WWE SmackDown Spoilers: Complete Results and Analysis for December 17

Kevin Owens is a man on a mission to restore his ego and championship reign, as witnessed by the impressive beatdown that left Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose lying in the ring on Monday Night Raw. Tuesday night, WWE rolled into Newark, New Jersey, for this week's SmackDown tapings, with Owens battling Ziggler in the night's main event.

Not only would the contest serve as retribution for The Showoff, but it would also potentially catapult Owens back into title contention if he could score a victory over the former heavyweight champion of the world.

But would the contest go uninterrupted, or would Dean Ambrose make his presence felt, with The Lunatic Fringe seeking vengeance for the beating he endured on Raw?

What about Ambrose's closest friend, Roman Reigns—the new WWE world heavyweight champion following his win over Sheamus Monday night? Would his celebration carry over to SmackDown, or would The Authority have something to say about it?

Ryback, The League of Nations, The Lucha Dragons and The New Day were all in action elsewhere on the card as WWE Creative attempted to continue the wave of momentum that began Sunday at TLC and rolled into Raw just 24 hours later.

Fans in New Jersey know what to expect when the show hits the SyFy airwaves this Thursday night. Now you can too, courtesy of our friends at WrestlingInc.com (h/t Marc Middleton).

Results

• WWE world heavyweight champion Roman Reigns kicked off the show. Sheamus interrupted his promo and vowed to win the title back before revealing that Reigns is under investigation. Furthermore, he is banned from the arena. Security tried to escort the champion out, but he demolished them all.
• United States champion Alberto Del Rio defeated Ryback after The League of Nations interfered. After the match, the heels beat The Big Guy down.
• Titus O'Neil defeated Tyler Breeze. During the match, Goldust came to ringside and took selfies with Summer Rae in the VIP section.
• The Lucha Dragons defeated WWE tag team champions The New Day in a non-title match when Kalisto pinned Kofi Kingston.
• Becky Lynch defeated Brie Bella via submission. Charlotte tripped Brie up, unbeknownst to Becky, leading to the win. Team B.A.D. watched from ringside.
• Dolph Ziggler defeated Kevin Owens via disqualification when Owens threw him over the announce table. After the match, a three-way interaction between those two Superstars and Dean Ambrose ended when Ziggler superkicked the intercontinental champion, leaving both babyfaces prone and Owens laughing out loud.

Credit: WWE.com

Analysis

WWE appears to be setting in motion the stories that will carry the promotion into the Royal Rumble, which is interesting in that they are unfolding on SmackDown—a show that is typically a wasteland for creativity.

There appears to be a three-way feud between Owens, Ziggler and Ambrose on the horizon, unless The Showoff is simply being used as fodder for Owens to bowl over en route to another match with The Lunatic Fringe. Either way, seeing the IC title feud receive as much airtime as it did is refreshing, especially given how poorly managed that championship has been in recent months.

After the rivalry with Roman Reigns, The League of Nations appears poised to target Ryback, sinking into the midcard where that faction will best be suited. Though, if the show's opening segment is any indication, Sheamus is not quite finished with Reigns yet.

The other interesting development is the ignition of a rivalry between Tyler Breeze and Goldust. While the two really do not have much in common, they are both without anything else better to do. More importantly, they invest themselves in their characters, which could lead to a gold mine of entertaining material in the coming weeks.

The Lucha Dragons scoring a non-title win over The New Day feels like a generic way to insert them back into the title hunt, while the further development of the Divas story involving Becky Lynch and Charlotte sounds a lot like the same thing that happened Monday night on Raw.

For an episode of SmackDown headed into the heart of the holidays, this week's show seems strangely inspired and one that you should go out of your way to check out. Especially if you are interested to see how WWE follows up two buzz-worthy events in succession.