Squash Match Wrestling!

Tag: United States Championship

  • 3/28/25 Smackdown Summary

    Friday Night Smackdown stopped in London, England this week to deliver a solid show.

    Image credit: WWE

    Cody Welcomes London to the Show

    Smackdown started with the WWE Champion making his way to the ring and was greeted by a choir of English WWE fans.

    Randy Orton came out to meet Cody and gave Cody some emotional words of encouragement. He told Cody that he was the reason that the WWE is as successful as it is today and that he was extremely proud of the superstar and the man he has become. You could see Cody holding back tears as Orton delivered his message.

    This however wasn’t the only thing Orton was out for. He let Cody know that he will be coming for his title after Cody defeats Cena at WrestleMania.

    The two were then met by Drew McIntyre. Drew came out to remind everyone that he was once again right like he is about everything. This time, he was referring to John Cena.

    He then declared that after WrestleMania, he would be coming for Cody’s title.

    This portion of the segment set up a match between Orton and McIntyre for later on in the night, which we will get to later on.

    This is the Drew McIntyre that I have been waiting to see since his Hell ina Cell match at Bad Blood. Drew should be competing for world titles, especially at WrestleMania. However, I understand that sometimes it’s just not in the cards for some people.

    Drew needs to beat Damien Priest at WrestleMania so that all of this hype doesn’t go to waste.

    Pretty Deadly vs The Street Profits

    The first match of the night was between Pretty Deadly and the Street Profits for the WWE Tag Team Championships.

    Before we get into the match, let me just say that Mark Nash, who was introduced before this match, did an awesome job all night. He has a real “pro-sports” vibe to his voice that I enjoyed.

    Although Pretty Deadly lost this contest, they had the backing of their hometown crowd the entire time. It was nice to see them get the love they deserve. I still think that they will win these titles in some kind of multi-team match at WrestleMania.

    The Secret Hervice vs Carter and Chance.

    Chelsea Green’s new faction, the Secret Hervice, defeated Kayden Carter and Katana Chance in a tag team match.

    This match was set up in a backstage segment that took place earlier in the night that also involved Zelina Vega.

    After the Hervice beat the partying duo, they proceeded to beat them down in the ring. Vega came out to make the save. She fended off Alba Fyre and Piper Niven for a bit, but eventually succumbed to the numbers game.

    It is looking more and more like Vega versus Green is the plan for WrestleMania. I’m not super excited about this match, but it’s better than another street fight against Michin I suppose. Smackdown needs more mid-carders in the women’s division.

    LA Knight vs Braun Strowman

    LA Knight and Braun Strowman had their match for the United States Championship after Strowman became the number one contender in last week’s episode.

    He defeated Jacob Fatu to qualify via disqualification. Strowman and Knight may have forgotten, but Fatu certainly didn’t. He attacked both of the two competitors shortly after the match began, and it ended in a disqualification.

    Tensions between Solo Sikoa and his enforcer grew after the match. Solo pressed Fatu about going out on his own to wreak havoc. However, Fatu clapped back by saying he could do what he wanted and he would bring the US title back to the Bloodline with or without Solo’s help.

    I have a number of questions surrounding Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa, LA Knight, and the United States Championship for WrestleMania.

    For one, What is the plan with Fatu for mania? We know he will find his way onto the card somewhere. But will that be against Solo or LA Knight?

    If it ends up being Solo vs Jacob, what is the plan for the US title? LA Knight currently doesn’t have a feud going into WrestleMania. They seem to have been building toward Jacob Fatu, but it seems that that won’t be the match we get.

    I am already predicting a ladder match for the tag team title and wouldn’t want to see another one on this year’s card. However, that would be the easiest way to get Smackdown’s mid-carders onto the show.

    Guys like Carmelo Hayes and Braun Strowman have been getting plenty of big matches and TV time, so I believe that they should make it onto the show somewhere. I just don’t know where else to put them other than a feudless ladder match.

    Naomi’s Video Package

    Naomi was featured in an emotional video package calling out Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill while giving us a sneak peek into her new heel persona.

