The road to WrestleMania 42 continued tonight as the exit ramp for Elimination Chamber nears, an event meant to put a bow on the Las Vegas card. The American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, has hosted WWE SmackDown seven times prior to tonight, but the show’s double-feature is filled with stakes that are difficult to top in both the men’s and women’s divisions.
With Valentine’s Day this weekend, the show and its performers stayed on theme with their gear and various segments referring to the holiday, but a stacked triple threat Chamber qualifier left two men with broken hearts to go along with their broken Mania chances. On the women’s side, one superstar was hoping for gold this V-Day.
Men’s Elimination Chamber Qualifiers
CODY RHODES VS JACOB FATU VS SAMI ZAYN—Triple Threat Match
The world champion was asked about his thoughts on the main event and the chances that he faces one of them for his title at Mania, but Drew McIntyre responded by running down the field. There was an interesting moment when Sami entered the frame, and that is when Drew told Sami, to his surprise, that a big part of him wanted Sami to win.
Drew doubled down by claiming that it was because Sami had paid his dues and not because he ‘has his number.’ The comment left Sami visibly shook, but he quickly locked in for his entrance.
In recent years, EC qualifiers were easy to predict, but in a triple-threat match where all three participants have history with the champion, it is difficult to assert a favorite. The match’s booker used those competing narratives to tell a terrific story filled with corner-cam callouts, exciting sequences ending in near-falls, and missed opportunities.
In the match’s climax, Drew McIntyre interfered at a moment that seemed to belong to Fatu—throwing out Cody Rhodes after he hit the cutter on Sami, who was motionless when Fatu hit his pop-up moonsault. The pin was broken up by Drew, who would also put Fatu through the commentators’ desk and, later, pull Sami on top of Cody after landing his Claymore Kick.
However, Cody managed to kick out just as it felt all but over, sending the crowd into hysterics, and the match would end when Sami, refusing Drew’s help, landed his ‘Helluva Kick’ on the champ—giving Cody the opportunity to hit his cutter on an unsuspecting Sami for the win.
It was a thriller in Dallas, and the finish was one for the ages, though it leaves Sami in an interesting predicament. Drew will likely spin the story that Sami’s insistence on being the ‘good guy’ cost him his spot, while Cody did not second-guess taking advantage of the inadvertent distraction Drew caused Sami.
Women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifiers
ZELINA VEGA VS ALEXA BLISS VS GIULIA—Triple Threat Match
Prior to the match, we got a backstage segment featuring Alexa Bliss interacting with her tag partner, Charlotte Flair, just before her qualifier. We picked up on Flair attempting to mend fences following a Royal Rumble performance that included her ‘accidentally’ eliminating Bliss—thus intensifying the need to win tonight’s match in hopes of keeping her ‘Mania dreams’ alive.
Staying on the theme of Valentine’s Day, Flair offered up black roses and an autographed picture of ‘The Queen’ herself. The ‘Gal-En-Tines’ offerings were meant as a gesture of forgiveness, but Bliss claimed it was not necessary as she’d moved on from the Rumble and was focused on tonight’s opportunity.
Bliss ended up getting exactly what she wanted for V-Day, a Chamber’s chance at securing a Mania title shot, but this was not gifted to her; instead, she earned it by pinning the U.S. champion, Giulia. If the Chamber does not work out, then maybe she can set her eyes on Giulia’s gold. Regardless, keeping Bliss and Flair together seems to be the more interesting story, so hopefully tonight’s segment squashed the rumored split.
JADE CARGILL(c) VS JORDYNNE GRACE—WWE Women’s World Title
The match was hastily made last week in a strange bit of booking that began with Grace politicking for a chance at the Chamber amongst other superstars atop the roster, but it ended with her inexplicably receiving a title shot following a win in tag action with Jade Cargill as her partner.
Prior to the bell, Liv Morgan’s music hit, and she walked through ‘Gorilla’ with beau ‘Dirty’ Dom Mysterio and her enforcer ‘Big Momma Cool’ Raquel Rodriguez. The nature of their isle promo was mostly trolly, but the trio set up a romantic dinner ringside with red roses as the table’s centerpiece.
Cargill successfully defended in a clean win over Grace, though the challenger made a good showing of herself. The post-match set up the increasingly likely Mania title match between Jade and Liv, who faced off in front of the commentary desk, ruining the romantic SmackDinner.
TAG TITLES FEEL BIGGER THAN EVER
The women’s tag titles were introduced at a time when WWE’s booking of the tag team division was uninspired and long forgotten. In the last couple of years, WWE has made a concerted effort to enhance the optics on both the tag titles and the superstar pairings that win them.
Now, and with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky (tag name RHEO) holding the tag titles, this has been one of the most prestigious reigns in the short history of the tag titles, not to mention the most active.
Rhea and Iyo have been heavily featured on both RAW and SmackDown, but their shared story dates back to last year’s bookings. They defended the titles tonight against Nia Jaxx and Lash Legend after the heels interrupted Tiffany Stratton’s Elimination Chamber qualifier.
The match ended in a countout, but the champs were put to the test that ended in two big post-match spots—Iyo hit Nia with a crossbody from the outside and through a table while Lash speared Rhea through the timekeeper’s barrier.
SOLO w/MFTs VS APPOLO CREWS, MATT CARDONA, MELO, DRAGUNOV & NAKAMURA
What started as a segment meant for Melo to give flowers to Dragunov (as well as the title shot the former champ is owed), but the whole thing turned into a 10-man tag match after the friendly feud was interrupted by Solo and his face-painted entourage. There was terrific action throughout, and the teams managed to produce an effort that went beyond the ‘house show’ feel to the match.
Tala Tonga effectively played the ‘big man’ role in the match, while Apollo, reintroduced himself to the crowd after a brief cameo last week, marked his return. The MFTs picked up the victory as Tama Tonga managed to pin the champ Melo, potentially setting up the co-tag team champion for a singles mid-card title feud.
In the post-match, The Wyatt Sicks cut the lights and appeared among the crowd as Solo held their lantern to close the segment.
Other Tidbits
- Next week’s Women’s Triple Threat EC Qualifier—Flair V Jax V Kiana James
- Next week’s Men’s Triple Threat EC Qualifier—Trick Williams V Carmelo Hayes V Damian Priest
- Melo did not hold an open challenge tonight, though he was confronted backstage by both Apollo Crews and Matt Cardona in hopes of earning a shot at his United States title. Melo was confronted by Miz later in the segment, but more interesting was Cardona, perhaps moving up the goalpost on his promise of gaining gold in his return to the company after revitalizing his career on the indies. Cardona said he was back to get ‘gold’ before directing his line of sight down towards the champ’s hardware following Apollo’s own callout. It was initially believed that, when Cardona returned to win a world title, his target might have changed in the crowded landscape. Either way, it would be great to see him get more involved in anything on-screen.
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