Paul Heyman promo segment added to WWE SmackDown

On this Friday’s Christmas Eve episode of SmackDown, Paul Heyman will speak for the first time since being fired and attacked by Roman Reigns.

“Last Friday, Universal Champion Roman Reigns absolutely floored the WWE Universe (and Paul Heyman) when he hugged his Special Council and thanked him for 40 years of service to his family before viciously firing him with a Superman Punch out of nowhere,” WWE wrote.

“Now, quite literally a man without an Island (of Relevancy), Heyman will speak for the first time since being let go with extreme prejudice. Find out what the former Special Council has to say this Friday at 8/7 C on FOX.”

The main event angle of last week’s SmackDown saw Reigns question whether Heyman was loyal to him or loyal to Brock Lesnar. When Reigns asked why Heyman was protecting Lesnar from him, Heyman told Reigns that he wasn’t protecting Lesnar from Reigns — he was protecting Reigns from Lesnar.

Reigns then fired Heyman and gave him a Superman punch. He was going to give Heyman a con-chair-to, but Lesnar came out to make the save. Lesnar laid out The Usos and gave Reigns two F-5s.

Reigns will defend his Universal Championship against Lesnar at WWE’s Day 1 pay-per-view on Saturday, January 1.

This Friday’s SmackDown was taped at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois last week. Heyman’s promo appears to be a backstage segment. Charlotte Flair will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Toni Storm on the episode, and there will be a “12 Days of Christmas” gauntlet match to determine the next challenger for Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental title.

Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Sheamus, Ricochet, Angel, Humberto, Jinder Mahal, Shanky, Erik, Ivar, Mansoor, and Drew Gulak will be the participants in the gauntlet match.