Wells Fargo Center
Philadelphia, PA
March 7, 2025
Commentators: Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia
The fallout of Elimination Chamber has now hit Smackdown. Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre cost each other the match on Saturday, Randy Orton made his return after months out of action and the John Cena heel turns means a Cody Rhodes rebuttal. We begin with a graphic that LA Knight will meet Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE United States Championship as well as Braun Strowman going one on one with Solo Sikoa. Solo arrives with Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu. Drew McIntyre arrives....and attacks Damian Priest. He says "What did you think was gonna happen?" McIntyre walks off and Priest is laid out. That's one way to start the show.
We hit ringside to introduce Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett. We get the same Elimination Chamber highlight package from Raw including the hilarious fan reactions. Here comes Randy Orton for a conference who hadn't been seen on Smackdown in a while. He says a lot of crazy stuff has happened since he's been gone. He says since he started, John Cena has always been on the top of the mountain and now he's The Rock's bottom. He says that gives a whole new meaning to the term "rock bottom". Orton says Cena has been one of his only friends in the business and Kevin Owens was another. He says both him and Owens have done vile things and crossed the line to get the job done. He respects Owens the wrestler because of how he fought and clawed to get to WWE. Its Kevin Owens the man he has a problem is and "never underestimate a jealous man's ability to destroy another man." Orton says Owens was jealous of Cody Rhodes not because he chose Roman as a tag partner, but because he wanted Cody's title. He brings up Owens wanting to destroy Sami not because he stayed neutral in the ladder match, but he was jealous that Sami became a bigger star than him. Randy asks what Owens had to be jealous about since he main evented Wrestlemania twice, including against Steve Austin. A year and a half ago doctors told him he'd never wrestle again and Owens pissed him off. Orton says when he rKo'd Owens normally he would have been satisfied but he felt the "old" voices in his head tell him to punt Owens so his family wouldn't recognize him. Orton promises Owens that Pat McAfee is only the second greatest punter in WWE. Great story here that Orton has to dig down deep for the venom in order to counter this sadistic side of Owens.
Nick Aldis is with WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton when US Champion Chelsea Green and Piper Niven walk in. Chelsea complains that Tiffany ruined her Canadian homecoming last week and says she knows her rights. Tiffany says she has the right to remain silent and to shut up. Piper takes exception of it and Tiffany says let's go one on one. Chelsea says she can't because Piper's her "secret service" but Aldis says he runs the show, not her. Aldis says it's gonna be Tiffany vs Piper later....and here we go. During the commercial break preceding the match, Cody Rhodes will be here tonight to speak about the beat down at Elimination Chamber.
Match 1
Piper Niven vs WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton
Title isn't on the line, Tiffany just wants to do the world a favor by shutting up Chelsea by taking out her bodyguard first. Barrett "Piper is the equal of anyone in the division, including Stratton." They tie up to start and Niven backs her into the corner. They shove each other and Piper laughs before throwing her down out of a headlock. Tiffany goes up and over, backflips over Piper and locks in a headlock. Niven drops her with a shoulder block but misses the running senton. Tiffany hits the basement dropkick and a springboard hilo, covering for 1...2...no. Piper catches her mid-air and dumps her over the top rope to the floor. Piper hits a cannonball off the apron as we go to break. Back from commercial, Tiffany rallies with clotheslines and a shoulderblock. Tiffany hits another springboard back elbow in the corner and another basement dropkick. She covers for 1...2...no. Tiffany gets backed into the corner with shoulderblocks by Niven. Piper misses a charge in the corner and Tiffany pulls her down by the hair. Tiffany hits a swanton bomb and covers for 1...2..no. Tiffany runs into a Bossman Slam and Piper covers for 1...2...no. Niven goes for the Vader Bomb but misses and Tiffany hits the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, covering for 1...2....3 to win the match. Joe Tessitore "It...IS TIFFY...TIME. Serviceable match to try to make Tiffany look good ahead of her showdown with Charlotte Flair.
