SmackDown airs tonight (Mar. 20) with a live show emanating from Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is the third episode of SmackDown during the seven week build to WrestleMania 42, which takes place on the weekend of April 18 and 19.
Randy Orton shockingly turned heel during his WrestleMania 42 contract signing with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes last week. After Cody said that he’ll always love Randy, The Viper decided to kick Cody in the dick and spill his blood all over the place. Orton is scheduled to appear on SmackDown tonight to explain why he did that. Orton referred to himself as “a killer” during a brief phone call into this week’s Raw, and he reminded everyone that wrestling has more than one royal family. He’ll likely follow up on those talking points tonight. One of the more interesting aspects of Randy’s disturbing assault on Rhodes last week was the fact that fans in the arena were actually cheering for him by the end of it. After Orton explains himself, is Rhodes in any shape to confront the man he loves? If not, will WWE give an update on Rhodes’ condition and when he is expected back? Perhaps Randy will take out his sadistic aggression tonight on some other poor sap like Cody’s good friend Matt Cardona, if the champ isn’t on the show.
When Nia Jax and Lash Legend defended their tag titles against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss last week, it was rudely interrupted by the returning Bella Twins. Flair and Bliss were on the verge of winning the titles before Bella Twins stuck their noses where they didn’t belong. Henceforth, Flair and Bliss will return the favor this week and force a disqualification finish by attacking Bella Twins. Bella Twins will win the return match but not the titles due to champion’s advantage, as Jax and Legend will walk into Mania the champs. Nikki and Brie Bella returned to WWE last week and were granted an automatic WWE women’s tag team championship match tonight against the Irresistible Forces. This is the first time the WWE Hall of Fame twins will ever fight for these belts.