Smackdown 2/12/19
What’s up, wrestling fam? Somehow the weeks have flown by and we are now just days away from Elimination Chamber! This week’s show was the go-home broadcast for the blue brand. We also learned that Mustafa Ali will not be competing in the upcoming WWE Championship elimination chamber match due to several injuries and one member of the New Day will be replacing him.
We opened with a video package from last night showing Vince McMahon’s decision to replace the suspended Becky Lynch with Charlotte Flair in the match against Ronda Rousey. Then out came Charlotte Flair to a lot of booing. She had a wonderful self-absorbed grin as she said that main eventing Wrestlemania was her destiny. She called herself a future Hall of Famer and said that Becky Lynch had just had a few good months. And then she capped it off by saying that Vince McMahon made a good business decision in replacing Becky with her.
Thoughts: Charlotte is absolute gold in this smug, entitled heel role. She is really able to garner more heat toward herself and add more sympathy to Becky. It works well and is keeping a lot of people, me included, interested in the story.
Grade: A+
Backstage: The New Day discussed who was going to get the chance to compete in the elimination chamber match and we got some pre-taped promos from the women about becoming tag team champions.
Thoughts: A Twitter follower of mine pointed out that the New Day get individual title shots in a pattern. I thought that was a very astute observation. And for some reason, the promos left out the fact that Fabulous Glow are the only former champions among the Smackdown women’s tag teams. Rude.
Grade: Not Graded
Fabulous Glow vs Fire and Desire vs The IIconics
This was the same format as the Raw triple threat tag team match where the team that gets pinned has to enter the elimination chamber first. The IIconics refused to tag into the match, which I thought was a pretty good strategy since you can’t lose if you don’t get in the match. Naomi did a cool split splash but that only got a two count. Sonya Deville tagged Mandy Rose in, but she didn’t want to deal with Naomi. They had a nice little scuffle outside the ring. Carmella and Sonya hit each other for a double knockout spot. The match ended with Sonya taking a Superkick from Carmella and Naomi pinning Mandy Rose after a split legged Moonsault.
After the match, the IIconics beat up on their opponents and did their pose.
Winner: Fabulous Glow
Thoughts: It’s going to be Fire and Desire starting the elimination chamber match against the Boss and Hug Connection. That is not something I expected, but it’s a welcome twist. I enjoyed the IIconics straight up refusing to get in the match. I still don’t understand why triple threat tag team matches don’t have three people in the ring at once.
Grade: B+
Backstage: We got some more pre-taped promos from the Raw women’s tag teams. The announcers hyped up the women’s tag team match. Mustafa Ali gave us a promo from his backyard.
Thoughts: Nia didn’t let Tamina say anything! And Mustafa makes my heart melt.
Grade: Not Graded
The Miz and Shane McMahon made their entrances to host McMiz TV. They invited out their guests, The Usos. The Usos then cut a promo saying that they don’t believe Shane and Miz are even friends. They said you can’t get any closer than they are and then played the Tag Team Game, which was essentially the Newlywed Game. Finally The Usos welcomed Shane and Miz to the Uso Penitentiary and Superkicked them for their troubles.
Thoughts: I’m definitely in the minority here but I really like the pairing of Shane and Miz. I think the Usos are the perfect team to show the cracks in the “Best Tag Team in the World” and start the inevitable feud between the two.
Grade: A-
Gauntlet Match: Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton vs Samoa Joe vs Jeff Hardy vs AJ Styles
This match was to determine who will enter the chamber last. Daniel Bryan had some promo time to himself before Kofi Kingston came out. They went for around 25 minutes before Kofi eliminated Daniel with a Trouble in Paradise. Jeff Hardy came out next. He didn’t last too long as a missed suplex from the top rope followed by a SOS made quick work of his night. Out came Samoa Joe. At this point, Kofi is pretty worn out. Joe is doing his usual trash talk and ground and pound work. He turns Kofi inside out with a clothesline. Kofi eventually gets caught in the Coquina Clutch, but manages to kick off the turnbuckle to pin Joe. Joe doesn’t take this lightly and chokes him out anyway until AJ Styles kicks him in the face to get him off before checking to see if Kofi is okay. Kofi puts in a valiant effort against AJ, managing to get some offense in despite the fact that he was one of the first competitors in the gauntlet match. AJ eventually rolls the SOS into a calf crusher and taps Kofi out. Then Randy Orton rolled out of the crowd and hit a RKO to win the match!
Winner: Randy Orton
Thoughts: Kofi really put in some work for this match and I hope that he gets a run with the world title before he retires. They did a lot of comparisons between this gauntlet match and the Raw gauntlet match from last year, which I thought were actually well-placed. Randy Orton’s surprise win with the RKO outta nowhere was a fantastic way to end the show and it totally fits his character.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts: Despite how quickly it came about, this was a great go-home show for Smackdown. The hard sell for the event seems to be the women’s tag team championship chamber match and rightfully so. They’ve also done the buildup for the WWE Championship chamber match quite well. I’m disappointed we don’t get to see Mustafa Ali in the chamber, but with Kofi as his replacement, there’s still all kinds of possibilities for wild stuff to happen in the chamber!
Overall Grade: A-
-Wynter
