WWE has to make a very interesting decision on Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair

SmackDown airs tonight (May 17) with a live show emanating from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. This is the second episode of SmackDown during the three week build towards King and Queen of the Ring, which takes place on May 25 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

WWE has to make a very interesting decision on Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair

The Queen of the Ring tournament continues tonight with second round matches on the SmackDown side of the bracket. It will be Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax.

Belair and Cargill looked like the favorites to win the whole tournament as soon as they were announced for it, so it will cause quite a stir when either woman is eliminated. One of those shocking eliminations could certainly happen tonight. If Jade and Bianca both win and advance to the next round, that means they will be scheduled for a tournament match against each other next week on SmackDown. WWE already teased one tournament superfight (GUNTHER vs. Ilja Dragunov) this week and found a way to avoid it, and a similar booking decision could be made here.

The first time Cargill and Belair fight each other, I’d expect it to happen on a major PLE like SummerSlam or WrestleMania, rather than an episode of SmackDown where commercial breaks will take up part of the match time. If that logic holds, then either Jade or Bianca must lose tonight, even if it’s in underwhelming fashion like a disqualification finish.

However, Jade and Bianca are also the current WWE women’s tag team champions. If WWE is looking to create friction between them for an eventual breakup, then maybe both women will advance tonight and meet up next week in the tournament for a controversial finish there.

That’s why it will be very interesting to see what decision WWE makes. Is it time for Jade Cargill to take her first singles loss in WWE? Will Tiffany Stratton find a way to cheat Bianca Belair out of the tournament? Will Belair and Cargill both advance and actually have their superfight next week on SmackDown? You’ll have to tune in tonight to see how it all plays out.

The rest of tonight’s card

The King of the Ring tournament also continues tonight, with both second round matches on the SmackDown side of the bracket. First up is Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes. Randy is perhaps the favorite (along with GUNTHER on Raw) to make it to the final match of the tournament, so Carmelo has his work cut out for him if he’s looking to make a name for himself at The Viper’s expense.

The other tournament match is LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga. Knight could greatly benefit from going all the way in this tourney, but Solo Sikoa’s vision of The Bloodline is gaining momentum and members. This could be just another case where a popular babyface succumbs to the numbers game of The Bloodline. Then again, maybe Kevin Owens will show up to screw Tonga over.

Finally, SmackDown will feature a contract signing between Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and United States Champion Logan Paul to make their main event match official at King and Queen of the Ring. WWE is advertising this one as a Champion vs. Champion match, yet there remains some confusion as to whether both belts are on the line. The exact stakes of their upcoming match in Saudi Arabia should be very clear by the end of this segment.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

– Who will AJ Styles take his frustrations out on tonight after being bounced in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament by Randy Orton?

– Solo Sikoa says Paul Heyman is now his wiseman, at least while Roman Reigns is taking a break from WWE. Will Paul make any strategic blunders right away to piss off the current Tribal Chief of the Bloodline?

– When are Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa going to come looking for a title shot against WWE Tag Team Champions Austin Theory and Grayson Waller? Will DIY have to beat a team like Pretty Deadly before they can target the champs?

– Shinsuke Nakamura sounds very confident about thriving on the new SmackDown roster. Is there a babyface who plans to make him eat those words?

– WWE Women’s Champion Bayley might be able to take a breather while she waits for the Queen of the Ring tournament to wrap up. That means this could be the perfect time for Chelsea Green to get involved in the champ’s business and quickly become a pain in her ass.

– How will Baron Corbin rebound after losing his return match on SmackDown last week?

– Is there any update on Bob Lashley’s injury situation?

– Can WWE come up with a story for Andrade that doesn’t involve feuding with Legado del Fantasma?

– Giovanni Vinci is totally screwed on this new SmackDown roster, isn’t he?

What will you be looking for on SmackDown?