SmackDown Report for 3/6/20

SmackDown on Fox Episode #23
SmackDown Episode # 1,072
Buffalo, NY – Keybank Center
3/6/20

The show opens with a video recap of what happened last week between John Cena and The Fiend and after that, we go to our intro video and pyro opening.

The announcers hype up what will be on the show tonight.

We then go right to the ring where it’s time for “A Moment of Bliss”. Alexa runs down the other Hall of Fame inductees. Before Alexa introduces the NWO she lets the Kabuki Warriors know that she and Nikki want a shot at the Women’s Tag Titles whenever they decide to stop hiding over on Raw. The NWO comes out and Nikki gets all excited as she has been a fan 4 Life and then wants a selfie which she gets before Alexa has to reign her back in so she can conduct her interview. Alexa then asks Waltman what are we supposed to call him 1-2-3, Syxx, or X-Pac and Waltman says that she can just call him a Hall of Famer. Alexa then asks Nash if he has any advice for Reigns when it comes to beating Goldberg seeing as Nash was the one that ended Goldberg’s streak back in WCW, Nash says that Reigns needs two things in order to beat Goldberg and those two things are Scott Hall and a cattle prod. 

Sami Zayn and his boys come to the ring and Zayn praises both Nash and Hall for being former Intercontinental Champions and then said that Waltman knows how heavy the title is since he carried Hall and Nash’s bags for all those years. Zayn acts like he and his boys want to fight the NWO, but when the NWO stands up and faces them Zayn backs off and says that they are not going to get a rub from him and his boys and furthermore they are completely focussed on Braun Strowman. Braun Strowman comes out and sends Cesaro into the set and then takes down Nakamura. Zayn runs into the ring and he is now stuck between Strowman and the NWO, Zayn grabs Alexa who is still in the ring and uses her as a shield until he is able to make a quick escape out of the ring. Strowman says that at Elimination Chamber Zayn and his boys will Get These Hands and it will be just Too Sweet.

First off I would like to thank Sean Waltman for actually giving a shit about this segment and trying to make it work because Hall and Nash sure as hell didn’t, Waltman was ready to fight the heels, while Hall and Nash couldn’t even be bothered to get out of their chairs. I loved the chicken shit Zayn putting Alexa in front of him long enough for him to be able to run out of the ring. I selfishly wish there had been more interaction between Strowman and Bliss during this segment as they are always good at playing off each other. I like how Alexa was able to work in a challenge to the Kabuki Warriors before she introduced the NWO as she was gonna do what she has to in order to make sure she has a WrestleMania match this year. This same segment could’ve been done without needing to have the NWO on the show as ⅔ of them brought nothing to this segment. 

We see Lacey Evans and Naomi in the back walking toward the ring as they are in action next.

Match #1: Naomi & Lacey Evans vs Sasha Banks & Bayley
I believe Lacey Evans stole one of “ The Captain” Alicia Fox’s hats, I miss Foxy and her bat shit crazy self. 

Lacey and Sasha start out the match but when Lacey goes to lock up Sasha ducks under her and runs over to tag in Bayley. Bayley and Sasha beat down Lacey and then whip her hard into the corner. Sasha taunts Naomi who is in the corner and Bayley tries to use this distraction as a way to sneak attack Naomi, but she sees it coming and lays out Bayley with a forearm. Sasha goes out and sends Naomi into the barricade as we go to a commercial break.

We come back to Sasha working over the leg of Lacey until Lacey is able to kick her off of her. Sasha tags in Bayley who hits a running elbow drop and then makes a cover that only gets a 2 count. Bayley steps on Lacey’s leg as we get the glitch. Bayley continues to stomp on Lacey’s ankle before she is kicked off which leads to her tagging Sasha back in, Lacey is almost close enough to make a tag to Naomi but Sasha and Bayley cut her off. Lacey throws Bayley outside but Sasha immediately picks the leg of Lacey and then attempts to drag her into the heel corner, but Lacey is able to roll through which sends Sasha sliding to the outside and puts Lacey close enough to make the hot tag to Naomi. Naomi hits a wrecking ball dropkick on Sasha and Bayley and then she takes them down with a tornillo to the floor. Naomi fires away with punches to Sasha before throwing her back into the ring and hits her with a springboard crossbody for a 2 count. 

