SmackDown airs tonight (Dec. 12) with a live show emanating from Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. This is the second episode of SmackDown during the nine week build to Royal
Rumble, which takes place on January 31 in Saudi Arabia.
Damian Priest finally figured out how to be cool again
Damian Priest hasn’t fared very well in his feud with Aleister Black, which goes all the way back to the summer months. Priest wasn’t booked like a former world champion and lost most of his momentum in WWE. But tonight’s show could be a turning point for Damian, because he figured out one surefire way to gets fans to care about him again, and that’s by teaming up with the super popular Rhea Ripley.
The Terror Twins are reuniting tonight on SmackDown in a tag team match against Aleister Black and Zelina Vega. This is Priest and Ripley’s first match together in over one full year, and they plan to demolish their foes. Or as Ripley put it last week, “Nobody survives the Terror Twins.”
To their credit, Black and Zelina don’t seem a slight bit intimidated. Black thinks Priest is a tragic man who is drowning with his head above water. Zelina referred to Ripley as a succubus who will leave Priest in the sad state she found him in.
Is Rhea Ripley the key person that Damian Priest needed this whole time to end his feud with Aleister Black and turn his luck around in WWE, or will he just get burned again? Tune into SmackDown for the reunion of the Terror Twins to find out.
The rest of the card
After weeks of toying with Tommaso Ciampa, United States Champion Ilja Dragunov finally puts the gold on the line tonight against that jackass. The fun and games came to an end last week when Ciampa ruined the end of Dragunov’s title defense against Carmelo Hayes. Dragunov plans to close the book on Ciampa’s title chase tonight, while also hoping he doesn’t get any more creepy backstage visits from Tama Tonga.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– WWE Champion Cody Rhodes attacked Drew McIntyre in his car last week and demanded that GM Nick Aldis reinstate him from suspension. Shouldn’t Aldis respond by suspending Rhodes too? Regardless, this angle is clearly leading to another title match between Rhodes and McIntyre, so maybe we’ll get a date for that match on tonight’s broadcast.
– Could the masked mystery man (or men) running around on Raw be the same person (or people) who attacked Jacob Fatu?
– It looks like WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill has a thorn in her side named Michin. This distraction might spare professional loser Chelsea Green from taking any more beatings at Jade’s hands for a little while. However, Giulia is back on TV and looking to kick Green’s ass for the women’s United States title, so the champ might have to speak to management about how to get out of this mess.
– Solo Sikoa made it clear last week that he doesn’t “bolieve” Uncle Howdy deserves to use the Wyatt name. This led to another wild brawl between MFT and Wyatt Sicks, where big men Erick Rowan and Talla Tonga received a spotlight. When is the first official match of this new faction war coming?
– Will Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair and Lash Legend & Nia Jax have to fight each other to see who gets the next title shot against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane, or is this a case where every team will soon be thrown into one big title match?
– The Miz is upset that he isn’t booked on John Cena’s retirement show this weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Will a babyface like Sami Zayn or Carmelo Hayes have to punch the A-Lister in the face tonight if he doesn’t shut up about it?
– Are any more NXT minor leaguers backstage tonight in the hopes of being added to an exhibition match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, or is that card finalized with Oba Femi, Sol Ruca, and Je’Von Evans?
– Where the f*** is Randy Orton?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
