SmackDown kicked off with Charlotte Flair declaring that she is ready if Becky Lynch isn’t cleared to main event WrestleMania against Rona Rousey. This brought out The Man, ignoring her suspension and making her way through the crowd. Once she hit the ring, Triple H emerged and sent Charlotte backstage while he addressed Becky. HHH insinuated that Becky was faking her injury and feared Rousey which lead to Lynch slapping The Game across the face!
In the first match of the night, the newly formed team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev took on The Club. Towards the end of the match, Lana assisted Nakamura at ringside so he was able to save Rusev from the Magic Killer and hit the Machka Kick to pick up the pin.
Ahead of the WWE Championship match on Sunday, two of the contenders faced off here as Randy Orton took on Mustafa Ali. After an exciting bout which once again showcased the talent of Ali, Orton pulled Ali’s foot off the top rope and hit a devastating RKO as he came down for the win. After the match, Samoa Joe got revenge on Orton as he locked him in the Coquina Clutch and left him laying.
Next up, Daniel Bryan and Rowan come to the ring and cut another promo about being the “Planet’s Champion”. Bryan stated the old title best was a symbol for excess and his new eco-friendly title was a symbol for change. He then left to get ready for his match with Jeff Hardy.
Back to the action and the three Women’s Tag Teams representing SmackDown faced off against each other as Carmella & Naomi took on The IIconics and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville. There was more of the Mandy Rose v Naomi storyline here, with Naomi getting the upper hand before Peyton Royce got involved and allowed Rose to hit the Facebuster on Naomi for the win.
In the night’s main event, Jeff Hardy took on WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan in a non-title match. Jeff looked all set to get the win when he hit the Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb, Rowan dragged him out to cause the DQ. Then chaos ensued as first Samoa Joe came out and took out Rowan, then Randy Orton and Mustafa Ali arrived to add to the brawl, before finally AJ Styles arrived and cleared house. If this was anything to go by, sparks will fly next week at Elimination Chamber! Overall Opinion: The opening segment was probably the biggest indicator yet that we’re going to get the Triple Threat match between Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania. I can see Becky being left off TV for a while to try and let the other two get some heat and momentum themselves on the lead up. The combination of Rusev & Nakamura seems like another two stars who have nothing else to do, so let’s throw them together, at the detriment of a genuine tag team like The Club. The Women’s Tag Team division seems a lot stronger on Raw right now, all 3 teams from the red brand had to qualify, where as none of those from the blue side did – I think this suggests that the winners will be from Raw. Daniel Bryan is going from strength to strength with his eco-warrior gimmick and got a great reaction from his home state crowd. The 5 challengers for his title are also bubbling nicely ahead of the event, though there doesn’t seem to be one stand out threat.
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