Cena and Flair Return, Howdy Attacks Wyatt
This week's SmackDown was a big show. WWE heavily promoted the program with the return of John Cena taking center stage. Cena's return wasn't the only thing fans were looking forward to.Here are your winners and losers for SmackDown on December 30, 2022:
Winner: Uncle Howdy Attacks Bray Wyatt
A very busy and action-packed show kicked off with Bray Wyatt. Wyatt apologized for attacking the cameraman last week but was quickly interrupted by LA Knight who said it wasn't a great day for the cameraman, but Wyatt still had to answer for his actions. Suggesting that he paid some goof to dress up like "Captain Howdy", Knight wanted a match with Wyatt at The Royal Rumble. Wyatt responded, "You little idiot" and that he'd been patient. He could have ended all of this anytime he wanted to and if it's a match he wants, Wyatt accepts.
That brought out Uncle Howdy who came to the ring and stood in between the two stars. He then stood beside Wyatt as if to suggest they were on the same team but he attacked Wyatt. After delivering a Sister Abigail, Howdy left and Knight was totally confused about what was going on.
This was a big way to start the show with perhaps the biggest development in Wyatt's story yet. Howdy is definitely a real person and he/she is not on Wyatt's side. THere were no clues as to who this person was, but it's likely they get involved in the Pitch Black Match between Wyatt and Knight that was confirmed for The Royal Rumble.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
Sikoa picked up a huge win on Friday in a singles match over Sheamus. Using the Samoan Spike, he beat The Celtic Warrior after some outside action between the members of The Bloodline and The Brawling Brutes. When The Bloodline tried to attack after the bell, Drew McIntyre made his return to WWE after some time away due to injury. He took out Jimmy and Jey Uso and went after Sikoa, potentially teasing a future match between the two.
Sikoa getting a decisive win over Sheamus is big.
Winner/Loser: Ronda Rousey
Rousey put in what might have been her best match as a singles wrestler in WWE against Raquel Rodriguez on Friday night. It was a physical match with some cool spots that made her look good. Rousey worked the arm and locked up the win when Rodriguez was forced to tap out. As soon as Rousey was about to smack-talk the crowd, Charlotte Flair's music hit, and a sold-out SmackDown crowd went nuts upon seeing she'd returned for the final episode of 2022. Rousey wasn't thrilled but she still had plenty of energy left to give it verbally to Flair. She suggested that Flair wanted a match at The Royal Rumble but Flair was there to challenge her for the title right now. She won with a roll-up and became the new SmackDown Women's Champion.
With Flair back and now the SmackDown Women's Champion, the blue brand has certainly changed in a matter of minutes. Flair being back is big news, but Flair now the champ is bigger news. This also potentially frees up Rousey and Baszler to go after the Women's Tag Team Championships. It's something she said during a recent gaming stream that she had an interest in doing.
Loser: Gunther
Imperium showed up to talk about how dominant an Intercontinental Champion Gunther has been in 2022 and said that no man on the SmackDown roster can defeat him for the championship. That brought out Braun Strowman who said he wasn't in the tidy little video package Imperium showed as they bragged about The Ring General's conquests. Strowman said that maybe no man can beat him, but a monster might be able to. As Imperium turned their back and decided to walk away, Strowman said that they misunderstood him and that he wasn't asking for a title shot. He spun Gunther around, only to have to fight off all three members of the group.
Strowman was no match for three people but when Ricochet came down to the ring with a chair to help his new friend out, he cleared the ring of all members of Imperium. In doing so, he accidentally really hit Gunther on the back of the head with a chair and it looked like it hurt Gunther. WWE announced a match between Strowman and Gunther for two weeks from tonight and we'll find out if Gunther has any sort of injury after the errant chair shot.
Winner: John Cena Returns, Picks Up Win With Kevin Owens
It was the lone match of 2022 for John Cena and the fans reacted as though it had been a year since they'd seen him. He got a massive pop from the live crowd and WWE booked the tag match to ensure he got an even bigger pop when he got the hot tag from Kevin Owens. He was pulled off the ring apron and taken out by Roman Reigns, only to allow Owens a chance to fight back and make the tag so Cena could come in and get a short run of offensive moves in. Cena didn't spend much time in the ring, but it was enough to make his appearance fun and entertaining for the fans.
Cena hammed it up for the live crowd and he and Owens took out Sami Zayn and Reigns to end the show. Owens took a nasty shot to the eye. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.
WWE ended the year with a big show that was fast-paced from the start to finish. There were big storyline developments, huge returns, a title change, and a massive star closing the year on a high note. This was a great way for WWE to lead into 2023.
