Friday Night SmackDown Review - February 17, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler def. Shotzi and Natalya

The segment involving these four last week was weak and did nothing for me personally, but this bout exceeded expectations. Both teams worked well together and Natalya being the Canadian favorite helped to get the crowd more invested. She's the one in the women's Elimination Chamber match on Saturday, so it was logical for Shotzi to eat the pinfall loss. Rousey and Baszler will reportedly challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 39 and this victory gets them one step closer to contention.

Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy Attacked Hit Row

Hit Row starting off this segment rapping was random, but obviously, that only existed so Wyatt and Howdy could show up and lay them out. Yes, apparently Wyatt and Howdy are on the same page now. Don't ask why because I have no idea. Even more random was Wyatt challenging the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley at Elimination Chamber. I guess that's an improvement over Wyatt facing Howdy (who is presumably Bo Dallas) at WrestleMania, but Wyatt against Lashley or Lesnar makes no storyline sense and doesn't sound very appealing on paper.

Drew McIntyre and Sheamus def. The Viking Raiders

Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I've found this to be a fun feud in the interim for McIntyre and Sheamus. I still assume they'll both be facing Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship in a Triple Threat at 'Mania and these matches with the Raiders have kept them busy in the meantime. It's hard to complain when the matches have delivered and this was another entertaining, hard-hitting affair from them. They received plenty of time and the second half was especially strong.

Asuka def. Liv Morgan

I don't understand the point of having Morgan suffer back-to-back losses to Asuka ahead of Elimination Chamber. I like Nikki Cross, but that's why someone like her is in the match: to eat a loss or two. I realize it means more for Asuka to beat Morgan than Cross, but I don't agree with damaging whatever credibility Morgan has left. Additionally, it didn't do Asuka many favors because she should be steamrolling through people right now and this was too competitive. It was well wrestled, but it definitely dragged and the crowd was quiet for most of it.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. Madcap Moss

I was hoping this would be the night Moss ditched Madcap for Riddick, but no such luck. Moss and Emma came off as unlikable during their backstage promo earlier in the evening, so hopefully the idea is to turn them heel soon. The match itself was good and probably the best of Moss' career, but for Gunther, it was one of his weaker title defenses yet, if only because Moss isn't interesting and didn't pose a threat to the title. Based on the reaction this got, the crowd felt the same way.

Sami Zayn Addressed the Audience

This was hyped up so heavily throughout the night that I was starting to think The Bloodline might attack him before he came out. Thankfully, that didn't happen and we were treated to one of the greatest SmackDown segments in years instead. Everything about this was just phenomenal. From the reaction he received to his intense promo, this was pure perfection. If you didn't get excited for Elimination Chamber watching this, you're probably not human. Plus, Zayn got his babyface entrance music back! I didn't think they'd want to give away the Zayn pop the day before the pay-per-view, but this actually worked out wonderully.

Overall Show

All in all, this was a solid show that was made worthwhile by that incredible closing segment. Seriously, being in the building after a long travel day to Montreal, I was starting to fall asleep once Gunther vs. Moss got underway. That isn't to say it was a bad or boring edition of SmackDown, but it wasn't the most exciting go-home show until Zayn came out. Either way, I'm looking forward to the pay-per-view, and not just for the main event, either. WWE has put together a hell of a card for what is normally a throwaway show and I commend them for that.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews