WWE SmackDown Preview: 5 Things to Look for in Tonight's Episode (May 11)

How are you spending your Friday night?

Well, no matter what you are doing, I know how you should be spending it: by watching Friday Night SmackDown, of course.

Tonight's episode should be interesting, especially after some of the things that transpired on last week's episode and on Monday Night Raw earlier this week.

The WWE is quickly moving toward Over the Limit, so I'd fully expect an action-packed SmackDown show, as we are only nine days away from the pay-per-view.

And what else should we expect to see? Well, here are five things to look for in the May 11th edition of Friday Night SmackDown.

Note: Slide No. 2 may have what you consider to be SPOILERS, so STOP reading if you like to be completely surprised.

5. The Latest from AJ

The stress stemming from her relationship with ex-boyfriend Daniel Bryan has caused AJ to go a bit crazy over the last few weeks.

Although she usually comes across as sweet and innocent, AJ has absolutely snapped the last three times we've seen her on SmackDown. She went bonkers on Natalya during their match a few weeks back, and she uncharacteristically slapped her friend Kaitlyn across the face on each of the last two SmackDowns.

Something is definitely going on with AJ. What that is, we can't be sure. But it looks like she could be slowly turning heel, a result of letting loose all the frustration that she had built up while dating Bryan.

I think AJ is probably the most intriguing character on TV right now, and I'm interested in seeing what happens with her tonight.

4. The Progression of the Tag Team Division

As you probably know by now, one thing I've loved since WrestleMania 28 is the WWE's effort to make its tag team division matter.

While the division has been far from perfect, we've seen several teasers of a tag team revival, with Darren Young and Titus O'Neil getting shifted to SmackDown, R-Truth and Kofi Kingston reuniting and Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger working as a tag team more often lately.

There is still a ways to go before tag team wrestling is back at the level it should be at (and that may actually be impossible due to the WWE's thin roster), but I will give the WWE credit for at least creating some storylines and feuds involving tag teams.

We've now got four duos gunning for the WWE Tag Team Championship, and the once completely dead tag team division is alive and well...at least for the moment.

Let's keep it going, WWE, and let's do that on tonight's SmackDown.

3. The Beef Between Big Show and John Laurinaitis

On Monday's Raw, we saw what at least appeared to be the start of a rivalry between John Laurinaitis and The Big Show.

Laurinaitis has made a habit out of going after the WWE's top baby face stars (John Cena, CM Punk, etc.), and it appears as if Big Show is now his next target.

I'm not sure where the WWE is going with this, or if this will even be a long-term storyline, but as of right now, I'm intrigued by what could happen between Laurinaitis and Big Show.

This could simply be a way to get Laurinaitis some more heat, or it could lead to a much-needed character change for the ever-so-stale Big Show.

Either way, something's up with these two, and it looks like Laurinaitis is going to go after Big Show after what happened on this week's episode for Raw.

2. A Ton of Matches

If you've read tonight's SmackDown spoilers, then you probably know that there is going to be a boatload of matches.

How many? Here's a hint: five per hour.

Now, depending on what type of WWE fan you are, you may or may not like that. As for me, I'm not exactly thrilled about it.

In all likelihood, this means that we are going to get a ton of short matches and avoid the long, quality match that we usually get out of SmackDown.

That's not something I'm really looking forward to.

Oh well. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised after all.

1. What's Up with the World Heavyweight Championship Picture?

This week's Raw was very interesting because it dramatically changed the World Heavyweight Championship picture.

Before Raw, it was going to be Sheamus defending his title against Alberto Del Rio at Over the Limit. But after what transpired during that big tag team match, the Over the Limit title match is now going to be a Fatal 4-Way that also involves Chris Jericho and Randy Orton.

I'm not sure what prompted the WWE to add those two to the match (more star power, maybe?), but it's definitely going to shake things up a bit.

After Orton RKO'd Sheamus on Raw, there seems to be a little beef between those two, and every competitor in this match appears to have some sort of tension with the other three guys involved.

What does this mean for the World Heavyweight title picture and the WWE going forward?

I don't know, but that's precisely why I'm intrigued by tonight's SmackDown and what will happen even after that.

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.