I know what you’re thinking, “What happened on Smackdown?” Well, we are glad you asked because here’s the rundown.
Show intro -
The show began with remnants of last Friday night’s Smackdown, John Cena of course because for some reason that’s all that matters, and yes just as a reminder, WWE did have the Fiend walk out, stand behind John Cena and point at the Wrestlemania sign. Still speechless about that, can you guess why?
Promo - A Moment of Bliss and a classic Hey Yo -
Out of all the world’s flavors and I choose to be bitter about last week's episode, fight me. However, starting this week with Alexa on a microphone? The episode was better just because of that. Alexa and Nikki shared the center of the ring and introduced the WWE 2020 Hall of Fame inductees. Alexa did call out the Kabuki Warriors and that was epic. Their guests were nWo alumni, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Shawn Waldman. It was so cool to hear that nWo riff again, I’ll never get over that, yes I was a WCW guy. The moment was disrupted by Sami Zayn and friends, Shinsuke and Cesaro. Braun came out, Sami mentioned his name one too many times and the monster among men came out. Sami and friends were dismantled by the monster and Bruan guaranteed they would Catch. These. Hands and it would be too sweet!
Naomi and Lacey Evans vs Sasha Banks and Bayley -
Lacey and Sasha kicked the match off but Sasha wasn’t having it and tagged quick allowing them to double team. Team Sasha and Bayley tagged quickly back and forth. Bayley stalked the outside of the ring after tagging Sasha back in and went for Naomi, but took a right hand, Sasha took Naomi out for that though. Killer kross, I mean the mysterious production interruption occurred again. Bayley tagged Sasha back in and they prevented Lacey from making a tag.
Lacey used her power to launch Sasha out of the ring and tag Naomi in. Sasha and Bayley felt the glow, to their faces as they ate several right hands. Sasha and Naomi had great ring chemistry together and they went back and forth, Naomi completely in control. Naomi got the closest two count I’ve ever seen after being stopped by Bayley. Sasha won quickly after with a pinfall on Naomi after dropping her from the top rope and stacking her limbs underneath, no rope break there and Naomi fell to three. Quick match, but a fun one.
Big E and Kofi with Kayla Braxton -
Right after the match Big E and Kofi talked about the big tag team match of the night, the winning team enters the Elimination Chamber match last. Stipulations always make matches more interesting, I don’t see the new day winning the belts again, could they? If I were to make a guess, I think Ziggler and Roode could potentially dethrone the team of Miz and Morrison.
Before the next match Bayley and Sasha were in the back. They had a great point, how in the crap are the Bella’s in the hall of fame? Honestly, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that, also I see Sasha turning real soon, am I wrong?
Sheamus vs Apollo Crews -
Why? Well, the bell rang immediately, no back and forth or witty banter. Apollo came out fast and was on the top rope, over the ropes and everywhere else. He went for Sheamus with a varied offense that came out quick and attempted a few quick pins. Sheamus took control and delivered crushing blows, kicks, uppercuts and the like which led to the brogue kick and led to a pinfall. It took me longer to write this than it did for this match to happen.
Backstage with Drew Gulak and Maverick -
Drew Gulak told Maverick that he didn’t have what it takes to take on Daniel Bryan. Bryan showed up behind them and surprised them both. Bryan challenged Mr. Microsoft Office PowerPoint himself to a match at the Elimination Chamber.
Carmella and Dana Brooke vs. Fire and Desire -
First off, I’m not over the whole Mandy and Otis thing as Dolph came out with Mandy and Sonya, anyway Carmella decided to moonwalk in the ring with Mandy and all that did was allow fire and desire to take over. The Mella go round allowed Carmella to take over and finally got Dana tagged in. They capitalized on the double team and took the momentum but that didn’t last long. Dana landed some great strikes but Sonya was able to sneak a tag in and Mandy landed a running knee soon after this due to Dana not being aware Mandy was now legal. This led to a three count and team Fire and Desire came out on top. Nothing special here, another quick match.
Firefly Funhouse -
The funhouse had pictures of Cena all over the walls. Ramblin rabbit pointed out that John Cena destroyed Bray six years ago at Wrestlemania, thus causing his downward spiral. WWE is trying to do….something and I don’t know what. The Fiend doesn’t need a belt to be amazing, however he should steamroll every opponent who gets in his way. Hurt or heel WWE? Hurt or heel? I’d like to know your thoughts on this, I believe throwing the Fiend in the title picture as soon as they did was asinine, thoughts? It’s obvious, Roman Reigns has done more than enough to earn this title shot and all the work he’s put in since his return, a 3 minute match demolishing Goldberg would actually be exciting. I also want to know your thoughts, I don’t see Roman beating the Fiend for the title as a babyface, so Goldberg had to win. One more note on this, Cena should get demolished by the Fiend.
