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WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: June 10, 2022

Riddle will be there on the show to claim a title shot and so will Lacey Evans to make her in-ring return after a hiatus of more than a year.

Lacey Evans booked in a Money in the Bank qualifier match on Smackdown (image courtesy YouTube)

WWE’s blue brand starts its journey towards Money in the Bank 2022 with tonight’s episode. Heading into this week’s Smackdown, the rumoured Riddle vs. Roman Reigns title match at the PLE seems to be in jeopardy.

Riddle will be there on the show to claim a title shot and so will Lacey Evans to make her in-ring return after a hiatus of more than a year. Alongside this, Ricochet will put his Intercontinental Title on the line against a former NXT UK Champion.

Plus, a new stable could start forming on the June 10 episode of Friday Night Smackdown that emanates from the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Riddle is on a crusade against The Bloodline over the past couple of months. Even without any partner (namely Randy Orton or Shinsuke Nakamura) backing him up, he will dare to travel to Smackdown to demand a championship match from the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns knowing that The Usos would be lurking in to pounce on him.

The challenge was first issued on this past Monday’s Raw during his appearance on Miz TV. Riddle was mocked by The Miz for getting beaten up by The Bloodline on a regular basis. In response, The Original Bro vowed to take The Tribal Chief’s title.

“I am tired of fighting Roman’s minions week after week,” Riddle said in his promo. “I wanna tell Roman that I wanna fight that tribal piece of trash. Since the Head of the Table thinks it’s cool to take my friend Randy Orton out, I’m gonna take something from him. I’m gonna take the Undisputed Universal Championship from him.”

Then on Raw Talk, Riddle confirmed that he was coming on Smackdown in search of Roman Reigns to which Paul Heyman reacted by saying that there could be repercussions for rebels like him on The Head of the Table’s 'island of relevancy.’

It should be noted that Riddle vs. Roman Reigns was previously planned for Money in the Bank 2022. But with the latter’s recent absence from Smackdown, the match has reportedly been scrapped from the PLE. More on the story should unfold after Riddle progresses the championship angle, tonight.

Speaking of titles, Intercontinental Champion Ricochet will defend his belt on WWE SmackDown against Gunther (fka former WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER). Despite getting trolled over his name change, the UK-native challenger has run rampant over the blue brand competition since his main roster debut.

On the May 27 episode of Smackdown, Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser defeated Ricochet and Drew Gulak in a tag team bout after crossing paths with the duo on a few occasions. This set up the title match and given Gunther’s protected status on TV, tonight could mark his maiden title win on the main roster.

Last week, Natalya emerged victorious in a Six-Pack Challenge that also involved Shotzi, Aliyah, Shayna Baszler, Xia Li, and Raquel Rodriguez to become the next challenger to Rousey’s title.

Aliyah was late to enter that bout as Shotzi locked her up in the female locker room and hence she could never focus on the match. The woman with the quickest win in WWE history isn’t giving up her own title opportunity as she is focused on seeking revenge against Shotzi.

As announced on last week’s SmackDown, Max Dupri (fka LA Knight of WWE NXT roster) will reveal the first client of his Maximum Male Models stable. There’s no update on which superstar was handpicked by him but over on dark segments, he’s managing the likes of Mansoor and former RETRIBUTION faction member, Mace.

Lacey Evans has made her return to WWE television following Wrestlemania 38 but her in-ring return has been delayed. She was originally planning to compete for the first time in almost one and a half years during the go-home Raw for Hell in a Cell 2022 but NASCAR race Grand Marshall duties prevented her from doing so.

Now, WWE has switched her back on Smackdown from Raw and her in-ring return is being promoted for tonight. Her opponent will be Xia Li in a Money in the Bank qualifier capacity.

This would mark the first match for Evans since the February 15, 2021 episode of Raw, where she and Peyton Royce lost to Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a tag team match.

Story first published: Friday, June 10, 2022, 12:49 [IST]
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