‘-With Tuesday being Christmas, the 12/25 edition of SmackDown Live was taped the week prior. As with the taped 12/24 RAW, however, WWE did give us some content not ruined by spoilers.
At the close of SmackDown Live, Vince McMahon had a chat with former champion AJ Styles backstage. McMahon implored Styles to unleash the animal within, and followed his pep talk with a slap to the face. Styles didn’t take to kindly to the slap. The Phenomenal One responded with a forearm shot that sent the WWE Chairman to the floor, and likely left us with more questions than answers.
As was pointed out on Ringside News, it may be curious that, during this segment, a poster of The Rock could be seen behind the two men. While this could very well be just coincidental, we are on the verge of getting on the Road to WrestleMania. It is not unheard of for the groundwork of a program to be laid out well in advance. Could WWE possibly be setting up a mega-match between Styles and The Rock for New Jersey?
-On last night’s edition of SmackDown Live, two segments for the New Years Day edition of the show were announced.
In the first, New Day will be hosting a New Year’s party on the show. While this could be nothing, there’s a decent chance this becomes an interesting segment. Big E, Kofi and Xavier could certainly draw the attention of existing blue brand talent (like The Bar) in order to set up a future match. However, with the shakeup under way and WWE starting a new era, you have to think this could be an opportunity for someone new to interject.
The second announcement was that, as announced on RAW, John Cena will be appearing on SmackDown (he will be showing up on both brands, which leads us to wonder if certain Superstars will work both shows, or if we will see a further eroding of the brand split as 2019 moves forward). It has been reported that Cena may not be available for the Rumble, so it will be interesting to see what Cena shows up for on Tuesday.