    She showed old photos of her and Bianca while stating that she was always there for Bianca since the very beginning while Jade wasn’t. Naomi was tired of being the third wheel. She had always done the right thing throughout her career. She attacked Jade because she knew it was what she needed to do.

    This promo was awesome. Naomi’s character work lately has been some of her best since returning to the WWE. This could be enough to cement herself as a perennial main-eventer going forward.

    I am a big fan of these “justified heels” that Triple H has been cooking up lately. Guys like Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre fall into this category as well and have been some of my favorite characters to watch since their heel turns.

    Michin vs Charlotte Flair

    You know it’s a good night when you get to see Michin lose. It’s a doubly good night when you get to see her get beat up by Naomi before the match even begins.

    Naomi attacked both Michin and B-Fab before Charlotte even made her entrance. Jade Cargill appeared to make the save.

    Of course, this match wasn’t called off though. Michin stayed to fight the Queen even after taking her beatdown. She wound up losing to the figure-eight leg lock.

    After the match, we saw Tiffany Stratton being interviewed backstage. She responded strongly to Charlotte’s onslaught from last week.

    Tiffy admitted that Flair made her look like a rookie, but she used that to her advantage. At the end of the day, if Tiffy loses to Flair it’s no big deal. She is a rookie facing the best the industry has ever seen. She is young and her career will recover. Charlotte on the other hand will never be able to live it down.

    I thought this was a solid recovery form last week, even if it still felt like she was reading from a script.

    Legends Clash

    Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre faced off toward the end of the show in a slow and methodical match. Typical Randy Orton.

    Drew would get the win off of a distraction from Kevin Owens.

    Afterward, Owens and Orton would duke it out outside of the ring, and we got yet another punt kick tease before Kevin made his escape.

    Distraction or not, this is a big win for Drew. He needed this momentum heading into WrestleMania. I can’t remember the last time Drew was in a singles match on Smackdown that didn’t end in him losing to a rollup from a Bloodline member.

    Big Jim vs The Miz

    Jimmy Uso defeated The Miz easily in the final match of the night.

    This match was short and predictable but did its job. That being to give Jimmy Uso some momentum heading into his match against Gunther on Monday.

    I am not quite sure what exactly, but I feel like we will get a big story advancement for Gunther versus Jey Uso from this match on Raw.

    Priest Attacks McIntyre

    As Drew McIntyre prepared to head off to the pub to celebrate his victory, he was attacked in the parking lot by Damien Priest.

    Drew had been getting the one-up on Priest in recent weeks, but tonight was Priest’s night. The brawl led the two to fight on top of a car. Damien Priest gauged Drew’s eyes and put him through a windshield with a South of Heaven choke slam.

    I know I clowned on this feud a while ago, but I have really come around to it. I do think that this match needs a stipulation though. A street fight between these two at WrestleMania would go hard.

    The Contract Signing

    This segment was very interesting. It answered one of the biggest questions heading into WrestleMania, but also left us with another one that is just as big. Let’s get right into it.

    Roman Reigns made his entrance and was greeted by an electric crowd. They sang his name so loud that even Paul Heyman joined in!

    Next, Seth Rollins made his way to the ring. He reminisced on the past that he and Roman have, especially in that building. Seth said that he and Roman are the reason that the business is in the position that it is today, but Roman disagreed.

    Roman said that there “is no we.” He has done everything over the past 10 years on his own while Seth sat second fiddle.

    CM Punk finally made his entrance and was greeted with a karaoke party. London sang his song as he stormed to the ring to sign the contract. Before he would sign it though, he spent a minute searching through its pages.

    This is where we got one of our questions answered. Paul Heyman confirmed that the triple-threat will be main eventing night one of WrestleMania.

    Punk got emotional as Seth crashed out and Roman asked for a thank you. His life-long dream was finally coming true.

    Sarcastically, Punk thanked his tribal chief for letting him main event but confirmed to us that this was not his favor from Paul as the show faded to black.

    Wow. Just wow. What a way to end the show. I have a few predictions as to what the favor might be, and one of them I hope isn’t the case.

