Smackdown Live Review 02/12/2019

Live from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio

The show opens with a replay of Vince McMahon suspending Becky Lynch and replacing her with Charlotte Flair

Opening In-Ring Promo: Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair appears and heads to the ring with a smile in arrogance after last night’s announcement that she will be facing Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Flair states that WrestleMania has been her destiny even if her heart “broke” for Becky Lynch, claiming herself as the replacement. She then reflects Survivor Series last year and states that she is the backbone and franchise player of the women’s division. Charlotte responds to Mr. McMahon’s decision saying it was the best business decision ever. She then arrogantly and mockingly points at the WrestleMania sign to see if Becky appears but she doesn’t appear. Flair tells the audience that she will dedicate her WrestleMania victory to her best friend Becky Lynch. She then states that she has a front row ticket to Elimination Chamber and claims that we might witness a new Raw Women’s champion. She ends her promo taunting at the Ohio crowd to shut up and exits the ring.
My Opinion:
I never expected Charlotte to receive that much heat from the crowd as I witnessed with that in-ring promo. I believe that was a real heel move to pull the replay from last night and then transition into Charlotte’s appearance. This whole segment reminded me of the night after Roman Reigns defeated the Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 where there was legitimate heat towards a heel. Although there were no interruptions, I think having this promo established Flair as the biggest heel in WWE right now, riding the momentum heading into the possible main event of WrestleMania 35 in New York/ New Jersey. Subsiding from my bias opinion of Becky Lynch deserving the opportunity more than Flair, I firmly believe that this will be a main event to see!

Match #1 – Women’s Triple Tag Team Match: Fabulous Glow (Naomi and Carmella) vs. The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay) vs. Fire and Desire (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville) – Winner will enter the Elimination Chamber last while the team pinned will enter the Elimination Chamber Women’s Tag Team Title match first
As soon as the bell rings, Peyton Royce tags in Mandy Rose to start things off against Carmella. Fire and Desire start to dominate as they try to withhold Carmella but is unsuccessful as the Staten Island Princess gains the tag to Naomi. Sonya Deville attempts to take Naomi into the outside but reverses it and hits a split splash to gain offense. Carmella and Sonya square off and Carmella hits a hurricanrana on Deville. Mandy Rose and Carmella tag in. Rose attempts to escape from Naomi who have had problems in the past. Carmella stops her in her tracks and Naomi hits the ringside dropkick to send us into commercial break. Coming back, Sonya Deville applies a sleeper hold submission but Carmella escapes and both competitors are down and out. Mandy Rose takes out Naomi when Carmella looked for a tag and tags herself in. However, Naomi meets her in the middle and comes back with a series of offensive maneuvers. Naomi then gains control of Rose, hits her with a split second moonsault and win the match. However in the post match antics, The IIconics take out the winners, Fabulous Glow to end the segment.
Result: Fabulous Glow (Naomi and Carmella) via pinfall who will now enter last in the chamber
My Opinion:
This match had some interesting implications and stipulations however, I was shocked to see Fabulous Glow win! If anything, I was personally rooting for a darkhorse such as Fire and Desire to gain an upset victory. Nevertheless, I was impressed about how this match turned out, especially with multiple combustible elements present. I mean, I see where WWE went when it came towards the Mandy Rose and Naomi storyline but when you had competitors such as Sonya Deville and Carmella face off along with the addition of the IIconics? How can you NOT love the different combinations?

