Report: WWE Made Several Changes To December 17 SmackDown
Plenty of changes
Dec 20, 2021
WWE reportedly made several changes to the December 17 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, modifying the internal plans.
According to Fightful Select, SmackDown was originally scheduled to begin with an in-ring promo from Universal Champion Roman Reigns but that segment was moved to the main event spot. This meant the original main event between The Usos vs. The New Day was bumped to the semi-main event slot on the show.
A Brock Lesnar sit-down interview was also originally planned for SmackDown but that segment was scrapped altogether.
Charlotte Flair and Shotzi Blackheart vs. Sasha Banks and Toni Storm opened SmackDown and Fightful noted the match was internally scheduled for the December 24 show, while a singles match between Storm and Flair was originally going to take place on December 17.
WWE taped the December 17 and December 24 editions of SmackDown on Friday from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Roman Reigns ultimately turned on Paul Heyman in the main event spot of the December 17 show and Brock Lesnar ended up making the save for his former manager.
Toni Storm, meanwhile, pinned Charlotte Flair clean in their tag team match and the former NXT UK Women's Champion challenged The Queen for the SmackDown Women's Title during the December 24 taping.