Finn Bálor returns to SmackDown in King of the Ring tournament match

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SmackDown airs tonight (June 12) with a live show emanating from Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. This is the second episode of SmackDown during the four week build to Night of Champions, which takes place on June 27. WWE is making things really hard for Finn Bálor Finn Bálor was traded from Raw to SmackDown earlier this month. I don’t know what Raw received in return, but I guess that is GM Adam Pearce’s problem to figure out. Finn’s first match back on the SmackDown roster takes place tonight. WWE is throwing him right into the fire in a 4-way King of the Ring tournament match against Royce Keys, Jey Uso, and LA Knight. This is an interesting group of stars without an obvious winner. The main story here involves Uso and Knight. The megastar hates the fact that the Usos are once again henchmen in The Bloodline who are protecting World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. There’s at least a chance this angle is leading to Roman Reigns vs. Knight, which will happen at SummerSlam if LA wins this tournament. Alternatively, if the idea is for Oba Femi to win King of the Ring and face Reigns, then it makes sense for The Ruler to have to go through Roman’s right hand man (Jey Uso) in the final match of this tournament. Royce Keys also can’t be dismissed, as Solo Sikoa is still trying to recruit him into MFT. This angle could potentially lead to a showdown with Reigns or WWE Champion Rhodes if Keys finally gives in and accepts Solo’s offer. There are no disqualifications in this match, so MFT can definitely get involved to help or hurt Keys, depending on what answer he gives Solo. This puts Finn in a tough spot tonight, in terms of finding a reason to think he could advance and ultimately win the King of the Ring tournament. I suppose he could be seeking revenge on the Tribal Chief after he gave The Demon his first loss in WWE five years ago with a rope malfunction that’s never been explained. Alternatively, Bálor vs. Rhodes at SummerSlam is a battle of babyfaces that doesn’t have much juice to it right now. Dominik Mysterio is still there on the other side of the bracket, and he could potentially meet Finn in the final match of the tournament at Night of Champions. Finn will have to get through his three opponents tonight, and then beat Je’Von Evans in the next round to make it happen. Overall, I’d say Uso is the favorite to win tonight, with Knight not that far behind. But is Finn Bálor really going to lose his first match since being traded to the SmackDown roster? Tune in tonight to find out. The rest of the card The opening round of the Queen of the Ring tournament also wraps up tonight with a 4-way match between Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Lyra Valkyria, and Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca. The blue brand desperately needs a win in this tournament, and a victory for Flair or Cargill seems like the most obvious way to make that happen. There are no disqualifications in a 4-way match, so the winner may come down to whose allies are more effective at interfering. Cargill won their tag team match last week, so maybe it’s The Queen’s turn to get her win back. The winner advances to face Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan in the next round. GUNTHER gets a rematch against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes on next week’s episode of SmackDown. The Ring General has really good lawyers, which means he also gets to announce the stipulation for the title match tonight. Will he pick something that ensures WWE’s incompetent referees can’t screw things up for him again? How will Sami Zayn find a way to interrupt and make it all about himself? Who knows, maybe GUNTHER will make Sami the special guest referee. Other stuff to keep an eye on – WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley was limping around and in no shape to wrestle last week. Does WWE have an update on her status tonight? – The War Raiders are back in WWE as the AAA world tag team champions, and they want a Title vs. Title match against WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Damian Priest. Can Truth keep ducking the match by pretending he doesn’t know who they are? – It feels like it’s just a matter of time until Fatal Influence beats Paige and Brie Bella for the WWE women’s tag team championship. Will WWE give advance notice on the title match, or could it happen as soon as tonight? – Ricky Saints finally beat someone in WWE not named Matt Cardona last week when he pinned Carmelo Hayes. Is this leading to a title match between Saints and United States Champion Trick Williams? – Now that Giulia and Kiana James are finally broken up, when will they wrestle again each other? Will they each try to find new allies beforehand? – Does WWE Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton plan to issue another open challenge tonight? Is “The Glamour” Blake Monroe ready to answer? What about Chelsea Green? – We probably won’t find out who Danhausen is hiding under his sheet in his science laboratory until after the NBA Finals wraps up, which could happen this weekend if the New York Knicks win Game 5. – Is Kit Wilson ready to return to SmackDown tonight after strange travel issues involving moisturizer and cats kept him away from WWE’s European tour? Is his return a bigger deal than Randy Orton or Drew McIntyre’s? – Where the f*** is Ilja Dragunov? He hasn’t wrestled a match since the night before WrestleMania 42 in April. What will you be looking for on SmackDown?