Unexpected alliance, former champion returns? - 3 surprises to expect during LA Knight vs Santos Escobar tonight on WWE SmackDown

LA Knight will be defending the United States Championship tonight on WWE SmackDown for the first time against Santos Escobar. However, both the champion and challenger could have some tricks up their sleeves for the title match.

LA Knight defeated Logan Paul at SummerSlam 2024 to become the new United States Champion. It did not take long for The Megastar to receive his first challenger on WWE SmackDown, Santos Escobar. Both men have been confronting each other on the blue brand for the past few weeks, and they will finally have their long-awaited match tonight.

In this list, we will look at three surprises that could happen tonight on WWE SmackDown during LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar for the United States Championship.

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#3. LA Knight could find his own backup against Legado Del Fantasma

Despite being the champion, Knight has a major disadvantage in his upcoming match, which is numbers. LA will be alone, while Santos will have the rest of Legado Del Fantasma at his corner. However, a couple of stars could come to the champion's aid.

While Escobar has been busy with Knight, Angel, and Berto have been occupied with Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews. If the rest of Legado attempts to interfere in the match, Baron and Apollo could side with The Megastar.

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#2. AJ Styles returns to WWE SmackDown

AJ Styles hasn't been seen on the Stamford-based promotion since Clash at the Castle, though he was busy appearing on a few Japanese wrestling shows. However, the former champion could make his presence known again tonight on the Friday show.

As many may remember, Styles and Knight had a heated feud earlier this year, which culminated at WrestleMania XL. For the upcoming episode, The Phenomenal One could reignite that feud again especially since he lost against The Megastar when they faced at The Grandest Stage of Them All.

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#1. LA Knight immediately meets his new challenger

The SmackDown roster is filled with new and longtime stars who could be good candidates for the US title. Interestingly, one of the stars fans have been eyeing is Andrade.

After the title match tonight, in which Knight is a heavy favorite to win, Andrade could come out or even meet Knight backstage and congratulate the champion before offering that he should be next. Interestingly, this could catch the attention of Carmelo Hayes, with whom Andrade has been feuding for a while. This could even lead to a possible triple-threat match in the future.