PreviewThe Headliner After a couple weeks serving as referee, ring announcer and time keeper while WWE World champ AJ Styles picked up a couple losses to James Ellsworth, Dean Ambrose will be back in action this week. And he’s taking on the champion. Styles was fed up with the Lunatic Fringe cutting up and helping cost him matches to the Chinless Wonder, so he demanded General Manager Daniel Bryan set him up with a one-on-one against the man he defeated to win the belt at Backlash. Bryan was on board, with one condition. If AJ ends up in the loss column for a third straight week, Dean is the new #1 contender. And, hey, if rumors are true, maybe Ellsworth will be the guest referee. The Title Scene ► After a few weeks off for a personal medical issue, Women’s titleholder Becky Lynch is back. She wrestled on house shows last weekend, but doesn’t have a television match confirmed until next week. Expect a showdown with #1 contender Alexa Bliss regardless, especially now that the pint-sized powerhouse got her win back from Naomi last week. ► Tag champs Heath Slater & Rhyno don’t have official top challengers of their own, so good thing SmackDown doesn’t have a pay-per-view (PPV) until next month - and even then are more likely to end up in the red vs. blue tag team elimination match. That’s probably why they keep finding themselves in other people’s feuds, like American Alpha vs. the Usos, or... ► Miz and his Spirit Squad minions picked up a win over Intercontinental titleist Dolph Ziggler and Beauty & the Man-Beast last week. Will that be enough to get the Awesome One and his wife past the grieving stage, and move the IC title scene forward? Other stuff to keep an eye on: ► After returning from whatever mystic realm Luke Harper transported him to a couple weeks back, Kane will face Bray Wyatt in a no disqualification match. Randy Orton will be involved, along with more hocus pocus-y stuff we don’t understand and won’t be explained. ► He made it to the ring last Tuesday, but Apollo Crews answered some “Facts” with a big right hand, so Curt Hawkins is still looking for the first official match of his WWE comeback. ► We all know about Nikki Bella’s personal life, and Carmella thinks it’s the reason she’s on top of WWE. ► After a win over Jack Swagger and some tough talk for Bryan, Baron Corbin looks ready for the next level.
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