WWE Friday Night SmackDown: UK start time, matches announced and what is this John Cena tournament?

• Chelsea Green faces Giulia for the WWE Women’s United States Championship, and Ilja Dragunov throws out his open challenge for the US Championship on tonight’s SmackDown.
• We’ll also hear from Cody Rhodes, after defeating Drew McIntyre at last week’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.
• Here’s your WWE Friday Night SmackDown preview, including UK start time, and a look at the recent tournament John Cena announced,

To be a Drew McIntyre fan is to despair - and hopefully, on this evening’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, the scheduled appearance of your reigning WWE Undisputed Champion, Cody Rhodes, might offer some explanation after what transpired at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

We spoke to Drew last week on the eve of his showdown with The American Nightmare, who proclaimed Rhodes as nothing more than Homelander, thinking he is the good guy when, quite clearly, due to his actions, he’s not the squeaky-clean hero he’s made everyone believe he is.

Come the match last weekend, Cody Rhodes scooped victory after planting Drew McIntyre headfirst into the championship belt while the referee was still recovering from an errant shot in the corner.

Admittedly, it was McIntyre who introduced the title into the match while the referee was down - but what do you expect? According to Drew, people already think he’s the ‘villain’ between the pair, so why not ‘sink’ to the levels people expect him to?

Cody - maybe he should know better?

Alongside Rhodes appearing on SmackDown this evening, there are two Championship bouts scheduled, a former WWE Women’s Champion looking to continue sowing division between reluctant partners, and hopefully an announcement regarding SmackDown’s entries for John Cena’s tournament.

John Cena’s what? Read on to find out more, including what time to tune into Netflix this evening for your November 8 episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

What time is WWE Friday Night SmackDown starting in the UK today?

It’s back to those late nights, I am afraid - according to Netflix, this evening’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown is set to air on the streaming service at 1am GMT on November 8, with on-demand repeats available shortly after broadcast.

What has been announced so far for WWE Friday Night SmackDown?

WWE Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (c) v Chelsea Green

The inaugural Women's United States Champion, Chelsea Green, looks to become a two-time titleholder tonight as she challenges the current champion, Giulia.

Since losing the title earlier this year, the audacious Green has repeatedly harassed Giulia, who has been navigating a crowded mid-card since winning the championship in June. Green successfully secured this title shot by expertly goading both Giulia and her rival, Kiana James, into a dispute, allowing Green to play the competitive women against each other and earn her opportunity at gold this evening.

Charlotte Flair v Nia Jax

Revenge is the central motivation for Nia Jax tonight, following a recent loss to Alexa Bliss that was directly caused by the interference of Bliss's partner and co-holder of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, Charlotte Flair.

Jax is strategically targeting Flair in a singles match, seeking payback for the cost of the loss while simultaneously attempting to exploit the unstable nature of the Flair/Bliss alliance.

Flair and Bliss are an unlikely, recently formed tag team who were previously rivals, and Jax aims to reignite that discord by inflicting pain on 'The Queen' and proving the champions' partnership is too fragile to withstand outside pressure.

The bout is a test of whether the champions can put their complicated past aside to focus on the immediate threat posed by the relentless Nia Jax.

Rey Fenix v Talla Tonga

The singles match between the high-flying Rey Fenix and the powerhouse Talla Tonga is the latest chapter in Fenix's feud with the dominant faction, the MFTs ("My Family Tree"), led by Solo Sikoa.

The group has been terrorising the SmackDown locker room, and after Fenix and his allies were brutally ambushed two weeks ago, Fenix decided to fight back alone.

The match was cemented last week when Fenix, showing incredible defiance, publicly challenged and then physically slapped Talla Tonga—the largest member of the group—across the face.

Tonight, Fenix must rely on his speed and acrobatics to seek revenge and attempt to halt the overwhelming momentum of the MFT faction

Who will answer Ilja Dragunov’s United States Championship open challenge this week?

The highly intense ‘Mad Dragon’ Ilja Dragunov will issue his third consecutive open challenge tonight for the WWE United States Championship.

Dragunov only recently won the title himself by answering a challenge from the former champion, Sami Zayn, on the October 17 episode of SmackDown.

Since then, he has shown a desire to be a fighting champion by successfully defending the title in consecutive weeks against tough competitors: first against Aleister Black (a match that ended in a disqualification due to outside interference, leaving it inconclusive) and then decisively against the high-flying Nathan Frazer.

The mystery surrounding the challenger—and the fact that the Open Challenge format often attracts surprising names—ensures tonight's defence will be a highly competitive, fast-paced bout.

What’s this tournament that John Cena has announced?

Ah - that would be the ‘Last Time Is Now’ Tournament to determine who will be blessed with being John Cena’s final opponent, which is scheduled to take place on the final Saturday Night Main Event for the year on December 13.

The tournament is a 16-man, single-elimination bracket running across Raw, SmackDown and NXT, with Cena stating the purpose of the tournament was to have his final opponent be “hard-earned, not hand-picked” and emphasising the desire for a winner to earn the moment, much like he did when he debuted against Kurt Angle back in 2002.

Four Raw superstars have already been announced for the opening round, scheduled to take place in Cena’s hometown of Boston this Monday (November 10), with Rusev facing Damian Priest and Sheamus facing Shinsuke Nakamura, with Nick Aldis expected to announce who from SmackDown will populate the bracket from the blue brand.

But Cena has explicitly stated that the field could include wrestlers who “don’t even work here” - and both Chris Jericho and Adam Copeland have been pretty conspicuous from their absence on AEW Television recently... to paraphrase the great Jim Ross, “anything can happen in the WWE, and it usually does.”