While Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens has unfortunately been removed from the lineup for WWE WrestleMania 41 due to Owens needing to undergo neck surgery, tonight's episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown did add two more matches to the card, as well as set up some other things that may factor into this year's Showcase of the Immortals.
Naomi was in action tonight against B-Fab, following up last week's incident where B-Fab (and Michin) badmouthed Naomi to Jade Cargill, resulting in Naomi attacking them. But before Naomi could even finish her entrance, she was attacked from behind by Jade Cargill, who had to be held back by officials. Naomi went on to defeat B-Fab in the ring, but after the bell, Cargill again went on the attack, this time even beating down some of the security detail that was sent to rein her in.
As a result, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis came out and said that it was clear those two would need to settle it in a match at WrestleMania, making the match official. At the moment, it is understood to just be a regular singles match, rather than having any stipulation attached to it, but there could always be some gimmicks added in the coming weeks.
The other match that is confirmed for WrestleMania's lineup is LA Knight defending the United States Championship against Jacob Fatu.
After the behemoths have battled it out many times over the past few months, Fatu and Braun Strowman had another clash of the titans in a Last Man Standing No. 1 contender's match, wherein Fatu was victorious. Incidentally, this is the first televised Last Man Standing match that The Monster of All Monsters lost, as all of his other losses in that gimmick were suffered on non-televised house show live events. Where this leaves Solo Sikoa for WrestleMania, if he's even doing anything, remains to be seen.
It was also announced that next week on SmackDown, there will be a gauntlet of women's tag teams to determine who gets a shot at Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, seemingly also set for WrestleMania, but until that has been wrapped up, it's still unofficial. The same goes for Damian Priest saying he will have a face-to-face with Drew McIntyre before beating him down at WrestleMania, which hasn't been confirmed, and even The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Street Profits after Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin defeated #DIY to become the new No. 1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship. WWE specifically didn't phrase anything about that as being a WrestleMania match, which may just be an oversight, but could also mean WWE plans to have that take place on SmackDown, instead.
At the moment, this means the full scope of advertised matches for this year's WrestleMania stands at this card:
- AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
- Jade Cargill vs. Naomi
- United States Championship Match: LA Knight (c) vs. Jacob Fatu
- Triple Threat Match: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
- World Heavyweight Championship Match: GUNTHER (c) vs. Jey Uso
- WWE Women’s Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
- Women’s World Championship Match: IYO Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair
- Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena
What do you think of these new additions to the card? Drop your thoughts and predictions in the comments below!