Time of match: 7:43
Winner: Stratton by pinfall
No time to celebrate because here's Charlotte Flair for the beat down. Flair clips Tiffany's left leg and hits the figure eight to a chorus of boos. Charlotte as a heel makes sense and Tiffany looks like she has no chance.
We cut to Nick Aldis with a chart of current events surrounding the WWE Tag Team Championship. He has an actual chart to tell us what's going on. Its the "madness" for March...haha. The Motor City Machine Guns made their debut and defeated DIY for the tag straps in November, the Street Profitz had their shot but Tommaso Ciampa interfered to cost them the match. It was supposed to be a rematch but someone took out the Profitz allowing DIY to take their place against the Guns. DIY turned heel and won back the titles in the match. The Profitz were waiting for DIY but Pretty Deadly showed up and said it was Legada Fantasma that attacked them. Profitz then attacked Los Garza only to find out they didn't do it. DIY told Pretty Deadly to claim it was Los Garza because Kit and Elton wanted a title shot. When DIY laughed at them, Kit and Elton said their title shot was coming. At the Royal Rumble, DIY won the 2 out of 3 falls match after the Profitz interfered to make sure DIY kept the belts so they themselves could take it from then. Aldis says The Motor City Machine Guns will take on Los Garza and Pretty Deadly in a triple threat tag team match to determine the number one contenders while the Street Profitz get the title shot next week against DIY. Wouldn't that mean the winners of the next match are the number 2 contenders? Aldis concludes this by saying "Its simple." We cut back to Wade Barrett who says "There was nothing simple about that. While Nick Aldis is making our brains hurt with trigonometry, let me sum it up for you. Smackdown's tag division is a chaotic mess and tonight we're going to restore some order."
Match 2
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) vs Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) vs Los Garza (Angel Garza and Humberto Carillo)
Kit Wilson starts with Chris Sabin....until Angel Garza tags himself in and tells Sabin to get lost. Garza eat a dropkick to the outside but Garza hits one of his own. Garza rips his pants off but Shelley tags himself in. Carillo tags himself in as well but apier six brawl develops as everyone beats on each other. Pretty Deadly sends the Guns outside, but Los Garza drops Pretty Deadly off the apron with double superkicks. Angel and Berto hit moonsaults on the other four guys before Berto throws Shelley inside. Berto kicks him in the back and taunts the irate crowd. Berto scoop slams Alex and hits a standing moonsault for 1...2...no. Angel tags in as Carillo drags Shelley to the apron where Garza kicks him off. Garza does jumping jacks on the apron to taunt Pretty Deadly then chops Shelley outside. Back inside Prince tags himself in and punches away at Shelley. Kit tags in but Shelley fights his way out of the corner. Prince hits a European uppercut and goes to tag....then realizes he already tagged (haha). Kit goes up top and they hit the Steiner Bulldog. Kit covers for 1....2...no, the others break it up. Wilson hits a European uppercut and sends Shelley shoulder first into the buckle. Wilson hits two running elbow smashes in the corner and Prince tags back in. Shelley hits a double DDT and gets the hot tag to Sabin. He cleans house and hits a top rope frankensteiner on Carillo. He then hits a top rope tornado DDT and covers for 1....2...no. Kit blind tags in as it breaks down with everyone spamming finishers to clear out. Sabin suicide dives onto Prince, Carillo and Garza. Prince is thrown back in and they call for Skull & Bones. Wilson shoves Shelley off the top and Prince hits a backslide on Sabin for 1...2....3 to win the match. Wow! After the last two months, Pretty Deadly gets the future title shot? Pretty Deadly head for the hills as an excited Barrett declares them the winners.
