wrestling / TV Reports
Winfree’s WWE Smackdown Review 2.19.21
Loading...Hey everyone, Winfree back at it again because it’s Friday and Smackdown needs covering. Believe it or not tonight is the go home show for the Elimination Chamber PPV, I know I’d totally forgotten about it too. So we’ll probably see some more multi-man matches to try and get us excited for the Chamber match, Big E and Apollo Crews will almost certainly interact because that feud must continue. Roman Reigns will be here in some capacity, and I imagine we’ll get another pointless tease about who Bianca Belair will choose to face at WrestleMania.
We open with Edge’s music, followed by the man himself. Edge says it’s good to be back on Smackdown with the PPV coming up on Sunday. He runs down the two titles he could challenge for, and says Roman’s the one making the smart play at the PPV rather than Drew seeing as Roman will defend against someone who just went through a Chamber match. He says he wont make a decision yet because he knows there are a lot of possibilities still to figure out, and here comes Roman Reigns and retinue. Roman takes his sweet time getting to the ring, making darn sure commentary has ample time to hit all the talking points. Eventually they all get into the ring and Heyman hands Roman a mic. Roman says Edge doesn’t have 13 people to choose from, there’s only 1 and that’s him, telling Edge that Edge can pick a main eventer or you could pick THE main event. Edge says he doesn’t fear Roman, he’s playing him. Edge can’t acknowledge him as the main event of WrestleMania, because Roman lost his cool last week when he realized that Roman needs Edge to be the main event of Mania. He does acknowledge that Roman is a generational talent with a long wide open highway before him, he respects Roman and his family, but he thinks Roman is already cracking under pressure and that’s before Edge has even started playing mind games. For some reason Sami “Who made Steve Guttenberg a star?” Zayn interrupts this, damn shame as those two were doing great. Zayn says he’s now being disrespected by two of the biggest starts in the business, neither man will acknowledge him. To be clear, neither man is even looking at him. Zayn says management didn’t want him in the Chamber but he’s in, he’s the champion of the people and that should worry them. He points at the Mania sign because it’s his destiny. Jey Uso with the ultimate baby face move and super kicks Zayn to shut him up. Roman hands his mic back to Heyman, then hands him the title belt so this is getting serious. He puts his hands behind his back and walks up to Edge, whispers something to him then the separate still locking eyes. Roman and company head out while Edge stares them down. Really good stuff from Roman and Edge, the narrative of Edge picking up on Roman needing him and Roman’s little break in his armor last week was good and Roman continues to be his usual awesome self.
Big E heads out next, he’ll be on commentary for the next match right after this break.
Back from break, Crews is at gorilla with Kayla and says he respects Big E and took advice from him. He says his ancestors were Nigerian royalty and Big E would have lost his tongue for speaking like he did last week. After he beats Nakamura tonight he’s coming for the Intercontinental title.
Match #1: Apollo Crews vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura with a quick flurry of strikes, then they run the ropes and Nakamura lands a knee to drop Crews. Side headlock from Nakamura, he gets sent into the ropes then eats a drop kick. Another drop kick from Crews and Nakamura is out of the ring. Crews with a baseball slide to Nakamura. Both men out of the ring and they trade strikes then Crews throws Nakamura into Big E. Big E gets up and yells at him as we head to break.
We come back to Crews hitting a suplex. Nakamura with an enziguri, he mostly missed but Crews sells anyway, then a running kick from Nakamura. More kicks from Nakamura, then the hanging slingshot German suplex for a near fall. Jumping enziguri from Crews, Nakamura avoids a military press, threatens the rolling armbar then transitions to a pinning situation for the win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Shinsuke Nakamura won
Rating: 1.5 stars
Decent little match but broken up by the commercial and it never got to second gear.
Crews attacks in frustration post match. He throws Nakamura around the ringside area then gets the stairs but Big E gets in his way. Big E intimidates Crews, but Crews ambushes him from behind with the stairs. Crews tells Big E nothing is over until he says it is. He tosses the steel stairs into the ring then throws Big E in as well. Big E rolls out of the ring to avoid getting smashed by the steps, but he just tosses them at Big E, conveniently all done out of camera angle. Trainers show up to tend to the fallen Big E as we head to break.
We come back with a recap of Crews attacking Big E. Big E is doing a stretcher job, can’t wait for the heels to attack him on the stretcher. Here comes Seth Rollins, he watches the fallen Big E be wheeled past him but doesn’t attack. Rollins has a mic, and calls what just happened a tragedy, being betrayed by your friends is always a tragedy. He’d know about that seeing as everyone of his so called friends walked away from him last week, so he knows the pain of Big E. They run a video package recapping what happened with Rollins last week. Rollins says what happened last week was emotional trauma and he’s still suffering, this is unacceptable in the work place so he and his lawyers drafted a formal complaint to WWE. There’s now pending legal action that he’s going to win, he talks about months going into planning his return and everyone ruined it. A bunch of cowards and losers ruined his moment because of fear, he knows there are millions of them who have embraced the vision for a better tomorrow and better Smackdown. The biggest loser of them all is Cesaro, because he took “our” moment to make it about himself. He says Cesaro stayed behind just to disrespect him, and look what happened. What happened to Cesaro will happy to everyone who stands in “our” way. To close he wants us to embrace the vision. Pretty solid promo from Rollins, I still don’t really know where he’s going to fit seeing as Roman has the top heel spot on lockdown and Crews just turned.
