WWE SmackDown Preview (12/2): Ricochet Vs. Santos Escobar In SmackDown World Cup Final

The "SmackDown" World Cup final will take place tonight at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, on the latest edition of "WWE SmackDown." The closing match of the tournament will see Ricochet and Legado Del Fantasma's Santos Escobar battle it out to take home the World Cup trophy and earn a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Championship, currently held by GUNTHER. Ricochet's path to the final has seen him overcome Mustafa Ali and Braun Strowman, while Escobar has defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Butch of The Brawling Brutes. This will be the first time Ricochet and Escobar have crossed paths in WWE, though they battled numerous times in "Lucha Underground" — including a Season 1 match for the "Lucha Underground" Championship — where they wrestled as Prince Puma and King Cuerno, respectively.

As of this writing, the culminating match of the World Cup is the only item advertised for tonight's post-Survivor Series WarGames episode. However, per WWE's event page, Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan, and GUNTHER will be in attendance, as well as The Bloodline's Solo Sikoa and Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso. And speaking of The Bloodline, after emerging victorious from the men's WarGames match at Survivor Series this past Saturday night, Sami Zayn has once again pledged his allegiance to the group after seemingly proving himself at the pay-per-view. Although Jey was defeated by Kevin Owens in the main event of "WWE Raw" on Monday night, it's likely that there will be more Uceyness on display this evening. 

"SmackDown" Women's Champion Ronda Rousey is not currently slated to appear, but there's a chance Raquel Rodriguez, who Rousey and Shayna Baszler attacked backstage last week, will be on the hunt for revenge. Meanwhile, the ongoing storyline involving Bray Wyatt and LA Knight will presumably be enhanced further tonight, as well.