WWE Smackdown Preview: 5 Things to Look for in Tonight's Episode (June 1)

The WWE keeps getting hit with sucker punch after sucker punch.

Chris Jericho has been suspended, and so has Randy Orton, making it absolutely imperative that a number of the company's midcard stars step up in their absence.

Tonight's episode of Friday Night SmackDown will be the first WWE show in which he we'll see some up-and-comers get a chance to do just that.

That's why I'll be paying particularly close attention to tonight's show and why you should, too.

Need another reason or two, though?

Well, here are five things to look for in the June 1st edition of Friday Night SmackDown.

WARNING: Slide No. 5 does contain some very minor SPOILERS, so STOP reading if you like to be surprised.

5. Squash Match City

Here are some of the matches that are set to take place on tonight's SmackDown:

A returning Sin Cara vs. Heath Slater

Damien Sandow vs. Ezekiel Jackson

Ryback vs. Two Local Competitors

Cody Rhodes vs. Tyson Kidd

You don't even have to read the spoilers and results of those matches to know that chances are that all four of them will likely be quick squashes.

That's sort of been the theme of SmackDown as of late, with each episode featuring at least one, but usually multiple, squash matches.

Expect more of the same on tonight's show when we see Slater, Jackson and Kidd make rare TV appearances that almost assuredly won't last very long. 

4. Big Show's Path of Destruction Continues?

The Big Show absolutely wreaked havoc on this week's episode of Raw.

After he attacked Alex Riley backstage, he laid a brutal beatdown on Brodus Clay and then did the same to R-Truth and Kofi Kingston.

The creative team is undoubtedly booking the newly heel Big Show to be an unstoppable monster, and that's not a good sign for any baby face on the WWE roster.

Given his close working relationship with John Laurinaitis, Show is probably going to appear on both Raw and SmackDown on a consistent basis, which means that superstars from both brands better be on the lookout.

The Big Show is angry, and he doesn't care who he takes out his aggressions on.

3. What's Next for SmackDown's 2 Title Feuds?

SmackDown has two ongoing title feuds: Christian vs. Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship and Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Sheamus and ADR are already set to meet one-on-one at No Way Out, while Christian and Rhodes are expected to face each other at the pay-per-view as well.

The question is, though: What's going to happen before we get there?

I don't find the Sheamus/ADR feud to be particularly interesting, but I'm really interested in seeing what happens with the newly face Captain Charisma and Rhodes, who just seems lost without his Intercontinental title.

No matter what your thoughts on each feud are, though, you're probably still wondering where each one is headed.

Well, we should get a much clearer picture of what's going on with both rivalries on tonight's SmackDown.

2. The Return of Sin Cara

Sin Cara suffered a devastating knee injury way back at Survivor Series last November, and he's been nowhere to be found ever since.

But that all changes when the high-flying superstar returns on tonight's SmackDown for his first match in more than six months.

Now, I know that not everyone is crazy about Sin Cara, who developed a bad reputation as a botcher and someone who's unreliable prior to his knee injury.

But we all know that—with Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio all suspended at the moment—the WWE needs some added depth and more top names more than ever right now.

Perhaps Sin Cara can help fill that void.

Maybe he won't do that. But at the very least, he should be a welcome addition to a very thin WWE roster.

1. A Rare WWE Championship Match

On Monday's Raw, the WWE announced that the WWE Championship would be defended on this week's SmackDown for the first time in eight years.

Now, according to most of the live reports I've read, that announcement changed to "the first WWE title match on SmackDown in four years" at Tuesday's SmackDown tapings.

Which is it? I honestly have no idea because the WWE lies about this (or at least forgets about history) all the time, so there's really no telling what the truth is.

But either way, CM Punk will defend his WWE Championship against Kane in what is still a very rare WWE title match on SmackDown.

I certainly can't remember the last time I saw the WWE title on the line on the blue brand, so this is a definite rarity that we should sit back and enjoy.

Or perhaps it's yet another sign that the WWE roster is really hurting right now?

Maybe it's both.

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.