WWE Friday Night SmackDown preview & schedule: June 26, 2020

Bengaluru, June 25: Following a couple of big match announcements for Extreme Rules over on Raw, it must be time for the SmackDown brand to let their plans known for the pay-per-view event.

That promises us a packed episode from the blue brand, where the headliner of the night is going to be a championship match. The Phenomenal One is all set for his very first defense over the prestigious Intercontinental Title.

A Universal Championship match will be in the making when the champion addresses the cryptic words thrown by his potential opponent. SmackDown Women’s Championship picture should be clarified whereas Sheamus will raise a toast in honor of his current rival Jeff Hardy when SmackDown emanates from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Special attraction on Smackdown:

WWE Universe is still buzzing over the final chapter of groundbreaking documentary Undertaker: The Last Ride on the WWE Network. It was noted that The Deadman has no intention to come back to in-ring competition, anymore which makes the ominous Boneyard Match his last-ever outing. Over on Smackdown, WWE is throwing a tribute to the Phenome as they re-telecast Taker vs Styles from Wrestlemania 36.

AJ Styles threw a grand celebration for his first Intercontinental Championship win by inviting the entire SmackDown roster. His gloating attitude backfired as Matt Riddle debuted at his expense by pulling off a shocking pinfall win. But the worse news was that he was inserted into a title defense against Drew Gulak.

AJ Styles did defeat Daniel Bryan in an epic showdown to win his first Intercontinental Title but he couldn't outsmart Bryan's training partner Gulak, two weeks ago.

This is the reason why the former Cruiserweight Champion is getting his first singles title opportunity on the main roster against the former WWE Champion. The expectation is Styles will derail Gulak's momentums to get back on the winning course after an initial setback.

Bray Wyatt seems hell-bent on his mission to let Braun Strowman embrace the darkness of his past. Thus he brought back the leader of the Wyatt family character so that Black Sheep mask haunts Strowman, constantly.

In this situation, the Monster Among Men would address the man who once introduced him to the WWE Universe. The assumption is that WWE is planning a cinematic match between the duo that should be confirmed during this segment.

While enjoying the women's tag team championship reign, Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley should also have to focus on defending her own belt that she hasn't defended for a while. As hinted last week, almost everyone from the women’s division is targeting the number-one contender's spot that should set up a multi-woman match to decide who'd face Bayley at Extreme Rules.

The ongoing feud between Sheamus and Jeff Hardy was supposedly over after their match at Backlash. But the program would continue as Sheamus has invited his fellow blue brand superstars to pop a bottle and join him to raise a toast to the legendary Hardy.

The “celebration” will be happening in response to Hardy’s passionate interview where he promised to overcome inner demons to climb the mountain. So it's certain, he won't miss this celebration thrown by the Celtic Warrior.



Another long-term bad blood is still going strong on SmackDown between the two former Fire n Desire members. Sonya Deville seems poised to blast Mandy Rose for her lesser talents which didn't go well.

The Golden Goddess got the upper-hand as Daddy Deville left the ring leaving the fight for another day. That should happen at Extreme Rules 2020 with a gimmick attached to it. The match between Deville and Rose is likely to be confirmed when Friday Night's hottest show airs from WWE PC.