Spoilers For The 12/22 Episode Of WWE SmackDown
With Christmas fastly approaching, WWE opted to pre-tape the December 22 episode of "WWE SmackDown," providing the company's superstars with more time to spend with their loved ones this holiday season. The December 15 edition of "SmackDown" emanated from the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Once that broadcast went off the air, WWE filmed this week's episode as well, which is set to run in the blue brand's usual timeslot (8pm EST/ 7pm CST) on FOX this Friday.
As previously announced by WWE, Friday's episode of "SmackDown" will feature a "WWE NXT" North American Championship match between Butch and the defending titleholder Dragon Lee, who recently defeated Dominik Mysterio to capture the title. The WWE Universe will also see the two semi-final matchups in the United States Championship Tournament this week, as Kevin Owens takes on Carmelo Hayes from "NXT," and Bobby Lashley faces former LWO member Santos Escobar. In the spirit of Christmas, Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY, Kairi Sane & Asuka) will square off with Bianca Belair, Shotzi, Michin, and Zelina Vega in an eight-woman Holiday Havoc tag team match. Here is a look at the spoilers for the December 22 edition of "SmackDown," courtesy of NoDQ.
** SPOILERS BELOW **
* United States Championship Tournament: Santos Escobar defeated Bobby Lashley thanks to interference from Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo.
* NXT North American Championship: Dragon Lee (c) defeated Butch.
* AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight face off in a promo segment, with each of them claiming they want to be the next challenger to Roman Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. "SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis later announced that they will compete in a triple match on the "New Year's Revolution" edition of SmackDown, where the winner will then go on to face Reigns for the title at the 2024 Royal Rumble event.
* Holiday Havoc: Bianca Belair, Zelina Vega, Michin, and Shotzi defeated Damage CTRL (Bayley, Asuka, Kairi Sane & IYO SKY). Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre return to attack Sane at some point during the segment.
* United States Championship Tournament: Kevin Owens defeated Carmelo Hayes.
* AJ Styles defeated Solo Sikoa via disqualification after Roman Reigns attacked "The Phenomenal One." A brawl involving The Bloodline, Styles, Knight, and Orton then followed.