This week’s WWE SmackDown inches the WWE Universe much closer to the company’s next big premium live event King and Queen of the Ring. As the event’s name suggests, the finals of the King of the Ring and Queen of the Ring tournaments will transpire on this night, with both divisions crowning new wrestling royalty.
But before all that, the dust must settle to find out who will be the top two competitors in each tournament to fight it out in the finals. Fortunately, the latest episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown will play host to a couple of exciting quarterfinals matchups and a lot more.
Without further ado, here is a full preview of this week’s SmackDown. Let’s run it down.
Full WWE SmackDown Match Card:
- Cody Rhodes and Logan Paul’s “King and Queen of the Ring” Contract Signing
- King of the Ring – Quarterfinals: LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga
- King of the Ring – Quarterfinals: Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes
- Queen of the Ring – Quarterfinals: Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax
- Queen of the Ring – Quarterfinals: Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton
A Royal Rumble
.@RealLAKnight and @tiffstrattonwwe have advanced in the #WWEKingAndQueen Tournament tonight at #WWEChattanooga! 👑🔥 pic.twitter.com/L7eC1xt7kc
— WWE (@WWE) May 12, 2024
This week’s set of King and Queen of the Ring quarterfinals matchups will be exciting for a couple of reasons. First, the WWE Universe will find out who advances to the next round. But most of all, some may not realize that all of these bouts are between two competitors who have never touched in the ring.
Let’s start with LA Knight against Tama Tonga. The former has been one of the hottest starts over the last two years for WWE, while the latter has been creating a path of destruction barely a month into his debut. Expect fireworks with this one.
We also got Randy Orton versus Carmelo Hayes, Jade Cargill versus Nia Jax, and Bianca Belair versus Tiffany Stratton. These three matches have a big thing in common: it’s veteran versus up-and-comer.
It will be a clash of the generations; the present and the future, providing professional wrestling fans a glimpse of what’s to come and a tribute to the competitors that have put the company on their backs to build it to what it is today.
Champions’ Challenge
For All The Gold https://t.co/MWYmr9Hxky
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) May 11, 2024
The main event of King and Queen of the Ring is poised to steal the show as the current Undisputed WWE and United States Champion will go at it one-on-one in a “Champion vs. Champion” war.
On last week’s WWE SmackDown, reigning United States Champion Logan Paul made it crystal-clear that he wants more hardware to add to his collection.
Paul is so hell-bent on getting more gold that he’s cutting the line and going straight for the “biggest dog in the yard” in the form of Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Of course, Rhodes didn’t even flinch when he was presented the challenge.
However, he also has history-making aspirations, stating that he wants the U.S. Title to make him a “Grand Slam Champion.” While the specifics of this matchup were murky, this week’s contract signing on WWE Friday Night SmackDown will most certainly clear the air.
What will be the parameters for this “clash of champions?” Will both champions agree to have both titles up for grabs?
Find out and more on this week’s Friday night fight night, which you can catch only on Fox!
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