We are just five nights away from Elimination Chamber, this Sunday! On that show, we have three-out-of-four championships on the line with the Tag Team championships in a tag team turmoil match, Alexa Bliss putting her Women’s championship on the line against Naomi, and the WWE championship in an Elimination Chamber match. Who will gain the momentum tonight for both bouts? As well, WWE champion John Cena takes on Randy Orton tonight; could this be the same match we will see at WrestleMania XXXIII?
All the above, and my predictions after, as we have the final build to Elimination Chamber! Read on!
Tuesday Night Smackdown! Live Television Report for February 7, 2017
Introduction: Video Promo
A montage of WWE Champion John Cena’s and #1 Contender Randy Orton’s career/history is put together to hype their match for tonight’s Smackdown!
Arena Promo
We go live to the arena in Seattle, Washington. The hometown boy, and General Manager, Daniel Bryan makes his grand entrance! (Of course, the crowd chants his name loud and proud.) He is happy to “be home,” and recounts that just-about one year ago (February 8th, 2016) is when he announced his in-ring retirement, also here in Seattle. 366 days later (leap year!), he is happy to make the action happen for Smackdown! Live, and that he will be a father.
The Miz, along with Maryse, suddenly interrupt. He mocks Bryan’s retirement and fatherhood. He questions Daniel still being around WWE, to which Bryan replies “well, to be fair, not being able to wrestle never stopped you from getting in the ring!” (Line of the night!) Miz accuses Bryan of not respecting him, and the crowd starts again with chants of Daniel’s name. Miz gets frustrated and gets into it with them. Bryan eggs the fans on, until Baron Corbin walks out.
“The Lone Wolf” orders Miz to “learn to shut-up.” Miz tries to form an alliance; “my mind, your might,” but Corbin doesn’t go for it. Miz wants Daniel to stop Baron, but Bryan sarcastically responds. “Oh, no, Baron, please don’t punch Miz in the face; that would be terrible.” Miz backs to the corner and takes Maryse with him.
Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose now joins, poking fun at both Corbin and Miz, and then declares he will be both the WWE and Intercontinental Champion at Elimination Chamber. Former WWE Champion A.J. Styles interjects and says that he has beaten all three men in the ring (Baron, Miz, and Dean), and then, after also being flustered by the fans calling his name, says he will be the WWE Champion.
Before this goes further, Bryan books a Fatal-4-Way between all, starting now!
Commercials.
Match #1: Fatal-4-Way – The Miz (with Maryse) VS. Baron Corbin VS. Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose VS. A.J. Styles (Non-Title)
They stare at each other, and then Miz asks Baron to team-up. Corbin shakes his head no, and then they all go at it. A.J. is knocked out of the ring and Miz waits with Maryse on the floor. Ambrose soon dumps Baron outside, and then disposed of both Miz and A.J.
A bit later, Miz, A.J., and Dean trade roll-ups for twos! Miz and A.J. clothesline each other, and then Dean rolls-up Baron for two! They clothesline each other and they are all laid-out!
Commercials.
Miz is trying to superplex Ambrose from the top turnbuckle, but A.J. goes up to help. Baron gets back in and grabs both Miz and Styles, giving them a powerbomb while Ambrose is superplexed! (Tower of Doom!) Miz now kicks away at Corbin in the corner and then runs at A.J. in the opposite corner with a dropkick. He runs at Baron, but is caught in the Deep-Six Slam! 1 – 2 – Miz just gets his shoulder up! A.J. hits a Pele Kick and a forearm for two! He tries The Styles Clash, but Miz counters with a flapjack, and then a running knee-to-the-face!
Dean gets fired up on both Miz and A.J., and then knocks Baron off of the apron. He follows with a Tope Suicida, and then kicks A.J. as he slung himself over the ropes! He runs Styles into the corner of the barricade, and then crotches Miz on the barricade; he runs Corbin into the ring post too! He ascends the turnbuckle and dives off with an elbow for a two until A.J. stops it! Ambrose goes for his Dirty Deeds DDT, but Styles works out of it and springs off of the middle rope with a moonsault-reverse-DDT! Miz breaks up the subsequent pin, and then signals for the Skull-Krushing Finale. A.J. gets out of it and springboards off of the top rope with a Phenomenal Forearm!
Maryse yanks her husband out of the ring, and Styles turns around into an End of Days slam! Baron covers and receives the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Baron Corbin
Later tonight, there will be “dual contract signings” between Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and Naomi, and Mick James and Becky Lynch.
