Latest Rumors and Preview for Final WWE SmackDown Before WrestleMania 34

WWE SmackDown has one final sales pitch to deliver before WrestleMania 34 arrives.

Tuesday night will mark WWE's last chance to stir up bad blood and hype title bouts before Sunday's pay-per-view. A number of warm-up matches are set for SmackDown's trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

The show is also getting back a big name. After taking time to heal from a beating, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon will return to the blue brand just in time for The Show of Shows.

Other stories set to inch right up to the climax include the WWE Championship feud, Charlotte Flair's clash with the undefeated Asuka and the fights over the show's midcard belts.

Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles, who will collide for the company's top prize in New Orleans, will be tag team partners Tuesday night. Flair will face someone she knows quite well. Rusev will have a chance to add another big win.

The following is a look ahead at Tuesday's go-home show before it airs on USA Network at 8 p.m. ET with info culled from news updates, the SmackDown preview on WWE.com and storyline projections.

News, Rumors

There's little need to worry about the status of the WWE Championship match. Styles downplayed his rumored injury in an interview with USA Today.

There has been a lot of concern online about Styles' health, but he explained that the situation was overblown.

"It was just one of those…got hit in the back of the knee," he said. "I think it scared more people than it actually scared me. I knew I was going to make it to WrestleMania, there's nothing wrong with me."

In an interesting piece of news, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that former Impact Wrestling star James Storm was backstage at Raw on Monday.

Storm briefly worked for NXT and left Impact Wrestling last November. This appearance may have just been a social call, but it's sure to create speculation aplenty.

And the blue brand may already be through with its ranking system. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc's Marc Middleton), WWE has done away with the SmackDown Top 10 list. The gimmick was only around a few weeks.

SmackDown Streaks

The Bludgeon Brothers have ample momentum heading into WrestleMania. They will enter their Triple Threat match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in the midst of an impressive streak.

After getting past The New Day via disqualification, Harper and Rowan have now gone 11-0-1 since their gimmick change with zero losses to their name in 2018, per CageMatch.net.

They have to be considered strong bets to take The Usos' crown Sunday.

Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable were in a similar position weeks ago, but things have shifted in a hurry. The two have slowed down and taken a number of losses. 

Benjamin fell to Nakamura last week in singles action. He has now suffered four consecutive losses, per CageMatch.net. Don't count on either Benjamin or Gable making much noise in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal if they enter it.

Last Leg of WrestleMania Build

Flair vs. Natalya was set to happen last week. WWE, though, pulled The Queen from in-ring action after she underwent minor oral surgery, per Joseph Currier of Figure Four Online.

The SmackDown women's champ is now back, her non-title clash with her old rival is on again, and Flair can now sharpen her sword ahead of her big bout against Asuka at WrestleMania.

Flair and Natalya have excellent chemistry and should deliver in their latest showdown.

Rusev is now in the United States Championship match at WrestleMania after pinning Randy Orton on the more recent SmackDown. He'll get a chance to build on his momentum with a win over his tag team partner from last week, Jinder Mahal. 

Rusev and Mahal have been allies in the past, but that's out the window now as they each prepare to compete in Sunday's Fatal 4-Way title clash. 

Credit: WWE.com

En route to the WWE Championship tilt, champion and challenger will join forces. Nakamura and Styles will lock horns on Sunday after teaming up Tuesday night against Benjamin and Gable.

On paper, that's a heck of a match. Chances are, though, there will be more shenanigans than spectacular ring work. Styles and Nakamura's alliance will be tenuous, and someone is bound to lose their temper.

Finally, one week after Bryan challenged Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to a match at WrestleMania, his partner will return from hiatus.

McMahon and Bryan have been at odds for months. But they now have a common goal and common enemy. The heels have assaulted both authority figures, showing no mercy to either man.

Now, we're just days away from them going to battle. The final moments of the build to their match with KO and Zayn are sure to be explosive.