Time of match: 7:06
Winners: Pretty Deadly by pinfall
Tessitore and Barrett bring us back to Elimination Chamber when Jade Cargill returned to attack Naomi. After commercial we're shown the Philadelphia Sixers in the crowd, poor bastards. Bianca Belair hits the ring for a conference and we're shown her being involved in the World Women's Championship match on Raw that resulted in Iyo Sky winning the championship. Bianca says she should feel on top of the world after winning Elimination Chamber and going to Wrestlemania but she can't focus because her friends are fighting. She says Jade and her elevated the tag division and Naomi stepped in so the hard work didn't go to waste. Bianca says Naomi became her best friend and she can't believe she did it, so she wants answer. Naomi and Jade aren't texting her so she wants answers right now from Naomi. Naomi comes out in a glitter neckbrace and Bianca what in the hell is going on. Naomi says this isn't what it looks like and to lock in with her. Naomi says she stepped up when Jade was out and Bianca stops her. She asks flat out if she attacked Jade and Naomi says the outside noise is distraction from getting their tag belts back from Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Bianca says stop talking about anything else but Jade. Naomi mocks saying "Jade" and says her true feelings is Jade has piggybacked off Bianca the entire time. Naomi has been forced to watch Jade succeed off Bianca's hard work while she had to push forward by herself. Naomi starts breaking into tears as she says she didn't say a word because she wanted them to get her flowers. She says she doesn't give a damn about Jade and Bianca starts shouting at her to stop. Bianca breaks down herself and wants to know "Yes or no" or she's walking out for good. Naomi says "I did it." Bianca shakes her head as Naomi pulls a line from her father-in-law by saying she did it for Bianca. Bianca says this hurts because she loved Naomi and she can't look at her anymore. Bianca says they're done and walks out. Naomi shouts to come back before saying THEY turned on her, calling Bianca an ungrateful bitch. Bianca turns around slowly but Jade Cargill arrives in a van. Jade storms out of the van and walks up to Bianca. Bianca nods as if to say "Do what you gotta do." Barrett says Naomi better get her running shoes on. Jade chases Naomi but catches her on the barricade. Cargill throws her across the announce table and into the ring post. She throws Naomi in the ring and hits Jaded on her. Jade stands tall over Naomi and I still say they used the wrong woman for the heel turn. Bianca as a heel would have been monumental and Bianca/Jade would be epic. Guess they want to told that off for a while. Byron Saxton catches up to Drew McIntyre who blames Damian Priest for Wrestlemania last year, Elimination Chamber and everything else. He says he's going to take it out on the "black sheep" of the Bloodline. Braun Strowman makes his entrance for the next match as we go to break. Back from break, we get a vignette of Lex Luger doing DDP Yoga with DDP himself when Cody Rhodes walks in to announce Lex is going into the WWE Hall of Fame. Well deserved and long overdue. Now Byron Saxton is with Charlotte Flair and Charlotte says Tiffany didn't listen to her. Charlotte says the division has gone soft and no one's on her level. B-Fab walks in to take exception of being called soft. Charlotte says no one compares to her but B-Fab says no one is bowing to her and Charlotte says everyone does it eventually. Charlotte challenges her to a match next week in Barcelona....good idea. Charlotte needs someone to run over to show she means business heading into Wrestlemania.
Match 3
Braun Strowman vs Solo Sikoa
Solo walks out by himself but you know his boys will show eventually. This stems from Solo costing Strowman the Elimination Chamber match and Carmelo Hayes pulling an Eddie Guerrero last week. Bell's gone and a shoulderblock goes nowhere to start. Strowman finally drops Solo with a shoulderblock and sends Solo over the top rope. Braun runs the pain train but Solo throws him into the ring steps. He hits the running ass bump to Strowman against the barricade as we go to break. Back from commercial Solo hits a Samoan Drop on the 380 pound Strowman. Solo hits the running hip in the corner and poses for the irate crowd. Solo runs into a big boot and a crossbody by Strowman. Strowman hits a forearm to the chest and hits the pain train on the floor. Back inside Strowman avalanches Solo but gets sent into the buckle twice. Solo hits two kicks and calls for the Samoan Spike. Instead he runs into the powerslam and Braun covers for 1....2...nooo. Tama Tonga runs in for the DQ and gets clotheslined for his trouble. Garbage match but we're not done yet.
