WWE SmackDown preview (Dec. 27, 2019): Let Roman Reign

WWE SmackDown returns tonight (Dec. 27) from the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan. It is the last SmackDown of the decade.

The Headliner

The days of fans moaning about Roman Reigns being booked too strong are mainly behind us. There will be always be detractors who have that engrained in them, but we really don’t hear any of that any more. If anything, fans may be clamoring for the Big Dog to have a bigger spot.

Since SmackDown’s move to Fox in early October and the draft that immediately followed, Reigns has been feuding with King Corbin. They were on opposite sides of the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair fight at Crown Jewel. Despite continually feuding on Fridays, they both represented Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, when Reigns was directly responsible for Corbin’s elimination. They finally had a TLC match at the pay-per-view (PPV) with the same name which Corbin won due to the help of three other men.

Credit to them that they haven’t run Corbin vs. Reigns over and over again, but this feud is three months and will likely extend to four. Baron Corbin is part of a triple threat match tonight with Daniel Bryan and the Miz to decide who faces Bray Wyatt for the Universal championship at the Royal Rumble. But Daniel Bryan is the only likely outcome to that match.

That will leave Corbin free to finish his program with the Big Dog, likely at the Royal Rumble as well. That means another month of this feud.

Hopefully it will be concluded then and there, allowing Roman to move on to those bigger things. He’s an early favorite to win the Royal Rumble, though nothing can be told this far out, and that would likely set him up for a WrestleMania program with the Fiend Bray Wyatt. That’s more suited for a star of Roman’s caliber.

Whether that happens or not, we’re probably in for one final month of Roman and Corbin.

The Title Scene:

Creative has opted to take their time building this Lacey Evans/Bayley feud for the SmackDown women’s championship. That’s a good thing. Weeks back, I argued that the Lacey face turn was too rushed. Forgoing the match at TLC to give it more time was the best move as Lacey is starting to find it as a babyface. It helps that Sasha Banks is such a fantastic bully as Bayley’s bff.

Braun Strowman has made his intentions known for the Intercontinental title. That is not good news for Shinsuke Nakamura or his manager Sami Zayn.

The New Day is once again looking for opponents for their SmackDown tag team championships. They defeated the Revival at TLC. They defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro last week. There was a post match attack from Sami’s crew that could be used to continue this program, but that seemed like it was more served to get Strowman into the program with Nak. Heavy Machinery picked up a win over the Revival last week. Perhaps they will be the next to challenge.

Other things to keep an eye on:

- Still waiting on the return of Sheamus, but that may be after the new year, fella.

- This is a live episode, but it’s possible anything real big may be saved for next week give it’s still a holiday show.

What will WWE pump out for the last SmackDown of the year? Tune in tonight at 8 PM ET on Fox to find out.