Ricky Saints will be making his Friday Night SmackDown this week, following his departure from NXT. Saints has already proven himself to be a big star on NXT, so it remains to be seen how his debut on SmackDown will turn out. Charlotte Flair will be duking it out with Jacy Jayne in singles competition. This comes after last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, where Fatal Influence blindsided Flair, Alexa Bliss, Brie Bella, and Paige. The interaction wasn’t just storyline hype; it carried genuine history. Rhodes and Saints have known each other long before their WWE runs, dating back to their shared time in AEW. That connection adds an emotional dimension to Saints’ debut, as one of WWE’s top stars publicly endorses his transition to the main roster. It also positions Saints as a talent to watch immediately upon arrival. His SmackDown debut marks the next step in a journey that has moved quickly. Within a year, Saints has gone from NXT newcomer to main roster call-up, a trajectory few achieve so rapidly.

Ricky Starks is done with NXT, and he’s bringing the revolution to SmackDown tonight. Speaking of Rhodes, the WWE champion says he is easy to find, but hard to beat, and that “outside forces” need to stay the hell out of his business. This is a pretty great start for Jacy Jayne on the main roster, first working a match with Ripley, and now Flair tonight. Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid will surely be on hand to once again interfere and ensure Jayne doesn’t lose. But instead of a no contest or disqualification this time, it would be quite a statement if Jacy actually cheats her way to a win over The Queen. Solo Sikoa’s MFTs looked like total dweebs last week on SmackDown when they were single-handedly annihilated by Jacob Fatu, and you can argue that Solo was verbally buried by Roman Reigns on this week’s Raw. Tiffany Stratton is the new women’s United States champion after defeating Giulia last week.