WWE SmackDown live results: Elimination Chamber go-home show
Ahead of the men’s Elimination Chamber match tomorrow night in Chicago, tonight’s SmackDown from Louisville, KY’s KFC Yum! Center will feature all six competitors meeting for a final summit before the big match tomorrow to decide Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre’s WrestleMania opponent.
Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Je’von Evans, and Trick Williams will all be in the same building tonight with tensions sure to erupt in advance of tomorrow’s Elimination Chamber PLE.
Meanwhile, a night before she’s set to enter the women’s Elimination Chamber, Rhea Ripley and her tag partner IYO SKY will defend their Women’s Tag Team Championships against Nia Jax and Lash Legend in a return match from two weeks ago.
The battle for the Wyatt Sicks’ coveted lantern heats up as group leader Uncle Howdy will battle the head of the M.F.T.’s, Solo Sikoa in one-on-one action.
In other action tonight, Oba Femi takes on The Miz, while Jordynne Grace faces Candice LeRae.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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– Immediately after the WWE signature, we went to a hectic scene backstage as Jey Uso was being loaded onto an ambulance after a backstage ambush. It was chaos everywhere as Cody Rhodes was arguing with Nick Aldis. Meanwhile, Trick Williams & Je’von Evans were arguing as we cut to the arena and Drew McIntyre addressing the crowd.
Drew McIntyre opens SmackDown
The Undisputed WWE Champion again insisted that he wasn’t behind the attack of Uso, but Nick Aldis appeared at the stage and threatened McIntyre. Aldis demanded that McIntyre head to his office now so they could discuss. Cody Rhodes stormed to the ring and wanted a piece of McIntyre as he challenged him to fight right now. McIntyre refused to answer his challenge.
“You disengaging witless Scottish oaf,” Rhodes shouted, as he then called him a little bitch. Rhodes vowed that after he wins the Elimination Chamber, he will finally get his rematch. That was when Randy Orton interrupted proceedings.
Orton said that while what happened to Jey Uso earlier sucked, his only concern was winning the Chamber and going to WrestleMania to face McIntyre. As Orton headed into the ring, he directly addressed Cody Rhodes. Before he could say much, Trick Williams then paced his way down to the ring, lemon pepper steppers and all.
Williams said that tonight, as he was looking at Rhodes and Orton. Since they were in the KFC Center, he figured he’d add a little something to the menu. Just as Williams was going to continue speaking, Je’von Evans cut in. He said that he was going to win the Chamber, and beat Randy Orton’s record as the youngest World Champion ever.
The parade of promos continued as L.A. Knight sauntered his way down to the ring. Knight said that he heard a lot of things, but that everyone in the Chamber belonged to him, and that meant Drew McIntyre’s title belonged to him. Williams cut in on Knight’s “with everyone saying L.A. Knight” catchphrase, saying “Whoop that Trick.” Knight obliged Williams’ statement and punched him in the face. This led to Knight and Williams brawling to the back. As Rhodes, Evans, and Orton were looking on, The Viper hit Evans with an RKO as he stared Rhodes down before leaving.
The promo parade was halfway entertaining, but the bigger story was the angle to write Jey Uso out of Elimination Chamber since it was apparent that Bronson Reed was meant to win the qualifier on Monday’s Raw. It’s another mystery attacker angle, yes, but it is something that had to be done on short notice. That said, it’ll be curious to see who they get to fill out Jey’s vacant spot.
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– As Tiffany Stratton was being interviewed, Asuka interrupted her and we got a match between the two set for tonight.
– At the commentary table, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett set up the night as we got the usual backstage shots of wrestlers arriving to the arena. Tonight, we’ll see RHIYO vs. The Irresistable Forces for the Women’s Tag Team Titles, plus The Miz vs. Oba Femi.
