WWE rumors, news ahead of May 27 episode of Friday Night Smackdown

An eventful week for the WWE is coming to a close as the company inches closer to the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in June. As always, the rumor mill was on fire this week and we’ll share a few noteworthy tidbits ahead of tonight’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown from North Little Rock, AR.

• According to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, the brand split in the WWE is “essentially done”. He noted how several Raw superstars like Cody Rhodes are scheduled for tonight, although it’s unclear if they’d be appearing in the televised show itself or in a dark match. If true, this doesn’t come as a shock as the company has routinely sent superstars back and forth to each other’s shows. That’s further evidenced by the world championships and tag team championships being currently unified.
• The WWE confirmed on Thursday that Money in the Bank won’t be a stadium show as they’re moving the event from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to MGM Grand Garden Arena on the Vegas strip. There’s been no official word from the company about why the change was made but there’s a clear sign pointing to not enough fan interest to purchase tickets for a stadium show on Fourth of July weekend.
• We’ll most likely get this conformed on tonight’s episode but it appears that Riddle will be in line for a title opportunity against Roman Reigns at Hell in a Cell. He called out the “Tribal Chief” on Raw for his involvement in last week’s tag title unification match and with Randy Orton off television to nurse a back injury, this would be a natural feud moving forward.