WWE Smackdown 2/7/2025

WWE Smackdown 2/7/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/01/wwe-smackdown-1312025.html

We are in Memphis, TN.

We see various wrestlers arrive. Drew McIntyre is an official member of Smackdown now.

We see Jey Uso enter through the concourse and crowd. Jey has a long entrance as usual. He also did an encore. He said he had a long week and got a lot of love. 

He says he's here to pick a champ to fight for Mania. He said he met Gunther on Raw and now wants to meet Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes comes out.

He says he knows what Jey wants to talk about. Jey says he could stand across from Cody at Mania or stand next to him, champ to champ at Mania. Cody said he's told his elbow needs drained and his hip is out of alignment. He said his doctor isn't WWE champ though. Cody says he has to win at Mania and says they should have fun tonight if Jey chooses him as it'll be the last time. They shake hands. Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu come out.

Fatu says Cody took the title from his family but his family needs the title back. Fatu says if anyone wasto bring the title back to the family, it wouldn't be Jey. They all end up fighting and Fatu flying back elbows Cody. Jey superkicks Fatu and Cody hits a cody cutter on Fatu. Fatu is double lariated over the top.

Women's Elimination Chamber Qualifier - Piper Niven vs Bianca Belair

Piper misses a corner charge and takes corner spears to the gut. BB hits corner punches. Piper pulls BB into a lariat. Piper hits corner spears. Piper is pulled over the top. Piper crossbodies her against the side of the apron then sentons her. 

We go to PiP break and return. BB top rope crossbodies Piper for 2. Piper headbutts her then hits a black hole slam for 2. Piper misses a senton then BB spears her. Piper corner cannonballs her. Piper gets caught going up top. Piper uranages BB. Piper hits a vader bomb for 2.

BB goes for a KOD and hits it. BB then gets the win.

Thoughts: It was short but fine. They had an action packed match and got some nice spots in on this one.

Nick Aldis talks to Kayden Carter and Katana Chance in the back. Carmelo Hayes comes in. Nick says Adam Pearce requested Melo to face a Raw star. Akira Tozawa comes in and Nick says he's facing Melo. Nick says Melo cost Akira his Royal Rumble spot so he gets the match. Melo says this will be a lay-up. Akira says it'll be an airball. Melo says we'll see an airball.

We get clips of WWE LFG, which premiers this Sunday.

DIY are in the ring. JG says to give it up for the 2x WWE tag champs. JG says they are the best tag team in the world. JG says the chances of The Motor City Machine Guns getting the belts back are dead. Ciampa says they were their favorite team 10 years ago. DIY calls for a moment of silence for them then Pretty Deadly interrupts.

Elton says what a lovely sentiment that was. Elton says it was important to remind them of the help they gave them. Nick Aldis comes out. He says he will give PD the chance to earn a title shot. He says if they beat DIY in a non-title match, they get a shot. Nick says the match starts now. 

Pretty Deadly get a title shot if they win - Pretty Deadly vs DIY

This started during the break. Elton is pulled down backwards and stomped on by Ciampa. Elton back body drops JG over the top and sends Ciampa into the post. Elton tags out. Kit forearms over JG twice then flying euros him.

Kit stomps on Ciampa and hits a side effect on JG. Kit lariats Ciampa. PD hit corner attacks and Kid codebreakers JG off of Elton's back.  Kit is sent into the post by Ciampa. Elton and Ciampa trade shots. Ciampa hits shots. JG pulls Elton by the hair and is knocked off the apron. Ciampa rolls up Elton while grabbing the tights for 2. Kit boots Ciampa then Elton reverses the pin and gets his own pin for the win.

Thoughts: It didn't get as much time as I had hoped. DIY weren't wearing normal gear here, likely due to this being made so suddenly. What we got of this was fine. PD winning works and furthers the story that these two teams have been building.

