Liv Morgan VS Tiffany Stratton
After a good video package hyping up the competitors in today’s Women’s Elimination Chamber Match, Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with Liv Morgan taking on Tiffany Stratton. I was honestly quite impressed by this match as the transitions were smooth and I thought both women looked pretty good. This is certainly the best I’ve seen Liv Morgan in a while whilst Tiffany Stratton has always been a superb talent. Towards the end of the match, Tiffany just decided to slap Bianca Belair (who was watching at ringside) right in the face before Belair ultimately cost Liv the win (on accident) by trying to get in the ring. This allowed Stratton to roll up Morgan for a big victory heading into the Elimination Chamber.
Grade: B-
Bron Breakker VS Dante Chen, The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh) VS Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, The Authors of Pain VS The Street Profits
Drew McIntyre joked about CM Punk’s return to WWE being useless before Bobby Lashley walked in to take shots at Drew over their WrestleMania 37 matchup. We then got a bizarre video between Cedric Alexander and Ashante “Thee” Adonis where Cedric was trying on a bunch of different clothes before we headed into The Bloodline’s locker room. Roman Reigns told Jimmy Uso that he was pleased with him taking out Jey Uso on Monday Night Raw before Roman told Paul Heyman to go and get Grayson Waller for him. It was then time for the SmackDown Debut of Bron Breakker as The Badass took on NXT’s Dante Chen. This only went a couple of minutes, but Chen did get a little bit of offense in so that’s at least something. In the end, though, this was just a showcase match for Bron Breakker who picked up the win with his vicious Spear.
Grade: C+ (Simply because of his Spear)
Elektra Lopez told The LWO’s Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde that they made the wrong decision siding with Rey Mysterio before they were attacked from behind by Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo. Santos Escobar then arrived to warn his former Brothers that this “is only the beginning”. It was then time for some Tag Team action as The Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh took on Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate. This match also got plenty of time and it benefited from it. Bate and McDonagh in particular are terrific Professional Wrestlers whilst both Dunne and Mysterio also played their roles really well. In the end, a double Tyler Driver 97 was enough for the good guys to get the victory before The Bruiserweight and The Big Strong Boi evaded Finn Balor and Damian Priest to stand tall.
Grade: B-
After a really good video package hyping up the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match, Logan Paul and A-Town Down Under were basking in their greatness. Kevin Owens then walked in to laugh at them all before Paul Heyman walked in to tell Grayson Waller that “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns wanted to see him. Dakota Kai was then hauled into the trainer’s room after “supposedly” getting injured before it was time for The Authors of Pain to square off with The Street Profits. This was a totally fine match, but it could’ve been a lot better. Towards the end of the match, B-Fab dealt with Scarlett before Karrion Kross smashed Bobby Lashley’s arm with a steel chair to the ring post. This ultimately led to A.O.P getting the victory which was the right move at least.
Grade: C+
Drew McIntyre VS LA Knight
After Dakota Kai told Bayley it was Damage CTRL who attacked her and Roman Reigns spoke to Grayson Waller, it was Main Event time as Drew McIntyre went one-on-one with LA Knight. This was a pretty decent contest, but unfortunately, it followed the very consistent SmackDown Main Event formula of the action not meaning much due to interference in the end. This interference ultimately came from Kevin Owens (who was watching on commentary) and this led to a Disqualification before everyone in the Chamber Match arrived to hit their big moves. Bobby Lashley was the first man to stand tall before he was dropped by a McIntyre Claymore. However, in the end, it was Randy Orton who dropped Drew with an RKO to end the show standing tall. I now need to upload this as the Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show is literally about to start!
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