Notable spoiler from WWE SmackDown tapings
A title change will be airing on the Christmas Day edition of SmackDown.
Next week’s episode was taped at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California after tonight’s SmackDown. In the main event of the tapings for next week, Rusev defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the United States Championship.
Nakamura had been United States Champion since winning the title from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules this July. With his win, Rusev has now held the US title three times in his career.
On this week’s SmackDown, Rusev did a backstage interview and a promo from Nakamura aired. Rusev promised to win the title on the greatest day of them all — Rusev Day. Nakamura mocked clips of Rusev from Total Divas.
In addition to next week’s episodes not being live, the New Year’s Eve episode of Raw will be taped on Friday, December 28 and the New Year’s Day edition of SmackDown will be taped on Saturday, December 29.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.