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We are now less than three weeks away from the Money In The Bank pay per view. Traditionally this is one of the more exciting pay per views on the WWE calendar due to the ladder match that made its debut in 2005.
Sportskeeda is the one-stop destination for latest WWE rumors and wrestling news.
On this week's edition of SmackDown Live, we will find out the eighth and final competitor to enter the ladder match when Daniel Bryan takes on Samoa Joe. On the women's side, that field of eight was completed last night when Sasha Banks defeated Ruby Riott in the Gauntlet Match to determine their final spot.
SmackDown Live takes place tonight from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, and this article will take a look at five potential surprises that may occur on this week's episode.
Included in this week's surprises will be the start of a new championship feud, some physicality you didn't see coming, a legit challenger for a newcomer, the next step in the WWE Championship feud, and how tonight's main event will play out.
Let's start with Jeff Hardy and what's next for his WWE United States Championship...
#5 Jeff Hardy's challenger is revealed for the WWE United States Championship
Last week's main event was Jeff Hardy taking on Daniel Bryan for the first time in a dream match. With Jeff Hardy coming up short to qualify for the Money In The Bank Ladder match, his focus will now be on defending his WWE United States Championship at the pay per view in less than three weeks.
Most of the SmackDown Live roster is tied up in feuds and the ladder match itself, so this is where I would finally debut SAnitY to attack the Charismatic Enigma. Either Killian Dain or Eric Young would be fit to challenge Hardy for the title, but I would personally put the leader of SAnitY, Young in the match.
#4 Corey Graves finally has enough of the New Day's shenanigans, gets physical
I'm not sure what Corey Graves has against The New Day, but it is very clear when you hear his commentary that he doesn't like them. WWE.com teased that there could be something happening between the two parties tonight on SmackDown Live after Graves posted the following on his Instagram account:
Expect a confrontation with Big E and Graves tonight. I assume that pancakes will be thrown in Graves' general direct leading to Graves getting physical for the first time ever as a commentator when he slaps Big E during their six-man tag against The Bar and The Miz.
Obviously, Graves won't be taking any bumps, but I think he reaches a boiling point with the New Day's shenanigans tonight.
#3 The first feud for Andrade 'Cien' Almas is revealed
Since Andrade 'Cien' Almas made his main roster debut on SmackDown Live, he's only been given jobbers to face, and he's not happy about that. He's been asking for competition, and on this week's edition of SmackDown Live, he will get competition.
I expect Almas to complain about the lack of respect the SmackDown Live Management has shown by giving him jobbers for his first two matches and he challenges someone to step up and face him.
Even though he's been a heel, this is where I put Shelton Benjamin in. He'll give Almas a good match to the point where Almas walks out of the match to set up a potential Kickoff Show match at Money In The Bank.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura actually brings a pillow to attack AJ Styles, except it's loaded
Shinsuke Nakamura takes on "The Perfect 10" Tye Dillinger tonight on SmackDown Live, and I fully expect AJ Styles to be at ringside on commentary for the match. As a heel, Nakamura's comedy has been great, and one example was last week when he jokingly declared the stipulation for their title match at Money In The Bank to be a Pillow Fight.
After Nakamura defeats Dillinger, I expect Nakamura to get in the face of AJ and pull a pillow out from under the ring and tease an attack on AJ with it. AJ will think that Shinsuke is just joking around as usual until Nakamura hits Styles with the pillow, knocking him out and revealed that the pillow was loaded with a lead pipe or some sort of foreign object.
This will further escalate the feud that will culminate with a Last Man Standing Match at Money In The Bank for the WWE Championship.
#1 Daniel Bryan overcomes the odds and defeats Samoa Joe to qualify for Money In The Bank
Ever since the Superstar Shakeup, Big Cass has been targeting Daniel Bryan, and a couple of weeks ago on SmackDown Live Bryan handed Cass quite the beating re-injuring his knee. Everyone and their dog are expecting Big Cass to come out and cost Daniel Bryan his Money In The Bank qualifying match against Samoa Joe tonight, but I'm going to say that Bryan overcomes the odds and defeats Samoa Joe clean in the main event tonight.
From the rumor mill, it is believed that Big Cass is in the doghouse for going against the orders of not just creative, but also Vince McMahon in the segment with "little" Daniel Bryan. I think the attack by Bryan a couple of weeks ago was to take Cass off of television for a while as punishment, so I don't think he'll get involved.
What do you think will happen on this week's episode of SmackDown Live? Do you agree with these points? Let us know in the comments section below.
