Category: SmackDown

WWE SmackDown Preview 10/7/2022

Tonight’s season premiere of WWE SmackDown live from DCU Center in Worcester, MA at 8/7C on FOX. Final show before Saturday night’s Extreme Rules premium live event

Zelina Vega is slated to make her WWE television return on tonight’s episode of SmackDown as she was spotted at the Boston Airport

WWE Announces Changes To Commentary Teams For NXT, RAW & SmackDown

WWE has officially announced changes to the commentary teams for all three brands – RAW, NXT, and SmackDown. 

Kevin Patrick & Corey Graves will be the commentators for Raw while Cathy Kelley is back and will work as an interviewer and Byron Saxton. For SmackDown, the team is Michael Cole & Wade Barrett, while NXT’s team will be Vic Joseph & Booker T.

Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.

WWE issued the following:

WWE announces updates to commentary teams

Today WWE announced that Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Premium Live Events will all have updated announce booths starting with this week’s season premieres. The news was first reported by Variety on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday Night SmackDown, the commentary table will be headed by Michael Cole with Wade Barrett doing color commentary. Samantha Irvin will be the ring announcer, and interviews will be conducted by Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant.

On Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves will still be providing his colorful insights and will be joined by Kevin Patrick on play-by-play. Mike Rome will continue to announce from the ring, and Byron Saxton will transition from the commentary booth to backstage interviews. Also joining Saxton in backstage interviews is none other than Cathy Kelley in her return to WWE.

Over on NXT, Vic Joseph will be assisted by six-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Alicia Taylor will still provide her exceptional voice to ring announcing, and McKenzie Mitchell will once again be conducting interviews.

On the Premium Live Event side, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will come together again to announce from the booth.

Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.

A New White Rabbit QR Code Airs On SmackDown

The QR codes for the “White Rabbit” continue.

During Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown, a new QR code aired at the end of a Karrion Kross vignette, which teased a rebirth of sorts.

When the QR code was scanned, it led to a WWE.com link that featured a video of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. At one point, the pigs were butchered. Additionally, the Big Bad Wolf was wearing Granny’s clothes. The video ended with a Morse code that translated to “Azazel Reborn.”

For what it’s worth, Azazel is part of Jewish folklore who was associated with the scapegoat rite. He is referenced in Christian and Islamic folklore and is sometimes considered to be a “fallen angel.” Fans of Marvel likely know Azazel as the name of a mutant teleporter from Chuck Austin’s run in the early 2000s.

The WWE.com video also features the White Rabbit in the corner and has the filename of “TS_10E6.” With that being said, episode six of The Simpsons in season 10 has a segment where the town of Springfield gets drugged thanks to Homer. At that point, Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” plays as they all hallucinate. The filename also includes a phone number (8554895099) that if you call, it plays a distorted audio clip. When it’s played in reverse, it says, “Bravo. Echo. Lima. Alpha. India. Romeo. I am the way into the City of Woe. I am the way into the eternal sorrow.” The first six letters are military alphabet for “Belair.”

Interestingly, WWE’s QR code URL was titled wwe.com/1911, which fans immediately connected to an image of Firefly Funhouse Bray in a Mad Hatter hat with the numbers 19/11. You can view the old image here. 

The source code of the WWE.com URL also features the message, “Drink More Ovaltine,” which is in reference to “A Christmas Story” where Ralphie gets a Little Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Pin and uses it to decode a message that is an advertisement for Ovaltine.

The Wyatt teases didn’t end there. Later on “SmackDown,” a fan standing directly behind announcers Michael Cole and Corey Graves held up a sign that read, “Revel in what you are.” Wyatt had tweeted this exact message in 2019 while appreciating Rob Schamberg’s artwork for The Fiend. 

As noted earlier, the big White Rabbit reveal is expected to take place at next Saturday’s Extreme Rules premium live event. 

Sources: Wrestling Inc. and EWrestlingNews with credit to Ryan Satin

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/30/2022

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown comes from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, MB, Canada on FOX at 8/7c.

The Viking Raiders Reportedly Taken Off TV Due To Injury

WWE has been heavily pushing The Viking Raiders in recent months, but the former “Raw” and “NXT” Tag Team Champions haven’t been seen in recent weeks on “WWE SmackDown.” Unfortunately, that is due to an injury, as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the Raiders have been sidelined for an indefinite period of time due to Erik suffering a foot problem.

The exact details on Erik’s injury, when he suffered it, and how long he is going to be on the shelf, remain unclear at this point, but his tag team partner, Ivar, remains healthy. However, as happens often in the tag team division, it appears that WWE is going to be keeping Ivar off television until his tag team partner is fit to compete, and they can be presented as a team once again. 

