It’s the night before the Elimination Chamber, and this week’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown was the perfect segue toward the next stop on the road to Wrestlemania.
Image credit: Alex Bierens De Haan
It’s Tiffy/Trishy Time in Toronto
The show started out with a segment that clearly was meant to hype up the in-house crowd starring hometown hero Trish Stratus. Trishy Time called out her tag team partner and WWE Women’s champion Tiffany Stratton to aid in her endeavor.
After the two generously donated their brand spankin’ new Maple Leafs jerseys to some lucky fans, they were interrupted by Women’s United States champion Chelsea Green (who is also a Canadian btw). Chelsea used her title and heel heat to turn on her hometown crowd and pledged her allegiance to the United States, setting up a match between her and Tiffany Stratton.
This match was slightly underwhelming in the ring to me, especially for a match between Smackdown’s two women’s champions. Although, I was happy that they went with the finish that they did. The surprise attack by Nia Jax and Candice LeRae was meant to build more excitement for a match that I am not particularly interested in. I’m glad they decided not to bury Chelsea Green (again) with a loss in a non-title match, so at least there’s that.
US Title Tournament
Since it’s like, 2 am at the time of me writing this review, I am going to summarize the entirety of the United States title tournament that stretched throughout tonight’s episode in this one segment of my review.
Three matches were announced for the night, and all three of the victors would go head to head in the main event in a triple threat match. The winner of the tournament will face Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship at some point in the future.
The first of these matches was Andrade vs Jacob Fatu (originally booked for Solo Sikoa). These two had great chemistry in the ring and put on a spectacular match. However, Jacob Fatu would predictably get the win and advance onward.
Carmelo Hayes and Braun Strowman also had a tournament match tonight. I was a big fan of this match’s finish. Carmelo Hayes pulled an Eddie Guerrero after Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga interfered to ensure Strowman couldn’t get his giant hands on Jacob Fatu in the finals. Melo didn’t miss on this opportunity, and Strowman was disqualified for a “chair shot.” This was a gimmick that we haven’t seen in WWE in a while, and I thought that it fit Carmelo Hayes’ opportunistic character well.
The final qualifying match was LA Knight vs Santos Escobar. LA Knight hit a gnarly BFT on a mid-air Santos Escobar to seal the deal and move on to the triple threat. Personally, I haven’t really been able to get behind the BFT as a finishing move. Not because it doesn’t look deadly, but mainly because it just looks awkward. Nonetheless, this one definitely hit me differently (along with Santos Escobar lol).
Main eventing the show (match-wise anyway) was the triple threat finale to this makeshift tournament. I really enjoyed this match. Any bout featuring Jacob Fatu is naturally a banger. Seriously, if this guy can clean up his promo skills just a little bit more he’ll be a world champion in a year or two. I know a lot of people like them but to me, they just aren’t hitting yet.
Anyhoo, LA Knight would pick up the win on a lifeless Carmelo Hayes after Fatu hit his signature moonsault, but was pulled out of the ring by Knight before he could land the pinfall.
I am happy that they are giving LA Knight a second chance at the US Title. I was intrigued by the initial decision to put the belt on a newly defined Shinsuke Nakamura, but so far they just haven’t done a good job building him up as a formidable champion. He has barely appeared on Smackdown in the past few weeks, never mind defending his title. I believe Knight will pick up the win in their next match. I do hope that the loss doesn’t bury Nakamura though. If it does, I fear his WWE career might be on its last legs.
Overall, this tournament was an awesome showcase of Smackdown’s midcard talent. Three-hour Smackdowns could really benefit from events like this on both the men’s and women’s side.
Tag Team Chaos
Smackdown’s thriving tag team division was on full display tonight in this absolutely absurd segment. What seemed like a routine match between The Street Profits and Los Garza would turn into an all-out brawl.
DIY interrupted The Street Profits’ entrance before the match would even start, followed by Pretty Deadly, and eventually The Motor City Machine Guns.
There was no clear winner to me in this segment. Every team had an awesome spot somewhere amidst the chaos. I predict that this will lead to a five-team ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania.
A Chamber Promo Like No Other
Tonight, we had five of the six members of this year’s Elimination Chamber match meet in the ring for the final time before the big night. This mega-promo sent my hype levels through the roof for tomorrow’s PLE.
It all started with Drew McIntyre interrupting a John Cena video package, calling the 16-time world champion a hypocrite. Damien Priest would interrupt and do his best to keep up with Drew on the mic.
Next came Seth Rollins, who was doing his best oven-mitt cosplay tonight. The three men who faced off for the World Heavyweight Championship at last year’s Money In The Bank PLE were reunited in the ring for the very first time to cook each other, this time with microphones before they were interrupted again by CM Punk.
Obviously, there is plenty of heat between these guys. They went back and forth insulting each other and stating their cases for why they will each win the chamber and go on to Wrestlemania. That was until the moment of truth. The return (or debut) of John Cena on his retirement tour. Or so we thought…
Cena’s music hit and the arena went nuts, only to realize shortly after that it was actually Logan Paul. Let me just say that Logan Paul is so good at this whole WWE superstar thing. He kept up on the mic with legends like CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre. That’s not even mentioning his in-ring abilities. I love heels. They are my favorite characters in all of WWE and pretty much always have been. I grew up a bald Randy Orton fan, so naturally, I gravitate toward dastardly characters like the one Logan Paul has made himself out to be.
The one guy I am worried about after this whole war of words was Damien Priest. He sounded very weak on the mic tonight, getting outshined by virtually everyone. His first promo with Drew was weak, where he repeated himself about “beating Drew’s ass” over and over again, and he barely had anything to say once the big stars began to shine. This Elimination Chamber could be a make-or-break moment for Damien Priest and so far, he hasn’t impressed me among the big-time main eventers.
Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
KO and Sami delivered an awesome promo leading into tomorrow’s unsanctioned match. My expectations for this match are up in space. I want a bloodbath. Typically, I am not the biggest fan of those kinds of matches, but after seeing what Kevin Owens went through at the Royal Rumble (what a great birthday present that was) and knowing the history between these two guys, I want to see them destroy each other. I want tables, ladders, chairs, steel steps, kendo sticks, toolboxes, and any other “zayn-y” items they can find in the surrounding area. The promo they delivered was so unbelievably personal toward one another that I even think that this match should main event the show, especially in Canada.
Selling His Soul? Pt. 2
We saw a series of events happen tonight that could convince Cody to turn toward The Rock and join him as his corporate champion.
We saw Cody receive a number of gifts from The Final Boss like a special locker room, food, wine, and even a brand-new truck. Throughout the night, Cody talked with a host of different superstars like R-Truth and Drew McIntyre who all gave him different advice. The most impactful to me was CM Punk, who supported Cody selling out and eventually turning on The Rock.
The show ended with a video package from The Rock, telling the WWE Champion that he hopes he will join him tomorrow at the chamber. He even had a custom lifting belt that read “Cody Rhodes’ Soul” and listed the anniversary of his father’s death (which I thought was a little weird). Overall, it got really personal, and this story could go a million different routes.
My prediction is that Cody will sell his soul to The Rock, turning him heel. I am still sticking with the idea of Cena winning the chamber and getting his final Mania main event. I think that dynamic works better against a heel champion. However, I don’t see Cena winning his 17th here. I think it will be a year-long chase that culminates later in the year.