Time of match: 6:56
Winner: Strowman by DQ
After Strowman sends Tonga flying, here comes Jacob Fatu for the stare down. They get in the ring forn the brawl and Strowman walks into two superkicks. Strowman falls to the floor and Fatu goes for the suicide dive. Strowman catches him and slams him off the announce desk. Fatu gets up and runs across the desk to drop Strowman with a shoulderblock. Fatu sends Strowman over the barricade and jumps on him. Fatu superkicks Strowman onto the ring crates. He goes for the samoan drop off the crates but instead Strowman chokeslams Jacob through tables set up below. Strowman poses for the crowd as the refs and Suit Brigade hold back Fatu from further punishment. Tessitore and Barrett wonder how Fatu got up from that so easily and its funny how Fatu became the silent assassin that Solo was just 2 1/2 years ago.
We cut to Byron Saxton outside the Philadelphia Flyers locker room who's with LA Knight. Knight wants to talk to ya. He says One Moment, One Time in Japanese because he's gonna slap Shinsuke back to factory settings. He says we're standing in the birth of the US in Philly and the rebirth of his US title reign. He's faced everything Nakamura has thrown at him and he's going to give the US better representation and everyone will pledge allegiance to the US Champion...YEAH!!
Chelsea Green is dressed like Cactus Jack and she's with a busted up Piper Niven. She tries to revive her by putting her sunglasses on sideways. Zelina Vega walks in and says she's got winner of tonight's street fight. Chelsea punches Piper in the stomach to say this is the last thing she needs. She grabs Chelsea by the tie and leads her to the ring. Hahahahahaha!
Match 4
Michin vs Chelsea Green (with Piper Niven) for the WWE Women's United States Championship in a Street Fight
Tessitore and Barrett laugh at Chelsea dressed as Mick Foley as she makes her entrance. Michin brings a trash can full of weapons to the ring and Green cuts her off to start. Chelease gets send into the barricade as Barrett says Michin trained at the ECW Arena. Michin waffles Chelsea with a cookie sheet and throws in a crowbar. Michin throws Hercules' old chain in the ring and heaves the garbage can in as well. Chelsea hits Michin with a chair as the bell finally rings as the crowd chants ECW. Michin hits a drop-toe hold on Chelsea on a chair as Chelsea gets backdropped on the chains. Chelsea bails and Michin bites her fingers. Tessitore "Are you kidding me?" Michin grabs a table much to the crowd's delight but Chelsea hits the backstabber, kicking the table away. Chelsea kicks Michin in the back as they go back to the ring. Chelsea ties up Michin with the chain and flings her around the ring with it. Chelsea drags Michin outside and heaves her into the barricade. Chelsea heaves Michin into the side of the ring and chokes her with the chain. Michin then uses the chain to ram Chelsea into the ring post. Michin frees herself and sprays her with a fire extinguisher. The crowd wants a table and Michin grabs it to a chorus of cheers....until Niven drops her from behind with a right hand. Piper heaves Michin back in the ring and holds her down with a trash can as Chelsea hits a Van Terminator (!!) on Michin. B-Fab hits the ring and chases Piper away with a singapore cane. Michin canes Chelsea Green a few times and dropkicks her into the corner. Michin sets the garbage can against Chelsea, twerks (Keith Lee approves) and hits the cannonball in the corner. She covers for 1...2...no. Michin sets up a pile of chairs but gets the table from the outside. The crowd chants ECW but Chelsea bulldogs Miachin into the bottom of the table. Chelsea sets the table up in the corner and goes for the Dreamer Driver, but Michin blocks it with Eat The Feet. Michin heads to the top rope and hits the senton off the top rope through the table. She covers for 1....2....noooo, someone in a hood pulls her out. Who the hell could this be? ITS ALBA FYRE! She hits a Canadian Destroyer on Michin on the pile of chairs, then rolls Chelsea on top of her for 1....2....3 to win the match. Alba takes her jacket off to reveal a business suit, THERE'S your next secret service agent for Chelsea. Alba helps her up as she retains in a great, fun match. Chelsea dressing up in different outfits every week is hilarious.