Naomi hits the rapid-fire GLOW kicks until Sasha catches one of them and then knees Naomi in the face, but Naomi is able to recover quickly as she blocks an Irish whip with a scorpion kick and then a bulldog into the middle turnbuckle. Naomi then hits a sunset flip into a pin on Sasha and gets a very very close 2 count as Bayley breaks it up at the very last millisecond. Lacey comes in and takes Bayley down with a clothesline only for Sasha to dropkick her in the bad leg and then follow up with a basement dropkick. Sasha charges at Naomi in the corner, but Naomi gets her feet up and connects with a kick that takes Sasha down. Naomi attempts the split-legged moonsault, but Bayley grabs the leg which causes Naomi to crotch herself on the top rope and to make it even worse Sasha shoves Naomi sending her face-first into the top of the ring post. Sasha springs off the bottom rope to hit a double knee drop on Naomi out of the corner and then she stacks Naomi up in a pinning position and picks up the win despite the fact that Naomi was inches from the ropes.
Winners: Sasha Banks & Bayley via Pinfall   Match Rating: **½

This was a pretty average match and nothing about it really stood out. 

Kayla interviews New Day in the back where they talk about the tag team gauntlet happening later tonight and how they are going into WrestleMania as the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. 

Sheamus makes his way to the ring as we go to commercial break.

We come back and see Sasha and Bayley walking backstage and they talk about how they have beaten everyone on SmackDown. Sasha says that Bayley is her role model and she is going to dedicate her album to Bayley. They say that they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame before the Bella Twins. They say that nobody from the past, present, or future can touch them. 

We then go to gorilla position where Apollo is fixing to go out and face Sheamus, but before he does Shorty G walks up and talks about how they have the same goal of beating Sheamus and offers his help, but Apollo refuses his help and then walks away as Shorty extends his hand for a handshake. 

So it looks like they are going to turn Apollo Crews heel or at least make him more aggressive, but the problem isn’t that him being a babyface isn’t working it’s that we don’t see him enough to get invested in him and when he is on TV he is always losing so why should we care either way whether he is a babyface or heel. 

Match #2: Sheamus vs Apollo Crews 
Crews goes right at Sheamus, but Sheamus is able to throw him out the apron where he looks to hit the 10 beats of the bodhran, but instead, Crews drops down hanging Sheamus throat first on the top rope. Crews hits a top rope crossbody for a 2 count and then hits a combination of a basement side kick and a standing moonsault but that’s only enough to get another 2 count. Sheamus starts to make a comeback after he connects with a back elbow as he starts clubbing away at Crews with hard strikes, Sheamus attempts a back suplex but Crews lands on his feet and hits a dropkick that sends Sheamus into the corner. Crews charges at Sheamus in the corner but Sheamus meets him halfway with a Brogue Kick that finishes off Crews.
Winner: Sheamus via Pinfall  Match Rating: *¾

It’s another week and another loss for Apollo Crews nothing new to see here. I’m ready for Sheamus to move on and be in a more meaningful feud which I expect to be against Braun Strowman, so hopefully, that feud will start next week once Strowman finishes things with Zayn and his boys. 

Drew Gulak is in the back when Drake Maverick walks up and says he wants to face Daniel Bryan, but Gulak denies his request as he doesn’t think Maverick can capitalize on Bryan’s weaknesses such as the one that concerns his roundhouse kick. Bryan has been listening to Gulak and says that if he has so many weaknesses then maybe Gulak wouldn’t mind facing him at Elimination Chamber this Sunday in Gulak’s hometown of Philadelphia. 

We officially have a contender for sleeper match of the night as these two could put on a wrestling clinic. I just hope they don’t make this a glorified squash match, if they actually book the match to go back and forth instead of Bryan destroying Gulak then this match has a chance to become an early WWE match of the year contender. 

Match #3: Carmella & Dana Brooke vs Fire & Desire w/ Dolph Ziggler
Mandy and Carmella start the match out with a lockup and Mandy drives Carmella into the corner where she rubs her forearm across the face of Carmella. Carmella dodges Mandy as she was charging at her and moonwalks across the ring. Carmella ducks under Mandy and applies a rear waist lock, but Mandy hits Carmella with a back elbow and then a kick to the gut. Mandy brings Carmella over to the heel corner where she puts Carmella between the top and middle rope and then tags in Sonya. Mandy and Sonya deliver kicks to the back and chest of Carmella as she is tied in the ropes and then Sonya follows up with a sliding knee that gets her a 2 count.

