It’s Christmas Eve! WWE SmackDown returns for its penultimate episode of 2021. Whereas 2021 will be remembered as a somewhat uncertain period for both the WWE and the world as a whole, SmackDown in ’21 will be remembered as the year of the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. Not once in the entire year has Roman been pinned or submitted; not for a single moment this year has he not been the WWE Universal Champion. Absolute dominance. Tonight, SmackDown will see Paul Heyman speak out about events which transpired last week; a SmackDown Women’s Championship match and a 12 man gauntlet match. Let’s dive in to the preview.
Paul Heyman Speaks on SmackDown
First off, we have the billed Paul Heyman promo likely to kick off SmackDown – which is most certain to be an address to the WWE universe over Roman Reigns turning on his Special Counsel last week. At the culmination of the show, Roman thanked Heyman for his “decades of service” to the family, as well as his service to The Bloodline over the past year, and then gave him the ultimate festive present: a Superman Punch. This week, Heyman will talk about what’s next and most likely announce he is once more the Advocate for Brock Lesnar. As always, Heyman will deliver. At WWE Day 1, he might just deliver Lesnar the gold.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Charlotte Flair (c) vs Toni Storm
These two talented women have been embroiled in a hot feud over the past few weeks. Charlotte Flair had humiliated Toni Storm at Thanksgiving – with Storm being on the receiving end of the yearly humiliation of a pie to the face. Storm secured revenge the following week; hitting Flair with not one, but two. Then, Toni picked up a win over Charlotte to secure this very SmackDown Women’s Championship match. Could we potentially see a Toni Storm victory to close out the year? It’s unlikely, but very possible. This should be a good match between two of the best female competitors today.
12 Days of Christmas Gauntlet Match for Shot at the Intercontinental Championship
Of course, we had to have the yearly Christmas themed match. Ricochet, Cesaro, Mansoor, Erik, Ivar, Drew Gulak, Sheamus, Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal, Shanky, Angel and Humberto will all compete in a gauntlet match to determine the next contender for Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental Championship. It is hard to predict who will win but given Nakamura is a babyface, it might be wise to bet on a heel and with Sheamus being the most seasoned and successful competitor in the match, he might just be the safe bet. However, don’t rule out Sami Zayn, who just recently signed a new contract with the company. This Christmas themed episode of SmackDown is live on FOX tonight. Happy holidays!
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