Time of match: 10:03
Winner: Chelsea Green by pinfall (still US Champion)
Santos Escobar gives Los Garza a tongue lashing for losing the match. Escobar is PISSED they lost to Pretty Deadly and I don't blame him. Escobar DEMANDS they win their next match and Garza walks off with Escobar. Andrade walks up to Berto and says he can be a breakout star if he goes with him. With Elektra gone, a breakup of Legada Fantasma seems imminent. Back from commercial, TKO is partnering with Saudi Arabia for future boxing fights, ah lovely.
After another Elimination Chamber highlight, here comes Cody Rhodes for his long awaited speech regarding the John Cena heel turn. Cody is still showing the shiner that Travis Scott gave him for real on Saturday. Cody sets the belt down and grabs a mic for his soliloquy. The crowd chants "Cena sucks" like its 2015 and Cody says "So, Philadelphia....city of champions....what...do you wanna talk about?" Cody goes on about how he has to face his four year old daughter asking what happened to his face. He says he had to tell a Cody lie and say he ran into a wall. He says it was a wall designed by the final boss The Rock, his associate Travis Scott and his Wrestlemania 41 opponent John Cena. He says he drove Cena around for two years and sponge his knowledge because he was a hero. So one day he'll tell his daughter that a great man, that did great things and never used to give up....gave up. Rhodes apologizes for his language and wants to know why Cena did this. Rhodes says it will be an epic speech from Cena but there is no justification for his actions. He's well aware he's talking to the whole world but for those in Philly tonight, he's going to tell a story. He says Dusty Rhodes was afraid of working in Philly and needed the Road Warriors to help him feel cool. Then Philly cheered Cody at MITB and helped him finish his story last year. He says Cena pointed at the WWE title and said "it gets heavier every day." Cody picks the belt up and says its not heavy enough. Rhodes says Cena is not the last of his kind as Cody is still here and if Cena wants some, COME GET SOME! Cody is definitely ready for Wrestlemania.
We cut to The Miz and Carmelo Hayes with Nick Aldis. Miz wants an interview with Cody on Melo Don't MizTV. Melo didn't agree to that but he wonders why Cody turned down The Rock's offer. Carmelo says Randy Orton's been on his couch playing Fortnite for four months and naturally Randy walks up behind saying Fortnite is for kids, he's been playing Elden Ring. Aldis says Randy's got a match next week with Carmelo Hayes in Barcelona. Melo shakes his head but Orton says he's on the one yard line, don't fumble. Back in the day the European tour would start after Wrestlemania in March but now that its in the middle of April, the tour comes first. On to the next match.
Match 5
Jimmy Uso vs Drew McIntyre
This has all the makings of a squash since Jimmy is just kind of there right now and Drew desperately needs a win. Jimmy doesn't wait, he punches Drew right at the start. Jimmy chops drew and throws him over the top rope. Jimmy's suicide dive is blocked by a right hand from McIntyre. Drew chops Jimmy in the corner and kicks him in the stomach. Drew chops Jimmy's chest as the crowd chants CM Punk. Outside Jimmy slams Drew's head into the announce table and hits a superkick. Jimmy tackles Drew over the announce table as we go to commercial. Back from break Jimmy chops Drew and kicks him in the ribs. Jimmy hits an enziguiri and a samoan drop. He covers for 1...2..no. Jimmy hits the ass bump in the corner on Drew and goes up top. Drew stops him but Jimmy stops the superplex attempt by shoving him off. Jimmy hits a superkick and covers for 1..2...no. Jimmy goes up to the top rope but misses the splash. Drew hits the Claymore Kick and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. As expected, Drew needed a big win for some heat back and Jimmy was the sacrificial lamb.
Time of match: 7:16
Winner: McIntyre by pinfall
After the match, Drew goes to jump Uso but here comes Damian Priest for the beat down. Priest punches him down and has to be restrained by the Suit Bridgade and referees. Priest breaks free long enough to superkick him in the head. This is definitely going to be settled at Wrestlemania.
