Posted on 2/28/126 by Bob Magee
– Immediately after the WWE signature, we went to a hectic
scene backstage as Jey Uso was being loaded onto an
ambulance after a backstage ambush. It was chaos everywhere
as Cody Rhodes was arguing with Nick Aldis. Meanwhile, Trick
Williams & Je’von Evans were arguing as we cut to the arena
and Drew McIntyre addressing the crowd.
Drew McIntyre opens SmackDown
The Undisputed WWE Champion again insisted that he wasn’t
behind the attack of Uso, but Nick Aldis appeared at the
stage and threatened McIntyre. Aldis demanded that McIntyre
head to his office now so they could discuss. Cody Rhodes
stormed to the ring and wanted a piece of McIntyre as he
challenged him to fight right now. McIntyre refused to
answer his challenge.
“You disengaging witless Scottish oaf,” Rhodes shouted, as
he then called him a little bitch. Rhodes vowed that after
he wins the Elimination Chamber, he will finally get his
rematch. That was when Randy Orton interrupted proceedings.
Orton said that while what happened to Jey Uso earlier
sucked, his only concern was winning the Chamber and going
to WrestleMania to face McIntyre. As Orton headed into the
ring, he directly addressed Cody Rhodes. Before he could say
much, Trick Williams then paced his way down to the ring,
lemon pepper steppers and all.
Williams said that tonight, as he was looking at Rhodes and
Orton. Since they were in the KFC Center, he figured he’d
add a little something to the menu. Just as Williams was
going to continue speaking, Je’von Evans cut in. He said
that he was going to win the Chamber, and beat Randy Orton’s
record as the youngest World Champion ever.
The parade of promos continued as L.A. Knight sauntered his
way down to the ring. Knight said that he heard a lot of
things, but that everyone in the Chamber belonged to him,
and that meant Drew McIntyre’s title belonged to him.
Williams cut in on Knight’s “with everyone saying L.A.
Knight” catchphrase, saying “Whoop that Trick.” Knight
obliged Williams’ statement and punched him in the face.
This led to Knight and Williams brawling to the back. As
Rhodes, Evans, and Orton were looking on, The Viper hit
Evans with an RKO as he stared Rhodes down before leaving.
The promo parade was halfway entertaining, but the bigger
story was the angle to write Jey Uso out of Elimination
Chamber since it was apparent that Bronson Reed was meant to
win the qualifier on Monday’s Raw. It’s another mystery
attacker angle, yes, but it is something that had to be done
on short notice. That said, it’ll be curious to see who they
get to fill out Jey’s vacant spot.
***********
– As Tiffany Stratton was being interviewed, Asuka
interrupted her and we got a match between the two set for
tonight.
– At the commentary table, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett
set up the night as we got the usual backstage shots of
wrestlers arriving to the arena. Tonight, we’ll see RHIYO
vs. The Irresistable Forces for the Women’s Tag Team Titles,
plus The Miz vs. Oba Femi.
Solo Sikoa vs. Uncle Howdy
This match started as Sikoa motioned towards the lantern
before we got a test of strength between him and Howdy.
Sikoa shoved Howdy and missed with a strike, as Howdy then
did Bray Wyatt’s corner psyche-out taunt to him. Sikoa
locked in a resthold on Howdy, but was forced out of it. The
two then traded strikes as Howdy took down Sikoa with the
running flying forearm. Howdy attempted to go for Sister
Abigail, but Sikoa rolled out of the ring. At ringside,
Sikoa missed with the Samoan Spike as Howdy dodged, which
caused Sikoa’s thumb to make impact with the ring post.
Howdy clothesline Sikoa over the timekeeper’s barrier as he
stared at the prized Wyatt lantern sat on a podium at
ringside.
Back in the ring, Howdy got hit with a punch from Sikoa, who
then threw his foe into the middle turnbuckle to put Howdy
out of commission as we took a break.
