WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: March 3, 2023

Rhea Ripley to compete in a match on SmackDown (image courtesy Twitter)

Bengaluru, March 3: Moving on from Elimination Chamber, cracks in The Bloodline are wide open and Roman Reigns finally returns to address the issue on WWE's Road to WrestleMania 39 during the latest Smackdown edition.

The number-one contender for the women's title is scheduled to feature on the show to take on her former tag partner. Plus, Ronda Rousey will be in action as her transition to be a tag team performer continues.

Here is a look at the segments announced for the March 3 episode of WWE Friday Night Smackdown emanating from the Capital One Arena in Washington DC:

Roman Reigns – Cody Rhodes face-off

As if Sami Zayn turning his back on The Bloodline wasn't a big blow for the top faction, Jey Uso has also stopped seeing eye to eye with his family members for the past several weeks.

In a message delivered by Special Council Paul Heyman, Jey's brother Jimmy Uso was instructed to take care of the problem. But since Jimmy's been unable to solve the issue, it's time for Roman Reigns to step in.

But that's not all for the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion when he shows up on Smackdown as his WrestleMania challenger wants to intensify his headache.

Following his victory on Raw over Alpha Academy member Chad Gable, Cody Rhodes made it clear that he was happy that Reigns was booked for SmackDown on Friday because he would be there, too.

Cody won the Men's Royal Rumble match in January to punch his ticket to WrestleMania and thereby receive the title shot at Reigns. Now, for the first time on WWE TV, he will stand face-to-face with the champion inside the squared circle.

That being said, the much-anticipated segment is expected to add fireworks to the ongoing championship storyline for the Show of Shows. Also, there's doubt whether The Head of the Table will be able to keep his Island of Relevancy intact.

Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley

More than a month ago, Rhea Ripley pulled off her career-best performance by outlasting 29 other women from the number-one spot to win the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble match.

Two nights after, Judgment Day's Mami officially declared her intention to go after the SmackDown Women's Championship held by Charlotte Flair to set up a WrestleMania showdown. To build up the match, she's also making appearances on Friday nights.

One such appearance is reserved, this week where Rhea Ripley will not only be present on the show but will also compete in a singles contest against her former tag team partner and a former Smackdown Women's Champion, Liv Morgan.

Interestingly, Morgan was the number-two seed of the Rumble match who was eliminated by Ripley as the 29th and last elimination. The Miracle Kid does acknowledge The Nightmare's greatness but tonight she is out to prove that the latter isn't unbeatable.

Ronda Rousey in tag team action

Six nights after the 2023 Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey stormed her way back into Smackdown and turned her focus on Natalya who was after Ronda's best buddy, Shayna Baszler.

On the February 17 episode of the blue brand, The B.O.A.T. teamed up with Shotzi but failed to get retribution on Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler in an explosive tag team matchup in front of a raucous Montreal crowd.

Then last week, Natalya again failed to win a singles match against Baszler after which a post-match beatdown was supposed to go down. Thankfully, Tegan Nox saved the day for Nattie and the altercation also set up a match.

Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Tegan Nox and Natalya is the lineup where the latter will still be out for redemption. However, the unsuccessful tag shouldn't be removed from her as her adversaries are women's tag title picture-bound.