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The latest episode of WWE SmackDown Live will take place in Lafayette, Louisiana on Tuesday.
With just five days to go until the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, five matches have already been announced for this week’s show, including the SmackDown Tag Team Championship #1 contender battle between The Bar and Rusev Day.
The build-up to Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse will also be featured on Tuesday’s episode, with Brie taking on Maryse in the main event, while R-Truth will attempt to pick up his second win in a row when he goes one-on-one with Andrade “Cien” Almas.
Aside from the WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, one of the most anticipated encounters from the blue brand at Hell In A Cell will be between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.
WWE is yet to announce a segment involving Styles and Joe for this week’s show, but it was confirmed over the weekend that Charlotte will prepare for her SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Becky by facing Sonya Deville on Tuesday.
Elsewhere this week, we can expect to see more progression in the rivalry between Asuka & Naomi and The IIconics, while Jeff Hardy will take on United States champion Shinsuke Nakamura just five days before he steps inside Hell In A Cell against Randy Orton.
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In this article, let’s take a look at five last-minute predictions ahead of SmackDown Live.
#5 Charlotte Flair vs. Sonya Deville
Sonya Deville is one of the most underrated Superstars in the women’s division, but can anybody really see her defeating Charlotte Flair in a one-on-one match?
With Mandy Rose likely to watch on from ringside, the numbers will be against the SmackDown Women’s champion, who is lacking any allies following Becky Lynch’s SummerSlam betrayal, but that only makes it more probable that she could pick up the victory via disqualification.
Given that WWE seems to be cooling on the Becky heel turn, it would be a surprise to see her attack Charlotte again during or after the match. Instead, it seems more likely that she’ll appear after "The Queen" wins to cut another heated promo.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair def. Sonya Deville
#4 Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Jeff Hardy requested a match with former rival Shinsuke Nakamura so he could “cleanse his soul” ahead of his battle against Randy Orton at Hell In A Cell, and that’s exactly what SmackDown Live General Manager Paige has granted him.
Will Jeff warm up for his barbaric match against Orton with a victory, possibly returning to the United States title picture in the process? Or will Nakamura win in his first televised match since SummerSlam?
Let’s go for Jeff, courtesy of interference from his Hell In A Cell opponent.
Prediction: Jeff Hardy def. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ
#3 Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. R-Truth
R-Truth returned to action on last week’s SmackDown Live by picking up a surprise victory over former tag partner The Miz in the show’s main event.
The outcome of this match is all about Carmella. Will she accompany Truth to ringside again to work on their alliance ahead of the Mixed Match Challenge? Or did she only do that last week because Maryse called her “Staten Island trash”?
As tempting as it is to predict a win for Truth, let's go for "El Idolo".
Prediction: Andrade “Cien” Almas def. R-Truth
#2 The Bar vs. Rusev Day
The SmackDown Tag Team Championship #1 contender tournament comes to an end when The Bar and Rusev Day meet this week to determine who will challenge The New Day for the titles at Hell In A Cell.
WWE has already announced that The Bar will face The New Day for the titles at Super Show-Down in October (cards are always subject to change, of course!), so it would be foolish to predict anything other than a win for Cesaro & Sheamus.
Prediction: The Bar def. Rusev Day
#1 Brie Bella vs. Maryse
SmackDown Live General Manager Paige revealed on social media on Monday that Brie Bella and Maryse will warm up for Sunday’s tag match by facing each other one-on-one this week.
Not only will this be the main event, but it will also be the first televised singles match that Maryse has competed in since she faced Beth Phoenix on a Superstars taping in July 2011.
In reality, this will be a huge moment for Maryse – she gave birth less than six months ago. In the storyline, let’s predict that she’ll get the win, courtesy of some shenanigans involving The Miz, and SmackDown Live will go off the air with Brie and Bryan locking in submissions on their cheating rivals to get the upper hand ahead of Hell In A Cell.
Prediction: Maryse def. Brie Bella