We returned from the break as Howdy was back in the ring
trying to mount a comeback, but he fell victim to a Sikoa
Samoan Drop for a near-fall. Howdy targeted Sikoa’s hurt
thumb to break out of a hold, as he then pummeled his foe in
the corner with strikes. An attempted clothesline was
blocked by Sikoa, who dropped Howdy with the Spinning Solo.
On the top rope, Sikoa soared and hit a diving splash on
Howdy for another two-count.
As Howdy was trying to recover, Sikoa stalked him and picked
him up as he put him in position for a Sister Abigail of his
own. Howdy countered that into the Mandible Claw instead.
Sikoa got out of it with a Samoan Spike on Howdy, which sent
him stunned in the corner. Sikoa managed to hit two running
hip attacks, but a third was intercepted by Howdy, who
finished Sikoa off with Sister Abigail.
After the match, as Howdy tried to reclaim the lantern, the
M.F.T.s ambushed him and took the lantern from Howdy. The
Wyatt Sicks ran them off, but it was too late.
Uncle Howdy def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall
I think I’ve made it clear week in and week out at how much
I hate this M.F.T.s/Wyatt Sicks feud, and this boring
stinker of a match didn’t help shake things at all. It just
felt like a match that plodded towards a dull conclusion,
and the post-match bit with the M.F.T.s retaking the Wyatts’
lantern means that this feud is going to be continued even
further, and let me just say that is a frightening thought —
but not in the way WWE is intending.
***********
– While Nick Aldis was arguing with Drew McIntyre, what was
left of The Vision confronted the SmackDown GM. Paul Heyman
advocated to Aldis to put Logan Paul in the Elimination
Chamber in the injured Jey Uso’s place. Aldis didn’t take
the bait as he suggested that it was very convenient that
The Vision benefitted from Uso’s injury. Aldis said that he
had to make some calls, as there was a lot of politics and
business involved.
– Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY were interviewed ahead of their
Women’s Tag Title defense against Nia Jax & Lash Legend.
Ripley said that she had to take things one at a time and
was focused on beating Jax & Legend tonight. SKY then
continued stating that after tonight, Ripley would win the
womens’ Elimination Chamber and go on to WrestleMania to
become a champion. Ripley put herself and SKY over as a team
that wins because they have each other’s backs.
– Aldis was taking a call until Jacob Fatu faced off with
him. Fatu proposed that he be put into the Chamber match to
replace Jey Uso. He promised to take care of the Drew
McIntyre problem at WrestleMania. Aldis told Fatu that he
was taking that under advisement.
– They showed an NXT Origins video focused on Damian Priest.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Kairi Sane (w/ Asuka)
Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre made their way to ringside just
before this match, as Jelly Roll was shown in the crowd.
Green joined Tesssitore and Barrett on commentary for this
match.
As Asuka entered the ring, she stated that she wanted to
keep fresh for the Elimination Chamber as she announced
Kairi Sane was taking her place.
As the match started, Stratton hit a springboard moonsault
in the ring, before she showed some nice acrobatic dodges to
get ahead of Sane. She hit a running hip attack on a prone
Sane as she then dove to the outside to take her out. As
Stratton was entering the ring, Asuka distracted her, which
allowed Sane to take advantage as she sent Stratton face
first into the ring post. This took us into the break.
The match returned from break as Stratton had Sane on the
ropes and connected with her cartwheel-into-Alabama Slam on
her foe. Sane managed to kick out just before two. The
rolling senton from Stratton on Sane, but the Prettiest
Moonsault Ever was blocked, which put Stratton in an
unenviable position in the corner. Sane took advantage and
hit the double-stomp from the top rope to the face of
Stratton for the near-fall. With Stratton down and out in
the corner, Sane hit her with a running elbow. Sratton
avoided a dive, as another cartwheel Alabama Slam was
attempted. Sane’s counter of that was turned into a dropkick
by Stratton.