Commercials.
Video Promo
Luke Harper appears on screen, amid a darkened room with hanging lights. “They say man is most dangerous when he has nothing left to lose. But what about a man who never had anything to begin with? Randy Orton, you stole my family; you are a liar; and I’ve seen ‘the snake in the grass’ for far, far too long, and I know how to fix it. But cutting the head off the viper is just too easy. No, I want to hurt you. I want you to feel pain, and Randy Orton, at Elimination Chamber, you will be eliminated.”
Video Promo
Tom Phillips interviews both Nikki Bell and Natalya about their rivalry, which leads up to their match at Elimination Chamber. Tom says they are separated on screen due to the recent brawls between them. Phillips asks them if they will ever be friends after all of this. Nikki says “the Nattie that I knew and loved is dead to me.” Natalya retorts that “Nikki has no friends; Nikki has followers.” She threatens “there’s going to be no amount of makeup that will cover up what I’m going to do to Nikki at Elimination Chamber.” They both argue about the recent history between them, and Natalya finishes by saying John Cena would’ve picked her if she wasn’t already married.
Up next, Apollo Crews wrestles Dolph Ziggler!
Commercials.
Match #2: Single – Apollo Crews VS. Dolph Ziggler
Crews starts off big with a dropkick and slugs in the corner, but Dolph hits back with a leaping-DDT! He goes for the superkick but Apollo grabs his leg and reverses into a roll-up for the sudden 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Apollo Crews
Post-match, Ziggler kicks Crews from behind and then collects a chair, whacking Apollo on his back. The fans chant “one more time,” and Dolph does it again. Kalisto runs out and kicks Ziggler down. He goes for Solida-Del-Sol, but Dolph drops him on the top rope. He take the chair and his Apollo again, to the delight of the fans.
Commercials.
Backstage Promo
GM Bryan walks up and wonders why Dolph did that out in the ring; Ziggler claims he is fine to do that and that he can even beat both Apollo Crews and Kalisto at the same time. Daniel takes him up on that and books him against both at Elimination Chamber.
Arena Promo
Renee Young is in the ring and brings out Mickie James, Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, and Naomi. Young tries to put them all over as “elite female athletes,” but Mickie says only her and Alexa are the “elite” ones. She dismisses Rene and conducts this herself.
“This entire Women’s Division was built on my obsession. My obsession to be the absolute best. And you, Becky, are trying to erase my past. You are trying to take all the credit for this ‘Women’s Revolution.’ I have waited for seven-long-years. That is seven years of rage that has built up inside of me to come back into this WWE ring and get the credit that I deserve. So you see, this Sunday, I am going to prove that I not only created this ‘Women’s Revolution,’ but I created you. Let’s face it, honey, without Mickie James, there would be no Becky Lynch. And this Sunday, it’s all going to come to an end, because you see, this Sunday, this reinvention of Mickie James starts with the destruction of Becky Lynch.” James puts pen-to-paper.
Lynch retorts that “no one is trying to erase your accomplishments.” She says that she “respected the hell out of you,” but that changed when she aligned herself with Alexa. She also lost respect when James returned, expecting to pick up where she left off, while Lynch has worked for all she has gotten. She signs the contract.
Bliss tries to put Becky in her place, and claims the Women’s Division as her own whenever the Championship is “on my shoulder.” She also quickly rejects Naomi, and proclaims she will defeat her on Sunday. Naomi takes umbrage and wants to be the Women’s Champion by WrestleMania, so she can walk in to her hometown of Orlando, Florida, as the titlist. She then kicks Alexa in the head and they all brawl. Naomi dives over the ropes with a plancha onto Bliss and James! Her and Becky stand in the ring as Alexa and Mickie back up the aisle.
Commercials.
Match #3: The Vaudevillians (Simon Gotch and Aiden English), The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor), and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) VS. Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), Heath Slater and Rhyno, and Tag-Team Champions American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) (Non-Title)
The heels – Vaudevillians and crew – dominate for a while.
Commercials.
This eventually breaks down, and after Rhyno hits Konnor with a Gore, Viktor dives off of the turnbuckle with a knee to Rhyno’s face; he then takes this for his team!
Winners via Pinfall: The Vaudevillians, The Ascension, and The Usos
Commercials.
Video Promo
Randy Orton and John Cena’s moments from this year’s Royal Rumble, and then the hype of the Elimination Chamber airs.
