Roman Reigns Scheduled For 12/17 WWE SmackDown

WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns is scheduled to appear on next Friday's SmackDown in Chicago, after not appearing on this past Friday night's episode.

With Reigns absent, the main angle of the night focused on Reigns' Day 1 opponent Brock Lesnar, and Reigns' advocate Paul Heyman.

Sami Zayn opened the show in a wheelchair, owed to Lesnar's assault on him one week ago. He demanded a Universal title rematch with Reigns, prompting Heyman to interject. He in turn was interrupted by Lesnar, who ended up brutalizing Zayn, as well as the medical assistants flanking Zayn.

Lesnar was later interviewed, and he asserted that Heyman was still his advocate. Kayla Braxton later asked Heyman if this was true. Heyman did not answer, and simply walked away.

Next week's SmackDown in Chicago is scheduled to be a double taping, with the Christmas Eve episode being filmed on the same night. There will be no SmackDown on New Year's Eve, as WWE will instead broadcast a "Best of 2021" special on FS1 in the same time slot.