SmackDown airs tonight (Dec. 19) with a live show emanating from Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, unless it’s actually a taped show from Hershey, Pennsylvania. But we’ll get into that possibility later. Regardless, this is the third episode of SmackDown during the nine week build to Royal Rumble, which takes place on January 31 in Saudi Arabia.

WWE’s unsafe work environment is completely out of control

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes wants Drew McIntyre reinstated from suspension ASAP so he can get him back in the ring and stomp him out like a cockroach. For some reason, GM Nick Aldis has had a tough time reinstating McIntyre even though he’s the authority figure who made the initial decision to suspend him in a matter of seconds.

Drew has only complicated the matter by not playing ball with Aldis. After Cody attacked Drew in his car a couple weeks ago, Drew served WWE with legal papers related to its unsafe work environment. But that didn’t stop McIntyre from showing up at Saturday Night’s Main Event to attack Rhodes and ruin the end of his exhibition match against NXT Champion Oba Femi.

Aldis then made a personal trip to McIntyre’s home to negotiate his return from suspension. Nick proved to be a terrible negotiator when he completely caved to Drew’s demands after McIntyre rejected his terms. Those demands include a title match against Cody where Drew picks the stipulation, and that Rhodes cannot lay a finger on Drew before the match happens.

That’s when WWE’s unsafe work environment got completely out of control, as Cody invaded Drew’s home for an attack. The chaotic scene ended with Cody saying “Merry Christmas, asshole!” as security tried to keep everyone apart.

I assume Aldis has had enough time since then to draw up the legal papers that acquiesce to Drew’s demands, so this home invasion might be the last time Cody gets to touch Drew before they fight over the title again. However, I’m not sure that the condition applies in both directions, so this might not be the end of WWE’s unsafe work environment just yet.

Will Nick Aldis officially reinstate Drew McIntyre from suspension and reveal the date of his WWE championship match against Cody Rhodes? What stipulation will McIntyre choose? Tune into SmackDown tonight to (hopefully) find out.

The rest of the card

Solo Sikoa said his MFTs are coming after the WWE tag team championship tonight, and Uncle Howdy should just hand them over peacefully if he wants to keep his family safe. Will the Wyatts decide it makes sense to bring back the fingerpoke of doom for a quick and easy title change? The Wyatts have not defended the belts since October 10 in Australia, by the way.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

– Rhea Ripley helped Damian Priest finally get one over on Aleister Black and Zelina Vega last week in a mixed tag team botch match. But Rhea is a Raw star, so if she is about to vanish from this angle again, does that mean Aleister and Zelina will go right back to attacking Damian like last week’s match didn’t even matter?

– Lash Legend defeated Alexa Bliss last week as part of the competition in the WWE women’s tag team division. Is some 50/50 booking on the way where it will soon be Charlotte Flair’s turn to beat Nia Jax?

– WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill didn’t even need to be in her ring gear when she beat the shit out of Michin last week. Will WWE bother giving Michin a title shot before Tiffany Stratton returns looking to win her belt back? Cargill won the title on Nov. 1 but has yet to defend it, by the way.

– After United States Champion Ilja Dragunov defeated Tommaso Ciampa last week, Carmelo Hayes saved Dragunov from a post-match attack by DIY. Does that mean DIY will have to face a makeshift team of Dragunov and Hayes before Fraxiom comes looking for revenge?

– The Miz did the job for NXT star Je’Von Evans last week, before he was humiliated by R-Truth and Joe Hendry at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Will Truth remain involved in Miz’s business going forward now that he can’t do any more angles with the retired John Cena?

– Now that Austin Theory has revealed himself as the masked mystery man on Raw, will GM Nick Aldis remember that he still needs to find out who Jacob Fatu’s mystery attacker(s) is?

– Does Giulia have to beat anyone before she gets a rematch against Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green? Chelsea has not defended the belt since she won it on Nov. 7, by the way, but she is scheduled for a title defense against Sol Ruca next week (spoilers here) on NXT.

– SmackDown is moving back to three hours in a couple weeks. Are some NXT reinforcements on the way to bolster the roster ahead of that change?

– Is there any chance that the SmackDown spoilers taped before this week’s Raw are actually for tonight’s episode, and that next week’s episode of SmackDown is being taped tonight? That’s what F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer says is happening. At the very least, the Dec. 22 episode of Raw is also being taped tonight, so it’s another double taping where plenty of Raw stars could be available to appear on SmackDown as well.

– Where the f*** is Randy Orton? Well, he was in Saudi Arabia last week and missed John Cena’s last match. But where the f*** is Santos Escobar?

What will you be looking for on SmackDown?