 Women's United States Champion Chelsea Green and Piper Niven Interrupted Trish Stratus and WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton; Stratton def. Green by DisqualificationThe opening segment was perfectly fine, though it seems Stratton never had an actual face turn. Instead, she's best friends with Stratus out of nowhere and never actually endeared herself to the audience or apologized for her previous actions. Also, let the record show that Nick Aldis said last week that he had plans for Green on this show, yet this was an impromptu bout between her and Stratton. It was total throwaway and should've meant more, but at least Green didn't eat another unnecessary loss. The post-match brawl between Stratton, Stratus, Nia Jax and Candice LeRae served as basic hype for their tag team match at Elimination Chamber. Jacob Fatu def. Andrade to Advance to the United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat MatchSolo Sikoa was originally advertised as taking part in this mini tournament, but he gave his spot to Fatu so he could prove himself. This was a very good match between these two in the time they were allotted and the crowd was into the action. It's worth noting that they were especially hot for Fatu. It's going to be difficult for fans to boo him if the plan is for Sikoa to go babyface for their feud. The Street Profits, WWE Tag Team Champions #DIY, The Motor City Machine Guns, Los Garza and Pretty Deadly BrawledThe Profits were scheduled to face off with Los Garza (who they didn't apologize to after accusing of attacking them backstage a few months ago) but were attacked by #DIY before the match could get underway. Chaos ensued with all of the tag teams that have been involved in the championship mix as of late and it resulted in a fun, chaotic segment. Some sort of multi-team gimmick match for the belts has to be in the works for WrestleMania 41, right? Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, CM Punk and Logan Paul Interrupted Each OtherThe men's Elimination Chamber was already stacked (as well as unpredictable) on paper, but this was an excellent segment that gave the match the final hype I felt it needed. I usually don't have a problem with Paul's promos, but like Punk pointed out, his mic work was weak here (him coming out to Cena's entrance music was a nice swerve, though). Everyone else was on their A-game and delivered some strong lines, especially McIntyre. I loved how the screwjob from last July's Money in the Bank event in Toronto was constantly referenced. LA Knight def. Santos Escobar to Advance to the United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat MatchAlthough these two work well together, Knight beat Escobar decisively twice last year to retain the United States Championship last year and I don't know that I needed to see this for a third time. Despite that, this was a quality contest from them. Knight winning was obviously the right call, but don't get me started on how flawed the the on-screen logic was for why this even had to happen. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Exchanged WordsZayn called Owens out to the ring, but Owens popped up on the big screen instead and said he was at the Rogers Centre (the site of Elimination Chamber). This was a great final verbal exchange before their Unsanctioned match. They've talked quite a bit about the lengths they'll go to in order to inflict pain and punishment on the other, but it meant more here with them interacting in real time. They're going to have a lot to live up to and I'm confident they'll deliver on the stipulation. Carmelo Hayes def. Braun Strowman by Disqualification to Advance to the United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat MatchIt looked like Hayes and Strowman were feuding for a few weeks in December, but Strowman temporarily having to take time off due to an illness caused their storyline to be shelved until now. This was another forgettable affair from them that was kept short before Hayes pulled off the classic Eddie Guerrero finish. Strowman was protected in defeat due to the distraction from Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga. Roxanne Perez and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez def. Bayley, Bianca Belair and NaomiI didn't watch the Kickoff show that aired on WWE's social media platforms prior to SmackDown, but I guess the brawl these six had was what set up this six-woman tag team match. This was largely standard stuff, but it was a well-wrestled match for as long as it lasted. Perez pinning Bayley furthered that feud and the sixth Elimination Chamber combatant Alexa Bliss made her presence felt by laying out Perez afterward. LA Knight def. Carmelo Hayes and Jacob Fatu in a United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat MatchAs previously noted, this entire tourney was pointless since Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the U.S. title was advertised for this episode up until a few hours beforehand. I understand Nakamura probably had a reason for not being able to appear, but I guarantee you that this series of matches only existed to kill time on this show because it was stupid for Knight to have to earn the opportunity again. Nonetheless, this was an entertaining Triple Threat with an exciting final stretch in particular. The Rock Delivered a Message to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody RhodesThis wasn't as much of a mess as last week's segment with Rhodes and Rock, but it was still strange. While attempting to interview Rhodes in the ring, Michael Cole really tried to hammer home why Rhodes should "sell his soul" to Rock. As a babyface commentator, that was uncharacteristic of Cole. Rock (awful audio and all) went on to ramble about why Rhodes should accept his offer, making it all the more obvious Overall ShowHonestly, I found this to be a better go-home show for Elimination Chamber than Monday's Raw. SmackDown has been a bore for most of 2025 with lazy matchmaking and subpar creative, but I enjoyed this edition more than I thought I would. The final segment was a waste of time and the makeshift U.S. title tournament was convoluted, but the promos from Zayn, Owens and the men's Chamber competitors were the highlights of the night. Kudos to the lively crowd in Toronto for adding to this episode.
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