 Randy Orton Addressed Kevin OwensOrton's return was overshadowed (again) by the ending of Elimination Chamber, so I'm glad he started the show to address his comeback and further his feud with Owens with a promo. Owens didn't show up, but he didn't need to. Their next interaction can be saved for another time. The crowd was fully behind Orton here and I thought his mic work was solid. It was announced later on that Orton's first bout back will be against Carmelo Hayes next Friday night. WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton def. Piper Niven (Non-Title)This stemmed from Stratton facing Chelsea Green on last week's SmackDown. Niven obviously isn't a threat, but I thought this was a quality contest for as long as it lasted. Charlotte Flair attacking Stratton afterward seems to confirm that she'll be the heel and Stratton will be the face in their feud, which is the correct dynamic. They just need to do a better job of making the build to their WrestleMania 41 match more interesting in the coming weeks. Pretty Deadly def. The Motor City Machine Guns and Los Garza in a WWE Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat MatchI'm probably in the minority on this, but I've been digging all the drama within SmackDown's tag team division over the past few months. I loved the video package that preceded this with Nick Aldis recapping everything that's happened up to this point. A five-way tag team match at 'Mania has to be the plan, right? This was a nice sprint from these three teams. I didn't expect Pretty Deadly to go over, but they were screwed out of their last opportunity at the titles, so at least they're getting another shot. Naomi Admitted to Attacking Jade Cargill to Bianca Belair Before Being Attacked by CargillNaomi being the one who attacked Cargill felt like the predictable endgame for months, but everything these three have done in the last week has gotten me much more invested in their story. This was a strong segment with terrific performances from both Belair and Naomi. Their deliveries had a genuine vibe to them and Cargill's attack was well done. Naomi and Belair specifically deserve a ton of props for advancing their angle as effectively as they did. Braun Strowman def. Solo Sikoa by DisqualificationI realize this was a fresh match because it's never been done before, but I found the idea of Sikoa facing Strowman painfully boring. I'm much more excited by the eventual rematch between Strowman and Jacob Fatu. Their post-match brawl was better than Sikoa vs. Strowman, which only existed to set that up. Strowman vs. Fatu should be blown off before WrestleMania so Sikoa and Fatu can face off at the event instead. Women's United States Champion Chelsea Green def. Michin in a Street FightWe've seen so many matches between these two that a majority of them blend together, but this was made more enjoyable by the Street Fight stipulation. Bonus points to Green for modeling her attire after Cactus Jack. This was fun stuff and Alba Fyre aiding Green to victory was a pleasant surprise. I assume she'll take the role that Blair Davenport was rumored to get before Davenport got released in January. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Addressed John CenaWWE has some time to kill until Cena's next scheduled appearance on the March 17th edition of Raw, but I was hoping for a killer promo from Rhodes here and he knocked it out of the park. I appreciated that the maintained a serious tone throughout and his response to Cena's betrayal was fantastic. This was further proof that the build to Rhodes vs. Cena will benefit big time from Cena's heel turn. Drew McIntyre def. Jimmy UsoMcIntyre was shown attacking Damian Priest backstage at the start of the show, so Priest returned the favor before this bout. It did make me worry that Uso might beat McIntyre again, but thankfully, that was not the case. Thankfully, it was a decisive win for McIntyre, too. There wasn't much to the match, but there didn't need to be and I liked that it didn't last long. LA Knight def. Shinsuke Nakamura to Win the United States ChampionshipAs soon as it became clear that this was going to be the main event, it gave me hope that we were getting a title change. The crowd sounded bored by a majority of the match (and I don't blame them because it wasn't overly interesting), but they did come alive for the final few minutes and some of the suspenseful nearfalls. The belt is back where it belongs with Knight, but it was unnecessary for him to lose in the first place given how uneventful Nakamura's reign was. Overall ShowI haven't been high on the three-hour format so far and SmackDown has suffered considerably as a result, but this was easily one of the more entertaining installments we've gotten yet, largely due to there being a lot happening. We got a new champ crowned in the main event, a new name added to Green's crew, an excellent promo from Rhodes, Orton's first SmackDown appearance since November, and some build for next week. This was a thumbs-up episode, but I'm aware the blue brand can't be this newsworthy every week. They cut down on the filler for a change and it worked wonderfully.
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