Sonya toys around with Carmella before grounding her with a face lock where she rag dolls, Carmella, back and forth. Carmella is eventually able to turn her body and get out of the hold which leads to her landing some punches on Sonya. Carmella then takes Sonya down with the Mella-Go-Round head scissors and then she follows that up with a dropkick before tagging in Dana. We get a double hip toss from the babyfaces followed by a cartwheel into a kick from Dana. Dana looks for approval from the crowd and then hits the handspring back elbow in the corner followed by a single leg dropkick. Dana is then distracted by Ziggler for some bizarre reason seeing as he didn’t even have to get up on the apron to distract her, this distraction allows Sonya to make a tag to Mandy who hits Dana with the bicycle knee to get the win.
Winners: Fire & Desire via Pinfall   Match Rating: *¾

I originally gave this match ** but after seeing that terrible distraction finish again I had to dock it a quarter of a point and Dana’s dropkick missing by a mile didn’t help either. I did like the fact that they had Ziggler come down to the ring with Mandy and Sonya in order to add on to that story and what made this even better was the fact that Michael Cole let us know that it wasn’t Mandy who invited Ziggler down to ringside as Sonya was the one responsible for that. This would be the beginning of them dedicating a good chunk of this show to building up the Mandy/Otis/Ziggler story. 

The Firefly Funhouse is coming up next after the break. 

We come back and go to the announcers who talk about Elimination Chamber being this Sunday and then they throw to the same video package that started the show.

We then go to Firefly Funhouse where Wyatt has removed all of the pictures of his other victims and instead all of the pictures are of John Cena. Wyatt says that we must be wondering why John Cena and this brings up Ramblin’ Rabbit who says he knows why John Cena and it’s because Cena beat Wyatt at WrestleMania XXX and that is what led to a spiral of negativity both in Wyatt’s personal and professional life. Wyatt says that time can either hurt you or heal you and he has come to the realization that if it weren’t for John Cena the Firefly Funhouse wouldn’t exist so he thanks Cena and he also forgives him. Wyatt says that Cena also helped create The Fiend who is built on pain and fueled by vengeance and at WrestleMania, he will be waiting on Cena but unlike Wyatt, The Fiend is not forgiving. Wyatt says that life is a circle and despite how light your life is the dark is bound to come back around eventually and that is the beauty of a circle. Wyatt then waves bye as the segment ends. 

I really liked this edition of the Firefly Funhouse as they came up with the perfect explanation as to why The Fiend wants to get his hands on Cena and why I should care about this match. I never thought about it much until this promo but it was indeed the loss to Cena that started the downward spiral for the Wyatt character as up to that point he had been on a hot streak but once he was beaten by the face of the company on the grandest stage the numbers in the loss column would start to add up and the creativity behind the character completely disappeared and for the majority of the next four years it felt like he was just going through the motions every time he would cut a promo or was in a match. This promo really needed to end with Wyatt saying The Fiend doesn’t forgive Cena because the whole thing about the circle of life wasn’t needed. Wyatt really needs to get this win back against Cena because if he loses again there will be no way he can recover as that would be two losses in a row to guys who are part-timers. 

We go back to the announcers who throw to how the match between Roman Reigns and Goldberg was made last week. 

How is it that WrestleMania is a little over a month away and they don’t have either participant in the Universal Championship match on the show?

We then go backstage once again where Kayla is interviewing King Corbin, Corbin says he doesn’t want to talk about Roman Reigns and instead wants to talk about his plans for WrestleMania, but before he can Elias interrupts him. Corbin runs down Elias calling him a gimmick, one-trick pony, and also he looks ridiculous. Corbin then threatens Elias before walking off. 

I would be completely fine if these two face each other at WrestleMania seeing as the other option could be Corbin facing Bryan which I don’t need to see as there are other talented guys on the roster that don’t have a WrestleMania match that I would rather see Bryan in a match with at WrestleMania. 

We see Otis and Tucker in the back getting ready for their match when Otis sees Mandy and despite Tucker insisting he let the whole thing with Mandy go Otis walks over to talk to her. Otis apologizes for what happened on Valentine’s Day, but Mandy says it’s too late and a woman doesn’t like being stood up like that. 

We go back to the announce desk where Cole & Graves tells us that the next Hall of Fame inductee will be revealed on Graves’s podcast next Thursday. 

If the rumors are true then Graves will be announcing the induction of either The British Bulldog or Jushin Liger.

