WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: February 18, 2022

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Bengaluru, February 18: Heading into Elimination Chamber 2022 edition, we have one final stop in the form of this week’s Smackdown where the Universal Champion and his iconic challenger will come face-to-face in the headliner segment.

WWE Intercontinental Championship will also be on the line as Sami Zayn gets his guaranteed title shot after a long wait of almost a couple of months.

Plus, Ronda Rousey will be in attendance of the show as she intends to put her signature on the dotted lines to make a tag team match official at Elimination Chamber when this taped edition of WWE Smackdown airs on FOX from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Roman Reigns and his Special Council Paul Heyman laughed off the many accolades of the legendary Goldberg before their once-in-a-lifetime showdown at the Chamber event. The champion also warned that he’s going to "Goldberg" Goldberg during the upcoming bout.

The verbal jabs continued as Smackdown’s voice, Michael Cole also had a sit-down with Goldberg, himself who vowed to take back the Universal Title in the Spear vs. Spear match and then head onto WrestleMania 38 to face his bitter rival, Brock Lesnar.

Both Reigns and Goldberg will now have one last opportunity to make a statement on tonight’s Smackdown ahead of the Spear vs. Spear affair. As confirmed by WWE, these two will be under one roof in a face-to-face segment where things should end on a heated note.

Last week, Sami Zayn hosted "The In-Zayn Podcast” to antagonize his guests, the Intercontinental titleholder Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs. This was a ruse as he electrocuted Boogs and the distraction also allowed Zayn to put down Nakamura with a Helluva Kick.

The Master Strategist has been the number-one contender to Nakamura since winning the 12 Days of Christmas Gauntlet match on the December 24 SmackDown episode. The title shot had to be delayed due to Nakamura suffering a hand injury at the December 18 WWE live event.

The King of Strong Styles has recently been cleared to return to action and hence, he’s been inserted right into a title defense against Zayn, who expects to become a new champion in order to shake things up for the Smackdown mid-card scene.

Naomi attempted to upstage the SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a title match. But after a hard-fought battle, The Queen emerged, victorious, leading WWE Official Sonya Deville to taunt Naomi inside the ring.

Eventually, a 2-on-1 attack followed on Naomi until Ronda Rousey ran down to the rescue. The Baddest Woman on the Planet locked Deville's unharmed arm in a submission hold after sending Flair packing from the ring to make a statement.

Shortly after, Rousey and Naomi vs. Flair and Deville tag team match, was confirmed by the WWE. Now, all these four superstars will feature in the ring, together for a contract signing segment in order to make the match official when Smackdown airs with the Elimination Chamber go-home episode.