    First, I think it could be Paul Heyman rejoining CM Punk after WrestleMania. If you recall, Roman Reigns had promised Paul that he wouldn’t harm CM Punk after Survivor Series. This promise was broken when he attacked Punk after the steel cage match on Raw a few weeks ago. Heyman could be upset with Roman and end up leaving him.

    Secondly, and the one I hope isn’t the case, the favor could be to be added to the WWE Championship match against Cody Rhodes and John Cena.

    I don’t want this at all. I get that he has historic entanglements with both of these guys, but there are so many multi-man matches on the card already. We don’t need or want another one, do we?

    CM Punk needs no excuse to go after either of these guys following mania regardless of who walks out the champ. Come back to it later. A one-on-one feud between Cena and Punk one final time would be so much more fun to watch.

  • 3/14/25 Smackdown Summary

    The first night of WWE’s Road to WrestleMania European Tour was as electric as we expected, which elevated the show to new heights.

    Kicking Things Off With a YEAH!

    The newly crowned United States Champion LA Knight kicked off the show last night with a promo to get the crowd going and was interrupted by a desperate Jimmy Uso. Jimmy said he feels that his window to WrestleMania closing and asked Knight for a title shot.

    Before he could accept Jimmy’s offer, Knight was interrupted by Solo Sikoa and the new Bloodline, who came out saying that if anyone deserved a title shot, it was Jacob Fatu. A brawl began and Braun Strowman joined in the chaos shortly after, which prompted GM Nick Aldis to declare a three-on-three tag team match to start the night.

    This match was one that could’ve appeared on any episode of Smackdown. What made it special was the Barcelona crowd. They were on fire, which would stay true until the very end of the show.

    The Babyface team came out victorious, but another brawl ensued after the final bell rang between Strowman and Fatu, elevating their feud further. Jacob Fatu walked out of this looking stronger than anyone.

    Jade Cargill is Interrupted by Liv and Raquel

    The next segment of the show was an interview with Jade Cargill in which we finally found out her side of the story as to what happened with Naomi. As she faded into a state of unconsciousness, she saw Naomi running from the scene of the crime. She said that physically, she is fine. She is more hurt emotionally than anything.

    As for why she didn’t tell anyone until weeks later, I’m not exactly sure we got our answer. Liv Morgan was wondering the same thing. She and Raquel interrupted the segment to set up a match between her and Jade next week.

    I tell you what, Liv Morgan is an amazing heel (if you couldn’t already tell from the year she just had). She plays one of the most easily hateable and annoying characters in the WWE today. Especially with that laugh of hers. You know the one. I said to my girlfriend after the segment,

    “Liv Morgan is such a b*tch and I love it.”

    B-Fab vs The Queen

    Charlotte Flair had her first singles match in over a year last night against B-Fab, which she predictably won. In the match, she showed little to no signs of ring rust. She looked to be a bit careful with her injured knee at times, but otherwise, she looked WrestleMania-ready. She even got fireworks for her entrance.

    After the match, Charlotte refused to let B-Fab out of the figure 8 leg-lock. This prompted Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton to rush down to the ring to make the save, and an awesome brawl ensued for a while afterward.

    I feel like this feud has the same problem as Jey Uso vs Gunther at the moment. Like why is Tiffy saving B-Fab? They have no relation to one another at all. I think this would’ve been more effective if Charlotte had taken on Trish Stratus tonight, who has an actual connection to Tiffany.

    Miz TV: Featuring Cody Rhodes

    Miz TV kicked off the way it usually does. With the Miz bashing his guest from every angle he can before he even makes it to the ring.

    There was a short interruption before the WWE Champion made it to the ring however, and that was the brawl from the previous segment leaking over into this one. For me, this didn’t add much more to the show or feud than the previous segment did. I just wanted to hear from Cody at this point.

    Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear very much from Cody tonight. He made his way to the ring, beat up The Miz, and called out the absent John Cena for the third show in a row.

    I think that they have been showing Cody too much since the Cena heel turn, to the point where the crowd has seemingly turned their backs on Cody Rhodes. The John Cena chants were loud. Very loud. People want to see and hear from him more than anything. Showing Cody each week without Cena unintentionally putting Cena more over than ever. Unless this is what WWE is going for.

