SmackDown took place at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. AJ Styles kicked off the show and said that he wanted to face Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble. LA Knight and Randy Orton also came to the ring and said the same thing. Nick Aldis then announced that there would be a Triple Threat match between Orton, Styles and Knight next week to determine the No. 1 contender for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at Royal Rumble.
Bianca Belair, Mia Yim, Zelina Vega, and Shotzi faced Damage CTRL in a Holiday Havoc Eight-Woman Tag Team match. Mia Yim pinned Iyo Sky to pick up the victory.
Dragon Lee defeated Butch to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Kevin Owens defeated Carmelo Hayes to advance to the finals of the United States Championship tournament.
Santos Escobar defeated Bobby Lashley due to the distraction from Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo. With that victory, Escobar qualified for the finals of the US Title tournament.
The match between AJ Styles and Solo Sikoa ended in a no contest. The Bloodline got into a brawl with Orton, Styles, and Knight. Babyfaces got the upper hand. However, Orton, Styles, and Knight punched each other to end the broadcast.
According to Nielsen via Wrestlenomics, the December 22nd episode of WWE SmackDown drew 2.108 million viewers on FOX and a 0.55 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
WWE SmackDown viewership & ratings for the past few weeks
| Episode of WWE SmackDown | Viewership | 18-49 demographic |
| December 22 | 2.108 million | 0.55 |
| December 15 | 2.154 million | 0.51 |
| December 8 | 2.384 million | 0.63 |
| December 1 | 2.044 million | 0.59 |
| November 24 on FS1 | 789,000 | 0.24 |
| November 17 | 2.206 million | 0.62 |
| November 10 | 2.195 million | 0.57 |