Sane had Stratton for a move on the apron, but that was
reversed into a suplex attempt. Sane showed nice wherewithal
and turned it into a spiking DDT onto the apron instead. In
the ring, Sane hit a diving spear, but couldn’t put Stratton
away. Sane attempted an Insane Elbow, but Stratton recovered
and pushed Sane out of the ring and into Alba Fyre. Green
got up from her wheelchair and yelled at Stratton, who moved
out of the way at the last minute to cause a diving Sane to
barrel into Green.
Stratton threw Sane back into the ring and hit the rolling
senton on her before she put an end to this one with the
Prettiest Moonsault Ever for the pin and win.
Tiffany Stratton def. Kairi Sane via pinfall
That was a decently entertaining match. I will say that
Stratton and Sane worked well here and the antics with Green
and Stratton did add a bit to the proceedings.
***********
The Vision were waiting for Nick Aldis in his office. Aldis
informed that he spoke with Adam Pearce and that Logan Paul
will be in the Elimination Chamber, provided that he wins
his match against Jacob Fatu set for later tonight.
Oba Femi vs. The Miz
As the bell rang, Miz rolled out of the ring and grabbed a
microphone. He told Femi that they didn’t have to fight.
Femi told Miz to get his own mic. Miz said that they didn’t
have to fight, but as the self-proclaimed locker room
leader, they could use this as a teaching moment. Miz talked
about how many years ago, he made the mistake to go after
locker room leaders like The Undertaker and Triple H. He
offered to Femi to be his guide, stating he wanted to be his
“Undertaker”.
“You don’t have a striking resemblance, but you look like a
deadman to me,” said Femi in response.
Miz continued to butter up Femi, but was soundly rejected.
Femi gauged interest from the Louisville crowd on whether or
not he wanted to accept the offer, but Femi declared that
Miz was “dying tonight”. Again Miz tried to beg off, but
that didn’t work out for him.
The match finally started proper with Femi hitting Miz with
a hard clothesline. Femi took down a diving Miz with a punch
to the gut. He blocked Miz’s attempt at a Skull-Crushing
Finale with his strength as he threw him halfway across the
ring. Femi won after a Fall From Grace powerbomb on the
hapless Miz.
Oba Femi def. The Miz via pinfall
Like the Kit Wilson stuff from before the match last week,
the promo with Femi and Miz before the actual match feels
like they’re doing a bit too much right now when it’s clear
just letting Femi wreck foes without any sort of
extracurriculars like what we saw tonight and last week. I
know I’ll probably on an island on my own about this, but
that’s just how I feel.
***********
– Carmelo Hayes was surprised to see Ilja Dragunov in a
suit, as he was hoping to face him in the U.S. Title Open
Challenge. Dragunov said he didn’t feel worthy after losing
to Tama Tonga last week. Hayes said that he didn’t need the
pep talk from Dragunov, but that Dragunov needed to remind
himself who he was, because if he didn’t take his shot now,
someone else would.
U.S. Title Open Challenge: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Matt
Cardona
The former U.S. Champion (as Zack Ryder) was revealed as
Hayes’ Open Challenge opponent before the match started.
Cardona and Hayes engaged in a bit of chain wrestling early
as the two engaged in a bit of friendly trashtalk in the
midst of it. Cardona hit a running shoulder block on Hayes,
followed by a big dropkick. Early pin attempt, but Hayes
easily kicked out. Cardona had Hayes in a headlock, but he
couldn’t maintain it as Hayes hit Cardona with a dropkick of
his own. Cardona bounced back with a big boot to the face of
Hayes, followed by the neckbreaker. Hayes threw Cardona onto
the apron, as the two fought briefly. After Cardona got sent
out of the ring, he avoided Hayes’ splash from the apron,
which sent him careening to the side of the announce table
instead. This brought us to a break in the action.
We returned from commercial as Cardona had Hayes in the
corner and hit his running Broski Boot. He then catapulted
Hayes’ face into the bottom part of the middle turnbuckle
for added damage. Despite that, however, Hayes kicked out at
two. Cardona deposited Hayes to the outside and hit his
rope-assisted dropkick to Hayes on the outside. As Cardona
entered the ring, Hayes fought back and got him in a
compromising position draped over the middle rope. This gave
Hayes the opening to hit the no-look leg drop on Cardona.
