(SPOILER) Ilja Dragunov will defend the United States Championship against a Raw talent

WWE will hold a double session of SmackDown tonight at the Ball Arena in Denver, Ohio. In celebration of "Thanksgiving week," the company will record next week's show, in addition to airing this week's episode, which will feature a new open challenge for the United States Championship.

As is customary, the challenger's name will not be revealed until the moment of the match. However, Mike Johnson from PWInsider has learned that the current plan is for Ilja Dragunov to defend the title against JD McDonagh. It is worth noting that Finn Bálor, McDonagh's partner in The Judgment Day, will also be present on the show to participate in The Last Time is Now tournament.

This will be Dragunov's fifth title defense in his first individual reign on WWE's main roster. The Russian captured the title after defeating Sami Zayn in his return match. Since then, he has continued the work of the Canadian, who reinstated the open challenges popularized by John Cena. Tonight's will be the first one-on-one encounter between Ilja and McDonagh on the main roster.

It is currently unknown if Dragunov will compete twice tonight. It is worth noting that the champion has defended the title every week without exception since winning it on October 17th. Ilja has defeated Aleister Black, Nathan Frazer, Axiom, and Johnny Gargano, matching the number of defenses achieved by Zayn in the previous championship reign. A victory over McDonagh will allow him to surpass the Canadian.