Santos Escobar Will Betray Rey Mysterio on WWE SmackDown

WWE SmackDown is continuing its road to WWE FastLane 2023, which is currently up in the air pertaining to any ongoing SmackDown feuds. On this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Rey Mysterio is scheduled to defend the United States Championship against Santos Escobar in a dream match which should have been saved for a PPV, and Charlotte Flair is scheduled to battle Bayley in a match that actually already happened on PPV: WWE FastLane 2017, where Bayley ended Charlotte’s infamous PPV winning streak during her first, lengthy title reign.

In other news regarding WWE SmackDown, fans are speculating who could replace AJ Styles and join John Cena after he was attacked and injured by The Bloodline. The notable names thrown out there have been: The Rock, LA Knight, Cody Rhodes, and Randy Orton due to certain storyline angles those individuals could take. Street Profits are hinting at a heel turn to turn things around and get back in Bobby Lashley’s good graces, and Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn returned to explain that they hexed the women’s tag titles and that’s why the women’s tag team division is cursed.

With that being said, the following will focus on the announced matches and the idea of Santos Escobar betraying Rey Mysterio on the road to WWE FastLane 2023.

WWE SmackDown is scheduled to take place on September 29, 2023, live on FOX, and Santos Escobar will betray Rey Mysterio en route to WWE FastLane 2023.

Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Santos Escobar [United States Championship]

Santos Escobar will betray and dethrone Rey Mysterio. It was long overdue for Escobar to get this title opportunity after defeating Austin Theory in a non-title match in the summer and after defeating Rey Mysterio by default in the finals of the number one contender tournament due to Mysterio’s injury. Since Mysterio could not finish that match, now is the time for everything to come full circle with the coronation of Escobar. Afterwards, Escobar and Legado Del Fantasma will kick Rey Mysterio out of LWO because they finally got what they wanted: championship gold.

Prediction: Santos Escobar

Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley [FastLane 2017 Rematch]

Charlotte Flair will defeat Bayley in this FastLane 2017 rematch to get one step closer to a title opportunity against Iyo Sky. This will be redemption for Charlotte, as she did lose her PPV winning streak and championship to Bayley at that FastLane PPV match. It is surprising that WWE never mentioned that factoid on live television, as it could be key to any storyline they tell between Iyo Sky and Charlotte in the build up to this year’s FastLane. Also, hopefully, WWE did not forget Shotzi as a possible contender for Iyo. She still has a story to wrap up with Damage Control.

Prediction: Charlotte Flair

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