6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 15 - Results & Review)

A huge AJ Styles return and WWE's Royal Rumble announcement made SmackDown newsworthy.

Randy Orton Roman Reigns Solo Sikoa Bloodline
WWE.com

The three big stories coming out of this week's SmackDown are Randy Orton's challenge to Roman Reigns for Royal Rumble, the welcome return of AJ Styles, and the announcement that Charlotte Flair will miss most of 2024 due to injury. That last one sucks, and could throw a spanner in the works for WWE's women's division plans.

Friday's show boasted significant star power overall though. Roman being back on TV always helps, and the addition of Orton eases the burden on everyone's favourite 'Tribal Chief' somewhat. Then, there are other top names like Kevin Owens, LA Knight and the aforementioned AJ.

Did Styles look jacked or what?!

AJ might've also teased that he won't be babyface for much longer. There are some serious questions to answer coming out of SmackDown on The OC leader's side, so expect him to get mic time on next week's Christmassy edition.

Triple H's creative team worked in all of that stuff, and kept the United States Title number one contendership tournament rolling on too. Here's all the good and bad from another busy week on FOX!

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.