Championship Matches Announced For Tonight’s WWE Smackdown, John Cena’s Return, Ambrose Gets Staples & More!

WWE Week on the USA Network continues tonight with a special live edition of Smackdown to be aired at 8:00 pm EST/7:00 pm CST. On Monday’s Raw, there were two big title matches announced for tonight’s “Super SmackDown LIVE;” The first being that Dean Ambrose will defend his Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match against Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler. In addition to this, the New Day will also be putting their Tag Team Championships on the line against the number one contender Lucha Dragons.

I don’t expect either titles to change hands, but I am looking forward to both these matches as I really enjoy everyone involved. Both matches could be excellent if given enough time and I fully expect sufficient time to be given since these two championship bouts will be the show’s co-main events. Even though tonight’s edition of Smackdown is live and on the USA Network, “Super Smackdown LIVE” will be two hours like usual. Smackdown moves to the USA Network permanently on Thursday, January 7, 2016.

Our TJRWrestling boss John Canton will have a live review of Smackdown tonight here on the site, so be sure to check it out!

In Other News

– Tapings for the first USA Network edition of Smackdown will be taking place on Tuesday, January 5 in Laredo, Texas. WWE is currently advertising two steel cage matches for this event; however the participants have yet to be announced. For those who don’t know, last week Mauro Ranallo was announced as the new voice of Smackdown and he will begin his play-by-play announcing on this January 7 edition of Smackdown. Ranallo is currently the play-by-play announcer for Showtime’s Championship Boxing. He’s been dedicated fan of the WWE his entire life and will do a great job on Smackdown. This signing was a nice way of the WWE showing that they haven’t totally forgotten about Smackdown and still do care about the product. Hopefully Ranallo injects some much needed energy into Thursday nights.

– Big Show will be Jonathan Coachman’s guest on tonight’s WWE segment on ESPN SportsCenter at 9:00 pm EST. He will be promoting Wednesday’s annual Tribute to the Troops show. I haven’t watched any of these WWE segments that ESPN has been doing. I really don’t have any interest in it as I feel like there is nothing really intriguing enough that merits me tuning in. I’ve heard the segments are relatively short and they’re really for those who don’t watch WWE often and want to catch up on what’s been going on. If any of you do watch these WWE/ESPN segments on SportsCenter, let me know your thoughts about it in the comment section below. Is it worth checking out?

– It was announced on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw that John Cena will have his return match on next week’s Raw against reigning United States Champion Alberto Del Rio. Cena was last seen on WWE television during October’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event where he lost his United States Championship to a returning Alberto Del Rio. This match will not be for the United States Championship. Even though Cena never received his rematch for the US title, I don’t think he’s entitled to it anymore since it has been over a month. I could be wrong as the WWE often likes to flip-flop on rules, but I’m fairly certain that this is the case. If he defeats Del Rio next Monday then maybe he receives his rematch for the US Championship at the Royal Rumble. I know it’s a while away but there’s never anything wrong with giving a feud enough time to build to a proper payoff at a pay-per-view, especially one as popular as the Royal Rumble. Next week’s Raw is also taking place at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York so you can expect a rowdy crowd. Should be fun!

– Dean Ambrose had to receive six staples in his head to a close a wound after his steel cage match with Sheamus that ended last night’s Raw. WWE posted the following video of Ambrose receiving medical attention after Raw. I always find it kind of funny how, for a PG program, the WWE will sometimes post these sorts of graphic videos on WWE.com and their WWE YouTube channel. They also did the same thing with Seth Rollins when he underwent his knee surgery; some of the shots in that video were pretty graphic. I don’t mind it at all; I just think it’s interesting how they do it from time to time.

– Filming was completed for the WWE’s “Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of The Dudley Boyz” Blu-ray and DVD. This documentary will center on the Dudleys return to WWE back in August and will discuss their lives and careers up to this point. The documentary has a run time of 1 hour and 15 minutes. The Blu-ray and DVD set will also include various matches throughout the Dudley Boyz career, including matches from both WWE and ECW. This was reported by WrestlingDVDNetwork.com. This sounds like something I’d want to check out, but it’s something that I can definitely just wait on until it comes out on the WWE Network. However, for you collectors, this could be a cool one.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and leave any of your thoughts in the comment section below.

Image used above is courtesy of WWE.com.