As Royal Rumble approaches closer, WWE Smackdown is set with another episode with two big-time matches advertised on it. Kevin Owens will battle his former best friend Sami Zayn in the main event. Plus, the Intercontinental Championship will be on the line as Gunther defends against Braun Strowman on this January 13 episode that takes place at the RESCH Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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Last week on WWE Smackdown, Roman Reigns blamed Sami Zayn for their loss to Owens and John Cena on the final episode of 2022 which ended with Owens pinning Zayn. Later that night, Reigns also apologized to Zayn for taking out his frustrations on Zayn. These two segments made the fans believe that The Bloodline will eventually be turning on Zayn.
Chances of seeing the same would be even stronger if The Honorary Uce fails to defeat Kevin Owens on this week’s WWE Smackdown. This match was originally suggested to Zayn by Paul Heyman so that he could get back in Reigns’ good books by taking out the KO problem by featuring in this singles match.
This comes after Reigns had agreed to put his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line against Owens at Royal Rumble in the same segment where he was verbally blasting Zayn for coming up short against Cena and Owens. Now, time will tell whether Zayn gives one more reason to The Bloodline leader to bash him from the faction by losing against Owens.
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WWE Smackdown Preview (13/01/23): Gunther vs. Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman is back in the WWE five months ago but he’s yet to reach the main event scene. Now, for the first time since his return to WWE in September, the former Universal Champion will be competing in a championship match on this week’s WWE Smackdown as he will take on Gunther for the Intercontinental Title.
After defeating Ricochet for the title, two weeks ago, Gunther and his Imperium buddies attacked the challenger when Strowman came out to defend him. As a result, WWE announced this massive matchup that is going to be a clash of the titans. While Imperium members will be at ringside to support their leader, expect Ricochet to provide backup to The Monster among Men.
It won’t be the first time that the two will be sharing the ring as they briefly faced off in the 2019 Men’s Survivors Series match with Gunther as part of Team WWE NXT while Strowman was a part of Team WWE SmackDown. However, this will be the first time indeed that these two gigantic figures will feature in a singles battle.
WWE Smackdown Preview (13/01/23): New feud to commence?
Drew McIntyre made his return to make the save for Sheamus from The Bloodline on the December 30, 2022, episode of WWE SmackDown. This also made way for the duo to feature in an opportunity to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship held by The Usos, last week.
The champion cheated their way to winning by pinning Sheamus while McIntyre was down outside the ring. After the match, McIntyre and Sheamus were attacked by The Viking Raiders. Erik and Ivar sent them shoulder-first into the ring post and then they took out the two with two Ragnaroks hinting that a brand new feud between the two sides is beginning this week.