WWE SmackDown Preview: 5 Things to Look for in Friday's Episode (May 4)

How are you spending your Friday night?

I don't know what all of you guys and girls will be doing, but I do know that you should be watching Friday Night SmackDown.

Tonight's episode is the first SmackDown since Sunday's great Extreme Rules pay-per-view, and we should see the blue brand continue with its new direction.

We've got several new faces on the show, and given that there are just three weeks until Over the Limit, it's likely that we'll see the beginning phase of some new feuds as well.

So, what exactly should you be on the lookout for tonight?

Here are 5 things to watch for in the May 4th edition of Friday Night SmackDown.

Note: I don't reveal the outcome of any matches, but some things that happen early on in the show may set up a match later in the show. Thus, there may be some SPOILERS here. STOP reading if you don't want to read them.

5. The Start of New Title Reigns

At Extreme Rules, WWE crowned two new champions.

Layla returned after a year-long absence to win the Divas Championship, and Cody Rhodes beat The Big Show to regain the Intercontinental Championship just a month after losing it.

It should be interesting to see what the creative team does with both Layla and Rhodes going forward.

Rhodes just had an eight-month reign with the Intercontinental title and hardly ever defended it, but it's likely that he's going to have unfinished business with Big Show.

Meanwhile, the woman who Layla beat for the Divas title, Nikki Bella, is no longer with the company.

One would have to think that Layla will have a new challenger lined up soon, while Rhodes will have to get past Big Show before he can move on to something else.

We should get a pretty good indication of what's going on with both titles on tonight's SmackDown.

4. What's Next for Ryback and Antonio Cesaro?

Ryback debuted four weeks ago, but literally all we've seen from his so far is a handful of short squash matches, including one at Extreme Rules.

It appears as if the WWE is giving Ryback a Goldberg-like undefeated streak, but he's going to have to get some type of feud sooner or later.

Perhaps we see the first Ryback feud kick off on tonight's SmackDown.

Speaking of firsts, Antonio Cesaro made his WWE debut on last week's show, handily beating Tyson Kidd in a match that only lasted a few minutes.

It's clear that he's playing the heel role, but it's not clear where he's headed with his relationship with Aksana or his in-ring career.

Hopefully, we will find out more about Cesaro on tonight's SmackDown and see him back in the ring so the WWE audience can become more familiar with him. 

3. The Debut of Damien Sandow

Over the last four weeks, we've gotten a series of vignettes from Damien Sandow.

I think he's come across well as an aristocratic type of heel who uses big words and complex sentences that confuse the average person.

But Sandow hinted on last week's SmackDown that he would finally be wrestling on this week's show. I, for one, am ready for the dude to stop talking and start wrestling.

Sandow has been a star down in Florida Championship Wrestling for a while now, and as his promos and advancement to the main roster indicate, there are obviously big plans for him on the blue brand.

That's all going to go nowhere, though, if he doesn't get in the ring, so I hope we finally see him wrestle at some point in the near future.

2. The Start of Any New Feuds?

The general rule is that most WrestleMania feuds are blown off at the pay-per-view after Mania, which was Extreme Rules this year.

Well, Extreme Rules just took place on Sunday, and the show featured three big WrestleMania rematches from the SmackDown brand.

I think that the feuds between Kane and Randy Orton as well as Daniel Bryan and Sheamus are done (at least as far as PPV matches are concerned), while The Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes is likely to continue after the way their match ended on Sunday.

That means that several of SmackDown's top stars could be looking to engage in new rivalries, especially Sheamus, who now has Alberto Del Rio to worry about.

The WWE might want to wait until after Over the Limit to build up new feuds, because the pay-per-view is in just 16 days. But I think we could see at least a new feud or two kick off soon on the SmackDown brand.

1. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship

We were robbed at WrestleMania 28 when Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan lasted a mere 18 seconds.

Thankfully, though, the WWE made amends for that 18-second debacle by letting Sheamus and Bryan go 23 minutes in a phenomenal 2-out-of-3 Falls Match at Extreme Rules.

And guess what? We're going to see those two battle it out on tonight's SmackDown.

Bryan and Sheamus had some fantastic chemistry on Sunday in what I thought was the best match of both men's WWE careers so far.

And we get to see it again tonight?

I definitely approve.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.