In the back Edge walks up to Kevin Owens, saying they’re both guys who always get up. Owens says of all the people who could understand him, Edge might be the only one. He likens his recent feud with Roman to Edge’s rehab journey, and he plans on beating Roman on Sunday and finally taking the title. Edge wishes him good luck and says it’d be good to face him at Mania.
Big E is coming up on the ambulance with Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville as we go to break.
Match #2 – Tag Team Match: The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott) vs. Natalya and Tamina
We join the match in progress. Tamina no sells and overpowers both Riott and Morgan. Morgan finally slips free, then they badly botch an attempted counter to a springboard enziguri. Natalya tagged in and starts unloading on Morgan. Morgan with a victory roll for 2, then she tags out. Double drop kick to Natalya and Riott runs wild on Natalya. Morgan with a blind tag, they hit a double team move on Natalya for 2. Oh, here comes Billie Kay in cat ears. Riott tags back in, but Kay is distracting them wearing a Tamina t-shirt. Tamina tags in and runs wild then hits a black hole slam onto Riott to win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Natalya and Tamina won
Rating: 1 star
More angle than match. Kay tries to celebrate with the winners, Natalya slaps her then Tamina hits her with a super kick and they stand tall. I’m still begging for some kind of direction in this whole thing.
Edge is on his phone in the back, and up comes King Corbin. Corbin says this feels like the Mania main event. He says this is his kingdom now, and then says his suit cost ten thousand dollars and with a 32k watch you should bow down. Edge wants to compare his time piece to Corbin’s, and shows off his phone which also takes pictures. Corbin walks off, suitable burned.
Ding Dong, Hello will start once we get done with this commercial break.
Bayley is here in her host get up. She welcomes us to the show, then brings out her guests Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. They try to get through the doorway at the same time a few times. There’s still only 1 stool and they complain about that. Bayley mentions how hard it is as champion to be on all three brands. Jax reminds us that they beat Banks and Bayley for the titles, Bayley thanks them because it let her ditch Sasha Banks and get her own show. The champs mock Banks and Belair, debating which of the two are worse. Reginald is here, he can’t just listen to all this Banks slander. He likens Baszler and Jax to boxed wine. Jax gets in his face, he says Sasha is the best and if she and Belair chose to challenge for the belts they’d win them. Sasha’s music hits and she comes down to the ring. Bayley is upset that no one is using her door. Banks tells Reginald that he doesn’t speak for her, then tells Baszler and Jax that they don’t matter since the whole division revolves around her. And now Belair is here, because the revolving door promo style isn’t annoying. She says that she’s the star of the division and nothing revolves around Belair they just lose to her. Reginald says they’re all on the same team, they should be fighting with the heels. He wants a six person match, the three of them against the other three. Jax accepts and wants to squash Reginald. This clown fiesta devolves into shouting as we head to commercial break.
Match #3 – Six Person Tag Team Match: Reginald, Bianca Belair, and Sasha Banks vs. Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, and Bayley
Belair and Baszler start us off, they trade holds then Baszler lands a back elbow. Clothesline from Belair then Banks tags in. Banks with a knee to the face and Reginald wants to celebrate with them but that allows Baszler to tag out and here comes Nia. Nia isolates Banks and tags in Bayley. Bayley with offense, then tags in Baszler who starts working the knee of Banks. Nia tags in and hits a scoop slam to Banks. Banks slips to the apron and hits a knee to Nia. Bayley heads out and takes out Belair. Banks with a jawbreaker to Nia and tags in Reginald. Reginald tries to beg off of Nia, they tie up and Nia over powers Reginald. Shoulder block from Nia. Reginald tries a drop toe hold but can’t move Nia, who then throws him into the corner. Reginald avoids a rush but gets tackled down. Reginald avoids a leg drop but has no one to tag. Banks and Belair take out Baszler, so we’re just Reginald and Nia at the moment. Reginald tries a tornado cross body but he’s caught. Banks and Belair in with a double drop kick and Reginald technically pins Nia.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Reginald, Banks, and Belair won
Rating: 1 star
Banks and Belair argue about who gets to pose in the front of their group. I don’t really have words for that, what a waste of time.
In the back Kayla welcomes Cesaro. She asks him about Rollins, Cesaro says he heard what Rollins said. He wasn’t out there to patronize him, he was hoping for a new Seth Rollins and he’s known Rollins for years. He could have come back as anything, and he came back as a smug condescending SOB. That’s why they all left, and he hasn’t forgotten that cowardly attack but he’ll deal with that later. Tonight he’s focused on keeping his momentum and building it all the way through Mania. Edge is here, he digs Cesaro and puts him over as one of the few gritty guys left. Cesaro says it’s nice to know he’ll see Edge at Mania after he wins at the PPV.
