LA Knight, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles Come Together, Bayley Meets Iconic Old Foe, Roman Reigns’ Championship Reign Under Threat & More: WWE SmackDown 1/12 Updated Match Card & Predictions

WWE decided to start the year 2024 with a bang. The first week of the new year opened with Raw Day 1 and closed with SmackDown’s New Year’s Revolution. And it would be safe to that a lot of things happened in this one week. While Raw saw the return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jinder Mahal, SmackDown saw the announcement of a new match for the upcoming Royal Rumble. After last week’s action-packed episode of Friday Night SmackDown, here are all the things that could happen and will be happening on this week’s episode of SmackDown.

An unusual team-up on SmackDown?

Fans still remember the return of AJ Styles on the December 15, 2023 episode of SmackDown. The Phenomenal One showed his dominance after thwarting The Bloodline and attacking LA Knight. Following this, it was announced that LA Knight, Randy Orton, and Styles would be facing each other in a triple-threat match at New Year’s Revolution to determine who would be the next contender for Roman Reigns at the upcoming Royal Rumble.

However, things took an unusual turn during the match. Just when the three were exhausted from intense fighting, The Bloodline decided to enter the arena. After that, Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, and Solo Sikoa attacked Orton, Knight, and Styles one by one and created havoc inside the ring. However, there was someone who was not happy with this development. SmackDown General Manager, Nick Aldis was present and he witnessed the assault. After that, he told Heyman to inform Reigns, “he has earned himself a fatal-4-way” at the upcoming Royal Rumble.

In this week’s episode of SmackDown, fans could see Knight, Orton, and Styles having a word backstage. The three might agree to team up as they have a common enemy.  The three might decide to keep their differences aside so that they could defeat The Tribal Chief first. This could lead to an unlikely team-up ahead of the big match on January 27, 2024.

Roman Reigns preparing for the title defense

Fans are aware that there are a lot of people who have their eyes on the Undisputed Champion title held by Roman Reigns. While it was just Cody Rhodes and LA Knight in the beginning, the list now has names such as Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Now with the announcement of a fatal 4-way at the Royal Rumble, Reigns might be extra cautious.

While his appearance has not been confirmed for this week’s episode, fans might get to see his Wiseman Paul Heyman looking after the preparations for the match. The heel stable is known to resort to any means possible to send out a message. It could be possible that in a backstage segment, fans might get to see Heyman instructing Sikoa and Uso to carry out some tasks that might take out someone from the championship race.

Bayley faces off against an old foe

One of the confirmed matches for the night is Bayley going against an old foe. Bianca Belair is on her way to Iyo Sky and nothing is holding her back. On the road to Sky’s championship belt, she will be facing Bayley tonight. While Bayley has made her spot as the leader of the Damage CTRL, fans are aware that the real power is in the hands of Sky. Bayley’s current mission is to stop Belair from challenging Sky.  The chances of The EST winning the bout are high considering her current run. She has proven herself as a dominating force, with or without a team. However, the real question is whether Damage CTRL come to her aide tonight as she battles against Belair.

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Santos Escober tries to establish his stable

Two new faces have been popping up lately whenever Santos Escobar needs help. Angel Garza and Humberto have proven to be Escobar’s loyal henchmen since he left the Latino World Order (LWO) after betraying Rey Mysterio. The two have helped him on various occasions and have been on his side whether he is winning or losing.

The two would be getting their time to shine as a tag team tonight. They will be facing Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde of the Latino World Order. Fans will get to see the lesser-known members of the LWO and probably will get to witness them in their full glory inside the ring. While it is hard to speculate who will emerge as the winner, this match is important as it would shine the spotlight on the next generation of Latino pro wrestlers of WWE.

Grayson Waller gets an exhibition match

Grayson Waller and Cameron Grimes have faced each other back in November. Waller was able to pin Grimes down, but it looks like he hasn’t learned his lesson yet. On last week’s episode of SmackDown, Cameron Grimes decided to make fun of Grayson Waller after he lost his shot at Logan Paul’s WWE United States Championship title. This made the Arrogant Aussie angry and he ended up knocking down Grimes. However, you should not step out of the line, especially when Nick Aldis is the general manager. Due to the knockout, the two now have to face off against each other at an exhibition match. It would be interesting to see whether Waller will be able to make it 2 for 2. Which section are you most excited about tonight?

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