Sami Zayn faces pressure as WWE champion on SmackDown

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SmackDown airs tonight with a taped show (spoilers here) emanating from Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the five week build to SummerSlam, which takes place on the weekend of August 1. Sami Zayn’s reign as WWE champion is already in big trouble Sami Zayn shocked the world at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia when he pinned Cody Rhodes to become the new WWE champion. Sami is now scheduled to make his first appearance as champ on tonight’s SmackDown, where he will surely have a lot to get off his chest during an emotional victory speech that many fans and colleagues said would never happen. Even though Sami’s ride-or-die fans and Johnny Gargano remained by his side throughout a tumultuous 2026, most others turned their backs on him and have been booing him for months. Zayn now has a chance to put those haters in their place and either graciously welcome them back into the fold, or rub his impossible win in their stupid faces. Zayn better soak in this “I told you so” moment as WWE champion as much as he can, though, because there’s no way Rhodes will sit idly by backstage and not interrupt this speech looking for a shot at winning the belt back. And we know for sure that “Main Event” Jey Uso is on his way to SmackDown tonight with orders from Roman Reigns to go bring Sami’s belt back home to The Bloodline. Now that Sami Zayn has the pressure of never winning a world title off his back, will he start acting like his old self again, or will he double down on being The Last Real Good Guy in WWE? Can he last until SummerSlam as champion, or do Cody and Jey plan to make him one of the worst champions in history by bringing his unlikely title reign to an end as soon as next week? Tune into SmackDown tonight to find out. The rest of the card It looks like Charlotte Flair and Jade Cargill are on a collision course for SummerSlam after The Queen screwed Jade over in her match against Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton in Saudi Arabia. Their rivalry continues tonight when Flair teams up with Stratton and Chelsea Green to fight Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab. How does Flair’s tag team partner Alexa Bliss feel about being left out? AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix vs. El Hijo del Vikingo is also booked on tonight’s episode in your weekly AAA Cool Moves showcase. Let’s hope Vikingo is cleared to compete after he was attacked backstage on Tuesday’s NXT and unable to wrestle as advertised. The fact that this episode of SmackDown was taped on Monday suggests he’ll be just fine to battle Fenix and potentially steal the show. Other stuff to keep an eye on – WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley’s health status is a big question mark heading into SummerSlam. Does WWE have an update on her injury, and if there is some kind of plan to vacate her belt? – Roman Reigns’ personal assassin / lap dog Jacob Fatu says he’s been ordered to go to SmackDown. Is he here to destroy Solo Sikoa, who revealed last week that he hates Reigns and The Bloodline? Whose side is Royce Keys on? – GUNTHER was sent home and Nick Aldis has been placed on Administrative Leave after things between them got physical in Saudi Arabia. Is this angle leading to Aldis’ return to the ring at SummerSlam so that the Ring General can kill his career once and for all? – Blake Monroe finally came to SmackDown last week and attacked Giulia, who just scored a win over Kiana James. Does this mean Blake and Kiana are now aligned, or is “The Glamour” only out for herself? Will her first official match on WWE’s main roster be against The Beautiful Madness at either Saturday Night’s Main Event (July 18) or SummerSlam? – Tama and Talla Tonga abandoned Solo Sikoa’s MFT, and later crossed paths with Finn Balor, who has history with the Tongans. Tama warned Balor to remember what happened when Shinsuke Nakamura was recently in a similar situation on SmackDown. Does Balor prefer to join forces or fight against these guys? – United States Champion Trick Williams is probably ready to move on from that jabroni Ricky Saints, who was taken out with a People’s Elbow by Lil Yachty at Night of Champions. Will Carmelo Hayes try to get back in the title mix, or is it time for a brand new challenger to emerge at SummerSlam? – Matt Cardona is a winner again after recently getting on Danhausen’s good side. Will Cardona screw it all up by revealing whatever that Baron Corbin-sized secret is hiding under a sheet in Danhausen’s science laboratory? Is there any way for The Miz and Kit Wilson to stop being electrocuted zombies? – WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Damian Priest are in the process of setting up a date for a winner-take-all match against AAA World Tag Team Champions War Raiders. Will this match take place in WWE or AAA? – Jacy Jayne and Fatal Influence just can’t figure out how to beat WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Paige and Brie Bella. What new strategy or scheme will the heels come up with tonight, seeing how trying to win a fair fight just isn’t working? – Will temporary SmackDown GM Adam Pearce trade Finn Balor back to Raw after Raw GM Adam Pearce traded Finn to SmackDown for nothing a few weeks ago? – Where the f*** is Ilja Dragunov? He hasn’t wrestled a match since the night before WrestleMania 42 in April. Will it be even harder for him to get TV time now that SmackDown is down to two hours again? What will you be looking for on SmackDown?