Once both men recovered to their feet, Hayes got a head of
steam and connected with the springboard clothesline. Hayes
absorbed a big boot from Cardona and bounced into the ropes
to hit his take on La Mistica for a close near-fall. Cardona
blocked a First 48 attempt as he then dropped him with a
double-underhook powerbomb. One, two… NO! Hayes avoided a
Broski Boot from Cardona and tossed him over head with the
back body drop. As Hayes headed up top, Cardona woke up and
caught him for the Frankensteiner. Cardona’s Rough Ryder was
countered by Hayes, but the pin was unsuccessful.
Hayes headed to the top and went for his Nothin’ But Net
legdrop. Cardona dodged Hayes’ best weapon and finally
landed the Rough Ryder on his foe. One, two… 2.999999!!!!!!!
After a rolling pin exchange, it was “case closed” as Hayes
retained after finally hitting the First 48 on Cardona.
Carmelo Hayes def. Matt Cardona via pinfall to retain the
United States Championship
A bit different from the usual high-octane defenses from
Hayes, but I still enjoyed this one a great deal. This was
the best that Cardona has looked since his WWE return. Like
the current U.S. Champion himself, these Open Challenges
don’t miss.
***********
– SmackDown’s tag division stood in front of the Mystery
Crate wondering what was inside, as R-Truth explained how to
order the ESPN app to watch Elimination Chamber tomorrow
(for viewers in the United States). Candice LeRae rolled a
crate with depressed Johnny Gargano on top of it past the
group. Kit Wilson then rolled up and called everyone in the
room “Toxic” for laughing at Gargano’s plight.
Jordynne Grace vs. Candice LeRae (w/ Sad Johnny Gargano)
Johnny Gargano, as sad as ever, was lying on top of the
announce table.
Grace got things going with a spinebuster followed by a
clothesline on LeRae. That advantage was momentary as LeRae
fought back and hit a running senton to a prone Grace. After
some stomps to the head of Grace, LeRae locked in a sleeper
that she held on to until Grace powered out of it. This led
to a back-and-forth pin exchange between Grace and LeRae
until the former was hit with a single-leg Codebreaker by
the latter. Up and over to the apron went LeRae, who headed
up to the top rope. Grace hit LeRae with a single shot as
she then turned that into a powerful stalling superplex from
the second rope. She followed that with a modified
Jackhammer, but LeRae kicked out.
LeRae hit Grace with a boot as she saw Johnny Gargano sit
up. This got her attention as Gargano ambled about with head
down. Grace took advantage as she won this match with a
pumphandle German suplex on LeRae.
Jordynne Grace def. Candice LeRae via pinfall
This seemed a bit too short and looked more focused on
continuing the “Sad Gargano” stuff more than re-establishing
LeRae as a credible threat. I feel that LeRae could be a
good addition to the SmackDown women’s division with a few
more reps, so I hope that continues.
***********
– Jade Cargill warned Raquel Rodriguez that she would put
her down if she won the Elimination Chamber and went on to
face her at WrestleMania. After Rodriguez left, Michin and
B-Fab once again taunted Cargill.
– A recap of AJ Styles’ retirement ceremony from Raw this
past Monday was shown. We learned that Styles would be
inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame this year alongside
Stephanie McMahon.
– Jacob Fatu was warming up for his match as Cody Rhodes
approached him and said that he hoped Fatu would win the
match later tonight. Sami Zayn appeared in front of Rhodes
and got a quick handshake. Zayn talked to Fatu and decided
to make indirectly make an accusation that Fatu might’ve
been responsible for what happened to Jey Uso. Fatu didn’t
take too kindly to Zayn’s words. Fatu shouted that McIntyre
directly screwed him out of the Chamber qualifier by
Claymore kicking him, as well as Cody. Fatu noted that Zayn
may have been helped out by McIntyre’s involvement. Zayn
tried to apologize as Fatu left to go get ready for his
match. In a fit of rage, Zayn flipped a table angrily.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: RHIYO (Rhea Ripley & IYO
SKY) (c) vs. The Irresistable Forces (Nia Jax & Lash Legend)
Jax and Legend had an official new team name and specialized
lower-third graphics, as well as a new theme when they made
their entrance.
