Our WWE SmackDown results for tonight include United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Matches featuring LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar, Andrade vs. Solo Sikoa, Carmelo Hayes vs. Braun Strowman, Trish Stratus returning ahead of her tag team match with Tiffany Stratton, and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes addressing the WWE Universe. Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
WWE SmackDown Card:
- United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Match: LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
- United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Match: Andrade vs. Solo Sikoa
- United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Match: Carmelo Hayes vs. Braun Strowman
- Trish Stratus is coming to SmackDown ahead of Elimination Chamber
- Cody Rhodes’ final words before meeting with The Rock at Elimination Chamber
WWE SmackDown Results:
Cody Rhodes arrives at the arena.
Stratusfaction Guaranteed
The crowd showers WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus with adulation. Stratus does some funny back-and-forth with the crowd. Stratus notes that when she wrestles at Elimination Chamber, it will be the first time she is able to perform in front of her children. The crowd cheers. Stratus puts over her tag team partner, WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton. Stratton joins Stratus in the ring.
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Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green and Piper Niven (who is dressed like a Mountie) interrupt. Green says she deserves this airtime because no one cares about Stratus or Stratton. Green dumps on Canada and says she’s honored to represent the people of America. Stratton challenges Green to a match tonight. Green begs off because she has plans. Stratus says if SmackDown GM likes that idea, he should send down a referee. Green screams for Aldis not to send a referee, so naturally, one immediately runs down to the ring.
Grade: C
No matter how much we love the memory of Trish Stratus, her returns are always a bit meh. For whatever reason, her promos tend to be a bit wooden. Tonight was no different, even though the crowd was very forgiving. Green livened things up, but not enough to make this segment enjoyable.
Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green w/Piper Niven vs. WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton w/Trish Stratus
Stratton is in control early. Niven pulls Green out of the ring to save her from Stratton. Stratton lands a dive that takes out both women. Nia Jax and Candice LeRae attack Stratus outside the ring. Stratton tries to make the save but gets run over by Jax, causing a disqualification.
Winner- Tiffany Stratton
After the match, everyone brawls. Stratus and Stratton clear the ring.
Grade: C+
This match was a whole lot of nothing.
Backstage, Solo Sikoa tells Jacob Fatu he wants him to take Sikoa’s spot in the United States Championship Contender’s Tournament.
United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Match: Andrade vs. Jacob Fatu
Andrade starts hot with a flurry of strikes. Fatu falls out of the ring. Andrade sends Fatu flying with a diving rana. Andrade catches Fatu with a diving moonsault as he gets to his feet. After the break, Andrade counters a pop-up Samoan drop into a poison rana. Fatu explodes from the corner to counter Andrade’s running knees with a crossbody block.
Andrade avoids Fatu’s running hip attack and lands a head kick. Running double knees by Andrade. Double jump moonsault by Andrade. Fatu kicks out. Andrade sets up his finish. Fatu counters and hits a Rikishi-style senton. Fatu lands a hip attack, followed by the BME for the win.
Winner- Jacob Fatu
Grade: B+
This match was so much fun. Andrade always turns in quality performances no matter who he is in the ring with. Fatu’s intensity makes him the most dangerous man on SmackDown. Putting those two in the ring together gave us magic. Fatu’s victory here wasn’t ever doubted, but Andrade and Fatu made the ride to the apparent outcome a hell of a ride. So far, this is the match of the night.
The Street Profits vs. Los Garza
As Ford and Dawkins make their way to the ring, the WWE Tag Team Champions #DIY attack them on the ramp. Pretty Deadly and Motor City Machine Guns all run in. A huge brawl breaks out.
No Contest
Grade: B
This non-match was weirdly compelling. Though this turned into a mess before the match started, everyone involved managed to shine. This is clearly building to a multi-team match at WrestleMania, and for the first time in the history of a WrestleMania build, they are BUILDING to the multi-team match at Mania with an actual story. The best part? The Street Profits are the most important team in this angle, which is precisely how it should be.
McIntyre Has Heard Enough
Drew McIntyre interrupts a John Cena retirement video to complain about John Cena using his stroke to get himself in the Elimination Chamber. McIntyre sits on the commentary desk, and dumps on Cena for being a hypocrite, and points out Cena’s massive bald spot. McIntyre says he’s going to bury Cena at Elimination Chamber. Damian Priest interrupts and tells McIntyre to stop complaining. Priest tells McIntyre to step through the ropes so he can drop him again. McIntyre says okay, but Seth Rollins‘ music hits before anything happens. Rollins saunters to the ring, looking like an extra from a Missy Elliot music video. Rollins goes on and on but eventually tells Priest and McIntyre that they don’t stand a chance at the Chamber. CM Punk joins the fray.
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Punk tells Rollins he looks like an oven mitt and promises to cook Rollins tomorrow night. Punk says Rollins and McIntyre are obsessed with him (he has no issues with Priest), but he’s obsessed with WrestleMania. This is all about Punk. Punk quips that Cena embarked on a retirment tour but didn’t bother to show up. Rollins says Punk will main event WrestleMania over his dead body. Everyone bickers back and forth. John Cena’s music hits. The crowd goes nuts. It’s Logan Paul! Paul says Cena doesn’t care about the WWE Universe. They can’t see him, but they can see Paul. Paul asks Punk how his jaw is. Punk says he’ll show Paul, and power walks up the ramp. Paul runs away.
United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Match: LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
Knight controls the match early. Escobar takes over after tripping Knight into the ring steps. Escobar sends Knight flying with a super rana. Knight kicks out. Escobar dives off the top into a BFT from Knight for the win.