The Miz and Andrade talk in the back. Miz says Andrade could learn a lot from him. Andrade said he did learn from him - he learned how to beat him. Miz and Cody then talk. Miz says he will always have Cody's back. Cody says he doesn't need him to have his back. Miz says he's knows as it's The Road to Wrestlemania. Miz says it was Cody's story last year but it's Jey Uso's story this year. Miz says he knows what the title does to friendships and asks if Cody will still be his friend if Jey challenges him. Miz says Cody vs Jey would be a hell of a story at Mania. 

Drew McIntyre comes out to talk. Drew says screw Raw as he's back on SD. Drew said he was eliminated by a coward at The Rumble. He said he slept in his own bed full of rage but had an epiphany. He said he told himself he's jacked and handsome. He says he realized he's so angry all the time as he's a victim of his own environment. He says if you try to tell people the truth on Raw, you are the bad guy. He says the bald idiot Adam Pearce doesn't know what he's doing. Drew says Aldis called him and promised no more BS and said Drew can finally be Drew 100%. 

Drew says he's here for Cody...or the WWE Title more specifically. Jimmy Uso then comes out. Uso says Drew is living in the past every week and sounds like an ex-girlfriend. Uso says nobody stole anything from Drew, he just lost. Uso says Drew needs to get through him tonight and Uso says he's here to earn his spot in the Elimination Chamber.

Drew calls him "Jey". He says Jey and Jimmy are so alike and says Jimmy would maybe be hwere Jey is if he said "yeet" first. Jey says it's funny. Jimmy says he's Big Jim and says he can say yeet or no yeet if he wants. He says he has to get his tonight. Jimmy says he's ready to kick his @ss tonight and says he's going to Mania. LA Knight comes out.

LA comes out. He said Jimmy cost him the title a year ago. He said he won't complain about it but will make good on it. LA tells people to cry if something hits them in the feels and says it doesn't make them less of a man. LA says it becomes too much sometimes though.

 LA says there's 3 guarantees in this life - death, taxes and Drew crying like a baby. LA said someone called him, "Drew McIncrier". LA says he can give both something to cry about tonight by winning tonight. He says he forgot to get his stuff in then does his line.

Men's Elimination Chamber Qualifier - LA Knight vs Drew McIntyre vs Jimmy Uso

This started during the break. Drew is stomped on by both in the corner. LA slingshot shoulderblocks Drew. LA stomps on Uso in the corner. Uso hits chops on LA. Uso superkicks and uppercuts LA. 

Uso samoan drops Drew. Uso hits chops on LA and LA slams Uso. Drew headbutts LA. Drew throws LA off the suplex then does the same to Uso. Drew stomps Uso's hand. Drew belly to belly suplexes LA. Uso throws out Drew then topes him. LA dropkicks Uso through the ropes outside. LA bangs Drew's head off the commentary table then does the same to Uso.

We go to PiP break and return. Drew gets stuck in tree of woe and LA boots him. LA jumps up to and superplexes Uso while Drew spider german's LA. Drew and LA chop each other. LA ddt's Drew. LA double jump elbow drops Drew off the buckles for 2.  

Drew spinebusters LA for 2. Drew neckbreakers Uso. Uso superkicks Drew then lariats him over the top. Uso spinning enzugiri's LA. Uso top rope splashes LA for 2. Drew's throat is pulled down over the top. Uso tries to top rope splash LA and LA gets his knees up. LA hits a BFT on Uso but takes a claymore kick from Drew at the same time. Drew pins LA to win.

Thoughts: It had the usual restrictions that 3-ways tend to have. Everytime something would start to get some momentum, the other guy came in and reset things. It was fine and I liked it but it was pretty forgettable. Drew winning is fine and kind of expected due to him being a heel and him having history with some of the other people in it.

Damian Priest is interviewed by Byron in the back. DP says he gets to eliminate Drew from the chamber. Braun Strowman comes in. He says DP has to qualify for the chamber and says he's in the ring with 2 of the baddest WWE has to offer in Braun and Fatu. DP says he will beat both to face the champ. Braun says DP isn't in the ring with 2 normal humans, but an animal and a monster. DP says he is never overlooking anything.