This match got underway as SKY took on Legend in the ring.
The strength of Legend allowed her to lift SKY, but she
couldn’t capitalize on it. A dropkick by SKY allowed her to
tag in Ripley, who then used a nice tandem move on Legend.
After the pin attempt, Legend recovered and punched Ripley,
as Jax tagged into the match. Ripley tagged in SKY as the
Women’s Tag Champs showed some nice teamwork with double
sliding dropkicks on Legend and Jax. Their attempt at a
double dive was caught by Jax and Legend who slammed their
opponents against the barricade as we took a break.
This title match returned from commercial as Legend
absolutely flattened SKY with a massive big boot for the
near-fall. Legend took advantage as she used her feet to
choke SKY across the bottom rope. The newly-minted
Irresistable Forces looked to have the advantage, but SKY
escaped her fate with a rolling dodge, followed by a kick to
the side of Legend’s head. This allowed SKY to get to her
corner to finally tag in Ripley.
Ripley escaped a Samoan Drop attempt by Jax, as she held her
own against Jax and Legend. A missile dropkick from Ripley
to Jax got a near-fall. SKY was looking for the tag, but
Legend pulled her down from the apron. This gave Jax the
opening to hit a Samoan Drop on Ripley, as she then pulled
her foe into the corner. Jax got on the top rope and hit the
Annihilator. Ripley escaped and hit a Cheeky Nando’s Kick on
Jax, as she lifted her up for the powerbomb. One, two… NOT
YET! Ripley floored Jax with a Shining Wizard, followed by
the cannonball from the apron as a sports-style replay of
that move took us to another break.
We returned from the break as Jax threw Ripley out of the
ring as she and Legend had their way with one-half of the
Women’s Tag Champs. Jax slammed Ripley across the top of the
commentary table with a Samoan Drop, as she then threw her
into the ring and into a running splash from Legend for the
two-count. Legend connected with a Chokeslam as Jax followed
that up with a leg drop. SKY made the save to break the
count. Legend had SKY in a powerbomb position, but she used
precision to avoid that fate and sent her out of the ring.
Meanwhile, Ripley avoided Jax’s running attack to cause her
foe to crash shoulder-first into the ring post. SKY got the
hot tag as she used her speed to hit legal woman Legend with
a double stomp.
SKY was lifted in the air by Legend, as she then used the
momentum to hit a DDT-like move on Jax behind her. SKY then
followed it with a missile dropkick on Legend, followed by
the suicide dive to Jax outside the ring. With Legend
stunned in the corner, SKY connected with the Bullet Train
Attack on her. SKY hit the Over the Moonsault on Legend, but
Jax broke up the pin. Jax got SKY in position for the
Annihilator and made no mistake. SKY was saved as Ripley
pulled Legend out of the ring to break the pin up
Back in the ring, Ripley hit Riptide on Jax, but Legend —
who was the legal woman — snuck up and got the Lash
Extension on her unaware foe. The three and we got new
Women’s Tag Champs.
The Irresistable Forces def. RHIYO via pinfall to win the
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
This was a good match, and giving Jax and Legend the Women’s
Tag Titles was the right call here. No complaints here.
***********
– Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss were seen commiserating
with one another as the latter was eating ice cream. While
the two were discussing, Giulia and Kiana James mocked them
as the two reiterated their goals of being double champions.
Flair, while still sadly eating ice cream, said that neither
James nor Giulia could have any. Jade Cargill then appeared
to sarcastically wish James and Bliss luck tomorrow.
