SmackDown airs tonight (Aug. 11) with a live show from Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the four week build towards Payback, which takes place on September 2.
Jimmy Uso owes Roman Reigns an apology
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is still the Tribal Chief after defeating Jey Uso at SummerSlam. However, the main reason why he beat Jey in Tribal Combat is because Jimmy Uso betrayed his own twin brother.
WWE is promoting a Hail to the Chief segment on tonight’s SmackDown. Assuming Roman Reigns is healthy enough to show up, it sounds like the idea is for Jimmy Uso to be there to acknowledge his Tribal Chief and find his way back into The Bloodline. But we haven’t heard an explanation for Jimmy’s actions yet, so it’s not clear if this is what he actually wants.
Jimmy was the first Uso to turn on Roman Reigns back at Night of Champions in May. He superkicked Roman in order to stand up for his brother Jey. We later learned that Jimmy wasn’t too keen on the idea of Jey Uso becoming the next Tribal Chief. Jey didn’t seem all that interested in becoming the next Tribal Chief either at that time, so there was no conflict there.
But once Jimmy was injured in July, Jey suddenly started to call himself The Real Chief and wanted to take that status away from Roman. Paul Heyman planted some seeds along the way, saying Jey was acting more and more like a Tribal Chief while Jimmy was out injured, and that what happened to Jimmy was Jey’s fault. It’s possible that those words resonated with Jimmy while he was watching from the hospital. If Jimmy never wanted Jey to become the next in line, but saw that it was about to happen, that could explain why he put an end to it at SummerSlam.
No matter what sort of logic is running through Jimmy’s head, if he has now decided that things are better off with Roman as the Tribal Chief than any alternative, he may very well Hail to the Chief tonight. Roman did say he would give the Usos infinite chances, but in order to get back in, they would need to apologize. In other words, if Jimmy Uso is on SmackDown tonight in order to acknowledge his Tribal Chief, then he’ll need an apology to go along with it.
Will Jey Uso also be in the building tonight? Is he ready to bring violence to Jimmy, or will he try to talk things out first? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered in the fallout from SummerSlam.
The rest of the title scene
United States Champion Austin Theory puts the title on the line tonight against Santos Escobar. Escobar beat Theory in a non-title match a few weeks ago, and then eliminated him from the SummerSlam Battle Royal presented by Slim Jim. But will Theory win the match that actually counts?
IYO SKY is the new WWE Women’s Champion after cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on Bianca Belair at SummerSlam. Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Asuka would all love to have the first shot at the new champ. How will Adam Pearce figure out who gets to challenge SKY at Payback?
WWE needs to address the future of the Women’s tag team titles after Sonya Deville had surgery for a torn ACL this week. Will Chelsea Green be allowed to find a new partner, or will the belts be vacated again?
WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn aren’t defending