{"id":135559,"date":"2025-05-21T07:11:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T11:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=135559"},"modified":"2025-05-21T07:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T11:11:49","slug":"wwe-smackdown-preview-5-23-25-night-before-saturday-nights-main-event-xxxix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/21\/wwe-smackdown-preview-5-23-25-night-before-saturday-nights-main-event-xxxix\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SmackDown Preview (5\/23\/25) &#8211; Night Before Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event XXXIX"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The packed WWE weekend will begin with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/16\/wwe-smackdown-results-5-16-25\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">WWE SmackDown this week<\/a>, followed by <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/16\/john-cena-compete-wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event XXXIX<\/a>. It&#8217;s a packed card before another special event. Let&#8217;s not keep anyone waiting anymore. Here&#8217;s a full May 23 WWE SmackDown preview. Let&#8217;s run it down.<\/p>\n<h2>WWE SmackDown Preview for May 23, 2025:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"460\" data-end=\"840\">Men\u2019s Money in the Bank Qualifier: Aleister Black vs. LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"460\" data-end=\"840\">Women\u2019s Money in the Bank Qualifier: Charlotte Flair vs. Giulia vs. Zelina Vega<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/16\/title-match-official-for-4-23-edition-of-wwe-smackdown\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">WWE Tag Team Championship Match<\/a>: The Street Profits (c) vs. Fraxiom<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>All About the Money<\/h2>\n<p>On this week&#8217;s WWE SmackDown preview, we look at two of the most exciting matches on the card: the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s Money in the Bank 2025 qualifying match. The men&#8217;s side will showcase two former United States Champions, as well as a returning superstar looking to make the biggest impact possible.<\/p>\n<p>Since losing the U.S Title to Jacob Fatu at WrestleMania 41, LA Knight has been looking for a path to regain glory, and winning <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/16\/wwe-smackdown-results-5-16-25\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Money in the Bank<\/a> could very well be his way back to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, his old arch-nemesis, Shinsuke Nakamura, still has a bone to pick with him and will stop at nothing to prevent the &#8220;Megastar&#8217;s&#8221; journey to greatness.<\/p>\n<p>Nakamura issued a stern warning on last week&#8217;s SmackDown that he hasn&#8217;t forgotten what Knight did to him, and he wants his revenge. Apart from a spot in the men&#8217;s Money in the Bank 2025 match, Aleister Black has zero problems with both men, making him all the more dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Black has but one goal in mind, and that&#8217;s a shot at immortality, and he having no beef with either man could be the determining factor in him winning the match.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9EfopgU4bBo?si=qHu771IHOM4L3gdm\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For the women&#8217;s side, three fantastic competitors at drastically different points in their careers battle it out to secure the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/16\/wwe-money-in-the-bank-2025-first-womens-competitor-qualify\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">second spot<\/a> in the women&#8217;s Money in the Bank 2025 match. &#8220;The Queen&#8221; Charlotte Flair has been virtually lost since falling to Tiffany Stratton at &#8216;Mania 41, winning MITB could be the momentum-booster Flair needs.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Zelina Vega is riding an unimaginable high right now after winning the Women&#8217;s United States Championship from Chelsea Green. From underdog to champion, Vega has a wave of momentum, and winning this qualifier could very well put her in a position to become a double champion if she ends up winning the whole match.<\/p>\n<p>Then we get to Giulia. The former NXT Women&#8217;s Champion has been away after dropping the title to Stephanie Vaquer. Upon her return, Giulia has a newfound mean streak, looking unstoppable since her return. Now that she&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/05\/16\/wwe-smackdown-signs-former-nxt-champion\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">officially on SmackDown<\/a>, Giulia can do the unthinkable and qualify over two well-respected members of the SmackDown women&#8217;s division in her SmackDown debut match.<\/p>\n<p>Who will come out of these qualifiers and book a ticket to Los Angeles?<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s all find out together this Friday night!<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i> for more on the May 23 WWE SmackDown preview. Money in the Bank 2025, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The packed WWE weekend will begin with WWE SmackDown this week, followed by Saturday Night&#8217;s Main Event XXXIX. It&#8217;s a packed card before another special event. Let&#8217;s not keep anyone waiting anymore. Here&#8217;s a full May 23 WWE SmackDown preview. Let&#8217;s run it down. WWE SmackDown Preview for May 23, 2025: Men\u2019s Money in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3735,"featured_media":135560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2192,26,4,3,320],"tags":[433,403,9080,5900,7482,118,5452,1747],"class_list":["post-135559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-aleister-black","tag-charlotte-flair","tag-fraxiom","tag-giulia","tag-la-knight","tag-shinsuke-nakamura","tag-the-street-profits","tag-zelina-vega"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135561,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135559\/revisions\/135561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}