Details about WWE’s last episode of Smackdown before Wrestlemania 40 were announced this weekend.
Four matchups, along with a special talking segment were all revealed for the April 5 episode. Smackdown will include the return of “The KO Show,” a singles grudge match, and the 10th edition of a Wrestlemania tradition.
It was revealed Friday that the 1oth-ever Andre The Giant Battle Royal will take place during next week’s episode. The match started in 2014 and has been a fixture of Wrestlemania weeks since then. While the battle royal was initially on the actual Wrestlemania lineup for years, it was moved to Smackdown in 2021. Last year’s match was won by Bobby Lashley.
A segment of “The KO Show,” a talk show hosted by Kevin Owens, will also take place with Randy Orton as the scheduled guest. Owens and Orton will compete later that weekend in a triple threat match for the WWE United States Championship along with Logan Paul. While Owens and Orton have been allies recently, going as far as tagging in a match against Pretty Deadly last Friday, they’ll be opponents at Wrestlemania 40.
The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa will take on Jey Uso, per orders from “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns. Sikoa will be trying to inflict damage on Jey before he faces his brother Jimmy Uso at Wrestlemania.
In another preview of Wrestlemania, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory will face Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate of the New Catch Republic. Both teams will be competing in a six-team ladder match for the Raw and Smackdown tag titles later in the weekend.
It was also announced that a singles match between Zelina Vega and Elektra Lopez will take place. Vega and Lopez briefly brawled during a segment between the LWO and Legado del Fantasmo on the most recent episode of Smackdown.
Smackdown will go down from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA next week. The 2024 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will air right after the show goes off air. 15,000 tickets have been sold for the event already, per a post from WrestleTix.
