WWE SmackDown: Spoiler-Free Preview for Sept. 20

Expect punishment, surprises and foreshadowing on the Sept. 20 WWE SmackDown.

After a Raw where the fan favorites finally fought back against Triple H's regime, the Superstars head to Cincinnati, Ohio sure to receive retaliation for their mutiny. Will the Battleground card begin to take shape, and will the WWE Championship situation get addressed?

The first SmackDown after Night of Champions sees the world champ up against an underdog, The Shield asked to work a ton and Ryback going back to his "squashing jobbers" phase.

Without spoiling the results, here are the matches to expect on Friday's SmackDown.

 

AJ Lee vs. Naomi

The Divas champ battles one of the women who challenged her at Night of Champions. Animosity between AJ Lee and Natalya continued to escalate on Monday's Raw, so perhaps this is just a warm-up for the champ.

Alternatively, Naomi could make the case to be AJ's next challenger with a victory here.

WWE has clearly made a preference in terms of Funkadactyls, giving Naomi far more opportunities than Cameron. Should Naomi hang around the title scene long enough, she has a shot to win the title in a division that features so few Divas at a time.

Santino Marella vs. Jack Swagger

Unbeaten since his return, Santino Marella takes on another member of The Real Americans.

The perennial jobber made an emphatic return by beating Swagger's partner, Antonio Cesaro. He goes for the clean sweep of that team against a foe with a distinct strength advantage.

Swagger looks to halt Santino's momentum, crush him beneath his feet and have the audience take notice of him again after losing out on two recent opportunities to take on The Shield.

Ryback vs. "Nick from Cincinnati"

Ryback appears to be reverting back to his original career path—at least for one night. He takes on an unknown local wrestler who stands little chance against the big guy.

With Paul Heyman at his side, Ryback may be dragged into a feud with CM Punk or else taken to a career high, as Curtis Axel was.

That journey apparently begins by feeding on some helpless foe. Should he move onto taking on two jobbers at once, we'll know he’s made a complete circle back to the beginning of his run as Ryback.

The Shield vs. Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, and Rob Van Dam (Handicap Gauntlet Match)

All of the Superstars who rushed out to help Daniel Bryan on Monday now have to face all three members of The Shield as punishment.

How many of these three-on-one battles will The Shield make it through, and who will fare the best? Ziggler has experience fighting Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose like this, but things didn't end up well for him last time.

There's momentum to be seized here, should someone do well and make The Shield nervous with a few near-falls.

Zack Ryder and Justin Gabriel vs. Wyatt Family

Ryder gets a rare shot in the ring as he teams up with the high flyer from South Africa. Beating Erick Rowan and Luke Harper would be huge and likely motivate Ryder and Gabriel to form a long-term alliance.

The Wyatt Family has them beat in terms of size, strength and ferocity, though.

Not to mention that Bray Wyatt is sure to be lurking outside the ring. If Ryder and Gabriel can't knock off their foes here, they stand to suffer a post-match beatdown from Wyatt as well.

Alberto Del Rio vs. R-Truth

After surviving Night of Champions with his title, Del Rio faces someone who isn't exactly a title contender at the moment. Del Rio defeated R-Truth on Sept. 9 and is the clear favorite this time around as well.

This has the look of a warm-up match, offering Del Rio a victim to terrorize before moving onto whoever challenges him for the world title at Battleground.

A major upset is on the table for R-Truth. Should he pin Del Rio, he'll get a lot more buzz than he's had recently.

Daniel Bryan and The Usos vs. The Shield

Bryan gets the fairest fight against The Shield that he's had in recent memory. He joins Jimmy and Jey Uso against a trio likely to be a bit drained and vulnerable thanks to the Gauntlet match earlier in the night.

Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose are all over this episode, and so, one can assume, is Triple H—the man commanding a pack of wolves. It's an episode that features both fresh and familiar clashes which should serve as the aftershocks of the tremors we felt on Monday's Raw.