Match #4: Tag Team Gauntlet Match (Winners enter last in Elimination Chamber match on Sunday)
Part A: New Day vs Heavy Machinery 
Kingston and Tucker start out the match and Kingston grabs a side headlock, but Tucker shoots him off and takes Kingston down with a shoulder block, but Kingston hops back up and we get a drop-down and leapfrog spot which ends with Kingston hitting the jumping back elbow. Tucker blocks an Irish whip attempt and instead whips Kingston into the corner where he follows up with an avalanche. Kingston then reverses an Irish whip and sends Tucker into the corner but Tucker overpowers Kingston and changes the momentum to put Kingston back in the corner where he hits Kingston with a monkey flip but Kingston lands on his feet. Tucker ducks a clothesline and tumbles over Kingston and then both men hit simultaneous dropkicks. 

Tucker and Kingston make tags to their respective partners and now we have a battle between two hosses. Both men hit shoulder blocks on each other and Otis is able to make Big E stumble after hitting his. Big E goes for one shoulder block too many as Otis catches him with a scoop slam. Otis tags in Tucker and they go for a double delayed vertical suplex, but when Kingston comes in he is picked up by Tucker in his own delayed vertical suplex and now both members of New Day are up in the air until Heavy Machinery finally fall back to hit them with the suplex. Heavy Machinery tries to clothesline New Day over the top but Big E isn’t able to get over the top so he just rolls out of the ring. Heavy Machinery goes outside and Tucker sends Otis in New Day’s direction and he takes them both down with a double clothesline as we go to break. 

As we come back from break we see Otis miss a standing splash on Big E. Big E is able to make a hot tag to Kingston who comes in with a springboard ax handle and then fires away at Tucker with chops and a dropkick. Kingston hits the Boom Drop on Tucker and then goes for the Trouble in Paradise which Tucker ducks, Tucker sends Kingston into the corner but Kingston springs off the ropes and lands a dropkick on Tucker that sends him rolling out of the ring. Kingston tags in Big E and then Big E launches Kingston over the top onto Tucker at ringside, but Tucker catches him and suplexes him onto the floor. Big E runs around the ring looking to take down Tucker, but Tucker takes him down with a dropkick. Tucker rolls Big E back into the ring and tags in Otis, Heavy Machinery hits the Compactor and in an upset Heavy Machinery eliminates New Day.
Team Eliminated: The New Day

Part B: Heavy Machinery vs Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik)
LHP gets up on the apron and Metalik hits a kick on Otis and then Dorado makes a blind tag, Metalik dives over Otis with a sunset flip but Otis won’t go down until Dorado springboards into the ring with a crossbody that gets a 2 count. Dorado tries to work over Otis but gets overpowered, Otis goes to slam Dorado but he slides out the back and then stumbles back into Heavy Machinery’s corner where Otis charges at him but Dorado is able to evade the attack sending Otis crashing into the corner and allowing Tucker to make a blind tag. 

Dorado tries to take Tucker down with a springboard arm drag, but Tucker cartwheels out of it and then just shoves Dorado across the ring, Tucker grounds Dorado with an armbar and after a few minutes Dorado gets to his feet and tries to fight Tucker off, but Tucker sends Dorado into LHP’s corner which allows Metalik to make a tag. Dorado hits Tucker with a kick and then Metalik springboards onto Dorado’s shoulders which he uses as a platform in order to get close enough to hit Tucker with a splash for a 2 count. Tucker rolls out of the ring and Otis comes in where he no-sells some strikes from LHP and then takes them both down with a shoulder block. Otis is on fire and the crowd is behind him 100%. Otis tries to pick up Dorado for a powerbomb, but Dorado dead weights him and then tricks Otis to run at him so he can send Otis outside to join Tucker. LHP springboards off the top and takes down Heavy Machinery with stereo crossbodies to the floor as we go to break. 

We come back to Otis hitting an avalanche on Dorado and getting a 2 count. Otis tags in Tucker and then slams him onto Dorado for a 2 count. Tucker locks in a single leg crab on Dorado who is eventually able to turn his body and kick Tucker in the face in order to escape the hold. Tucker gets his hands on Dorado where he sends him into the corner and hits an avalanche and then tries to do the same thing again, but this time Dorado moves and sends Tucker sternum first into the corner. Tucker tags in Otis who slams Dorado and then locks him in a bearhug for a few minutes until Dorado fights his way out and hits Otis with a jawbreaker. Dorado tries to create some space by throwing Otis to the outside but Otis slides right back in and stops Dorado from making a tag. Otis sends Dorado into the ropes and he comes back with a handspring stunner that has Otis reeling. Dorado finally makes the hot tag to Metalik right as Otis tags in Tucker, Metalik springboards over Tucker and then runs off the ropes where he handsprings and backflips by Tucker. Metalik hits a sling blade bulldog and then walks the ropes where he comes off with a dropkick which gets a 2 count.

