It’s the February 19th edition of SmackDown, and we are just two days away from Elimination Chamber. While undoubtedly overshadowed by WrestleMania next month, WWE is doing a decent job making the PPV feel important. The 2021 Royal Rumble winner, Edge, is holding off on making his decision on who he’ll face until after he knows who is walking out of Elimination Chamber as champion.
Edge and Roman (and Sami Zayn) Come Face to Face
SmackDown was hot out of the gate today. Earlier in the day, WWE announced on social media that Edge would open SmackDown to discuss his WrestleMania plans. Universal Champion Roman Reigns didn’t take kindly to the Ultimate Opportunist’s invite. Like any good heel champion, Reigns eventually confronted Edge in the ring. The two standing face-to-face felt special; a legend, one of the most decorated WWE Champions of all-time and WWE’s top superstar. Edge did most of the talking and claimed that Reigns was starting to lose his cool because he knew he needed Edge to pick him so he could main event WrestleMania. I could never do the segment in written form.
Then, just as things were heating up, Sami Zayn showed up. Zayn said that Reigns needs to stop acting like him walking out of Elimination Chamber as the champion is a forgone conclusion. After recording the iconic point-at-the-Wrestlemania-sign pose, Jey Uso superkicked Zayn right out of the segment. Reigns whispered something in Edge’s ear and left the ring, leaving the WWE Universe to question what was said.
Big E vs Apollo Crews
Over the last three weeks, the feud between Big E and Apollo Crews has started to heat up. The animosity between the two took a turn last week when Big E hosted an open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, Apollo Crews answered. However, Big E had had enough of Crews and told him to head back to catering and wait his turn. It was a particularly potent remark that seemed personal, considering Crews has spent years trying to make a name for himself in WWE. The scar from last week’s interaction carried over into this week when Crews attacked Big E with stars after losing in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura. The attack was ferocious and led to Big E being stretchered out of the Thunderdome. Something tells me we are leading to a WrestleMania program between the two.
6-Man Tag Team Match
The main event scene on SmackDown is stacked. Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, and Cesaro faced off against Jey Uso, Baron Corbin, and Sami Zayn, with “momentum” heading into Elimination Chamber on the line. It was an exciting match, but I expected nothing less considering the amount of talent in the ring.
There were a lot of narrative threads sewn throughout the match. Cesaro, who is on the run of his life, was heavily featured throughout. There was also some speculation on if KO would turn on his teammates at some point in the match. The one I was most interested in never really amounted to much. Sami Zayn and KO hadn’t shared a ring in a very long time. In fact, KO was the one that turned Zayn heel years ago. The match ended when Zayn tapped to the Yes Lock. The post-match beatdown led to Roman Reigns spearing Edge to end SmackDown.
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