Smackdown Live Preview & Discussion Thread: Owens & Zayn Battle, Roode Defends Against Rusev, More

WrestleZone encourages you to begin your discussion about tonight’s Smackdown Live in the comments section at the bottom of this post, the WZ Forums or via the WZ FB Discussion Group.

Tonight’s Smackdown Live takes place from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO.

WWE has shared the following Quick Hits preview points on WWE.com ahead of tonight’s episode of Smackdown Live:

• Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to battle for a WWE Title opportunity at WWE Fastlane tonight on SmackDown LIVE
• Bobby Roode defends the United States Championship against Rusev tonight on SmackDown LIVE
• Daniel Bryan to reveal the first-ever SmackDown LIVE Top 10 Superstars List
• Charlotte Flair looks for payback against Riott Squad’s Liv Morgan

Be sure to join WZ tonight at 8 pm EST for live coverage of the show! Don’t forget to use #WZChat on Twitter to be included in our live coverage here on WrestleZone!

WWE’s full preview can be found HERE. We have included some excerpts below.

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On Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn battling for a shot at AJ Styles and his WWE Championship at Fastlane:

SmackDown LIVE ended with fractures beginning to show in the friendship between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Tonight, the two best friends will get a chance to take out their frustrations on each other when they battle for the right to challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles at WWE Fastlane.

The “Yep!” Movement began to tear apart at the seams during a tag team battle pitting Owens & Zayn against Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura. Following their loss to The Phenomenal One at the Royal Rumble event, the two were clearly not on the same page, bickering throughout the bout. After Styles sent Owens crashing into his friend, a fed-up Zayn walked out on the match, leaving KO to fend for himself against the WWE Champion and WWE’s Rockstar, and the bout ended with Owens falling to Nakamura’s devastating Kinshasa knee strike.

After the match, Renee Young approached Zayn in the backstage area and asked him if this was the end of he and Owens’ friendship. Zayn said that it wasn’t, but that this was his time to shine. He declared that after next week, he won’t be known as simply “Kevin Owens’ best friend;” he’ll be known as the guy who beat Kevin Owens and became WWE Champion at WWE Fastlane.

Will Zayn’s predictions come true? Find out when these two best friends collide on SmackDown LIVE, tonight at 8/7 C on USA Network!

On Bobby Roode defending the US Championship against Rusev:

After winning a Fatal 4-Way Match, Rusev has earned the right to challenge United States Champion Bobby Roode tonight on SmackDown LIVE.

The Bulgarian Brute bested Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder and Jinder Mahal in an action-packed Fatal 4-Way Match last Tuesday to earn the opportunity to face The Glorious One, then immediately rolled out of the ring to stare down Roode, who was at the announce table.

In a video later that night, Rusev declared that their championship showdown would be Roode’s swan song with the star-spangled title. The champion responded by declaring that even though their showdown may fall on Rusev Day, the outcome of the battle will be nothing short of … GLORIOUS!

Who will walk out of SmackDown LIVE with the United States Championship? Find out tonight at 8/7 C on USA Network!