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WWE SmackDown emanated this week live from the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The last blue brand produced at the venue was in August 2019, when Erick Rowan, who was aligned with Daniel Bryan at the time, was revealed to be Roman Reigns' attacker.
Leading into the broadcast, WWE announced that Ricochet would defend the Intercontinental Championship against Gunther. In addition, Lacey Evans was booked to compete against Xia Li and Drew McIntyre was pitted against Sheamus in Money in the Bank qualifying matches.
With that being said, let's take a look at the five biggest news stories coming out of this week's show.
#5 Matches and segments set for next week
After a turbulent episode of SmackDown this week, details surrounding next week's episode were revealed. It was disclosed that Max Dupri had some travel complications in Europe, which means his first Maximum Male Model client will take place next Friday.
Furthering their feud, Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss will settle the score on SmackDown in a Last Laugh Match.
#4 Lacey Evans qualifies for Money in the Bank
With the Money in the Bank event on the horizon, a series of qualifying matches are now set to take place in the coming weeks. The first of those for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match was Lacey Evans vs. Xia Li.
Making a heroic comeback to the ring for the first time since February 2021, the Sassy Southern Belle picked up the win by defeating Li with the Women's Right finisher.
#3 Gunther captures the Intercontinental Championship
Gunther has been on a path of destruction since joining the blue brand. His reign of terror continued this week on SmackDown as the European star challenged Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship.
Following a devastating powerbomb, The Ring General captured his first major singles title since arriving from NXT.
#2 Cody Rhodes will be out of action for nine months
After heroically battling through the pain at Hell in a Cell in his match with Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Cody Rhodes will now spend some time out of the ring following successful surgery on his torn tendon pectoral muscle.
It was confirmed on SmackDown that The American Nightmare won't be competing for nine months while he heals up. With the news, it is likely that a comeback will take place in time for WrestleMania 39.
#1 Roman Reigns will defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship next week on SmackDown
While Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has been absent from the blue brand, Riddle has been taking care of business when it comes to the rest of The Bloodline.
The Original Bro went one step further this week by defeating Sami Zayn in the main event to earn an opportunity to challenge The Head of the Table for the gold next Friday.
