One of the matches set for tonight s Royal Rumble event is now taking place on the pre-show.
Women s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Asuka will defend their titles against Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler on tonight s Royal Rumble pre-show. The match being moved to the pre-show was first reported by PWinsider and has been confirmed by our Dave Meltzer.
Charlotte, Jax, and Baszler will be pulling double duty at the Royal Rumble, with all three also taking part in the women s Royal Rumble match.
Charlotte & Asuka won the women s Tag Team titles from Jax & Baszler at December s TLC PPV.
Asuka also currently holds the Raw Women s Championship. She isn t defending that title at the Royal Rumble tonight.
WWE has made a pair of announcements for tonight s Royal Rumble go-home edition of SmackDown.
- Ahead of their Last Man Standing match for the Universal Championship at Sunday s pay-per-view, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens will engage in a war of words on SmackDown tonight. Tonight, Michael Cole will sit down with The Head of the Table and his resilient challenger en route to their Last Man Standing Match for the Universal Title at Sunday’s Royal Rumble, WWE.com wrote.
The show-closing angle of last week s SmackDown saw Owens give Reigns a pop-up powerbomb through the announce table. The week before that, WWE authority figure Adam Pearce revealed Owens as Reigns new Royal Rumble challenger. Reigns had forced Pearce into winning a gauntlet match to become the number one contender to the Universal title, but Pearce faked an injury and pointed out that standard WWE contracts say the card is subject to change. Pearce then announced that Reigns would be facing Owens at the Roya
Tonight s Christmas edition of SmackDown features three title matches.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Kevin Owens in a steel cage match on tonight s show. Reigns retained against Owens in a tables, ladders, and chairs match this past Sunday s TLC pay-per-view, with Jey Uso interfering throughout the match to help Reigns win.
Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn defends against Big E in a lumberjack match. Zayn defeated Big E by countout in their previous match. Big E then pinned Zayn in an eight-man tag match on the TLC pre-show.
New Women s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Charlotte Flair will make their first title defense. They re facing SmackDown Women s Champion Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair and Bayley & Carmella in a triple threat elimination match. Charlotte made her return to WWE TV at TLC and teamed with Asuka to win the Women s Tag Team titles from Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax.
WWE has announced several matches and segments for this week’s Raw, including Asuka & Charlotte Flair kicking off the show. The company announced on Monday that Asuka and Flair, who won the WWE WOmen’s Tag Team Championships last night at TLC, will kick off the show.
Also announced are a six-man tag match pitting Drew McIntyre, Sheamus & Keith Lee against AJ Styles, The Miz & John Morrison; Jeff Hardy & Riddle vs. MVP & Bobby Lashley; and what’s next for Randy Orton after he straight-up murdered The Fiend at WWE TLC. You can see the announcements below:
Drew McIntyre, Sheamus & Keith Lee to battle AJ Styles, The Miz & John Morrison in a Six-Man Street Fight