Top 2 things that went right on the Dec 24. episode of SmackDown

It’s interesting that a wrestling promotion like WWE views episodes of its programming that primarily feature in-ring action as phoning it in for the holidays, but if it produces episodes like the Dec. 24 episode of SmackDown, then WWE should mail it in more often.

While the show still had its share of flaws — such as booking another holiday-themed street fight — and lacked star power with Sasha Banks and Roman Reigns absent from the show, the simplicity (relatively speaking) of what WWE offered on this show made this a more palatable watch than usual.

So, let’s not waste any more time and discuss what worked.

These are the top two things that went right on the Dec. 24 episode of SmackDown.

Sami Zayn wins a 12-man gauntlet match to earn an IC Title shot

As mentioned last week, it was nice to see WWE dedicate some time to determine who would next challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship. Sure, this gauntlet match screamed “let’s just book a long match to eat up time since we don’t have any ideas for terrible angles/skits”, but given how WWE gave someone a world title shot for finding a prop egg, extended match with stakes won’t get any complaints here.

Given that most of the workers in this gauntlet ranged from “good” to “amazing”, the match maintained most of its entertainment value throughout, as most of the stanzas breezed by at an acceptable pace.

Eventually, it came down to Ricochet and Sami Zayn, who turned in an effort that reinforced how tremendous these two are between the ropes. Zayn would pick up the clean pin after hitting Ricochet with the Helluva Kick, and while it was disappointing to see the former North American Champion lose, having Zayn win the number one contendership was a nice reward for his performances in those segments with Brock Lesnar and Zayn should make for an interesting foil to Nakamura.

Paul Heyman

I’ve seen enough. As great as Don Callis was at the start of the year as “The Invisible Hand”, his former employer in ECW has wrapped up Non-wrestler of the Year with his performances over the last month or so.

Fans saw more of the same from Paul Heyman on this week’s SmackDown. A week removed from getting fired and beaten up by Roman Reigns, Heyman sat across from Kayla Braxton (who was good here, too) in a segment that WWE clearly taped after last week’s tapings and explained that he got fired for telling the truth and that his departure from “The Island of Relevancy” could spell the end of his Hall of Fame career.

Now, chances are pretty high that Heyman isn’t done (a video package that aired later emphasizing how Heyman always found his way back on WWE TV after an embarrassing firing/defeat further foreshadowed this), but his sprouting stubble and reflective candor sold that this could actually the end, which shows how great Heyman is in these sorts of angles.