WWE Smackdown Preview: 5 Things to Look for in Tonight's Episode (May 18)

The WWE has one more chance to make us want to buy Over the Limit.

Tonight's edition of Friday Night SmackDown will be the final episode before Sunday's pay-per-view, and creative needs to deliver a good show in order to generate some late hype for what is generally considered to be a throwaway PPV.

Ever since Extreme Rules, the WWE has been in a bit of a slump because of the lack of time to promote Over the Limit and a general lack of interest in the WWE in the month of May.

But even if fans are tuning out in droves, I'll be watching as the blue brand is in action tonight.

And here are five things you should be looking for on the May 18 edition of Friday Night SmackDown.

Note: I will not post any match/segment results here, but I may talk about a segment early in the show that sets up a match later on. So, stop reading if you like to be totally surprised.

5. An Appearance from CM Punk

CM Punk revealed on Twitter earlier this week that he would be on hand for Tuesday's SmackDown taping, meaning that we're in line for a rare SmackDown appearance from Punk on tonight's show.

Obviously, Punk will face the blue brand's Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at Over the Limit.

But he also seems to have sort of reignited his long-running feud with John Laurinaitis in recent weeks, so it'll be interesting to see what awaits Punk on tonight's show.

Presumably, Punk is appearing for the final buildup to his match with Bryan on Sunday, but he could also be there to continue his beef with Laurinaitis.

Plus, might the WWE Champion be in action just two days before his title defense at Over the Limit?

Watch SmackDown tonight to find out.

4. The Start of a New Feud?

Speaking of Twitter, Cody Rhodes and Santino Marella have been going back and forth on the social networking site all week long.

The tension between the two stems largely from this week's Raw episode, when Santino teamed up with CM Punk to defeat Rhodes and Daniel Bryan in tag-team action. But going way back to Elimination Chamber in February, it was Santino who eliminated Rhodes from that match.

Judging by the way things played out on Raw and by the Twitter rivalry between Rhodes and Santino, the seeds for a feud between the WWE's two mid-card feuds have certainly been planted.

Given that Rhodes' rivalry with Big Show appears to be over and that Santino hasn't had a legitimate feud in a while, it would make sense to put these two against one another.

This, of course, will lead to speculation, however, that the United States and Intercontinental Championships could merge into one title soon because those two titleholders appear to be feuding.

3. What's Going on with Big Show?

The Big Show was "fired" on Monday's Raw in one of the most dragged out, ridiculous segments in recent WWE history.

It still amazes me how many times I've been asked if his firing was legitimate, so one more time, let it be known: This was all part of a storyline.

Thus, I would fully expect Big Show's firing to get plenty of air time on tonight's SmackDown.

SmackDown has made a habit out of re-airing entire Raw segments, and since Big Show's firing and cry-fest is going to play such a big part in storylines going forward, I think it's safe to say that we'll see something regarding the firing tonight.

John Laurinaitis is the man in charge, and since he's the one who fired Show, I think we'll find out a little bit more about what's going on with Show tonight

2. The Final Build for Over the Limit

I honestly don't think that there's much that the WWE can do to prevent the Over the Limit buyrate from flopping.

It's the third WWE pay-per-view in a seven-week span, and with little intriguing buildup for it so far, I don't think it's going to be successful in terms of PPV buys.

Still, that isn't going to prevent the WWE from trying to prove me wrong.

Tonight's SmackDown is obviously the final show before Over the Limit, so the WWE is going to be pushing the PPV hard and trying to generate some last-minute interest in the show.

Thus, we should all expect to see some final buildup for any feuds and matches that will take place at the PPV, especially the major ones like the Fatal 4-Way for the World Heavyweight title and John Laurinaitis vs. John Cena.

The Over the Limit card itself is actually halfway decent, so perhaps a solid SmackDown show tonight could make more fans want to buy it.

1. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus (Non-Title Match)

Sheamus and Randy Orton may be SmackDown's top two baby faces, but they're actually embroiled in an intense little feud with each other.

Their beef started on last week's Raw and came to a head on this week's Raw when they had to be separated by WWE referees, ultimately setting up this non-title match on tonight's SmackDown.

I'm not sure where this rivalry is actually headed or if it's a short-term thing, but it's led to some interesting developments for both men.

Sheamus now has his hands full with three No. 1 contenders (with a fellow baby face being his most bitter rival), while Orton has showed a lot more edge to his character recently.

When these two collide on SmackDown tonight, it's going to mean more than your average main event.

The winner will build up some ever-so-important momentum just two days before Over the Limit, while the loser will head into the PPV on the rebound.

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.