Metalik tries to ground Tucker with a chin lock but Tucker easily gets back up to his feet and fights back, Tucker goes for a suplex but Dorado is able to get out of it and stumble back into the corner where he tags Dorado back in, Dorado comes off the top with a big splash that gets a 2 count. Dorado hits Tucker with some chops before he runs into a big back elbow from Tucker. Tucker runs off the ropes and hits Dorado with a big splash that gets him a 2 count. Tucker throws Dorado across the ring with a big tiger suplex and then he knocks Metalik off the apron. Tucker tags in Otis who hits Dorado with a corner avalanche followed by the caterpillar and that is enough to finish off the luchadors as the crowd are fully behind Heavy Machinery.
Team Eliminated: Lucha House Party

Part C: Heavy Machinery vs The Usos
The Usos come out and we go to commercial before this part of the match can begin.

We come back to Jimmy working over the arm of Tucker and he tries to fight out of the grasp of Jimmy so he can make a tag to Otis, but Jimmy isn’t making it easy as he kicks Tucker in the gut. Tucker attempts to slam Jimmy, but he slides out the back where Jey makes the blind tag. Jimmy goes out to the apron and superkicks Otis to the floor only for Tucker to land a kick that sends Jimmy to the outside as well. Jey then hits a superkick on Tucker and lays across Tucker for a pinfall attempt, however, Tucker counters the pin into one of his own and that is enough to keep Jey down as Heavy Machinery score a very quick and very surprising upset win over The Usos.
Team Eliminated: The Usos

Part D: Heavy Machinery vs The Miz & John Morrison
Next up for Heavy Machinery are the tag champions.

As this part of the match starts Otis is still laid out at ringside and Tucker is exhausted. Miz goes right at Tucker and backs him up into the heel corner where he tags in Morrison. Miz and Morrison hit an assisted chuck kick for a 2 count and then Morrison starts reigning down with punches onto Tucker. Morrison hits a running knee to the head of Tucker and then Miz follows up with a running boot to the head which gets a 2 count. Miz catapults Tucker into a forearm from Morrison and then Morrison hits a slingshot elbow drop for another 2 count. Morrison continues to beat down Tucker as he desperately tries to get to his feet. Tucker is finally able to take Morrison down with a clothesline that he hits out of desperation and now both men are laid out on the mat. 

Morrison makes the tag to The Miz and runs over to knock Otis off the apron, but Otis blocks the punch and delivers one of his own and then Miz turns around into a dropkick from Tucker. Tucker finally gets close enough to lunge for the tag, but as he does Miz yanks Otis off the apron. Miz slides under Tucker’s legs and runs off the ropes where he is caught by Tucker only to immediately slide out the back and push Tucker into the heel corner. Miz hits the It Kicks in the corner and then hits a couple of running knees which allows Morrison to make a blind tag, Miz whips Morrison into Tucker’s direction and Morrison hits him with a running forearm and then Miz follows closely behind with a clothesline in the corner. Morrison goes up top and hits a side flip into an elbow drop which gets a 2 count as Otis breaks up the pin at the very last second. 

Miz and Morrison boot Tucker in the face which sends him rolling out of the ring where Miz hits him with a wrecking ball dropkick. Back in the ring Tucker catches Morrison out of nowhere with a small package and is able to get a 3 count and thus Heavy Machinery has eliminated the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. 
Team Eliminated: The Miz & John Morrison

After Miz and Morrison were eliminated they beat down Heavy Machinery as they take Tucker out with a Skull Crushing Finale and double stomp combo and then they throw Otis through the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. 

We cut back to the gorilla position to see that Mandy is watching the match and she looks concerned. Ziggler walks up and asks in a very condescending way if Mandy is worried about Otis and then tells Mandy to wish him luck, while this is happening we see the glitch happening on the monitor where Mandy had been watching the match.  

Ziggler and Roode make their way to the ring as we go to our final commercial break.

Part E:  Heavy Machinery vs Dolph ZIggler & Robert Roode
We come back from commercial and see Roode hitting the spinebuster on Tucker and then we see that Otis is still laid out at ringside. Roode grounds Tucker with a reverse chin lock, Tucker manages to get to his feet and fight out of the hold only to run into a sleeper from Roode, but Tucker uses his power to back suplex Roode. Roode crawls over and makes a tag to Ziggler who comes in and tries to land some strikes on Tucker, but Tucker keeps blocking it only for Ziggler to connect with a back elbow which gets a 2 count. Ziggler taunts Tucker by pointing out that Otis is on the floor and there is nobody for Tucker to tag in. Ziggler is able to connect with a big dropkick but Tucker still has life in him as he kicks out at 2. 