    Damien Priest vs Shinsuke Nakamura

    Damien Priest defeated Shinsuke Nakamura via disqualification in a singles match tonight. I gotta say, I knew Priest wasn’t walking away from this with an L on his record, but it was nice to see Shinsuke getting some TV time. Since losing his US title (last week) he has already had the same amount of matches as he did in his title reign.

    I said on my radio show a few nights ago that I feared for Shinsuke’s career if WWE couldn’t find a way to use him after dropping the title. Although nothing crazy came out of this match, more TV time alone is doing him and his new auraless character a favor.

    Drew McIntyre attacked Damien Priest late in the match to give him the disqualification win. We saw in a video package earlier in the show what Drew’s motivations for targeting Priest are. Thank god we got this too because without it, I had honestly forgotten how involved with Drew’s previous year that Damien Priest was.

    Priest capitalized on Drew at WrestleMania, Drew was screwed over in a title match against Priest in his home country, Priest was a part of Drew’s terrible Money In The Bank cash-in, Damien eliminated him from the rumble, and now he got the best of Drew in Elimination Chamber as well.

    While I still can’t say I think this is the right thing to do with Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, at least it is starting to make a little bit more sense now.

    A New Challenger for Chelsea Green

    We got a backstage segment setting up a feud between Chelsea Green and Zelina Vega for the Women’s United States Championship.

    I couldn’t be more happy about this. I am not sure that this will be the feud for WrestleMania, but anything is better than Michin at this point. I hate Michin so much, dude…

    Randy Orton vs Carmelo Hayes

    As Charlotte Flair did earlier in the night, Randy Orton made his in-ring return with a one-on-one match against Carmelo Hayes.

    This match was absolutely awesome and probably my favorite match of the night. As expected, Randy Orton walked out of this looking like the high caliber superstar that we all know he is. But I have to say, Carmelo Hayes earned his flowers tonight. I think he deserves a spot at WrestleMania this year. He has been one of the most consistent superstars getting TV time on Smackdown since his main roster debut.

    The finish to this match was sick as well. Randy pretending that Melo got the best of him, acting dizzy for a second while Hayes prepared to finish him off just to hit him with an RKO from out of nowhere was super cool. We even got another punt kick tease at the end of the match.

    Hometown Hero Makes His Main-Roster Debut

    One-half of the NXT Tag Team Champions, Axiom, made his Smackdown debut tonight in his home country of Spain against none other than Gunther, who was set on embracing the hometown hero in front of everyone.

    This was a nice surprise. I don’t watch NXT as consistently as I do Raw or Smackdown, but I knew that this guy was super talented. Everyone in the crowd knew who he was, and he put on an absolute show. I can’t wait to see what he can do when he finally gets his call-up.

    A Shakeup in the Chaotic Tag Team Division

    After four long years, The Street Profits have finally reclaimed tag team gold. This match was spectacular and definitely earned its main event spot.

    This was a well-deserved title change. I knew that The Profitd would reclaim the titles eventually, but not quite yet. My original prediction was that DIY would drop them to Pretty Deadly next week and that Tez and Dawkins would win them at WrestleMania.

    For as big of a moment as this was, I think a victory for The Profits would have been much bigger if it were at WrestleMania. I think we can all see a five-team ladder match for the tag titles coming for Mania. I would have liked to see them win there rather than defending them heading into it.

    This division is so hectic right now that I don’t see their reign lasting too long. And honestly, that’s the way it should be. We don’t need another drawn-out Uso-like reign with these titles. They should be passed around every few months to keep this division competitive and fresh.

  • 3/7/25 Smackdown Summary

    There were some big promos, title matches, and mixups in the midcard on this week’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown.

    Image credit: mediotiemp.com, WWE

    He’s Hearing Voices

    To kick off the show, Randy Orton made his return to Friday Night Smackdown and had a lot to say about his former friends John “The Rock’s bottom” Cena and Kevin Owens.

    He said that both he and KO have done vile things within this business in order to get the job done and that he respects Kevin Owens the wrestler. However, he went on to say that he does not respect Kevin Owens the person.

