WWE’s latest edition of SmackDown went down on (2/17/23) from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. We’re just 24 hours away from the Elimination Chamber premium live event! Sami Zayn returns home to Montreal ahead of his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns tomorrow night. Gunther defends the Intercontinental Championship against Madcap Moss, Ronda Rousey returns to the ring, and Drew McIntyre teams up with Sheamus to face the Viking Raiders!
Live Coverage
The show begins and we see a chronicling of the history between Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns, and The Bloodline.
We then head to the live arena at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and it’s time for our opening contest of the evening.
Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi & Natalya
Baszler and Natalya start this one off. Baszler applies a waist lock but Natalya kicks her back and Baszler makes the tag to Rousey. Natalya with an arm lock, Rousey reverses position and grabs the left arm of Natalya. Rousey makes the tag to Baszler as Natalya does the same to Shotzi. Rousey tangles Shotzi in the ropes and applies an inverted arm bar through the middle rope. Rousey sends Shotzi back into the ring, Baszler slams her, and tags back out to Rousey. Shotzi has Rousey bridged with a fisherman’s suplex and locks both of Rousey’s arms in an odd double arm bar type of submission. Rousey powers out, Shotzi dumps her out of the ring and she wipes Rousey out on the outside with a dive through the ropes onto the outside. Natalya slams Baszler on the outside, Shotzi goes up top and nails both Rousey and Baszler with a diving cross-body and we head to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Baszler and Shotzi are the legal competitors. Shotzi trips Baszler and makes the tag to Natalya, who takes it to Baszler and plants her with a German suplex. Baszler sends Natalya to the corner and goes for a running knee but Natalya evades and crushes Baszler with a running power bomb then goes for the cover but Baszler kicks out. Baszler backs up into the corner which allows Rousey to make the self tag but Natalya shoves Baszler out of the ring and applies the sharpshooter on Rousey right in the center of the ring. Baszler makes the save right as it looks like Rousey was going to tap but Natalya shoves her back to the outside and makes the tag to Shotzi. Natalya drags Natalya out fo the ring and shoves her into the steels steps and back in the ring, Rousey locks in the arm bar on Shotzi, who has no choice but to tap out!
Winners – Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
After a commercial break, we see the history of Sami Zayn in The Bloodline, which will culminate tomorrow night when Sami Zayn challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Elimination Chamber premium live event.
Back in the ring, Top Dolla, Ashante Thee Adonis, and B-Fab of Hit Row are in the ring. All three rap, mostly ragging on Canada. We see flashes of Bray Wyatt’s logo on the screen and Top Dolla calls out ‘anyone in the back’…and the lights promptly go out. Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy appear on the apron when the lights come back up. Wyatt and Howdy attack Top Dolla and Adonis. Bray grabs a microphone and tells Montreal ‘thank you!’ to a raucous ovation. The crowd is hot for Bray and Howdy and chant ‘Thank You Bray!’. Wyatt says now that he’s in control of his family, he wants to say something. Bray says which ever of Brock Lesnar or Bobby Lashley should walk out of Elimination Chamber victorious tomorrow night at Elimination Chamber…they should run! Wyatt drops the mic and it’s announced that Drew McIntyre and Sheamus will face the Viking Raiders after the break.
Back from the break and we see Madcap Moss and Emma backstage. Emma hypes up Moss and Moss says everyone’s doubts will come to an end after he defeats Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship tonight.
Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) (with Valhalla)
A brawl starts between all four men on the outside of the ring. Sheamus and Ivar are the legal competitors and back inside of the ring. Sheamus clotheslines Ivar right back to the outside and we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Ivar has slowed down the pace of this one and has Sheamus grounded with a head lock in the center of the ring. Ivar sends Sheamus to the corner and nails the former WWE Champion with a pair of elbows. Ivar tosses Sheamus to the other corner and makes the tag to Erik and the Viking Raiders hit Sheamus with a double kick. Erik chokes Sheamus with the middle rope but lets go before the referee can count to five. Sheamus sneaks over to his corner and makes the tag to McIntyre and the ‘Scottish Psychopath’ clears house. McIntyre scoops and slams Ivar and goes for the cover but Ivar kicks out. McIntyre drills Ivar with the Glashow Kiss and makes the tag to Sheamus. Ivar trips Sheamus to the mat and goes up top but Sheamus follows him up and plants Ivar with an incredible fireman’s carry slam from the top rope and we head to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Sheamus goes up top and comes crashing down on top of Ivar with a flying knee and goes for the cover but Erik makes the save. Sheamus scoops and slams Erik, who was just tagged in and Sheamus hypes up the crowd as he lines up for the Brogue Kick. Erik evades the kick and slams Sheamus to the mat before going for the cover but Sheamus kicks out. Erik goes up to the middle turnbuckle and dives down but Sheamus cracks him with a flying knee. Sheamus makes the tag to McIntyre, who counts down for the Claymore Kick but Ivar drags Erik out of the ring. McIntyre comes flying over the top rope and nails both Erik and Ivar on the outside. McIntyre tosses Erik back into the ring but Valhalla distracts McIntyre which allows Erik to make the tag to Ivar. Erik slams McIntyre and hands McIntyre to Ivar who’s on the middle turnbuckle and Ivar plants McIntyre with a slam and goes for the cover but Sheamus makes the save!