Ziggler tags Roode back in and they send Tucker into the corner, Roode whips Ziggler into the corner where he connects with a Stinger splash and then Roode hits a neckbreaker on Tucker. Roode tags Ziggler back in and leaves Tucker open so that Ziggler can kick him in the ribs. Ziggler claws the eyes of Tucker which sends Tucker into a state of desperation as he starts to wildly swing away at Ziggler from his knees but Ziggler keeps moving out of the way. The crowd at this point starts to get louder as Otis is getting back to his feet at ringside, Roode hops off the apron and tries to send Otis face-first into the announce table but Otis blocks it and sends Roode into the table instead. 

Otis starts to slowly crawl over to his corner while Tucker gets to his feet as Ziggler has him in a front facelock, Ziggler takes Tucker back down with a neckbreaker which gets a 2 count. Ziggler tags in Roode and they attempt the same whip into the corner and stinger splash combo, but this time Tucker moves out of the way and then he clotheslines Roode as all three men are down. Tucker finally makes the hot tag to Otis and the crowd is in a frenzy, Otis hits a shoulder block and a body attack on Roode and then he sends Roode into the corner and when Roode bounces out of the corner Otis hits him with a big back body drop. Otis knocks Ziggler off the apron and then goes to slam Roode, but Roode blocks and then fires away with some strikes which Otis no-sells as he starts to get fired up as he grabs Roode and throws him across the ring with and an exploder suplex. 

Otis charges at Roode in the corner, but Roode gets his boots up and then goes up to the middle turnbuckle but when he jumps off he is caught by Otis who attempts a slam only for Roode to slip out of Otis’s grasp and then connect with a dropkick that sends Otis stumbling back into the corner. Roode charges at Otis who moves out of the way and because of this Roode gets sent into the ring post shoulder first, as this happens Ziggler makes a blind tag. Otis hits the avalanche in the corner and in doing so also knocks Ziggler off the apron as he is not aware that Ziggler is now the legal man. Otis does the Caterpillar, but before he can hit the elbow drop that follows Ziggler slides in and hits Otis with the superkick and this is finally enough to finish off Heavy Machinery.  
Winners: Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode   Match Rating: ***¼

Ziggler and Roode celebrate their victory as SmackDown comes to a close. 

This match was a lot of fun and the crowd was into it the entire time, in fact, if you had told me that Heavy Machinery would be getting pops as loud as the ones during this match I would tell you that you had lost your mind. I liked how they gave Heavy Machinery two big upset wins over both New Day and The Usos and also gave them a win over the current tag champions. Once Heavy Machinery beat the first two teams I was starting to see how this match was going to go as I knew that Ziggler beating Heavy Machinery in the end after they had run through all of the other teams would be a great way to add heat on Ziggler and advance the Otis and Ziggler story and sure enough the match ended just as I thought it would. I have to imagine that Ziggler and Roode will be the ones responsible for eliminating Heavy Machinery in the Elimination Chamber to add even more interest into whatever kind of match they end up in at WrestleMania. Outside of the Heavy Machinery story in the match, I have to say that I thought Lucha House Party looked really good in the match and if I had one small wish for the next draft it would be that LHP ends up on Raw as Heyman has done a good job with the luchadors and I think he could do some good things with LHP, especially Metalik who doesn’t get anywhere near the respect and recognition he deserves as he is so smooth in the ring. 

This was a very interesting episode of SmackDown to have on the road to WrestleMania as outside of the short Firefly Funhouse segment there was no hype for either of the two big SmackDown matches on the WrestleMania card and furthermore they spend majority of the show building up a match that is most likely going to be very low on the list of important matches on this year’s WrestleMania card. I really liked the gauntlet match and how they used it to build up Heavy Machinery and I also enjoyed the Firefly Funhouse segment, however, the rest of the show wasn’t anything worth talking about as the opening segment with the NWO wasn’t that great and the two women’s matches, as well as the Sheamus vs Apollo Crews match, were average at best. 

That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoyed my first review as a 31-year-old as my birthday was on March 5. I will be back next week with the fall out of Elimination Chamber as we continue down the road to WrestleMania.