Solo Sikoa vs. Uncle Howdy
This match started as Sikoa motioned towards the lantern before we got a test of strength between him and Howdy. Sikoa shoved Howdy and missed with a strike, as Howdy then did Bray Wyatt’s corner psyche-out taunt to him. Sikoa locked in a resthold on Howdy, but was forced out of it. The two then traded strikes as Howdy took down Sikoa with the running flying forearm. Howdy attempted to go for Sister Abigail, but Sikoa rolled out of the ring. At ringside, Sikoa missed with the Samoan Spike as Howdy dodged, which caused Sikoa’s thumb to make impact with the ring post. Howdy clothesline Sikoa over the timekeeper’s barrier as he stared at the prized Wyatt lantern sat on a podium at ringside.
Back in the ring, Howdy got hit with a punch from Sikoa, who then threw his foe into the middle turnbuckle to put Howdy out of commission as we took a break.
We returned from the break as Howdy was back in the ring trying to mount a comeback, but he fell victim to a Sikoa Samoan Drop for a near-fall. Howdy targeted Sikoa’s hurt thumb to break out of a hold, as he then pummeled his foe in the corner with strikes. An attempted clothesline was blocked by Sikoa, who dropped Howdy with the Spinning Solo. On the top rope, Sikoa soared and hit a diving splash on Howdy for another two-count.
As Howdy was trying to recover, Sikoa stalked him and picked him up as he put him in position for a Sister Abigail of his own. Howdy countered that into the Mandible Claw instead. Sikoa got out of it with a Samoan Spike on Howdy, which sent him stunned in the corner. Sikoa managed to hit two running hip attacks, but a third was intercepted by Howdy, who finished Sikoa off with Sister Abigail.
After the match, as Howdy tried to reclaim the lantern, the M.F.T.s ambushed him and took the lantern from Howdy. The Wyatt Sicks ran them off, but it was too late.
Uncle Howdy def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall
I think I’ve made it clear week in and week out at how much I hate this M.F.T.s/Wyatt Sicks feud, and this boring stinker of a match didn’t help shake things at all. It just felt like a match that plodded towards a dull conclusion, and the post-match bit with the M.F.T.s retaking the Wyatts’ lantern means that this feud is going to be continued even further, and let me just say that is a frightening thought — but not in the way WWE is intending.
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– While Nick Aldis was arguing with Drew McIntyre, what was left of The Vision confronted the SmackDown GM. Paul Heyman advocated to Aldis to put Logan Paul in the Elimination Chamber in the injured Jey Uso’s place. Aldis didn’t take the bait as he suggested that it was very convenient that The Vision benefitted from Uso’s injury. Aldis said that he had to make some calls, as there was a lot of politics and business involved.
– Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY were interviewed ahead of their Women’s Tag Title defense against Nia Jax & Lash Legend. Ripley said that she had to take things one at a time and was focused on beating Jax & Legend tonight. SKY then continued stating that after tonight, Ripley would win the womens’ Elimination Chamber and go on to WrestleMania to become a champion. Ripley put herself and SKY over as a team that wins because they have each other’s backs.
– Aldis was taking a call until Jacob Fatu faced off with him. Fatu proposed that he be put into the Chamber match to replace Jey Uso. He promised to take care of the Drew McIntyre problem at WrestleMania. Aldis told Fatu that he was taking that under advisement.
– They showed an NXT Origins video focused on Damian Priest.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Kairi Sane
Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre made their way to ringside just before this match, as Jelly Roll was shown in the crowd. Green joined Tesssitore and Barrett on commentary for this match.
As Asuka entered the ring, she stated that she wanted to keep fresh for the Elimination Chamber as she announced Kairi Sane was taking her place.
As the match started, Startton hit a springboard moonsault in the ring, before she showed some nice acrobatic dodges to get ahead of Sane. She hit a running hip attack on a prone Sane as she then dove to the outside to take her out. As Stratton was entering the ring, Asuka distracted her, which allowed Sane to take advantage as she sent Stratton face first into the ring post. This took us into the break.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.