WWE SmackDown preview (Dec. 5, 2025): LA Knight had a great run, but his time is up

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SmackDown airs tonight (Dec. 5) with a live show emanating from Moody Center in Austin, Texas. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the nine week build to Royal Rumble, which takes place on January 31 in Saudi Arabia.

LA Knight had a great run, but his time is up

The final match of The Last Time Is Now tournament takes place tonight on SmackDown. It’s LA Knight vs. GUNTHER, with the winner moving on to face John Cena in his WWE retirement match on Dec. 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

The megastar has a had a great run in the tournament so far, taking out two different mystery opponents and then outfoxing Jey Uso to advance to this final match. But now he’s up against The Ring General, who has been the heavy favorite to win this tournament before he was even officially named as one of the entrants.

GUNTHER makes for a better final opponent for Cena in a number of ways. He’s the big bad guy who works better with Cena from a babyface/heel dynamic. GUNTHER already carried Goldberg to a decent retirement match earlier this year, and is a much better bet to send Cena off in a classic bout. Unlike Knight, GUNTHER is a former World Heavyweight Champion who presents a much more formidable adversary for John to overcome in his very last WWE match.

There just aren’t many reasons to think LA will prevail tonight, so it looks like his time is up. But they don’t settle these tournament matches on paper, and you never know when an upset will take place. So tune into SmackDown tonight to see if the rumors were right all along about GUNTHER being John Cena’s final opponent, or if the biggest push of LA Knight’s WWE career is finally here.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

– Now that Survivor Series is over with, what’s the deal with Drew McIntyre’s suspension? Will GM Nick Aldis reinstate Drew so that WWE Champion Cody Rhodes can go right back to beating him? How much longer will Randy Orton wait until he returns to get involved in the championship picture?

– I wouldn’t count on Nick Aldis getting to the bottom of the mystery man’s identity at War Games, because he still hasn’t made any progress on cracking the case of who attacked Jacob Fatu. The culprit will probably be exposed around the time Fatu is ready to return to SmackDown. Will that happen during the build to Royal Rumble?

– Damian Priest caught up with his former Judgment Day stablemate Rhea Ripley last week, and it looks like they were planning to have a private chat about something. Does this mean we’re getting Priest & Ripley vs. Aleister Black & Zelina Vega sometime soon?

– How will Solo Sikoa and his MFTs respond after the Uncle Howdy fired the first strike in what looks like a new faction war in WWE? Will the Wyatts send in a cryptic video message explaining their motivation, or will they show up in the ring daring Solo’s crew to come out for a fight?

– Is United States Champion Ilja Dragunov finally going to put his title on the line against Tommaso Ciampa, or will he continue toying with that jackass until Tama Tonga wins the belt?

– Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green was laid out by WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill last week, maybe just to kill time on a double taping right before Survivor Series. Is there an actual feud brewing here, or will Green go back to dealing with Giulia while Cargill goes back to dealing with Michin and/or Tiffany Stratton?

– Now that War Games is over, do Lash Legend and Nia Jax plan to make a run for the Kabuki Warriors’ WWE women’s tag team championship, or are they more interested in taking out the babyface team of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss?

– What’s next for Sami Zayn and his lower card pals after they lost in last week’s 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match?

– Where the f*** is Santos Escobar?

What will you be looking for on SmackDown?