In-Ring Segment – McMiz TV with Special Guests The Usos – The Miz, Shane McMahon, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso
The new SmackDown Live Tag Team champions The Miz and Shane McMahon are seen in the ring and welcome the audience to McMiz TV, even when the crowd said “Miz TV” instead. The Miz then announces that Shane McMahon will be on NCIS LA in the upcoming episodes, which Shane explains to him that announcement was supposed to be private. Shane then introduces their guests, The Usos. The Usos appear and deny Shane’s invitation to sit down. Jimmy Uso claims that McMiz are copycats trying to be like the Usos. They then make them take a tag team test. McMiz responds by Miz asking Shane a series of questions which he whispers the answers to. Miz then refers to Mandy Rose to Jimmy Uso . Jey Uso knocks the microphone out of the Miz and welcomes them to the Uso penitentiary. Shane McMahon states that the only reality come Elimination Chamber will be successfully defending their tag team titles. The Usos then respond by giving both men a Uso superkick to end the segment.
My Opinion:
First thing is first, THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST LETHAL SUPER KICKS IN THE HISTORY OF WWE!!!!! However, if I can be real for one second, I really think that the first ever episode of McMiz TV was one memorable one from the reference to Mandy Rose to The Miz getting his microphone knocked down to the awesome promo cut by The Usos stating that they are a real tag team. I loved the intensity that both teams showcased to bring the hype towards Sunday. Although this might be an odd-couple like championship match, I still am curious to see how these two teams configure for the first time!

Match #2 – Main Event – Gauntlet Match (The New Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles)
The match begins with Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan squaring off toe to toe. Kingston gains the upperhand and has a test of strength with the WWE champion. Bryan takes control to stop his momentum with Rowan standing on the outside. Kingston gains momentum again and sends Bryan rolling to ringside. Bryan somehow gets back in it with a mean uppercut. Kofi comes back and after a series of moves, applies a headlock. The New Daniel Bryan stops his comeback with a series of Irish whip knee strikes which then turn into his vintage surfboard stretch submission. Kingston escapes and hits the champion with a flying back elbow. While Bryan attempts to throw Kofi over the top rope, Kingston saves himself and throws him into ringside for an opening towards a suicide dive, which sends us into a television intermission. Coming back, Daniel Bryan gloats to the Ohio crowd and attempts a pinfall which does not work while in control of Kofi Kingston. Kingston then sends Bryan into the corner turnbuckle but Bryan hits him with a suplex gordbuster onto the ropes. Daniel Bryan then hits a flying knee for an unsuccessful pin attempt. The New Daniel Bryan hits an unsuccessful flying goat flying attack due to Kingston rolling out of the way. Kingston comes back and hits the boom drop as well as a summersault senton on Bryan. He then hits a flying crossbody and brings him to the corner but Bryan reverses it and gains control yet again. The WWE champion puts Kofi in the tree of woe position and hits a basement dropkick. He then goes for a back superplex but accidentally, Kofi lands on Bryan’s face in what looked like a crossbody reversal to send us into another commercial break. Returning from break, twenty minutes into the match, Bryan applies his vintage yes kicks which only gets Kofi down for a two count. Kingston hits a huricanrana but is later reversed into Bryan’s LaBelle Lock but Kofi reaches for the rope break and rolls out to the outside. Bryan hits a flying knee off the apron onto the outside. Bryan attempted a headbutt from the skies but Kofi reversed it into a dropkick. At ringside, The New Day’s Big E and Xavier Woods fight with Erick Rowan fight onto the outside which leads the New Day to be banned from ringside. Rowan attacks Kofi which leads him to be removed from ringside. Kofi Kingston then finds himself open to hit Bryan with Trouble in Paradise for the elimination. Jeff Hardy appears for the next entry into the gauntlet. After another intermission, an exhausted Kofi Kingston sends Jeff Hardy onto the outside. Jeff hardy attempts a Swanton Bomb in the early going but misses. Jeff Hardy hits his vintage double leg drop but Kofi attempts to reverse it with a roll up which is only good for a two count. The two competitors meet on the top rope for a superplex by Jeff  but Kingston sends him flying down and hits a crossbody but is again reversed. Kofi then hits