WWE SmackDown: Spoiler-Free Preview for March 5

The Intercontinental Championship picture takes center stage on the March 5 edition of WWE SmackDown.

The main event features the IC champ and three men who have recently made their desire to possess that title clear. Bad News Barrett is now set to defend the belt in a Ladder match at WrestleMania. Before that, Dolph Ziggler and others will look to prove they belong in that contest.

AJ Lee, The New Day and the tag team champions are all in action as well.

The Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., played host to all those Superstars on Tuesday night. Until SmackDown airs on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on Syfy, many fans will be plugging their ears, hoping to avoid spoilers.

For that portion of the audience, the following is a look at the matches lined up for the show sans results. 

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. Los Matadores (Tag Team Championship)

The champs face an unexpected set of challengers. While it's not clear how the bullfighters earned it, they hop up off the bench with a major opportunity ahead of them.

Cesaro and Kidd have been busy battling The Usos several times over in recent weeks. Los Matadores, however, have rarely made it on television screens in 2015.

WWE hasn't booked a tag team title match for WrestleMania yet. Based on recent storylines, the expectation is for Cesaro and Kidd to take on The Usos and perhaps some other squads.

Credit: WWE.com

Do Los Matadores accomplish enough here to worm their way into that picture, or do they pull the upset and head to WrestleMania as champs? 

Kane vs. Ryback

A lukewarm feud continues. Ryback and Kane have been clashing as far as back as Survivor Series. The Big Guy has the majority of the wins but little momentum to show for it.

They have had decent chemistry together, but it's hard to get excited about seeing this bout once more. 

Fans will be curious to see if this ends up going anywhere or if the rivalry is just a placeholder for Ryback. The powerhouse will be looking for momentum leading up to the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. How this plays out may point to whether Kane joins him in that bout.

AJ Lee vs. Brie Bella

AJ stormed back into the Divas division on Monday's Raw. She made her mark right away, taking The Bellas to the ground to protect Paige.

That has created an unlikely alliance between former enemies. 

Will Paige be in AJ's corner when she takes on Brie? Will Nikki and her sister try to execute another two-on-one beatdown?

Keep a close eye on this one and get your stopwatches ready. After a flood of fan backlash about Divas not getting enough ring time, WWE allowed Nikki and Paige to battle for over six minutes on Monday night. AJ and Brie getting more than the standard blink-of-an-eye contest will be a sign of continued progress.

Damien Mizdow and The Miz vs. The New Day

The audience hasn't seen much of The New Day as of late. WWE has only used them sporadically.

A victory shouldn't be hard to come by for them on SmackDown, though.

The Miz and Mizdow's relationship is worsening every day. The Miz has been turning up the volume on his mistreatment of his personal assistant. That opens the door for Big E and company to take advantage of their dysfunction.

The explosion between Mizdow and The Miz is imminent. Does it happen on Thursday's SmackDown? Does WWE save it for WrestleMania?

Rusev vs. Jack Swagger

Although the script has largely been the same each time, Swagger's collisions with Rusev have been consistently good. Expect hard-hitting action and two hosses butting heads.

Rusev has denied John Cena a chance at a rematch, but fans are counting on that showdown eventually becoming official for WrestleMania. The U.S. champ can head toward that bout with more momentum, having stomped Swagger again.

Swagger, however, can derail that matchup by taking out Rusev himself. He has failed to topple The Bulgarian Brute in the past, but he has often given him him the toughest tests of his career.

Bad News Barrett and Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler

Barrett has spent much of his recent in-ring action peeking over his shoulder, worried that someone will steal his title. Ambrose has been the worst offender, pilfering the belt on several occasions.

Credit: WWE.com

The English bruiser can get some revenge in this tag match by tagging Ambrose in the mug with The Bull Hammer.

The other men involved may all end up being part of the IC Ladder match, so Barrett has ample motivation to spread the hurt around. Will he be able to work with Harper at all? It's not as if the big man is especially friendly anyway, but he was made it clear that he wants the belt back over his shoulder.

Chaos is sure to come here. Clarity should follow that, as we'll get a clearer idea of just who is stepping into the Ladder match.

SmackDown looks to have a much different feel than Raw. Cena and Seth Rollins were huge parts of Monday's show but aren't scheduled to fight Thursday night. Instead, the focus is on the chase for gold of both the tag team and intercontinental varieties.