We see footage of Kevin Owens attacking Sami Zayn on Raw. KO does a promo in his car. He says him and Sami have been through a lot, but nothing like what happened on Saturday. KO shows his stitches on his face. He says he has been in pain all week. KO says they are all Sami's fault as Sami watched while Cody tried to end KO's career. KO said Sami rushed out to help Roman but did nothing for him. KO says Sami's a horrible friend, a disgusting human being and he'll never forgive him. He says he will make him pay.

Thoughts: I had no problem with this. KO made sense of it and him turning on Sami is a normal thing for him.

The announcers say Sami is out indefinitely due to KO's package piledriver.

Carmelo Hayes vs Akira Tozawa

Melo says he knows Akira isn't taking about airballs. He says Akira looks like Cody if he was left in the dryer too long. Melo says they call him Ja Morant in Memphis, but says he'd actually be selected to the all-star team unlike him.

Melo is dropkicked off the apron and sent into the apron and the rails. Melo back elbows Akira. Akira boots him out of the corner then 2nd rope diving headscissors him. Akira slingshot plancha's out onto Melo. We go to break and return. Melo top wristlocks Akira. Akira hurricanrana's Melo into the buckles. Melo pops up Akira and is ddt'd on the way down for 2. Melo la mistica facebusters Akira for 2. Akira corkscrew kicks Melo. Akira goes up top and is kicked. Akira sunset bombs Melo off the buckles.

Akira rolls him up for 2 then is lariated from behind. Melo hits a blind springboard ddt on Akira. Melo hits a top rope guillotine legdrop over the back of the neck on Akira and wins.

Thoughts: It was a shorter match here with Akira getting a little in before being put down. It was essentially a squash style match.

We see Jerry Lawler in the crowd.

R-Truth helps Tozawa out in the back. He drops him when he sees Jey Uso. Truth congratulates him for being King of the Ring. Jey says he won The Rumble and Truth says, "that too?". Jey tells him to check on his boy and Truth says Tozawa yeeted on himself.

Jey and Cody talk. Jey says he'd like to face Cody and Gunther and is undecided. 

Charlotte Flair is in the ring. She asks if the crowd loves or hates her. Flair says she hears money when they boo her. She says she lives rent free in everyone's minds.  She says she is wrestling obsession. Flair asks if we thought she would be gone for 14 months and not win The Rumble? She says she entered The Rumble with 29 unserious women. She said she punched her ticket to Mania and points at the sign.

She says she wants to feel inspired. She mentions Tiffany Stratton then Tiff comes out. Tiff congratulates her. She says nobody is a bigger Flair fan than her. She said Flair got injured and everyone cared, for a day. She says she then came and buildings sold out and ticket sales went up. She says WWE is hotter than it has ever been and she's at the top of it.

Flair tells her she speaks when she says she speaks. Flair tells her to get in line. Tiff says she's been in line since she came on TV. She says she was compared to her. She tells Flair to pick her as she will beat her and will no longer be the next Charlotte Flair. She says she will be the one and the only Tiffany Stratton. 

Rhea says she felt like Rhea was a kid when she was in the ring with her. She says she sees a child in Tiff who is begging to be in the ring with her. Flair tells her to get on her hands and knees to beg to choose her.

Nia Jax comes out with Candice LeRae. Nia says this is premature and CL says it will be because Nia will be champ again. Nia says Aldis told her she is facing Tiff next week for the title. Nia says Tiff stole the belt from her. Nia tells Flair she will have to go through her to be women's champ.

Alexa Bliss comes out. 

Women's Elimination Chamber Qualifier - Alexa Bliss vs Candice LeRae

Bliss side headlocks her. Bliss lays on the ropes and crossbodies her. Bliss throws her down by the throat. She double knee drops her and rolling sentons her. Bliss goes for sister abigail and is pulled down by the hair for 2.

CL snaps Bliss' neck forward. CL does a cut throat bow and arrow to her. CL stomp flurries her in the corner. Bliss knocks CL off the buckles. They fight on the apron and Bliss is flatlinered on it.

