Rather than defend the Universal Title in an Elimination Chamber Match on Feb. 21, The Head of the Table instituted a blockbuster change of plans. Catch WWE action on WWE Network, FOX, USA Network, Sony India and more.
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After Roman Reigns revealed that he would defend his Universal Title against the winner of the Elimination Chamber Match rather than inside the structure, six Chamber combatants were established and ended up in a brawl as SmackDown went off the air. Plus, Apollo Crews ruined an Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge Match between Big E and Shinsuke Nakamura, and Seth Rollins returned to the blue brand in chaotic fashion.
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After Roman Reigns revealed that he would defend his Universal Title against the winner of the Elimination Chamber Match rather than inside the structure, six Chamber combatants were established and ended up in a brawl as SmackDown went off the air. Plus, Apollo Crews ruined an Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge Match between Big E and Shinsuke Nakamura, and Seth Rollins returned to the blue brand in chaotic fashion.
Roman Reigns to face the winner of SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match on the same night
After Edge humiliated Universal Champion Roman Reigns last Friday by not declaring him the main event of WrestleMania, The Rated-R Superstar traveled to Raw and explained that he will wait until after WWE Elimination Chamber to pick which World Champion he will challenge at WrestleMania.
Although WWE Official Adam Pearce initially planned for The Head of the Table to defend the Universal Title inside the Elimination Chamber the same way that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre would, Special Council Paul Heyman used a technicality to explain that Reigns would not complete in the Chamber. Instead, Reigns will face the winner of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match on the spot at the Feb. 21 pay-per-view.
In response, Pearce announced that they would have Superstars qualify to be in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match. The exception to that, though, would be a Superstar that had taken The Big Dog to the limit, Reigns’ cousin… Jey Uso! Once out of the ring, Pearce also revealed that Kevin Owens would automatically make the cut - a decision that infuriated the titleholder.
Sami Zayn & King Corbin def. Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio to qualify for Elimination Chamber
In the wake of Roman Reigns’ announcement that he will defend the Universal Championship against the winner of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match the very same night, King Corbin and Sami Zayn joined forces against Rey & Dominik Mysterio for an opportunity to qualify for the Chamber.
Prior to the contest, Zayn once again emerged to scream injustice, alongside his documentary camera crew. In response, Dominik and Rey knocked The Master Strategist off the apron and lit the fuse of pre-match chaos. In the final moments of the subsequent high-octane matchup, though, Zayn got a bit of payback when he caught Dominik with the Exploder Suplex into the turnbuckle to set up the Helluva Kick for the qualifying victory.
Big E def. Shinsuke Nakamura in an Intercontinental Title Open Challenge Match by disqualification
After defeating Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn in a Triple Threat Match to retain his Intercontinental Championship last week, Big E reflected on the win. Because he wanted to be a fighting champion, he then began to issue an open challenge to find his next challenger. Crews interrupted before he could, however, and tried to get another opportunity at Big E’s title for himself. In response, The Powerhouse of Positivity told Crews to go back to catering because they were done. Requesting that his next challenger come to the ring, Shinsuke Nakamura answered the call and left Crews fuming at ringside.
The King of Strong Style went on to give a tremendous challenge to Big E. Nevertheless, The Power of Positivity grabbed the upper hand and prepared to hit the Big Ending. Before he could, however, Crews climbed into the ring and hit the titleholder with an explosive dropkick to bring an end to the match by disqualification.
Seth Rollins returned to SmackDown with a brutal assault on Cesaro
Returning to SmackDown for the first time since Survivor Series, Seth Rollins claimed that having a baby had changed him. Before long, he once again declared himself the leader of the locker room in true SmackDown Savior fashion, causing the gathered Superstars to take their leave. Cesaro stuck around longer than most and made Rollins believe that he had heard his message, but when The Swiss Superman turned his back on him as well, Rollins snapped and unleashed an unhinged beatdown on the departing competitor.
Bayley def. Liv Morgan
After Billie Kay’s well-meaning interference cost Ruby Riott her match against Bayley, The Role Model went one-on-one with Liv Morgan.
At a key moment in the match, Kay emerged with a ton of resumes to try and apologize to Ruby. Eventually, Riott was so frustrated that she sent the resumes flying. Unfortunately, this grabbed the attention of the referee and allowed Bayley to rake Morgan's eyes while his back was turned and finish her opponent with the Rose Plant.
The Street Profits def. Otis & Chad Gable
The Street Profits' journey back to the top of the SmackDown Tag Team division began with an Otis-sized roadblock, as Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins took on Chad Gable & Otis.
In the final moments, Gable asked Otis to tag him in so they could work on a move they had been practicing. When Otis bounced off the ropes, Ford pulled them down and sent the big man crashing to the ringside floor. Moment later, Gable didn't see his opponent's tag. As a result, he suffered for it with Ford's earth-shattering splash off the top rope for the three-count.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair humiliated Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
After admitting she had her eye on 2021 Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair last week, Sasha Banks insisted that the only choice for the EST of WWE is to challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
In response, Belair emerged to inform Banks that even though she had respect for the titleholder, she was not the Boss of her.
Feeling left out of the spotlight, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler emerged to say people should be talking about them, rather than Bianca's WrestleMania choice, because they were on a roll. Anticipating their appearance on SmackDown, The Boss showed clips of Shayna and Nia coming up short against Naomi and Lana, respectively, on Raw. The humiliated tag team titleholders charged Banks and Belair and ended up as outmatched physically as in the war of words.