McIntyre nails Erik with the Glasgow Kiss, Sheamus is tossed into the turnbuckle post by Ivar, who then goes up top and crushes McIntyre with a top rope splash and goes for the cover but McIntyre lifts the shoulders after a two-count! Erik makes the tag to Ivar, Erik and Ivar then lift McIntyre for Ragnarok but Sheamus comes in and nails Ivar with the Brogue Kick, McIntyre drills Erik with the Claymore Kick and gets the 1-2-3!
Winners – Drew McIntyre & Sheamus
We then see yet another video package highlighting Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns, and The Bloodline. This time, the video centers around Zayn’s attack on Reigns at last month’s Royal Rumble premium live event.
Asuka vs. Liv Morgan
Carmella is on commentary for this one. Liv evades a bevy of strikes from Asuka and clocks Asuka with a back elbow. Asuka plants Liv with a German suplex and goes for the cover but Liv kicks out. Raquel Rodriguez makes her way down to the ring and confronts Carmella at the commentary desk. Nikki Cross comes out of nowhere and start egging on Raquel and Carmella to fight. Back in the ring, Asuka tosses Liv into the corner but eats a boot to the face. Asuka goes up top, Liv cracks her with a punch and plants her with a codebreaker off the middle rope and goes for the cover but Asuka kicks out and we head to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Natalya has also made her way down to ringside and now all six competitors in tomorrow night’s elimination chamber match are down here. Back in the ring, Asuka evades a super-kick from Liv and locks in the arm bar and Liv has no choice but to tap out!
Winner – Asuka
After the match, Carmella rushes the ring and cracks Asuka with a super-kick. Natalya takes out Carmella, Nikki attacks Natalya, and Raquel takes down Nikki. Raquel offers her hand to Liv but Liv plants her with a codebreaker and Asuka drills Raquel with a super-kick for good measure. Asuka and Liv stare each other down before they both stare up at the elimination chamber structure and Liv exits.
We then see Intercontinental Champion Gunther backstage with Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci as he prepares for his title defense against Madcap Moss. Gunther, who’s flanked by Kaiser and Vinci makes his way down to the ring and that match will go down after the break.
Gunther (C) (with Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci) vs. Madcap Moss (with Emma) — Intercontinental Championship
Moss drills Gunther with a spear right as the bell sounds and goes for the cover but the champion kicks out. Gunther slams Moss but the challenger fights back with some strikes and a running shoulder block. Gunther cracks Gunther with a boot to the face and goes for the cover but Moss lifts the shoulders after a count of two. Gunther applies a head lock, Moss powers to his feet and shoves the champion back before planting him with a spine-buster and goes for the cover but Gunther kicks out. Moss launches Gunther out of the ring and we head to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Gunther is setting up for a power-bomb but Moss slips out and runs the ropes but Gunther applies the sleeper hold. Moss jumps out of the hold and plants the champion with a back-body drop and a running lariat before going for the cover but Gunther kicks out. Gunther lights Moss up with his patented chops to the chest but Moss lifts and slams Gunther with a vertical suplex followed by a swinging neck-breaker and goes for the pin but Gunther lifts the shoulders after a two-count. Moss crushes Gunther with a spear in the corner and lifts the champion but Gunther slips out and wallops the challenger with a massive chop to the chest. Gunther goes up top but Moss rushes up and lands a few forearms before climbing up top. Gunther knocks Moss to the mat and gets back to the top rope but Moss leaps back up to the middle rope and plants Gunther with a diving fallaway slam and goes for the cover but Gunther kicks out! Gunther applies the sleeper hold, Moss is struggling and Gunther plants Moss with a massive power-bomb and gets the 1-2-3!
Winner – Gunther (C)
It’s announced that after the break, Sami Zayn is here and will make his way to the ring to grace his hometown fans with his presence ahead of the biggest match of his career after the break!
Back from the break and it’s announced that Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse will return next Friday night on SmackDown.
We then cut back to the arena and Sami Zayn’s old ‘Worlds Apart’ theme song hits and out comes Montreal’s own to a raucous ovation! The ‘Sami! Sami! Sami!’ chants are deafening in the Bell Centre and the crowd is in a frenzy just 24 hours away from the biggest match of Sami Zayn’s career. Sami has yet to say a word but he’s visibly emotional and in tears at this reaction from the crowd. Unbelievable moment for Sami as the crowd pour in ‘You Deserve It!’ chants.
There are incredibly loud ‘F*** YOU ROMAN!’ chants which cause the FOX feed to cut the microphones off for a moment. Sami says that WrestleMania is the most important show of the year but for him and the city of Montreal, tomorrow night at Elimination Chamber is once in a lifetime. Sami says something in French to Roman which gets a massive pop from the crowd. Sami yells at the top of his lungs that Roman is going down, tomorrow night! Sami slams the microphone down and the crowd is going absolutely ballistic. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett hype up tomorrow night’s match between Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns and the crowd sings along to Sami’s theme song as the show goes off the air!