The Mysterio’s are out next, they’ll have a match after the break.
As we come back Ziggler and Roode have joined commentary for the match.
Match #4 – Tag Team Match: Rey and Dominick Mysterio vs. Chad Gable and Otis
Dominick and Gable get us going. Gable with a takedown and he goes for some rides and mat returns. Dominick back up and back flips out of a German suplex. Kicks from Dominick and Gable tags out. Otis just runs over Dominick and Dominick tags out. Rey with a seated senton then tries a cross body but Otis catches him and slams him. Splash from Otis, then a double ax handle to Dominick as Dominick ran in. We get another splash from Otis, but the ref calls the match because Gable has been in the ring for well over the necessary 5 count.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Rey and Dominick Mysterio won via disqualification
Rating: 1 star
Otis with a second rope splash post match, we seriously went heel with this guy? He had all the face momentum you could have asked for a year or so ago and they decided this was the way to go after deliberately killing it? Just baffling decision making.
Bryan is warming up in the back and here comes Edge. Edge thanks him because they both fought through career ending injuries to get back here. Bryan thanks him, and then says that if he becomes champion Edge can express his gratitude by choosing him. Edge thinks that’s a dream match, while Bryan thanks it’s overdue. That sends us to break.
We come back to the injured Mysterio clan struggling to the back.
Cesaro and Bryan pow wow with Kevin Owens, they talk about Owens history of turning on his partners and he gets it but just struck first last week because it was every man for themselves. Tonight he really wants to win so they don’t have to worry about eating a stunner tonight, but Sunday on the other hand. . .
Reginald brings wine to Carmella, she wants to know where he was. He apologizes and makes excuses, Carmella asks if he wants to play games with her. She doesn’t want to hear his excuses, but isn’t mad at him. In fact she understands, and knows he’ll do the right thing because if he doesn’t, well, let’s hope that doesn’t come up. She spits out the wine, and tosses it into his face and demands something better.
Apparently Belair and Banks will get a shot at the Women’s Tag Team Titles at the PPV, so we can do the tag team partners who don’t get along in their Mania match bit for the 87th time I guess. The heels start making their way out to the ring for the main event. Edge comes out after the heels to join commentary, and his entrance sends us to commercial break.
Edge has made it to the desk as we come back and the faces start coming out.
Match #5 – Six Man Tag Team Match: Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, and Kevin Owens vs. King Corbin, Jey Uso, and Sami “Who Made Steve Guttenberg a Star?” Zayn
Bryan and Jey start us off. Jey unloads strikes in the corner, Bryan turns that around and lays into him then tags Cesaro. They double team Jey but Jey rolls away and tags Corbin. Corbin circles, then tags Sami. Sami caught up by Cesaro, then Bryan tags in and starts kicking and chopping away. Running headbutt to the abdomen, not sure who botched that, and Sami lays in some knees. Corbin tagged in and starts punching Bryan. Sami tagged in, he and Corbin are having some dissent and that lets Bryan tag in Cesaro. Cesaro runs wild with European uppercuts. Big uppercuts in the corners from Cesaro and Sami rolls out of the ring. The heels argue, then throw Sami back in and Cesaro gets the big swing. A lot of rotations later Cesaro catapults Sami into his corner and Corbin tags. Cesaro gets another swing, he actually does swing Corbin a bit as we head to break.
Cesaro has the swing going as we come back, he wants the sharpshooter but Corbin squirms over to tag Jey. Jey tosses Cesaro over the announce table. Back into the ring, Paul Heyman has joined commentary as well. Sami tags in and they double team Cesaro for a bit. Corbin in, they’re still isolating Cesaro. Cesaro sent hard into the corner, typical Corbin follows. Jey tagged in and lands some stomps. Cesaro starts fighting back but Jey cuts him off with a body shot and tosses him into the corner. Clothesline from Jey. Jey with a cheap shot to Owens then tags in Corbin. Cesaro avoids a corner rush and hits a springboard uppercut and both men are down. Bryan and Sami both make tags. Bryan runs wild and takes down Sami with a clothesline. Running drop kick from Bryan then kicks in the corner. They’re set up on the top rope and Bryan hits a hurricanrana but Jey saves the match. Owens in with a stunner to Jey then a cannonball senton off of the apron. Bryan with more kicks in the ring but Sami avoids one and hits a blue thunder bomb but Cesaro breaks up the pin. Corbin tosses Cesaro out of the ring and follows him. Sami to the top rope but Bryan cuts him off and hits a butterfly suplex from the top rope then the Yes Lock and Sami taps out.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, and Kevin Owens won
Rating: 2.5 stars
Generic set up for a multi man match, but well executed by all men. I don’t think Owens was ever the legal man though. All six men start brawling. We get a parade of finishers, but Edge in with a spear to Jey but Roman comes out of no where to speak Edge. That spear sequence was very well executed at the end there. Roman poses with the belt to close the show.
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