Hardy with an SOS finisher to pin the Charismatic Enigma. Samoa Joe enters the match to send us into another break. After the third break of the bout, after 38 minutes into the match, Joe is seen dominating and already tired Kofi Kingston. Joe sends Kofi to the corner and hits his vintage corner enziguri dropkick for a two count. He then applies the abdominal stretch to gain momentum. Kofi sends Joe to ringside and hits a fltying ringside crossbody that take both men out. They both make it to the ring before Jason Ayers’s count of ten. Joe applies another surfboard hold to wear down the WWE veteran. Joe then pushes Kofi, who intended to go for a springboard move for a ten count. Kofi desperately crawls in to be saved but is caught by Joe in a crucial head crank maneuver. Kofi escapes and hits Joe with a dropkick. Joe catches Kofi with the Coquina Clutch but Kofi somehow gets a pin which is successful enough to get the three and the elimination. Joe attacks Kofi after the match which is then broken up by the next entrant AJ Styles who attempts to wake up Kofi after the assault for another commercial. As we return once again, Kofi confronts AJ Styles, saying he can fight after Styles told him that he did not have to fight. Styles responds by viciously attacking Kingston and hits a backbreaker for a unsuccessful two count. He then aggressively sends him into the turnbuckle and starts attacking the leg, specifically the left knee joint. Kofi attempts to fight back but his knee buckles after a huge kick from the Phenomenal One makes it buckle. Styles attempts a suplex but Kofi attempts a few roll ups which leads into a impactful backbreaker. Kofi attampts a double knee strike to Styles when both men are on the apron which Kofi misses and gets his knees onto the ring post. Styles hits a Styles forearm strike onto Kofi into the turnbuckle. However, Kofi hits a crossbody onto the back but it leads to Calf Crusher from Styles to eliminate Kofi, which he gets a standing ovation. Styles awaits for Orton and gets hit with an RKO out of nowhere to win the match as well as the last spot in the Elimination Chamber match to end the show!
Result: Kofi Kingston eliminates The New Daniel Bryan via pinfall
–
Kofi Kingston eliminates Jeff Hardy via pinfall
–
Kofi Kingston eliminates Samoa Joe via pinfall
–
AJ Styles eliminates Kofi Kingston via submission
–
Randy Orton eliminates AJ Styles via pinfall
My Thoughts:
I don’t know what to say about this match other than that it was completely insane! That must have been one of the best, if not the best ending in SmackDown Live history. The athleticism and surreal endurance of Kofi Kingston showcased that he can become WWE champion after ten plus years in the business. If I may add, look at the creative ways he eliminated his opponents: reversing the Coquina Clutch and a Trouble in Paradise! Also, he survived over an hour of television time to prove to the world that he still can hang with every one on the roster. However, I was surprised of how quickly it ended with a calf crusher to Kofi and then transitioning into the RKO finish. Maybe it was a last minute creative decision to have the matches go on as long as they did for the ending to work but I was certainly pleased with it all. Plus, he pinned the WWE champion!!! I applaud the performance of all superstars who participated for putting on a show tonight. Well done Team Blue!

Final Thoughts
Forget what I stated last week! Forget what I said about the show dragging down! Tonight proved all doubters should be doubters no more as this episode broke ground as a night to remember. Sure, to most, having one match take up an entire show might be considered outrageous however, it is well worth the timing. From humble and very heated beginnings with The Queen getting heat from last night to McMiz getting the wind blown out of them, I as a fan became a fan of the relatively shorter episode than we have seen with multiple segments and numerous interviews/exclusives. I give kudos to whomever thought of the gauntlet match since it was played out perfectly well. Honestly, I did not expect Kofi to outlast all the other competitors as he did for over an hour. Again, this is something I hold near and dear to my heart as I think that it was shows like this that place a smile on your face at the end of a Tuesday night. To answer the question of if this was the episode to get me hyped for Elimination Chamber this Sunday, yes. To shock most who will probably claim that this was your average go-home show for SmackDown Live, tonight actually fulfilled some butterflies! The February 12^thedition proved that WWE can actually host a great weekly episodic television show that fulfills a Tuesday night, when the kiddies come home.