SmackDown Live|February 20, 2018|Phoenix, AZ
- COTCWB
- Feb 24, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 25, 2018
SmackDown is on the road to WrestleMania, but before they get to that destination they have one more pit stop….FASTLANE!
SmackDown kicked off the show with WWE Champion AJ Styles, who joined Renee Young in the squared circle to cut a promo. Courtesy of Chris Jericho, AJ Styles had a “Drink it in” moment as the crowd in Phoenix, AZ was feeling him completely. He is the face that runs the place!
Young asked Styles about his WrestleMania destiny, and if he feels like he’s in control of it, to which Styles answered yes. He goes on to talk about the Fatal 5-Way match, going over the stipulations. To his disadvantage, he doesn’t have to be pinned to lose his championship so either Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, or Kevin Owens can take his spot at WrestleMania and compete against Shinske Nakumura. I wasn’t surprised when Corbin interrupted The Phenomenal One and blabbed on and on about the wins he has over Styles. He has to blab about something since he did not cash in his Money in the Bank effectively.
It was then that Owens interjected, claiming Shane-O-Mack has it out for him due to the head-butt he gave Vince McMahon and Shane Eventually joined in the conversation announcing matches between Styles vs. Corbin as the main event and Owens vs Ziggler to kick off the show. Yeah…that’ll show em.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens
If I had to give this match a 1 out of 5 with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, I would give this match a 4. Ziggler & Owens have great in ring chemistry where Ziggler can pull off the babyface who got screwed out of this match thus becoming an underdog for the Fatal 5-Way match.
Ziggler attacked, Owens went to the floor and they went back into the ring with Ziggler hitting a dropkick to send Owens out of the ring again. Ziggler sent Owens back into the ring. When Owens tried a move, Ziggler nailed another dropkick. Owens bailed to the floor for the third time. This time it worked with Ziggler going after Owens and Owens sent Ziggler into the barricade. Owens was on the apron, so Ziggler hit another dropkick to knock Owens down.
Graves and Saxton argued about things being unfair at Fastlane. Owens whipped Ziggler against the side of the ring apron. Back in the ring, Owens with a senton splash attempt, but Ziggler moved out of the way. Ziggler hit a corner splash followed by a suplex. Owens with a kick to the knee, back elbow by Ziggler, corner charge missed by Ziggler and Owens hit a cannonball on Ziggler against the turnbuckle for a two count.
It wasn’t until later on in the match where Sami Zayn’s music hit and he sprinted towards the squared circle, stopping short and comin face-to-face with Ziggler. Owens took the opportunity to deliver a superkick to the back of Ziggler’s head scoring a victory against him.
Zayn winked at Owens which solidified his allegiance to him. He also vowed to lay down for Owens during the Fatal 5-way Match if they are the last two in the ring. One can’t help but wonder if he’s really being a true friend, or if this is a set up brought on by yours truly….Chris Jericho….wishful thinking huh?
Jinder Promo
Jinder Mahal show up to the ring, dressed to impress (as usual) with one of the Singh brothers, or as I like to call them…Beavis and Butthead.
Jinder goes on to talk about the glorious Bobby Roode and his SmackDown top 10 list. He talked about how Roode’s list does not include Randy Orton and pretty much being an instigator by putting Orton and Roode against each other. Roode comes out to interrupt Mahal’s pointless list to tell him that he even didn’t make the list.
Mahal continued to egg Roode on and get him to make derogatory statements about Randy Orton. Roode finally became frustrated and just before he was about to give Mahal a piece of his mind, the Viper’s music exploded and the fans went wild.
Orton took a shot at Mahal and made a attempt to RKO Roode, which was a major fail. Roode saw it coming and countered Orton’s RKO with a Glorious DDT. It was Mahal who got the best of both men once again as he finished Roode off with his finishing move the Khallas.
In my opinion, I thought this was a very cheesy promo. When Mahal brought the whole top 10 list, my 1st reaction was…who the hell cares? (in the my Peter Griffin voice). Shane ended up announcing a match between Randy Orton and Bobby Roode at Fastlane. I have a feeling, their match will turn into a triple threat match adding Jinder Mahal for the United Stated title before this feud is over.
Charlotte, Naomi and Becky Lynch vs. Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan
I have to say, I am having an awesome time watching these ladies kick ass and take names! It's funny just 4 years ago, the women's matches was an excuse to get up and take a bathroom break and now it's something I look forward to (good or bad). The rivalry between SmackDown women's champion Charlotte and The Riott Squad went head to head once again, as The Queen teamed with Becky Lynch and Naomi to do battle with the NXT trio in a Six-Woman Tag Team match.
In the end, the heels seized control, and dominated the middle portion of the bout. Riott caught Lynch from behind and delivered the Riott Kick to score the victory.
After the match, Riott taunted
Charlotte from ringside, mouthing "One down, two to go," letting the babyfaces know that their feud is far from over. In fact, a match between Charlotte & Riott is set for Fastlane for the SmackDown Women's Championship. These two seem to bring out the best of each other, so we'll see who comes out on top!
No. 1 Contenders Match: New Day vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
I need to get something off my chest. Can someone tell me why the WWE is constantly sleeping on Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin? Since Shelton's return in 2017, and the announcement that he and Gable would be working together as a tag team, their chemistry has been through the roof!
Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin got an opportunity to earn a SmackDown Tag Team Championship shot at The Usos. In order to get that opportunity, they had to defeat The New Day's Xavier Woods and Big E in a No. 1 Contenders Match.
Late on the match, Gable and Benjamin had the upper hand in the match, but a distracted official did not make the count, with Woods tagging in to deliver a Shining Wizard to Benjamin to score the win...REALLY?!?!
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin
Random thought: Doesn't Baron Corbin look like Daryl's (The Walking Dead) fraternal twin brother with a bad hairline?
Any who...Baron Corbin squared off with AJ Styles in Tuesday's main event.
Styles had the advantage from the opening bell and had Corbin all over the place. Corbin did come back from it though by tagging Styles with a lariat clothesline.
Corbin sent Styles over the announce table, but the champion sprinted back to the squared circle and delivered a Phenomenal Forearm for a close near-fall.
Styles launched himself off the top rope, but Corbin moved out of the way. As Styles rebounded, he ate a Deep Six by Corbin, who scored another count of two.
Styles was able to deliver another Phenomenal Forearm and scored the victory after a series of reversals.
After the match, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens attacked Styles, only for Corbin to lay them both out to close the show.
Honorable Mention:
I have to give honorable mentions to The Bludgeon Brothers, who decimated their opponents on Tuesday night. Watching them cut off New Day's celebration show that they are a force to be reckon with and could possibly be on the road to WrestleMania if they keep obliterating their opponents like they have.
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