We go to break and return. CL pulls Bliss' arms back. CL codebreakers her for 2. CL piefaces Bliss around. Bliss yells at her and shoulders her over twice. Bliss hits mounted punches and hits slaps. Bliss dropkicks CL. Bliss double knees CL on the ropes and hits a running headhunter for 2.

Bliss takes a neckbreaker over the ropes. CL top rope dropkicks her for 2. CL cradles her for 2. They roll around cradling each other. CL step up enzugiri's her. Bliss hits Sanada's deadfall on CL and wins.

Thoughts: The match wasn't that great. Bliss is limited and this didn't have much build to it. Bliss desperately needs to get some mic so she can talk and so people know what's going on with her.

Chelsea Green and Piper Niven are interviewed in the back. Green says she will beat Naomi next week and become double champ. B-Fab goes up to Green with Michin next week. Fab is mad about Green eliminating her at Royal Rumble. Michin basically says it's inevitable that she will beat her for the title.

Zelina Vega comes in. She wants a shot at Green's US Title. Piper asks what's going on here. Green says she told Piper to get better security detail. Piper asks how many people hate Green? 

The Street Profits talk over Royal Rumble clips. Dawkins says DIY thought they would win the title and not see them. Dawkins says DIY's days are numbered and says they are coming for them. Dawkins says life's a crutch and they can say they finally saw him walking with this thing. Ford says he loves Dawkins' passion. Ford says they have officially p!ssed them off. Ford says he doesn't like people coming in and making challenges. Ford says they have always been together and will stay together. He says the violence will be televised. Ford says they want the smoke.

The Motor City Machine Guns are interviewed in the back by Byron. Alex says if this is The Profits' backyard, come and kick them out. Los Garza come in. Angel tells them to stop complaining and get over it. Berto says it's time for new teams to step up to the plate. Elektra Lopez and Santos Escobar then walk in. Santos says no one is more mad at The Profits than them. Santos says if they are looking for a fight, they got it next week.

We get a video on Damian Priest. He says he won't take a backseat for nobody. He says be ready for punishment as anarchy is alive. This turns into a preview vid for Priest/Fatu/Strowman next week.

Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes vs The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga)

Cody's elbow is all taped up here. Cody boots Tama and Tama avoids a suplex. Fatu yells at Cody and takes a drop down punch. Fatu avoids a cody cutter then hits a senton on Cody. We go to PiP break and return.

Cody and Fatu trade shots. Fatu corner splashes Cody. Cody headlocks Tama and hits punches. Cody avoids a corner charge and tags in Jey. Jey lariats Tama and hits punches on him. Jey spinning enzugiri's him. Jey hits a corner hip attack for 2. 

Jey backdrop lifts Tama into a neckbreaker. Fatu superkicks Jey and Tama rolls up Jey for 2. Jey takes a double back elbow. Tama slingshot swantons Jey.

Tama and Jey double clothesline each other. Cody powerslams Fatu. Cody disaster kicks Fatu. Cody then runs up the buckles and cody cutters Fatu for 1. Fatu headbutts Cody. Fatu misses a corner splash and goes head first into the post. Tama flatliners Cody for 2.

Cody goes up top and is pushed off by Fatu. Tama jumping ddt's Cody for 2. Fatu superkicks Cody and is tripped while running the ropes. Jey topes Fatu over the commentary table outside. Cody hits a cross rhodes on Tama and picks up the win.

Thoughts: It was an okay enough main but nothing special. This was no one's best work and the main didn't get enough time to truly be anything great. The Bloodline need to stop losing though. It's happening too much and it's killing off what little cred they still have left.

Solo Sikoa comes out in a hood after and samoan spikes Cody.

Overall thoughts: None of the matches got that much time here so nothing ended up being great. Bliss vs LaRae was probably the weakest match of the night and the main was maybe the best match. They had a ton of segments here and a lot of non-wrestling stuff which ate up time. They did what they were supposed to on this show but I don't think this was WWE's best work and I'd give them a 6 out of 10 for this. I would not recommend this one and thought it was not a very memorable edition of SD.