    Randy said that Kevin Owens is jealous of everyone around him like himself, Cody Rhodes, and his long-time friend Sami Zayn. But what does Kevin have to be jealous about? He has done it all in the WWE. Won world titles, mid-card titles, tag gold, and even main evented WrestleMania. Well, Randy said that none of that matters to Kevin because he will never be satisfied with how much of a star he already is and will always need more.

    Randy then went on to say that he was pissed off in a way that he had not felt in years. Normally the RKO he delivered at Elimination Chamber would have been enough, but like KO, he was not yet satisfied. Randy said that the voices had begun speaking to him again, telling him to show shades of his old 2009 self by delivering a punt kick and leaving Kevin’s face unrecognizable to his friends and family.

    This promo is obviously building further towards their inevitable collision at WrestleMania, and unlike a feud that I’ll get to later, I am super excited for this one. We’ve been building up to it since late last year and I think the show-of-shows is the best place for these two to cross paths.

    Charlotte Sparks The Flair

    After Tiffany Stratton’s routine non-title match against Piper Niven on Friday, Charlotte Flair would attack her from behind, putting her down for the first time since she declared her target following her rumble victory.

    To me, this feels like the official start to their WrestleMania feud, and I think that this would’ve been better suited following Tiffy’s match at Elimination Chamber.

    Charlotte Flair now has a match next week against B-Fab. Does anyone honestly think this match has any purpose other than giving Tiffy a chance to retaliate from this week? No. Didn’t think so. I’m just glad things are starting to heat up between these two. It feels as though the Royal Rumble winners have the second-tier feuds this year compared to the Elimination Chamber winners, which is a rarity, but a new and interesting angle to take.

    Tag Team Turmoil

    Following Nick Aldis’ insane explanation of Smackdown’s crazy intertwined tag team feuds, we got a match to see who the next number-one contenders would be.

    This match featured Los Garza, Motor City Machine Guns, and Pretty Deadly. It was crazy good from start to finish. Pretty Deadly would end up stealing the victory by pinning MCMG.

    This was a massive win for Pretty Deadly. Before this awesome storyline developed, they were nothing more than a comedy act on Smackdown that would get jobbed out to whoever needed a storyline advancement on a given night. However, they have been seriously revitalized with this renaissance of the tag division. I don’t think they will end up beating DIY just yet, but I predict they will be our next WWE Tag Team Champions.

    The Big Three’s Big Fallout

    It was revealed at Elimination Chamber that Naomi was the one who put Jade Cargill out of action weeks ago. After winning the chamber and punching her ticket to WrestleMania, Bianca Belair found it difficult to be excited because of the confusion she was facing about the situation between her friends.

    She called Naomi down to the ring and begged her to explain herself and reveal if it was really true that she attacked Jade. While refusing to give a straight answer, Naomi explained why she did it.

    She did it for Bianca, saying that Jade was a leech that was feeding off of Bianca’s momentum and star power. Meanwhile, Naomi was left in the dust with no help from either of the two. Not to brag, but this is exactly what I sniffed out would be the case on my Raw Rundown a few weeks ago. If you don’t believe me, go check it out here.

    The segment ended with an appearance from Jade Cargill, who stormed down to the ring and delivered another beatdown to Naomi.

    This segment was super emotional. Both women gave us ACTUAL tears in the ring during this segment. I saw some people online complaining about this, but it worked for me. I thought this was the segment of the night.

    Braun vs Bloodline

    As soon as it was announced at the start of the show that Braun Strowman would be taking on Solo Sikoa one-on-one, I think we all knew it wouldn’t stay one-on-one for long. Of course, we got some interference from Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu later in the match, giving Strowman the win via disqualification.

    After the bell rung, Strowman would throw Tama Tonga into the time keepers area and start going at it with Jacob Fatu. The segment ended with a chokeslam through a table from Strowman to Fatu, finally getting one up on the Samoan Werewolf.

    I didn’t expect Strowman to stand tall after this altercation, but I am glad he did. The monster vs werewolf match we received at Saturday Night’s Main Event a few months back wasn’t spectacular. I would like to see these two go at it again. Maybe in a falls count anywhere match, or in a street fight.

