A star-studded night is expected on the latest episode of WWE Smackdown which also serves as the final TV taping of 2022. John Cena is the headliner of the night where he will be seen in action in a tag team match with Roman Reigns in the opposition team.
Ronda Rousey received a new number-one contender in the form of Raquel Gonzalez, last week and the two will duke it out in a championship match. Lacey Evans is set to make her TV return while Sheamus is also booked in a tag team title match against The Usos on the December 30 episode of WWE Smackdown from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
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WWE has announced a huge ending for 2022 as they are bringing back their former franchise player onboard to make a dream tag team match a reality. John Cena will appear on tonight’s WWE Smackdown where he will team up with Kevin Owens to take on Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn.
The match was set up during the closing moments of the December 16 episode of WWE Smackdown, where Reigns announced that he and Zayn will face Owens and a mystery partner at WWE’s final show of 2022. Just then, Cena appeared on the tron to reveal that he received a text message from Owens which pledged him to join Owens as his tag team partner.
The Cenation Leader agreed and his matchup on WWE Smackdown also ensures that he will feature in action on WWE TV, each year since debuting in 2002. Prior to this, he last wrestled in an untelevised WWE dark match at Madison Square Garden on September 10, 2021. Even on that night, he teamed up with Rey and Dominik Mysterio against Reigns and The Usos in a tag team match. In his last TV bout, Cena lost to Reigns at Summerslam 2021 for the Universal title.
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WWE Smackdown Preview (30/12/22): Ronda Rousey’s next title defense
Raquel Rodriguez is the new number-one contender for Ronda Rousey’s WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship. The Mexican wrestler earned a future title match opportunity against Rousey by winning a Gauntlet Match, last week. The match also featured Emma, Tegan Nox, Xia Li, Liv Morgan, and Sonya Deville.
Raquel pinned the latter one to secure the pinfall win but Rousey came to the ramp and announced that Raquel had to topple one last hurdle in the form of Shayna Baszler to get the championship shot. Raquel eventually pinned Baszler to confirm the matchup where she could possibly seek retribution for Rousey’s recent attacks.
WWE Smackdown Preview (30/12/22): Tag Team Title Match
Sheamus has been given the opportunity to deliver a banger on the final 2022 episode of WWE Smackdown when he and Butch take on The Usos of The Bloodline with the tag team titles on the line. Given the wrestling nature of these two teams, this encounter is going to be extremely hard-hitting.
Sheamus and Butch previously unsuccessfully challenged for the tag titles a few weeks ago while he also competed in a singles capacity on the October 21 episode of WWE Smackdown with Solo Sikoa emerging as the winner. It should also be noted that Sikoa is yet to be pinned while The Usos have also not been pinned or submitted for their titles since last summer.
WWE Smackdown Preview (30/12/22): Lacey Evans comes back with a new gimmick
A vignette aired December 2 episode of WWE Smackdown showing Lacey Evans going through a rigorous training session with her fellow United States Marine Corps. The vignette also showed that several Marines were urging Evans to get back on her feet after she fell on the floor during a training drill.
Lacey, the former Marine is being promoted to “go back to basics” and we would finally see her back on live TV during this week’s WWE Smackdown. Before this, she was last seen in action on November 11 where she came up short of winning a shot to Ronda Rousey’s Smackdown Women’s Championship.