John Cena will make his television return tonight on WWE SmackDown, but who will he face off against as the momentum push towards the Royal Rumble Pay Per View begins?
WWE SmackDown will feature John Cena for the first time in months, adding star power to a show that already contains the highly impressive SmackDown Women’s Division, led by champion Asuka and “The Man” Becky Lynch.
After no women’s matches were aired on the Christmas Day episode of SmackDown Live, hopefully WWE gave their women time to shine tonight, especially with how amazing they were in 2018. Cena is a splash addition for the New Year’s Day edition of SmackDown, but the SmackDown Women’s Division is a major reason why many fans pay attention to the show.
Last week, Shane McMahon finally agreed to be The Miz’s tag team partner, creating a “miracle” moment on Christmas Day after Miz spent months courting Shane to create the “best” tag team in the world. About a month ago, Miz lost to a local competitor in an effort to impress Shane, so if they have another tag match, Miz had better step up to the plate.
AJ Styles attacked Vince McMahon to close the Christmas episode, but he was egged on by the chairman and CEO, who urged The Phenomenal One to find the animal inside of him. That might be a way to push Styles to match the vicious edge we’ve seen from Daniel Bryan since the latter won the WWE Championship from Styles before Survivor Series.
Tonight, Styles figures to be a central part of the show, and it will be interesting to see who he confronts, especially with Cena on his way back to television.
The Club became No. 1 Contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by winning a Fatal Four-Way, and it was great to see them back on television. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are respected by pretty much every fan, so we’ll see how their path to a potential SmackDown Tag Team Championships reign begins.
Rusev won the United States Championship by defeating Shinsuke Nakamura in one of the best matches of his career, and there will likely be a handful of men hoping to challenge him. He’s already crossed paths with Randy Orton and Andrade “Cien” Almas on SmackDown Live, but there are still plenty of wrestlers for Handsome Rusev to face.
Mustafa Ali was viciously attacked by the WWE Champion last week after shaking hands with Shelton Benjamin, and he could possibly face either man. While Ali has earned a WWE Championship match by pinning Bryan in tag team competition, the onus is on him to prove that this victory wasn’t a fluke.
Check back here for live results, highlights, and grades for WWE SmackDown when the show airs at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network.