SEScoops

5 Takeaways From WWE SmackDown (2/12)

charlotte smackdown

Written by

Robert Lentini

in

,

The February 12th, 2019 episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH. It was the final episode of SmackDown before WWE Elimination Chamber this Sunday night. Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:

Charlotte Flair Will Be In The Crowd At Elimination Chamber

Charlotte Flair kicked off SmackDown by telling everyone that it was her destiny to face Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Flair mockingly started a “Becky!” chant and brought up Lynch replacing her at Survivor Series. Charlotte referred to herself as the backbone of the women’s division and claimed that Vince McMahon made a smart business decision by replacing Lynch.

Flair added that Vince chose her because the main event of WrestleMania is the biggest match of the year and he didn’t want to risk it on a flash in the pan like Becky Lynch. Charlotte promised the crowd that they will be chanting “this is awesome!” during the match and then took a bow in the ring.

Charlotte dedicated her WrestleMania main event victory to her best friend, Becky Lynch. The crowd chanted “you suck!” as Charlotte stated that she has a front-row seat for Rousey’s match against Ruby Riott at Elimination Chamber.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1095490047002976256

Charlotte being in the crowd at Elimination Chamber adds to the RAW Women’s Championship match this Sunday night. There was no buzz for that match at all, but now Flair and/or Lynch may get involved and it is worth watching.

The Usos Sent A Message To Shane & The Miz

The Miz and Shane McMahon welcomed The Usos as guests on an episode of “McMiz TV”. The Miz announced that Shane McMahon is going to be on an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles during the segment.

Jimmy and Jey refused to sit down and called The Miz & Shane a wannabe tag team trying to be The Usos. Shane pointed to the titles and stated that they are the best tag team in the world. The Usos asked if Shane & The Miz if they trained together or knew anything about each other.

The Miz and Shane then got up and Miz asked Shane a few questions. Miz whispered the answers into Shane’s ear before Jimmy interrupted. The Miz asked if they should change the subject to Mandy Rose and Jimmy got pissed off. Jey ripped the microphone out Miz’s hand and threw it the floor.

Jey claimed it was disrespectful that Shane and Miz think they are the best tag team in the world. Shane vowed to walk out of Elimination Chamber with The Miz still as the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Jimmy and Jey made it seem like they were going to leave the ring but hit Shane and Miz with a Superkick instead.

This match will likely be entertaining, I just don’t have much interest in either of these two teams as SmackDown Tag Team Champions right now. Everyone knows that The Miz and Shane McMahon aren’t going to last long as a team, so it is difficult to care at all about this match. If The Usos win, at least the SmackDown Tag Team Championships will be back on an actual team. If Shane and Miz retain, it just means we have to wait until Fastlane or an episode of SmackDown for them to separate and started building towards the WrestleMania match.

Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose Will Be The First Team In The Women’s Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match

Photo Credit: WWE.com

The IIconics, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, and Carmella & Naomi battled tonight on SmackDown. The team that lost this match via pinfall or submission will be one of the first two teams in the Women’s Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match this Sunday night at the PPV. It was determined on last night’s episode of RAW that Sasha Banks & Bayley will be one of the first teams in the match.

The IIconincs (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay) spent the entire match attempting to avoid everyone as Deville, Rose, Carmella, and Naomi battled in the ring. Naomi wound up picking up the win after hitting a Moonsault onto Rose for the pinfall victory. After the match, The IIconics cowardly attacked Carmella and Naomi from behind. As a result of being pinned, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose will join Bayley and Sasha Banks as the first two teams in the Elimination Chamber match.

The build to the Women’s Tag Team Championship match this Sunday night has been terrible. There are only a couple of teams in the Elimination Chamber match that the crowd is moderately invested in. The multi-team matches haven’t done much to build up any of these teams on RAW and SmackDown. Once Elimination Chamber rolls around I will no doubt be excited for the match because the first-ever Women’s Tag Team Champions will be crowned. However, it’d be nice if WWE actually started building up these teams instead of throwing them all in a match for 8 minutes and then calling it a tag team division.

Randy Orton Will Be The Final Superstar In The Elimination Chamber Match

The Superstars in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match this Sunday night competed in a Gauntlet Match on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Mustafa Ali was ruled out of the match because he was not medically cleared. Kofi Kingston was announced as Ali’s replacement and battled Daniel Bryan in the first bout of the Gauntlet Match.

Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan battled for roughly 30-minutes. Daniel had Kofi set up for the Running Knee but Kofi countered into the Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall victory. Kingston then battled Jeff Hardy in the Gauntlet Match.

Kingston eliminated Jeff Hardy after a few minutes and Samoa Joe was next up in the Gauntlet Match. Joe beat the hell out of Kingston for several minutes but Kofi wouldn’t stay down. Joe locked in the Coquina Clutch but Kofi countered into a roll-up for the pinfall victory. After Joe was eliminated, Joe planted Kingston with a Uranage and then applied the Coquina Clutch once again until AJ Styles broke it up. Joe retreated up the entrance ramp as Styles checked if Kofi was alright.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1095514736517615616

Styles pleaded with Kofi to stop fighting but Kingston wasn’t having it. Kofi slapped AJ in the face and shoved Styles across the ring. Styles planted Kofi with a Backbreaker for a near fall. Kofi had now been in the match for 52-minutes at this point as AJ targetted his attack on Kingston’s leg.

Kofi desperately went for a roll-up but AJ kicked out and connected with a devastating Backbreaker. Kingston went for Double Knees but AJ got out of the way and Kofi crashed into the ring post. Kingston fell to the floor outside the ring but got into the ring at 9 to beat the count.

AJ went for a Hurricanrana off the top rope but Kofi blocked it. Kingston then hit a Splash but Styles kicked out at two. AJ locked in the Calf Crusher and Kofi tapped out. Randy Orton was the final entrant in the match and snuck behind Styles for an RKO out of nowhere. Orton then pinned AJ to become the final entrant in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match.

The ending of this match became pretty obvious once AJ Styles and Kingston were still battling with two minutes left in the show. Even though the ending was predictable, Kofi Kingston put on an awesome performance and will likely have several awesome moments during the Elimination Chamber match this Sunday night.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1095518364427083780

Asuka Was Once Again Not On SmackDown

Asuka defeated Becky Lynch at Royal Rumble and has promptly disappeared from SmackDown. Becky Lynch was on both RAW and SmackDown last week, Charlotte was on both RAW and SmackDown this week.

The hype right now is definitely surrounding the RAW Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania, so it makes sense that WWE is focusing on that. WWE is also having a Women’s Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match this Sunday night at the PPV, so it might be difficult to find something for Asuka to do.

However, WWE should be able to find a way to get Asuka on television after she defeated the most popular Superstar on the roster at Royal Rumble to become SmackDown Women’s Champion. A simple interview or a throwaway match would suffice. The idea of giving someone a massive victory at one of the biggest PPVs of the year, only to not feature them on television in the subsequent weeks is indefensible to me. There was an hour-long Gauntlet Match tonight to determine which Superstar’s pod will open last on Sunday night. There was a musical segment between Elias and Lucha House Party last night on RAW. I think WWE can find the time to have the SmackDown Women’s Champion on SmackDown once in a while.

Comments

7 responses to “5 Takeaways From WWE SmackDown (2/12)”

More posts