Producers For December 30 WWE Smackdown, John Cena’s Return, Backstage News
– Bray Wyatt in ring promo: Road Dogg
– Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa: Adam Pearce
– Women’s Title: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ronda Rousey: Jamie Noble
– Hit Row will be backstage: Shawn Daivari
– Gunther in ring promo with Imperium: Road Dogg
– John Cena & Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn: Jason Jordan
Backstage News:
– The pre-show dark match of Liv Morgan & Tegan Nox vs. Sonya Deville and Xia Li was produced by Molly Holly.
– The post-show dark segment of Cena, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus & Owens vs. Bloodline was produced by Jason Jordan.
– Fightful first reported in November that Braun’s comments about “flippy” wrestlers weren’t an angle, but would sort of turn into one, which is what we’re seeing unfold with he and Ricochet. He’s both lost to Ricochet and been saved by Ricochet.
– Gunther got split open in that segment. He was handed a towel on his way out.
– Roman Reigns wrestled his first match on Smackdown since June. It was his second Smackdown match of the year.
– This was John Cena’s first Smackdown match in over four years. It was his third since Summerslam 2017.
– John Cena’s wife was in attendance for the show.
– Charlotte Flair’s return was not telegraphed internally, and Fightful Select learned only minutes after the show went on the air. The title change was kept very quiet.
– John Cena also did work with Make A Wish while he was at WWE Smackdown, granting several wishes.
– Batista and Ric Flair were both backstage at Smackdown
– We’d heard creative plans had been finalized for Smackdown at of 5 PM Thursday.
– WWE had worked hard to make the December 30 show feel like a big one.
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