    I Pledge Allegiance

    Inaugural Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green does it again. And by again I mean defeat Michin in a street fight. The Smackdown women’s division seriously has nobody else in the mid-card that Chelsea can feud with? These two have been feuding for the title for months now since Green won it back in December.

    I think Michin is super boring. I don’t like her and her stupid long-back attack. She is so cringe.

    We also got the surprise return of Alba Fyre during this match. They teased a new member of the secret hervice earlier in the night, but I didn’t expect to see the new member tonight.

    Also, can we talk about the secret hervice for a second? I absolutely love this concept. Chelsea Green is such a good character worker. Acting like the president because she holds the title is really funny and creative. She pulls it off perfectly, and I think she was a great choice for the inaugural US Champion. I’m not ready to see her drop this thing yet. Especially not to Michin of all people.

    Melo Don’t Miz TV: Featuring Cody Rhodes

    Miz Tv will return next week featuring both Carmelo Hayes as a special guest host and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes as their guest.

    Like the rest of the WWE Universe, Miz and Melo want answers as to what’s running through Cody’s mind right now, and why he didn’t accept Rock’s offer.

    This segment also set up a match next week between Randy Orton and Carmelo Hayes.

    John Gave Up

    Cody Rhodes headed to the ring to address the WWE Universe for the first time since Elimination Chamber.

    The meat and potatoes of this promo was that Cody wanted to know why John Cena would turn his back on everyone after preaching hustle, loyalty, and respect for over 20 years.

    He said John Cena told him after his win at last year’s Mania that the crown gets heavier every day. Cody said that since last week, the title has felt lighter than ever, and if Cena wants some he can come get some.

    Let’s be real, Cody’s year-long reign as WWE Champion is coming to an end next month. John Cena is going to beat him in the main event of night two and win his 17th world championship. I think John Cena will have a long run with the title, having feuds with guys like Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, and Randy Orton, before losing back to Cody late this year. That way, Cody can have another awesome title run, but this time not have the looming threat of The Final Boss held over his head the entire time. His next run will have actual stakes to it, and half of his feuds won’t feel as much like filler content.

    Drew Getting Back On Track

    Surprisingly, Drew McIntyre didn’t lose a match to a bloodline member this week due to a random roll-up. After the bell rang at the end of the match, Drew was attacked by Damien Priest, who he ambushed at the start of the episode.

    Drew needed this win tonight. As I mentioned last week, he has been looking super weak lately. His performance in the chamber match was lackluster, and it seemed even before that, he was getting rolled up every other match. I really wanted the bloodline bounty hunter Drew McIntyre heading into WrestleMania, but instead, he appeared to be no threat to anybody as of late.

    And that leaves us with his current WrestleMania feud with Damien Priest. Unfortunately, this is what we are stuck with. I don’t like it, and the internet wrestling community seems to all be on the same page as well. I hope I don’t have to give this hot take every single week (if you can even call it a hot take). Maybe it will become a little more interesting in time, but I really don’t see that happening.

    LA Knight Recaptures US Gold

    In the main event of the show, LA Knight defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to reclaim the United States Championship. The match itself was pretty decent, but nothing crazy in my opinion. I think we all foresaw the conclusion that we got. There were some fun shenanigans involved however like the ref receiving the mist from Nakamura, and LA Knight getting the three count with nobody to ring the bell. I thought that maybe they would let Nakamura retain.

    This was the conclusion that we needed. Since returning with his new gimmick, Nakamura has done almost nothing with his title reign. There were several directions teased early on like a potential feud with Jacob Fatu and the bloodline, but nothing came out of it.

    Nakamura’s new character is cool, no doubt about it. His new entrance is sick and I like the idea of him being this sort of broken, dark samurai. It’s no fault of Shinsuke’s that this reign didn’t last. It all came down to the way he was booked by WWE. I hope they can find a way to use him in a way that matters. I don’t want him to disappear for another few months after this loss.

    As I said, having LA Knight win his title back was the correct move. The mid card on Smackdown has been thriving lately but without an active champion, it just wasn’t as interesting as it should’ve been.

  • 2/28/25 Smackdown Summary

    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.