs. Banks at Hell In A Cell.
Much like the tag match between these four women at MSG on RAW last month, which resulted in a win for Lynch and Flair, the outcome of Friday’s match is not all that important.
That being said, there has been a lot of promotion around “The Man” ahead of SmackDown’s move to FOX, so this seems like a good opportunity for her to produce a strong performance and pick up a win – say, by making Bayley tap out – to show new fans what she is all about.
Prediction: Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair def. Bayley & Sasha Banks
#3 Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon (ladder match)
Last week’s SmackDown featured a segment where Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon agreed to settle their lengthy rivalry by putting their WWE careers on the line in a ladder match on this week’s SmackDown premiere on FOX.
Looking back, this feud actually began in September 2017 when Owens assaulted Vince McMahon on an episode of SmackDown. Since then, there have been all kinds of storyline developments, including KO being ‘fired’ on three occasions, while the former Universal Champion even threatened to file a $25 million lawsuit against his storyline boss.
There are two ways to look at this match outcome:
- Shane McMahon wins, meaning he represents SmackDown as an authority figure in the upcoming draft. Kevin Owens then moves back to NXT, just like Finn Balor.
- WWE mirrors what is happening on RAW by ending their authority figure storyline on SmackDown, meaning Shane McMahon is no longer an on-screen decision-maker.
Given that McMahon has gained the upper hand on Owens so many times in this never-ending storyline, now feels like the right time for KO to get his revenge by winning this match to finally end Shane O’Mac’s reign of terror as a SmackDown authority figure.
Prediction: Kevin Owens def. Shane McMahon
#2 The Rock returns
The Rock will make his long-awaited return to WWE television when he appears alongside over a dozen legends on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
As we saw recently with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s appearances on RAW, WWE can take one of two approaches with The Rock’s return:
- He can work with a current member of the roster, just like how Austin took part in segments with Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Cedric Alexander, The Viking Raiders, AJ Styles and The O.C. when RAW returned to MSG.
- Surrounded by his fellow legends, he can take the RAW Reunion approach by recalling memorable moments from SmackDown history and celebrate 20 years of the blue brand being one of the longest running weekly episodic shows in television history.
Needless to say, the majority of fans would prefer to see “The Great One” get involved in a segment with one of today’s top Superstars (Becky Lynch, perhaps?) in a bid to elevate members of the current roster.
Interestingly, Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue is reporting that The Rock will be “very disappointed” if he does not get to work with Lynch, so let’s predict that the former WWE Champion will cut a 10-minute promo before exchanging some words with the likes of Lynch and Sasha Banks, setting up the women’s tag team match for the next segment.
Prediction: The Rock cuts a promo; puts over Becky Lynch
#1 Kofi Kingston vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE Championship)
Kofi Kingston has defeated everybody that WWE has thrown in front of him over the last six months, from Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler to Samoa Joe and Randy Orton, but he is yet to come up against somebody as tough as Brock Lesnar during his fairytale reign as WWE Champion.
As of the time of writing, only three matches have been announced for Hell In A Cell on Sunday, which has led many people to believe that, regardless of the outcome of Friday’s match, we could see an immediate rematch between these two men at the upcoming pay-per-view.
Realistically, there is no way that Kingston will defeat the challenger without help from his fellow New Day members, Big E and Xavier Woods, or perhaps from one of Lesnar’s newest rivals, Rey Mysterio and/or Dominic.
It is also worth remembering that FOX apparently wants SmackDown to have more of a sports-centric feel, and there is not another current WWE Superstar who has a more impressive sporting background than Lesnar.
Taking all of that into account, everything seems to be pointing towards a WWE Championship triumph – and subsequent title reign as one of the biggest WWE names on FOX – for “The Beast”.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar def. Kofi Kingston
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Arvind Sriram