King Corbin and Kayla Braxton backstage -
As the king, Corbin said a bunch of things about his Wrestlemania plans, well he planned on it until Elias came caterwauling on his acoustic guitar and interrupted him. King Corbin accused Elias of living in a fantasy world, this is coming from a guy with a sceptre and a crown. So, Elias and Corbin at mania? I’m down.
The camera moved backstage and we saw heavy machinery, the crowd pop was great so these guys are over which is fantastic. Otis actually walked up to Mandy and he mentioned the text he received. Mandy wasn’t even having it! This one’s over folks, the man Otis lost his peach. Dolph, you are a buttwad sir.
Tag Team Gauntlet Match -
The stipulation is clear: Win this match and you will be the last team to enter the tag team title match at Elimination Chamber, an obvious advantage. I don’t know how Otis and Tucky are going to fit in the same chamber pod but we will soon find out in a couple of days.
The new day, with their pancakes and Heavy Machinery, kicked this thing off. Again, great crowd reception for the blue collar solid boys. Tucker and Kofi started this match off, they stalemated. Kofi tagged in Big E who requested Otis. The two big fellas went at it, sharing their power and heavy machinery ended up with a double vertical suplex on the new day, awesome moment. The match between these two teams was the longest match of the night up to this point which was odd considering they kicked off a grueling tag team gauntlet match. Heavy Machinery hit a compactor and pinned Big E middle of the ring.
Lucha house party sprinted to the ring, match number two. Lucha house party had some great high risk moves off the ropes and the energy was raised up a notch. The power of Heavy Machinery was hard to overcome, a springboard stunner on Otis allowed El Dorado to make a tag, Tucker was tagged in also, the pace quickened. Tucker did what he needed to do and tagged Otis back in and soon after, Otis landed a caterpillar and got the three count.
The Usos came out next and the gauntlet continued. The Usos were in control early and attempted a pinfall on Tucky but he rolled through it and pinned Jay. This one was fast, nothing to write home about and next was Miz and Morrison.
The match started with Miz and Tucker in the ring. The champs showed great tag team wrestling and teamwork early on. Tucker fought through it all and rocked Morrison with a clothesline. When it looked like Tucker was going to get the tag, Morrison was able to get to Miz and get the tag. Miz ran at Otis, preventing Tucker from tagging in. Miz left the ring and pulled Otis off the apron to prevent Tucker from getting the tag, the punishment continued.
Morrison landed a high risk move, almost got a pinfall but Otis came in and broke up the three count. During the chaos of all four men involved, Tucker rolled Morrison up and got a three count victory. Miz and Morrison lost their minds and attacked Heavy Machinery after losing and threw Otis through the barricade after wailing on Tucker in the middle of the ring.
Killer kross or Ali (Sorry but I will believe that until shown otherwise) interrupted a monitor backstage where Dolph and Mandy Rose stood. Dolph and Roode made their pompous ways to the ring. Otis, still out of the ring by the barricade and Tucker in agony in the middle of the ring during their walkout.
After the commercial break, Otis was still out by the barricade, Tucker was fighting off Roode and Dolph who were in complete control. Roode and Dolph were fluid, tagging back and forth and chipped away at Tucker, toying with him. Tucker however, kept kicking out of the pinfall attempts as Roode and Dolph both kept their eyes on Otis to make sure he was still down, Roode tagged back in.
Tucker continued to kick out of three count attempts, how, I don’t know. Otis finally woke up, Dolph commanded Roode to attack him but that didn’t work as Otis introduced Roode’s face to the announce table, Otis wanted a piece of Dolph. Dolph did everything he could to keep Tucker away from Otis, and he almost got a pinfall but Tucker kicked out again. The heat began to rise in that ring as Roode was tagged back in.
The double team was fast, but Tucker got out of the way of a charging Dolph and clotheslined the hell out of Roode, what a performance by the workin’ man Tucker, and he got the tag. Otis started flattening Roode and was completely rejuvenated. He threw Dolph off the ring apron and started trading shots with Roode. Every shot Otis took caused him to do a dance, the man’s a beast, and a powerhouse, an artist. He slammed Roode in the center of the ring, the pace stayed fast.
Dolph tagged himself in, Otis shoulder charged Dolph who was the legal man, Otis went for a caterpillar on Roode but Dolph was legal. Dolph came back in and super kicked Otis in the chin and got the three count. Amazing match.
Well, this was a much better episode of Smackdown than last week but that’s not saying much. The matches were quick, they needed as much time as possible for that gauntlet match, and the entire gauntlet match was pretty good. The first two matches were longer so the last couple seemed rushed, but good main event.