On this week’s go-home episode of WWE SmackDown, there is one scheduled segment and two scheduled matches. The final stop on The Road to WrestleMania will feature a Special WrestleMania Edition of SmackDown this Friday on FOX! The scheduled segment involves the Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Edge addressing the WWE Universe. The scheduled matches are: The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Dirty Dawgs (c) vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. Mysterios for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
The WWE is only a few days away from WrestleMania 37, and there are currently five scheduled matches from SmackDown’s recent bookings: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan for the Universal Title, Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Title, Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins, Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews for the Intercontinental Title, and Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. The Undertaker will be present on WrestleMania 37 Week. Could Aleister Black summon The Undertaker to add one more dream match to the card from SmackDown’s side of things?
With that being said, it’s now time to preview and predict the matches and segments that will occur on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown.
WWE SmackDown is scheduled to take place on April 9, 2021, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT live on FOX. Here are some predictions for this week’s show.
5.) Dirty Dawgs (c) vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. Mysterios [SmackDown Tag Team Championships]
On last week’s WWE SmackDown, Dirty Dawgs and Alpha Academy defeated Street Profits and Mysterios in an eight man tag team match. Thanks to WWE’s 50:50 booking strategy, it is likely that either Street Profits or Mysterios will dethrone Dirty Dawgs to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Dirty Dawgs have not defended the titles since they won it in January and have been booked as transitional champions since the inception of their title reign. Henceforth, it makes sense for new champions to be crowned here.
Since Street Profits already held the tag titles for ten months in 2020-2021, it would be ill-advised for them to win the titles back because they could risk going stale as champions. Street Profits need a break from the title scene, so the Mysterios would be the best option to win the titles and keep the tag division as fresh as possible. This ‘father and son’ moment would have been better in front of the fans at WrestleMania 37, but this victory should still be exciting enough to hype the fans for WrestleMania Weekend.
Prediction: Mysterios
4.) Riott Squad vs. Natalya and Tamina [Tag Match]
On this last week’s WWE SmackDown, Natalya defeated Shayna Baszler in less than five minutes. It would make sense for Nia Jax to battle Tamina this week. However, the WWE recently announced a women’s tag team turmoil match for WrestleMania 37 Night 1 to determine the number one contenders for Baszler and Jax’s Women’s Tag Team Titles on WrestleMania 37 Night 2. Henceforth, it would make more sense to build momentum for the two SmackDown Women’s Tag Teams in that tag team turmoil match.
Those two teams are Riott Squad and Natalya and Tamina. They were battling for weeks on SmackDown, and Natalya and Tamina usually got the upper hand. Now is the time for Riott Squad to regain their momentum for WrestleMania 37 Weekend after weeks of absence from television. Carmella and Billie Kay have also been teasing a tag team of sorts. It would be interesting to see if they get involved and possibly added to the tag turmoil at Mania. Carmella has not gained any momentum after her new gimmick, so this could be what she needs.
Prediction: Riott Squad
3.) ATG Memorial Battle Royal [Over-The-Top Rope Battle Royal]
WWE Official Adam Pearce announced 22 combatants for the prestigious free-for-all: Akira Tozawa, Angel Garza, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Elias, Erik, Gran Metalik, Humberto Carrillo, Jaxson Ryker, Jey Uso, Kalisto, King Corbin, Lince Dorado, MACE, Murphy, Mustafa Ali, Ricochet, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, SLAPJACK, T-Bar, and Tucker. Clearly, most of these superstars are jobbers who usually battle on Main Event or wait in catering to get booked on either of the main roster shows. Therefore, the winner could just be a random shot in the dark.
Nonetheless, the favorites to win this match are: Shinsuke Nakamura, Ricochet, Mustafa Ali, Jey Uso, and King Corbin. Since King Corbin already won the ATG Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, he does not need to win it again, especially since there have not been any two-time ATG Battle Royal Winners. It therefore comes down to Nakamura, Ricochet, Ali, and Uso. It does not really matter who wins because no one actually gets pushed after winning this battle royal. However, since it is taking place on SmackDown, let’s go with a SmackDown superstar: Shinsuke Nakamura.
Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura
2.) Bianca Belair vs. Bayley [Steel Cage Match]
On last week’s WWE SmackDown, Bianca Belair defeated Carmella to keep her momentum going for her upcoming SmackDown Women’s Title match against Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37. Our Mark Justice hosted a special series for Daily DDT called “Debate The Mark,” where he debated with our Kevin Parvizi about whether Bianca Belair should dethrone Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37. This debate was the ‘EST’ of Daily DDT and is worth checking out. As for this episode, Belair still has one more roadblock to knock off.
Bayley has made it known that she wants Bianca Belair inside a steel cage before WrestleMania 37. Belair and Bayley are one win apiece. They should even the score on the last SmackDown before WrestleMania. Bayley has a chip on her shoulder for not being on the WrestleMania card this year and can really put Belair over as the ideal contender for Banks. Since Belair defeated Carmella last week, this could be what brings Bayley and Carmella together, especially since Carmella mentioned on The Bump that she really wants to team with Bayley.
Prediction: Bianca Belair
1.) Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy [Grudge Match]
Aleister Black received an interesting WrestleMania challenge from Buddy Murphy recently. Murphy has had a lot of history with Black. They battled in a series of matches on WWE Raw, and Black’s continuous victories over Murphy was a primary reason why Murphy ended up in Seth Rollins’ discipleship in the first place. Maybe one more match with Black will be the reason Murphy officially gets out of Seth Rollins’ discipleship. However, Murphy is considered a jobber in the ATG Battle Royal and is unlikely to be on the WrestleMania card.
Aleister Black could either defeat Murphy on the last SmackDown before Mania or be a surprise entrant in the ATG Battle Royal and eliminate him there. Once Black accomplishes that feat, he will summon The Undertaker, who will be present this weekend, for a dream match at WrestleMania. Last year, Undertaker helped Black defeat AJ Styles at Elimination Chamber before he went on to defeat Styles in a Boneyard Match. It would be some neat foreshadowing for Taker to attack Aleister Black to set up a match that needs no build. The story speaks for itself. Stay tuned.
Prediction: Aleister Black