WWE ‘SmackDown’ Preview: Daniel Bryan To Battle Samoa Joe For ‘MITB’ Spot And The Miz In Tag Team Action
WWE.com has released a preview for SmackDown Live, and the final Money in the Bank ladder match spot will be decided this Tuesday, May 29. Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe have never faced each other in the WWE, but they will do so Tuesday night to decide who is going to be the final entrant in the men’s ladder match at Money in the Bank. Because Big Cass is out of action due to a supposed injury (which very well could be a work), last week on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan faced Jeff Hardy for the first time in their respective careers. Their match had MITB implications as the winner would go on to face Samoa Joe. Bryan won the contest, and because of that, the WWE universe is in for a real treat on Tuesday.
Longtime fans and industry experts consider this pairing a WWE dream match. The two have squared off for other professional wrestling promotions, like Ring of Honor (where Daniel was using his real name, Bryan Danielson), but they have yet to face each other in the WWE. They also faced each other in a triple threat match involving AJ Styles at The Ted Petty Invitational Tournament in 2004 (Styles went over on Joe). The Ring of Honor footage below will give you an idea of what to expect from these stiff competitors. In their RoH match, Samoa Joe successfully defended his title by making Bryan tap. Will the same thing happen on SmackDown?
The WWE preview also revealed that The Miz will be tagging with The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) to face The New Day (Xavier Woods, Big E, and Kofi Kingston). Big E wrestled “The A-Lister” during last week’s SmackDown, but because of outside shenanigans, The Miz won the contest. Big E looks to even the playing field this Tuesday.
It was also hinted that WWE SmackDown women’s champion Carmella may have a confrontation with Asuka. Since “The Empress of Tomorrow” is set to challenge the champion at Money in the Bank on June 17, this is pretty much a given. The champ showed everyone that “Mella is Money” at last year’s pay-per-view when she won the MITB briefcase during the first-ever women’s ladder match in the WWE, and she is majorly over as a heel. Asuka is a big fan-favorite, and the two should have an entertaining interaction.
During the main event on SmackDown Live a couple of weeks ago, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated WWE champion AJ Styles in a non-title contest. The winner would decide the implications for their match at MITB, and last week “The King of Strong Style” beat “The Phenomenal One” down and counted to 10. He then got on the mic and announced that their MITB bout would be a last man standing match. Expect these two WWE superstars to have another confrontation Tuesday evening.
WWE SmackDown airs live on the USA Network on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST.