Recently, The Viking Raiders have been feuding with The New Day, spending several weeks attacking Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, a storyline that came after several victories against Shanky and Jinder Mahal. Their rivalry culminated in the first-ever “Viking Rules” match, which saw lots of themed weapons, and part of a Viking boat set up around the ring. Ivar and Erik won that match on the August 26th episode of “SmackDown,” but since then have not appeared on television or at live events, suggesting it may have been that match in which Erik injured his foot.

Their absence was notable in the main event of “SmackDown” last week, where The New Day faced The Brawling Brutes, Imperium, and Hit Row in a number one contender’s match for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships. Despite the fact that the Raiders have been dominating Kingston and Woods, it was The New Day who got to be part of the match, while the Raiders went unmentioned in the broadcast.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/23/2022, Bray Wyatt?

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown live from Salt Lake City, Utah airing on FOX.

Could Bray Wyatt be making his long-awaited WWE return on tonight’s “WWE SmackDown?” The cryptic hints continue to pile up. Some time last night, Wyatt liked an April 2019 tweet from the late Brodie Lee that reads “Tomorrow there will be more of us.”

In addition to this, a QR code could be seen in the background of a backstage segment on “WWE Raw” this week. The code led to an animation of a rabbit playing the game Hangman. The puzzle’s clue was “Who Killed the World?” and the animation revealed the correct answer to be “You did.” Once the puzzle was solved, the text would change to say “9.23” in “SmackDown” colors, which just so happens to be today’s date.

Speculation began ramping up in recent days as WWE mysteriously began playing the Jefferson Airplane song “White Rabbit” during live events and commercial breaks for television tapings starting last week. While there is nothing confirming that the teases have to do with Wyatt, there’s no denying the song suits his character and style from throughout his WWE run, and the strange hints are certainly on-brand for Wyatt.

Fans also spotted several possible easter eggs on the poster for the upcoming “Extreme Rules” premium live event that seem like references to Wyatt. Paul “Triple H” Levesque even teased the possibility of Wyatt’s return in his recent interview with Ariel Helwani.

Wyatt was released by WWE in July of 2021 after an extended period of time off TV. Since that time, Wyatt has stayed relatively quiet, though rumors have swirled concerning his return since Vince McMahon stepped down as head of the company.

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/16/2022

Tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

  • Fatal 4-Way #1 Contenders Match for the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Title: Street Profits vs. New Day vs. Alpha Academy vs. Los Lotharios
  • Logan Paul to appear

Pat McAfee joining ESPN’s College GameDay

Pat McAfee has landed another gig as he has signed a full-time deal with ESPN.

The former NFL punter will help host “College GameDay,” which is a show about college football that airs every Saturday morning during the football season.

The news was first reported by the New York Post. It has since been confirmed by McAfee.

McAfee said today on his podcast/radio show that he will be putting his SmackDown duties on hold during the college football season but he is still part of the WWE family.

McAfee said that he was thinking about doing both gigs at the same time but it’s tough for him to keep up with the travel schedule and WWE suggested for him to take the time away and he could return when the time is right.

“Now one of our guys is on College GameDay,” McAfee said in regards to a text message he got from an “OG” from WWE after praising the company on his show.

Triple H tweeted the following:

@PatMcAfeeShow approached us about his amazing opportunity with College GameDay. We’d never stand in Pat’s way, as he continues to architect his exceptional career. Pat will remain a member of the @WWE  Universe and we look forward to his return. #UpToSomethingSZN”

Source: WrestlingNews.co

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/2/2022

WWE taped tonight’s episode of SmackDown last week that will air on FOX at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI.

Solo Sikoa Is Reportedly Moving Up To The main Roster

Solo Sikoa could be the latest member of the Anoa’i family to join WWE’s main roster full-time. PWInsider is reporting that the son of Rikishi, cousin of Roman Reigns, and brother of Jimmy and Jey Uso is expected to be promoted from “NXT 2.0” as soon as possible, and it could happen as early as this month if all goes according to plan.

If the report is accurate, Sikoa will also join the “SmackDown” brand alongside Reigns and the Usos. While no plans have been confirmed yet, the rumored brand coupled with Sikoa’s family heritage makes him a perfect fit for The Bloodline, but that’s all speculation for the time being. That said, Sikoa previously discussed creative plans that WWE had for him, noting that the company was eager to fast-track him to the main roster and pair him with his brothers before he’d even debuted on TV.

Sikoa has been absent from “NXT 2.0” recently while he recovers from a sprained PCL. WWE announced the setback on the episode that aired on August 9, just days after the rising star’s last in-ring encounter with Von Wagner. The good news, however, is that the 29-year-old is expected to be fully healed within four to six weeks. The Superstar took to social media after the announcement and claimed that he’d be back in action soon, stating that the “knee injury ain’t nothing!” The forecast for Sikoa’s comeback from injury aligns with the reported timing of his main roster debut, but WWE has been known to change its creative plans.

Source: Wrestling Inc.