This week’s SmackDown started as footage from backstage was seen where the Usos and Sami Zayn arrived in the arena. But there was no Solo Sikoa. WWE Universal Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns is coming back tonight. We are expecting something really surprising tonight.
Match 1 – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Damage CTRL defeated Tegan Nox and Liv Morgan to retain
WWE Smackdown 16.12.2022 Results & Ratings
This match was booked for seven minutes and it was a good match. The match was mostly dominated by the babyface side and it looked like the titles would change hands tonight. But at the end of the match, a hooded figure from the crowd kicked directly on the head of Nox which the referee failed to notice and Iyo Sky pinned her after a Moonsault. We desperately wanted to see a title change but as long as they are building a new storyline it is completely okay.
Next up was the continuation of Bray Wyatt – LA Knight feud. Footage from last week was shown where Knight was held down and tortured by Uncle Howdy. This footage was not shown last week, but it took place after Uncle Howdy confronted Knight backstage. This week we continue the story from this very position.
LA Knight came out to the arena and accused Bray Wyatt of being Uncle Howdy and he claimed that it was Bray Wyatt who tortured him last week. He called out Bray and Bray came out. Once again he denied the claim that he was Uncle Howdy and tried to convince Knight.
As he attempted to enter the ring, Knight attacked him and started beating him down. Knight cornered Bray and kept on stomping him. Fans hated the scene and they booed the fact Bray was getting beaten. To surprise everyone Uncle Howdy appeared to prove that he and Bray Wyatt are two different people. The storyline will finally get more exciting from here.
Match 2 – WWE Intercontinental championship – Gunther vs. Ricochet to retain
This was not only the best match of the night but it is also a five star contender match. We are pretty sure if this match took place in AEW or in Japan, Dave Meltzer surely rated it 5 star. What an amazing performance from the duo! This match deserves a lot of respect. This is what happens when you let two of your best stars of the roster battle for 15 minutes.
Nobody in particular dominated the match, the early part of the match was in Gunther’s control but the latter part was mostly dominated by Ricochet. There were back to back near falls. Gunther even kicked out of the Shooting Star Press and Ricochet kicked out of the Powerbomb. But he could not answer to the Last Symphony. What an excellent match! After the match, Imperium attempted to beat down Ricichet more but Braun Strowman came out for the help. Surely he is next in the line for the Intercontinental championship.
Backstage Adam Pearce met Roman Reigns where he proposed a tag team match between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens and a partner of his choice. They discussed about the venue, even Royal Rumble was proposed but the match got official for SmackDown after 2 weeks, at Tampa, Florida.
Match 3 – No. 1 contender’s match for the WWE Undisputed Team Championship – The Hit Row defeated Legado Del Fantasma and The Viking Raiders
This match was booked for five and a half minutes and they attempted to book something big here as well but it failed. Top Dolla was the man who kept on botching. At first, he attempted a High Body Splash, he created a lot of attention before doing it but he botched it. At the end, before hitting their team finisher, he botched again while picking his opponent up. He looked hurt, we hope he is okay.
Backstage Raquel Rodriguez was seen applying ice bag on her injured left arm. Kayla Braxton asked her on if she was planning to get involved in the gauntlet match next week to determine the number one contender for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler attacked her again and they targetted her injured left arm. They were trying to make sure that she could not compete in the gauntlet next week.
The Bloodline came out to the arena for the last segment of the night. Roman Reigns talked about Bloodline’s victory over The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens at Survivor Series inside WarGames. Then he talked about his upcoming tag team match along with Sami Zayn against Kevin Owens and a partner of his choice that was booked earlier tonight for two weeks later.
To surprise everyone, John Cena appeared on the big screen and he reminded everyone that for the past 20 years he wrestled every single year apart from this one and he got a text message from Kevin Owens who asked him to be his partner after two weeks against Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn. John Cena said that accepted the proposal and he is coming back on December 30. The focus was on Bloodline after that, Roman Reigns tried to explain to everyone that it was not a big deal as this week’s SmackDown went off air.
Overall it was arguably the best SmackDown of 2022. There were two title matches, one of them is a five star match, one number one contender’s match, Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy are two different people which has also been revealed, Roman Reigns appeared, John Cena appeared, what else would you ask for more?
The only negative side of tonight’s Smackdown was the big botches from Top Dolla, and on the first hour the wasted a lot of time with pre taped footages. They could have easily booked Brawling Brutes in this wasted time. We give this week’s Smackdown 3.5 out of 5.
Sportzwiki Ratings – 3.5/5