Winner- LA Knight
Grade: C+
This isn’t a knock at Escobar or Knight… It’s not, but we have seen this match what seems like 5673 times. Knight and Escobar do not have the chemistry of a Carmelo Hayes and Andrade. Those two managed to have seven matches that were completely different and highly entertaining. If they wanted to make this match really mean something, they would have had the guts to give Escobar the win. The one difference was the inventive finish, which is the only thing that made this match remotely interesting.
Sami Zayn…
Zayn says he knows Kevin Owens is in the arena. Out of respect, Zayn asks Owens to come to the ring and say what he needs to say to Zayn’s face. Owens appears on the ‘Tron. Owens says he is at the Elimination Chamber site and blames Zayn for everything that is about to happen. Zayn says he is worried about his family being unable to forgive him for what he will do to Owens. He’s perpared to live with the consequences. Owens says he’ll see Zayn tomorrow, drops the mic, and leaves.
Grade: B
Owens and Zayn have done a good job making their upcoming unsanctioned match feel important and different from their previous clashes. This match is being built as what feels like an end between Owens and Zayn, but it should be a new begninig. This fued needs to end at WrestleMania. Hell in a Cell makes sense. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
United States Championship Number One Contender Qualifying Match: Carmelo Hayes vs. Braun Strowman
Strowman tosses Hayes all over the ring. Hayes rolls out. Strowman freight trains Hayes. Tama Tonga appears and distracts the referee. Solo Sikoa hops the barricade and hits Strowman with a chair. The chair has no effect. Hayes grabs the chair and tosses it at Strowman. Strowman catches the chair. Hayes drops to the mat and does his best Eddie Guerrero impression. The referee turns around and sees Hayes laid out and Strowman with the chair. The referee disqualifies Strowman.
Winner- Carmelo Hayes
After the match, Strowman powerbomb Tonga.
Grade: B
Hayes needs to win matches, but pinning Strowman wouldn’t be realistic. This match and finish made perfect sense. Hayes is growing into his sniveling heel persona. Cheating to win is a lost art at this point. Hayes is becoming a master at it. Thi writer sees the vision with Hayes. All of this is going to build to him being a top star on SmackDown.
Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Naomi vs. Roxanne Perez and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
A six-way brawl breaks out as soon as the match starts. Naomi sends Morgan flying out of the ring. Bayley tags in and lands suicide dives on each of her opponents. After the break, Morgan and Co are working over Bayley. Bayley manages to tag in Belair. Belair clears the ring. Bayley drops the elbow on Perez. Morgan breaks up the pin. Everyone lands a big move. After a series of reversals, Perez hits Bayley with Pop Rocks for the win!
Winners- Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
After the match, Alexa Bliss appears in the ring. Bliss drops Perez with the Sister Abigail DDT.
Grade: B-
This six-women match wasn’t as much of a banger as the Women’s Tag Title match, but it was still an enjoyable contest. Everyone shined, and the newest member of the main roster, Roxanne Perez, got a big pin on a former women’s champion. Perez is this writer’s pick to win the Chamber Match tomorrow night, but her managing to pin Bayley tonight is a bad sign for her chances in the Chamber.
United States Championship Number One Contender’s Triple Threat Match: Carmelo Hayes vs. Jacob Fatu vs. LA Knight
Knight goes after Fatu. Hayes attacks Knight from behind. Hayes gets dropped in the corner. Knight lands a diving bulldog, but Fatu pops up to his feet. Knight sends Fatu out of the ring. Hayes charges in and gets powerslamed by Knight. LA Elbow by Knight. Everyone brawls outside the ring. Fatu tries to take out Hayes and Knight with a running crossbody, but both men sidestep him.
Fatu goes flying into the timekeeper’s area. Hayes eats a pop-up Samoan drop from Fatu. Fatu and Knight brawl. Knight sets Fatu up for a BFT, but Hayes drops Knight with the first 48. Knight kicks out. Hayes lands Nothing by Net on Knight. Fatu breaks up the pin with a swanton. Implant DDT by Fatu. Fatu lands the BME. As Fatu pins Hayes, Knight pulls Fatu out of the ring and steals the pin.
Winner- LA Knight
Grade: B
Fun match. Knight stealing the win was a nice way to protect Fatu. It sucks that Hayes ended up eating the pin, but he was able to shine for most of the match, so that counts as a win in itself.
Questions for the American Nightmare
Michael Cole presses WWE Champion Cody Rhodes about if he’s going to accept The Rock’s offer. Cole goes over all the reasons Rhodes should accept the offer. There is a gift for Rhodes in the arena. A truck with Rhodes’ logo painted on it is driven onto the stage. The Rock appears on the ‘Tron. Rocky is at the airport getting ready to board his private jet to come to Toronto for Elimination Chamber. The Rock makes a final pitch to Rhodes to accept his offer and make all his dreams come true. Rhodes looks on as The Rock reveals another gift for Rhodes, a custom weight belt that says Cody Rhodes’ Soul.
Grade: B-
Now, obviously, it would take a hard pitch to get Rhodes to agree to sell his soul, but this went on a bit too long. Also, the sound on the airfield didn’t jive with the speakers in the arena. Rocky sounded like he was talking in a wind tunnel.
WWE SmackDown Review:
WWE has surprised this writer this week. Go-home shows for PLE tend to be terrible, full of boring promos and meaningless tag matches. Much like Raw this week, SmackDown bucked that trend. Tonight’s show was engaging and featured solid in-ring action. The highlight of the night was Andrade vs. Fatu. The promos were solid, save for The Rock being in a wind tunnel and Trish Stratus doing her best impression of a piece of birch wood. What do you think will happen at Elimination Chamber? Will Rhodes sell his soul? Let us know in the comments!
Rating: B-
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