Daniel Bryan & Cesaro def. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode to qualify for the Elimination Chamber Match
After Roman Reigns announced that he will defend his Universal Championship against the winner of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match that same night, two teams engaged in a final battle to join Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and King Corbin inside the dreaded structure for an opportunity to take the first step toward the Universal Championship.
Despite being attacked earlier by Seth Rollins, Cesaro made The Showoff tap out to the Sharpshooter after Bryan clocked Roode with the Running Knee.
Moments after the bell, all hell broke lose when a chair-welding Jey Uso, King Corbin and Sami Zayn all entered the fray, and all five began to attack each other in an all-out brawl. That all came to a halt real fast, though, when Owens hit the ring and unleashed a series of Stunners to any Elimination Chamber opponent he could find, sending a definitive message to Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns to face the winner of SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match on the same night
After Edge humiliated Universal Champion Roman Reigns last Friday by not declaring him the main event of WrestleMania, The Rated-R Superstar traveled to Raw and explained that he will wait until after WWE Elimination Chamber to pick which World Champion he will challenge at WrestleMania.
Although WWE Official Adam Pearce initially planned for The Head of the Table to defend the Universal Title inside the Elimination Chamber the same way that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre would, Special Council Paul Heyman used a technicality to explain that Reigns would not complete in the Chamber. Instead, Reigns will ...
Sami Zayn & King Corbin def. Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio to qualify for Elimination Chamber
In the wake of Roman Reigns’ announcement that he will defend the Universal Championship against the winner of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match the very same night, King Corbin and Sami Zayn joined forces against Rey & Dominik Mysterio for an opportunity to qualify for the Chamber.
Big E def. Shinsuke Nakamura in an Intercontinental Title Open Challenge Match by disqualification
After defeating Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn in a Triple Threat Match to retain his Intercontinental Championship last week, Big E reflected on the win. Because he wanted to be a fighting champion, he then began to issue an open challenge to find his next challenger. Crews interrupted before he could, however, and tried to get another opportunity at Big E’s title for himself. In response, The Powerhouse of Positivity told Crews to go back to catering because they were done. Requesting that his next challenger come to the ring, Shinsuke Nakamura answered the call and left Crews fuming at ringside.
The King of Strong Style went on to give a tremendous challenge to Big E. Nevertheless, The Power of Positivity grabbed the upper hand and prepared to hit the Big Ending. Before he could, however, Crews climbed into the ring and hit the titleholder with an explosive dropkick to bring an end to the match by disqualification.
Seth Rollins returned to SmackDown with a brutal assault on Cesaro
Returning to SmackDown for the first time since Survivor Series, Seth Rollins claimed that having a baby had changed him. Before long, he once again declared himself the leader of the locker room in true SmackDown Savior fashion, causing the gathered Superstars to take their leave. Cesaro stuck around longer than most and made Rollins believe that he had heard his message, but when The Swiss Superman turned his back on him as well, Rollins snapped and unleashed an unhinged beatdown on the departing competitor.
Bayley def. Liv Morgan
After Billie Kay’s well-meaning interference cost Ruby Riott her match against Bayley, The Role Model went one-on-one with Liv Morgan.
At a key moment in the match, Kay emerged with a ton of resumes to try and apologize to Ruby. Eventually, Riott was so frustrated that she sent the resumes flying. Unfortunately, this grabbed the attention of the referee and allowed Bayley to rake Morgan's eyes while his back was turned and finish her opponent with the Rose Plant.
The Street Profits def. Otis & Chad Gable
The Street Profits' journey back to the top of the SmackDown Tag Team division began with an Otis-sized roadblock, as Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins took on Chad Gable & Otis.
In the final moments, Gable asked Otis to tag him in so they could work on a move they had been practicing. When Otis bounced off the ropes, Ford pulled them down and sent the big man crashing to the ringside floor. Moment later, Gable didn't see his opponent's tag. As a result, he suffered for it with Ford's earth-shattering splash off the top rope for the three-count.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair humiliated Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
After admitting she had her eye on 2021 Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair last week, Sasha Banks insisted that the only choice for the EST of WWE is to challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
In response, Belair emerged to inform Banks that even though she had respect for the titleholder, she was not the Boss of her.
Feeling left out of the spotlight, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler emerged to say people should be talking about them, rather than Bianca's WrestleMania choice, because they were on a roll. Anticipating their appearance on SmackDown, The Boss showed clips of Shayna and Nia coming up short against Naomi and Lana, respectively, on Raw. The humiliated tag team titleholders charged Banks and Belair and ended up as outmatched physically as in the war of words.
Daniel Bryan & Cesaro def. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode to qualify for the Elimination Chamber Match
After Roman Reigns announced that he will defend his Universal Championship against the winner of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match that same night, two teams engaged in a final battle to join Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and King Corbin inside the dreaded structure for an opportunity to take the first step toward the Universal Championship.
Despite being attacked earlier by Seth Rollins, Cesaro made The Showoff tap out to the Sharpshooter after Bryan clocked Roode with the Running Knee.
Moments after the bell, all hell broke lose when a chair-welding Jey Uso, King Corbin and Sami Zayn all entered the fray, and all five began to attack each other in an all-out brawl. That all came to a halt real fast, though, when Owens hit the ring and unleashed a series of Stunners to any Elimination Chamber opponent he could find, sending a definitive message to Universal Champion Roman Reigns.