The penultimate episode of SmackDown ahead of Elimination Chamber boasted the return of Seth Rollins as well as a major announcement from Roman Reigns regarding the Universal Championship.
Adam Pearce Announces #1 Contender Elimination Chamber Match
The show kicked off with Roman Reigns who met Adam Pearce in the ring. Pearce announced the Elimination Chamber match for the right to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship later in the night and stated that Jey Uso and Kevin Owens wouldn’t have to qualify to be part of the match.
King Corbin and Sami Zayn def. Rey Mysterio and Dominik | Elimination Chamber Qualifier
Ahead of the match, it was announced that it would be an Elimination Chamber qualifier where the winning team would be added to the match. Mysterio and his son dominated the match and even delivered a double 619 to Corbin before Zayn delivered a Helluva kick to Dominik Mysterio to pick up the victory.
Big E def. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ | Intercontinental Championship
Big E came out to the ring and was interrupted by Apollo Crews, who was looking for a Championship match. Big E then issued an open challenge and it was answered by Shinsuke Nakamura.
Big E and Nakamura put on an interesting match before Apollo Crews decided to get involved and dropkicked Big E to cause the disqualification.
Seth Rollins Returns
Seth Rollins made his return to SmackDown for the first time in almost three months and entered with his new theme. The former World Champion looked to be returning to his od character before swerving the WWE Universe and unveiling his new “Vision” for SmackDown.
The WWE locker room was at ringside for his speech and all these stars had left by the end except Cesaro. Cesaro only stayed to tell Rollins that he wouldn’t join him, which led to Rollins beating him down on the entrance ramp before Daniel Bryan made the save.
Bayley def. Liv Morgan
Liv Morgan looked as though she had the match won before Billie Kay caused a distraction at ringside and allowed Bayley to rake the eyes and set Morgan up for the Rose Plant and the victory.
The Street Profits def. Chad Gable and Otis
The Street Profits made their return to in-ring competition for the first time in weeks and dominated the match with Gable and Otis. The former member of Heavy Machinery came into the ring and cleaned house before Ford blind tagged in and Dawkins was able to help set up the double team finish on Chad Gable.
Sasha Banks’ Promo Ends in a Brawl
Sasha Banks came out to address Bianca Belair’s WrestleMania decision and was interrupted by the EST of WWE. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax then made their way to the ring, to ask why no one was talking about them. After embarrassing the Women’s Tag Team Champions with footage from Raw, the four women brawled with Belair and Banks getting the better of Baszler and Jax.
Cesaro and Daniel Bryan def. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode | Elimination Chamber Qualifier
The winner of this match would be added to the Elimination Chamber match, with Sami Zayn and King Corbin at ringside. It was a brutal match between the four men that saw Dolph Ziggler tap to the Sharpshooter.
After the match, the five men who will be inside the Chamber brawled in the ring before Kevin Owens made his way out and delivered a Stunner to all of his competition next weekend.
