AJ Styles Facing Jinder Mahal, Rusev’s Return And More On SmackDown Live Tonight

Tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the SNHU Arena in Manchester, NH, and it will be the go-home show for the Backlash pay-per-view.

WWE Champion Randy Orton will face off against Baron Corbin in a non-title match, and AJ Styles is also set to face off against Jinder Mahal on tonight’s show. Sunday night at Backlash, Naomi, Charlotte and Becky Lynch will be teaming up to take on Natalya, Carmella and Tamina and tonight all six women will meet in the ring for a contract signing.

Rusev has been out of action since WWE Fastlane a few months ago, and during the Superstar Shake-up he was moved to SmackDown, but he has yet to appear on the show. After several months of sitting on the sidelines, Rusev will be returning tonight, and he has demanded that Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan give him a title shot at Money in the Bank.

Stars being advertised for tonight’s show include WWE Champion Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, United States Champion Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Charlotte Flair and more.

WWE is focusing on the following points for this week’s episode of SmackDown Live:

• No. 1 contenders square off ahead of title matches
• Will Rusev get the WWE Title match he’s demanding?
• Six-Woman Tag Team Match participants make it official
• The Highlight Reel, hosted by … Kevin Owens?
• The Viper takes on The Lone Wolf before WWE Backlash