WWE Champion John Cena and Randy Orton, with Bray Wyatt, make their respective entrances, and the main-event is next!
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – Randy Orton (with Bray Wyatt) VS. WWE Champion John Cena (Non-Title)
They circle each other and Cena ducks a lockup-try! Orton clasps a standing side-headlock, and Cena whips him off of the ropes into a shoulder-tackle. John now clamps on a standing side-headlock, and then gives Randy a shoulder-block off of the ropes. He tries his Attitude Adjustment, but Orton gets out of it and kicks Cena hard in the gut. Randy slows this down with a couple of punches and then another headlock. He puts John to the floor and whips him into the steel steps soon after.
Commercials.
Cena is going for the Five-Knuckle-Shuffle fistdrop, but Orton counters. They both counter their finishers and Randy plants John with a full-nelson slam! 1 – 2 – Cena gets his shoulder up! Orton sets up John for the Draping DDT, but Cena reverses, back-dropping Orton to the floor! He tries an A.A. onto the announcer’s table, but Randy drops out and backdrops John onto the table!
Back in the ring, they trade blows, and then the WWE Champion is eventually able to drop Randy to the canvas with the Attitude Adjustment! 1 – 2 – Orton just lifts his shoulder! Cena goes to the top turnbuckle, but Randy catches him and plants him with a DDT! “The Viper” signals for the R.K.O. and hits it! 1 – 2 – John just lifts his shoulder!
Cena goes for another A.A., but backs into the referee, knocking him out of the ring. John traps Orton in the STF and Orton taps! Bray enters and starts attacking Cena, and he sets up for Sister Abigail. John gets out of it and clotheslines Orton, but then turns into a Sister Abigail. Luke Harper runs down and faces-off with Wyatt!
Bray tries to control Luke but Harper hits him with the Discus Clothesline! Randy slides back in and goes for an R.K.O. but Luke shoves him off into an A.A.! Cena covers and the referee is recovered to award the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: WWE Champion John Cena
Post-match, John nods Luke and then celebrates. He holds up his “Never Give Up” towel and tells us “win every fight ‘till the end,” and then salutes the crowd to close the show.
End of Smackdown! Live
Reporter’s Rumblings
This was a pretty-decent Smackdown!, given that it was a “go-home show,” and a lot of those can be throwaways before the Pay-Per-Views. I am still loving the pacing of Smackdown! though and the way the rivalries play out! Onto the particulars:
Excellence: matches between Miz/A.J./Corbin/Ambrose and Cena/Orton. Promos from Miz/Corbin/A.J., Orton/Cena (video), Harper, a chunk of Nattie/Natalya, and Mickie/Alexa/Becky.
Baron Corbin has really stepped it up as-of-late on the mike; he has made me interested again (not really since his NXT days was I), and I can see him having a big match at WrestleMania; perhaps him VS. Miz, A.J., and Dean for the I.C. Title?
Harper also has great mike skills and I hope they let him talk more. While some will say he’s kind of the same as Bray in the meanings/ways he delivers his message, he can still deliver very-well and keeps me interested!
The Ascension getting the win! This throws a little unpredictability into the Tag Team Turmoil, which is great!
Bogus: while I like Nikki’s oratory skills, I just can’t stand Nattie’s. Unfortunately, I think it’s something to do with her voice and her delivery; I ignore/fast-forward when I can.
Disappointed that Apollo got the win over Dolph so quickly, and that the feud between Dolph and Jerry “The King” Lawler has not gone past their promo on Smackdown! about a month ago. Ziggler is better than Kalisto and Apollo, so he should be on a hot “mean-streak.” As well, it makes no sense for him to say that he can defeat both when he was just defeated by only one!
Elimination Chamber Predictions: Mickie over Becky with nefarious means; Alexa defeats Naomi with help from Mickie, and then the two (Alexa and Naomi) continue to WrestleMania, where Naomi wins there; The Ascension win Tag-Titles, and begin a pretty-decent feud with American Alpha into WrestleMania; Orton over Harper to keep Randy strong for ‘Mania; Dolph does defeat Apollo and Kalisto; Bray Wyatt wins WWE Championship, and then Cena, him, and Orton Triple-Threat at ‘Mania, where Cena wins record 17th WWE World Championship, and celebrates with Ric Flair to close the show.
If you’re watching Elimination Chamber, enjoy! Until next Tuesday, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
