WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: January 1, 2021

Bengaluru, January 1: A special New Year's Day edition of SmackDown is being promoted by WWE where Roman Reigns has something to urge to the WWE Management in the wake of his successful Universal Title defense.

Apart from the headliner, the reigning Women’s Champion will be seen in a tag team match. Plus, the Intercontinental Champion Big E will also go head-to-head with King Corbin when Friday's weekly WWE episode takes place at the Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Head of the Table is still running the roost of SmackDown following two back-to-back grueling battles with his current rival. Roman Reigns competed in a rematch against Kevin Owens inside the cage which was again interfered with Jey Uso's presence who handcuffed the challenger, allowing his cousin to walk out with the belt.

Now WWE has informed that the WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will make a special request of WWE Management following his title retention over Kevin Owens.

There is no word on what WWE has in store for the segment, but the official announcement noted that The Tribal Chief "has made a special request of WWE Management ahead of this week's SmackDown. The specifics of the request have not yet been disclosed. Details to follow."

WWE has previously confirmed the new WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E vs. King Baron Corbin in a non-title match which is intact on the card. This will be E's first match since winning the prestigious mid-card belt from Sami Zayn in a Lumberjack Main Event Match on December 25.

Corbin has a sadistic mentality to win by any means that has grown just bigger with his two new ring enforcers. Perhaps, he's ready to make Big E taste the first loss of the New Year and his new title reign.

A tag team match has been announced where the two heels Carmella and Bayley join forces against Bianca Belair and SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks for the first SmackDown of 2021.

This match happens after a Triple Threat Elimination Match on the Christmas episode, where both these teams came up short against Charlotte Flair and RAW Women's Champion Asuka.

The champs retained the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles but the loss did nothing to quell the respective rivalries (Carmella-Banks and Bayley-Belair). This tag-team match will just take forward the storylines to make way for future singles encounters.

WWE on FOX Twitter account previously announced that SmackDown New Year's Day episode will feature the return of Seth Rollins to Friday. But the tweet was deleted while there's no mention of him on WWE's preview page for the show, as well. It’s evident that plans around him could've been cancelled.

The Messiah has been away from WWE TV since the Survivor Series pay-per-view event on November 22. He went into a hiatus to be with fiancee Becky Lynch as they welcomed their first child together in early December.

He is reportedly ready to be back on TV but WWE could be planning something bigger for his return. We expect an official announcement in this capacity when SmackDown airs the New Year's Day episode from the ThunderDome.