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The road to WrestleMania is almost upon us with the last major stop before we hit it being tonight’s SmackDown Live event in Washington, D.C. While go-home shows like this one are usually quite predictable when it comes to the Rumble, there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement upon last night’s final WWE Raw before the event.
Several storylines still need to be advanced and there could potentially be room for one or two more matches to be added to the card. So, when you combine all of that with the fact that we’ve already got a handful of confirmed matches for tonight’s show, there’s cause for some optimism.
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While we do have five entries to come we’ll reveal now that Naomi and Liv Morgan are set to square off in the capital tonight, in a bout that could dictate whether or not the Riott Squad will play a big role in Sunday’s 30-woman Royal Rumble match.
With that being said, here is our WWE SmackDown Live preview for January 23rd, 2018.
#1 Six Man Tag Action
It’s not exactly uncommon for multi-man matches to take place just days before a big-time pay per view, and this’ll probably wind up being the main event unless there’s another bout made on the night. For those of you who haven’t seen the announcement, the new US champion Bobby Roode will be teaming up with two members of The New Day to take on Rusev Day & Jinder Mahal.
The dynamic of the heel team will be interesting when you consider that Mahal and Rusev were partners less than a year ago, in addition to the potential return of absentee champion Dolph Ziggler who may make his presence known before the Rumble.
Either way, we’re expecting some kind of fireworks.
#2 Jey Uso vs Chad Gable
The Usos vs Gable & Benjamin is a feud that will likely produce some of the finest tag team work WWE has seen in years, and thankfully for us, there’s a story to go alongside it. Chad Gable has been phenomenal in his current role over the last few weeks, and his chemistry with Shelton Benjamin has been a lot of fun to watch.
Tonight we’ll see Jey Uso take on Chad in singles action, in a contest that could also hint at what kind of result we can expect this Sunday. Both teams deserve to be called champions but given how much momentum The Usos have right now, we’ll likely see them continue to hold the belts as we move forward towards Mania.
#3 Authority Struggle
The ongoing tussle for power between Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan has been a little bit exhausting as of late, with many fans voicing their displeasure over the whole situation. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to come to an end anytime soon, and because of that, we should expect even more developments on SmackDown Live tonight.
The official WWE preview has hinted at some changes being made to the WWE Championship match, which makes sense given how odd the story has been thus far. With so many combustible elements involved in this situation, it wouldn’t be all too surprising if we had yet another big segment between all five major characters that are involved.
#4 Raw 25 Fallout
Last night’s Raw 25 show left a lot to be desired in many ways, but above all that, it gave SmackDown Live a way to burn 10-15 minutes of their show tonight. We’ll probably have to sit through a few recaps which sum up what went down at the Barclays & Manhattan Center, especially given that several superstars from the blue brand were in attendance.
Shane-o-Mac was also there in order to take a few stunners from Stone Cold himself, meaning that there’s a chance we may see him selling those injuries in Washington tonight.
So despite most of us wanting to see more focus on the Royal Rumble before Sunday, there’s always a chance that we’re diverted away to the past once again.
#5 Final Rumble Push
The Royal Rumble is arguably the third biggest WWE pay per view event of the year, and even if you think it’s the fourth, there’s no denying it’s importance. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel quite as well built this year as it did in 2017, with one of the reasons for that likely being the company’s decision to host last January’s event at the Alamodome.
Nonetheless, it’s customary for a huge brawl to end the last go-home show before the Rumble – and that’s exactly what we’re expecting to see. That kind of carnage is what makes so many people want to see the battle royal event in all of its glory, and with a women’s Rumble now taking place too, there’s going to be a lot of eager eyes this week on SmackDown Live.
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