– The M.F.T.s met with Nick Aldis, complaining about
something being need to be done with the Wyatt Sicks. Aldis
said that the it was the M.F.T.s who were causing all of the
commotion and suggested that maybe it was time to do
something about the WWE Tag Team Championships held by the
group, which hadn’t been defended in quite some time. Aldis
stated that next week on SmackDown, they were going to
determine challengers for the Tag Titles.
– The new Women’s Tag Champions were interviewed about their
big victory as they declared that next week, they’d
celebrate in the biggest and baddest way possible.
– Backstage, Randy Orton was confronted by Aleister Black
and Zelina. Black said that he hoped Orton may have woken up
after the Black Mass last week, but Orton wanted none of it,
as he promised to find Black after the Chamber. After Orton
left, Black stated that’s because he supposedly planned for
it.
Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Jacob Fatu vs. Logan Paul (w/
The Vision)
Austin Theory distracted Fatu early, which allowed Logan to
get the advantage with running forearms on opposite corners.
Fatu tanked a boot from Logan, as he then took him down with
a running attack in the corner, followed by punches to the
face. Fatu struck down Logan with an elbow and kept the
assault going. With Logan literally on the ropes, Fatu
flattened him with strikes to the throat. Another running
corner attack by Fatu on Logan rattled him nicely for a
clothesline over the top rope. Fatu then soared through the
middle ropes to take Logan down with a suicide dive as we
took one final commercial break.
Our main event returned as Logan slammed Fatu down for a
near-fall. Logan avoided a running corner splash from Fatu
as he hit a jumping neckbreaker afterwards. Logan headed to
the top and missed with the frog splash and walked right
into the superkick from Fatu. The handspring moonsault from
Fatu only got a two. Fatu headed to the top rope, but Logan
intercepted him and struck with clubbing blows. Logan tried
for the superplex, but Fatu blocked it successfully and
shoved his opponent down. Swanton by Fatu was blocked by
Logan’s knees, as he then hit a Blockbuster followed by a
rough-looking springboard moonsault for a near-fall.
Logan set Fatu up for the Paulverizer, but he couldn’t
connect. Fatu caught Paul with the running hip attack.
Distractions from Austin Theory and Paul Heyman allowed
Logan to hit a low blow on Fatu followed by the titanium
loaded punch to the face. Frog splash by Paul on Fatu only
got a two-count. Meanwhile outside the ring, the Masked Man
attacked Theory outside the ring as Logan intercepted him.
The Masked Man got unmasked to be revealed as some unknown
person.
Back in the ring, Fatu had Logan dead to rights with the
moonsault, but Drew McIntyre blasted him with the Undisputed
WWE Title, which allowed Logan to roll him up for the three
to qualify for the Elimination Chamber.
Logan Paul def. Jacob Fatu via pinfall to qualify for the
Men’s Elimination Chamber match
***********
It just isn’t a Paul Levesque-booked main event without some
weird overbooked shenanigans, but I suspect having a Vision
member was always the plan so we get the true Masked Man
reveal in the Chamber tomorrow, with the “reveal” tonight
just being a red herring for the presumed Seth Rollins
reveal tomorrow. That said, given how creatively dull WWE
has been with their main storylines, I don’t blame people
for assuming that the “reveal” was them quietly killing the
Masked Man story, especially with injuries putting half of
The Vision on the shelf.
It’s clear that with McIntyre continually antagonizing
everyone, they’re building to something perhaps better than
just him strictly fighting Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. I do
wonder if they can make the build to this potential multi-
man match interesting, on account of the aforementioned
struggles of keeping main event stories exciting.
As far as tonight’s SmackDown is concerned, other than the
dreadful Sikoa vs. Howdy match to open the show, it was
again an entertaining show, even in spite of the big
storylines not really being that engaging. The in-ring
action with the U.S. Title match and the Women’s Title
matches were both good to see, and I am finding the tease to
a heel turn for Sami Zayn to be quite interesting — perhaps
more interesting than the main Cody vs. Drew story — so it’s
not like this show is terrible as a whole.