You haven’t been able to see John Cena in a WWE ring at all this year — but you will tonight on the final SmackDown of 2022.
Cena has famously wrestled at least one match for 19 straight years, but was in serious jeopardy of not making it to 20 because he’s been busy. With TV and movies and things. Big time star stuff.
But WWE promoted the fact that he’d be involved in the Dec. 30 episode of SmackDown, and lo and behold, he ended up being added to the hottest storyline in all of pro wrestling. Cena will join forces with Kevin Owens to take on Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn in a premium live event-caliber showdown.
There’s more than just that in store, of course. Ronda Rousey will put the SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line against a challenger who’s proven her persistence, Raquel Rodriguez. Rousey and running buddy Shayna Baszler have done their best to injure and deter Rodriguez from making it to this point, but to no avail. Can she take the final step and win some gold right before the new year?
Fans of hard-hitting, physical encounters, look no further than the final promoted match for this week. Sheamus will go one-on-one with the enforcer of the Bloodline, Solo Sikoa, in a bout guaranteed to make you wince a time or two. Maybe more.
So New Year’s Eve preparations can wait, at least for a few hours.
WWE SmackDown results in 60 seconds:
Bray Wyatt says he’ll accept the challenge from LA Knight to a match at Royal Rumble, but then gets laid out by Uncle Howdy
Paul Heyman tells Sami Zayn that the Tribal Chief was impressed with Sami’s words and actions last week but also seems to warn him not to upstage the Bloodline’s leader
Solo Sikoa def. Sheamus by pinfall, but Drew McIntyre stops an attempted post-match beating from the Bloodline
Ronda Rousey def. Raquel Rodriguez to retain the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
… but Charlotte Flair returns afterward and challenges Ronda to a match tonight
Charlotte Flair def. Ronda Rousey by pinfall to become the new WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion
Sami asks Roman Reigns if it bothers him when people are chanting for him, but he says no, and that if Zayn shows even 10% of the conviction he did last week, it’ll be an easy night for the Tribal Chief
A video shows Dominik Mysterio getting arrested for trying to ruin Christmas at her dad’s house
Hit Row gets roasted by a bunch of the roster backstage, with Top Dolla taking a lot of flak about his botched dive and Ricochet pushing things a tad too far
Gunther and Imperium want to brag, but Braun Strowman wants to challenge him instead, and the numbers game eats up the Monster Among Monsters until Ricochet can come to his aid
Kevin Owens and John Cena def. Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn by pinfall
