Universal Champion Roman Reigns kicked off WWE SmackDown and this week's show was all about building up the event and the possible feuds that will make up the card. The Tribal Chief vowed a big announcement regarding the universal title. Last night’s show also marked the return of Seth Rollins to the blue brand for the first time since Survivor Series.
But a lot of the show on SmackDown revolved around the build to the Elimination Chamber match. Reigns, along with representative Paul Heyman, on Friday night ensured the champion to have an easy passage at the Feb 21 pay-per-view (PPV) event.
Here’s a look at this week's episode of SmackDown:
The opening segment saw Reigns, Jey Uso and Heyman walk up to the ring where WWE official Adam Pearce was already waiting.Pearce told Reigns that he too will have to defend the Universal Championship inside the Elimination Chamber, just like WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. The Tribal Chief will now defend the title at Elimination Chamber against the winner of a Chamber match that takes place that same night. By the end, the six participants for the Chamber were revealed to be Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Uso.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match - King Corbin and Sami Zayn vs. Rey and Dominik Mysterio
Sonya Deville set up a tag match backstage between Corbin and Zayn vs Rey & Dominik Mysterio, with Pearce's permission that turned into a chamber qualifier for both members of the winning team. After a brief promo by Zayn, Corbin started fighting Rey as soon as the referee called for the bell. Dom hit him with a suicide dive that almost ended with sending the young Superstar crashing into the announce table. After a break, Corbin was quickly disposed of due to Rey’s intervention. As Rey and Corbin were outside, which left Dom alone in the ring, Zayn hit an exploder suplex, followed it with the Helluva Kick and picked up the win.
Winner: King Corbin & Sami Zayn def. Rey & Dominik Mysterio
Big E vs Shinsuke Nakamura
The Big E started off dominating early on in the SmackDown ring when Apollo got on the apron and distracted him. The slight led Nakamura to get the drop on him, with a knee strike from the top and got a near fall and continued unabated to punish him. Big E took control after the break, as he countered the Kinshasa twice and hit a Uranage for a near fall. As Big E prepared to hit his finisher, Apollo interrupted once again with a dropkick to take Big E out.
Winner: DNF, Big E wins via DQ
Seth Rollins’ makes a comeback
Seth Rollins made a surprise entry and talked about how becoming a father has changed him in ways he didn't expect. Rollins said he now realizes he is the great leader SmackDown needs. After a brief speech, the entire roster started to walk away and as the lights came on and he realised the only person who stayed was Cesaro, but he too walked away eventually. Rollins started beating him down before clipping Cesaro's knee as he walked up the ramp. Daniel Bryan along with some officials came out to make the save.
Bayley vs. Liv Morgan
Bayley unloaded on Liv as soon as the SmackDown match began. Morgan dropped her on the ropes for a kick, but a shoulder breaker left Morgan writhing pain. She managed to block Bayley-to-Belly and responded with a step-up kick, following up with a facebuster.Meanwhile, Billie Kay was at ringside and distracted Ruby Riott and the referee by tossing a bunch of resumes at the ring. Bayley made good use of the distraction by hitting Morgan with her finisher for the win.
Winner: Bayley
The Street Profits vs Otis & Chad Gable
The duo Otis and Chad Gable battled Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. Dawkins and Gable kicked off the match with an exchange of waistlocks. Eventually Ford was tossed outside by Otis before he hit a big slam on Dawkins. Gable was tagged in but The Profits recovered and Dawkins hit the anointment, in the end Ford came in with the splash to end the match.
Winner: The Street Profits
The Dirty Dogs vs. Cesaro and Daniel Bryan
Ziggler and Bryan kicked off the SmackDown match and the tag champions were in trouble as soon as the match began. Bryan followed it with a big dive to the outside, but it accidentally took out Ceasaro. After the break, Bryan employed a missile dropkick, but was caught in a spinebuster from Roode for a near fall. Ziggler and Cesaro came back in, the latter beat up the tag champs and followed it with the uppercut on him. Ziggler responded with a Famouser before Cesaro hit the spinebuster on him and locked in for a win.
Winner: Cesaro & Daniel Bryan