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‘Friday Night SmackDown’ (2/12/21) Results And Review: Elimination Chamber Qualifying Matches, Seth Rollins Returns, And More

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Alan Draper
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9 min read
Friday Night SmackDown

Friday Night SmackDown took place inside the WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg Florida with virtual fans in attendance. The show featured the return of Seth Rollins and further build towards Elimination Chamber.

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The show kicked off with Roman Reigns, Jey Uso and Paul Heyman coming down to the ring. Adam Pearce was in the ring. Roman tells Adam that he is the one calling the shots and he doesn’t wait on anyone. He says he saw Edge last week and he got nervous. He claimed Edge is scared because he knows what he’ll do to him. He said he’ll beat him down so bad he’ll end up with a Legends contract. Roman said the title will stay on him as long as he wants. Adam tells Roman that he will defend the Universal title inside the Elimination Chamber and has a contract for him that says he will do so. Paul Heyman tells Adam that the agreement doesn’t say he will defend it inside the Chamber but defend at the Chamber show against the winner of the Elimination Chamber match. He says the man that faces him at the pay per view will have the honor of facing the Tribal Chief. Paul tells Adam his opinion is relevant but Roman’s does. Adam says there will be qualifying matches tonight but they’ll be two people who deserve to be in it and don’t need qualifying matches. He says Jey Uso and Kevin Owens will be in the Chamber match. Roman goes up to Adam’s face outside the ring trying to intimidate him until Heyman gets him to back off.

As they came back from commercial, Adam was talking on the phone until Sonya confronted him, praising him standing up to Roman. Sonya proposes a tag team match with Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio against Sami Zayn and King Corbin as a qualifying match. Adam agrees.

Sami Zayn as he came out to the ring talked about the company making him earn his way into the Chamber match. He tells Corbin they don’t see eye to eye but they have the same goal to be in the Chamber and being handled poorly by WWE. Sami complained that everyone would want Rey and Dominik to go on to the Chamber match but Sami and Corbin will be the ones to be in the match. Rey and Dominik knocked Sami off the apron and the match began.

Sami Zayn and King Corbin Defeated Rey and Dominik Mysterio To Advance To The Elimination Chamber Match

Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode confronted Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce in the office. They propose they get in the Elimination Chamber match too. They want two pods in it. Sonya said they can earn their shot to be in the Chamber by facing Daniel Bryan and Cesaro. They leave.

Reginald confronted Sasha Banks who was talking to Kalisto. She was not in the mood for him and he apologized for what he said last week. She asked if he really thought she can beat Bianca and he said absolutely. She asked Reginald to send Carmella her regards and took the champagne glass. He walks away.

Big E was in the ring and talked about the odds being against him last week in the Triple Threat match but he is still standing. He said he vowed to be a fighting champion. He said he believes he put the Sami Zayn/Apollo Crews chapter behind him until Apollo Crews came out. Apollo said he took him to the limit time after time and he accepts Big E’s open challenge. Big E said it can be anyone but him. Apollo said Big E is supposed to take on all challengers. Big E tells Apollo to go to catering. The two have a verbal exchange. Big E says he is done with Apollo and to bring out his next challenger. Shinsuke Nakamura came out to accept the challenge.

Big E Defeated Shinsuke Nakamura By DQ in The IC Title Open Challenge

Apollo Crews drop kicked Big E during the match to cause a DQ. Apollo smiled as he walked up to the stage.

The SmackDown stars came out to the ring. Seth Rollins comes out to the ring with the return of the Burn It Down theme. Seth says it feels good to be back. He said this is where he belongs. He said the thing that has changed the most is him. He mentions he has become a father to a baby girl and has changed his life. He has a new perception and a new vision. He says he sees the most talented group of people in the history of WWE and asks where does he fit in. He said he is the great leader that SmackDown needs and make it greater than it already is. The roster goes backstage as Seth says he can be their leader or mentor. Seth says all people have to do is embrace the vision. He sees Cesaro the only one still around the ring. Seth believes Cesaro understands his vision but then Cesaro leaves. Seth gets mad and attacks Cesaro by the ramp. The referees try to restrain him. Daniel Bryan appeared to help Cesaro and Seth got out of dodge.

Bayley Defeated Liv Morgan

Kayla Braxton interviewed Cesaro along with Daniel Bryan. She asks of Cesaro can compete despite Seth’s attack. Cesaro said he will still compete. he said Seth wasted all of everyone’s time as he talked about their change but he is going to use his time to qualify for the Chamber. Bryan mentions how tough Cesaro is and leaves.

They show The Street Profits at the Nascar Daytona 500.

As The Street Profits head to the ring, a video promo of them is shown saying they will show Chad Gable and Otis that they are up and they want the smoke.

As Otis and Gable made their way down to the ring, a video promo showed Gable motivating Otis as he is working out. Otis was doing squats as Gable was blowing smoke at him saying that they want the smoke too.

The Street Profits Defeated Chad Gable and Otis

Sasha Banks came out as The Street Profits were celebrating their win. Sasha danced along with them. Sasha made her way to the ring. She got on the mic saying that everyone is talking about Bianca Belair and her decision. She thinks Bianca will choose her. She says Bianca is like her little sister. Bianca interrupted as Sasha was talking. She tells Sasha that she sees her. She likes Sasha too but she is not the boss of her. She said she is enjoying every second of it. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler interrupted as Nia calls them insufferable. She says there ego’s are so big it can;t fit in the ring. They say they don’t care about Bianca’s decision and they should be talked about. Sasha said she came prepared for their arrival and she showed footage of Shayna losing her match to Naomi on Raw last Monday. Sasha said they actually have the real footage to show them and they show Nia losing the Tables match and screaming “My Hole.” Nia and Shayna went after them but Bianca and Sasha fought back. They pulled Nia off the apron and landed on her butt again. They take out Shayna in the ring. Sasha and Bianca stood tall in the ring as the Women’s Tag Champs retreated.

Cesaro and Daniel Bryan Defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode To Advance To The Elimination Chamber Match

Jey Uso attacked Cesaro with a chair from behind. Sami Zayn and King Corbin attacked Daniel Bryan outside. As they all brawled, Sami took Corbin out sending him shoulder first to the post. Bryan nailed Sami with a running knee. Kevin Owens came out and landed a Stunner to everyone. Kevin yells at the camera saying he is not done with Roman. The show ends.

Overall Review: This was another solid show. I did like the concept of them doing tag matches even though it kind of seems like they had to rush to get all the participants announced for the Chamber match because of how close the date is to the show. The main event was the best match and it’s cool to have Cesaro get the shine especially his involvement in Seth Rollins’ return. It seems like Seth may end up in a rivalry with Cesaro or Daniel Bryan or even the both of them which will be interesting to see how the storyline goes and hopefully it elevates Cesaro to another level. The Big E segment with Apollo was okay but I definitely would rather they would’ve just had Big E move on to a rivalry with Nakamura rather than Crews again. The whole back and forth with Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair was cool. Having Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler there I didn’t mind and it looks like to me that they may do a thing where Bianca and Sasha team up against them. I’m not sure if they’ll win the Women’s Tag Titles along the way but I think if that happens it will somehow set up Bianca doing something to Sasha to tell her that she is challenging for her title at WrestleMania.

Grade: 6/10

 

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Alan Draper

Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.
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Alan Draper

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Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.
View All Posts By Alan Draper
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