We cut to Shinsuke Nakamura's Japanese promo. He says "There is no better location for the death of your dreams than the birth place of the United States." He says Knight will beg for mercy and will find none tonight.
Back from break, we get a promo for Street Profitz vs DIY for the WWE Tag Team Championships next week in Barcelona. Now they have to worry about Pretty Deadly as well. Profitz still want the smoke though. Byron Saxton is with DIY and they say they're the best and other tag teams can fight each other, but they're number one. Ciampa says the Profitz are big, bad and hoping to win, but Gargano says their dream is dead because DIY is too good. Ciampa and Gargano hold a moment of silence for the Profitz chances of winning. Saxton angers Gargano by talking almost immediately and Barrett tells Tessitore to be silent. Ha! We get a graphic for Barcelona next week, Profitz vs DIY, B-Fab vs Charlotte Flair, Carmelo Hayes vs Randy Orton and MizTV with Cody Rhodes. On to our main event...as Wade Barrett screams YEAHHH.
Match 6
LA Knight vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE United States Championship
Shinsuke takes forever to take his mask off during the intro and attacks at the bell. Knight runs into a knee to the ribs but Knight rallies with right hands. Nakamura bails to the outside but Knight gets caught on the apron with a running knee. Nakamura kicks Knight in the back and hits a sliding german suplex off the second rope. A charge in the corner eats boot and Knight hits a second rope bulldog. Knight clotheslines Nakamura over the top of the floor and baseball slides him. Knight hops up on the barricade and clotheslines Nakamura down. Back inside Knight goes to the second rope but Shinsuke pulls him off. Shinsuke hits a knee to the ribs and kicks Knight in the chest outside. Knight rams Shinsuke's head into the announce table a bunch of times and is dropped throat first on it. Knight screams YEAAHHH but is thrown into the ring steps. After breaking the count, Nakamura sends Knight back inside. Nakamura kicks Knight in the ribs and face then Shinsuke drops a knee to the face. He covers for 1...2...no. Shinsuke knees Knight in the ribs and kicks him in the side of the leg. They play "yay boo" with punches and Knight clotheslines him down. He hits a jumping neckbreaker and hits a powerslam. Knight does the Yeah Elbow and covers for 1...2..no. Knight goes for the superplex but Nakamura blocks it. Knight goes for a frankensteiner but Nakamura goes for the back superplex. He hits it and covers for 1...2...no. Nakamura knees Knight in the ribs and calls for the Kinshasha, but Knight counters with a clothesline. Nakamura still goes up to the top but Knight pounces to the top rope and hits the superplex. He hits the flying elbow drop and calls for the BFT. Nakamura bails and grabs a chair, but Knight takes it away. He goes to use it but stops himself, knowing he can't win that way. Nakamura kicks him away and brings the chair into the ring. Referee Charles Robinson grabs it and Knight charges only for Nakamura to move out of the way. Knight stops himself and Shinsuke loads up the mist. Knight ducks and Robinson gets sprayed with it. Knight rolls up Nakamura but Robinson can't count. Tessitore complains about it as Nakamura hits Scorpio Rising. He grabs the chair but it gets kicked in his face. Knight hits BFT and covers...but there's no ref. Another one runs in for 1......2....3 to win the match and title. We hit the credits with Knight as the new US Champion. Damn good match but peculiar to have Nakamura drop it back to Knight here instead of Wrestlemania. Oh well, the fans go home happy.
Time of match: 11:10
Winner: Knight by pinfall (New US Champion)
This kind of felt like the same format as Raw. Big speech (Punk/Cody), shocking title win (Iyo/Knight) and good tag team action. We got a month and change to Wrestlemania and taking titles off two of your champions seems rather odd. Nakamura vs Knight at Wrestlemania makes sense as well as Bianca vs Ripley....but we ain't getting one of the two for sure, if not both. Still, we got a whole month to build some stuff that's not already set in stone. Still, Jade getting her hands on Naomi again this soon after Elimination Chamber seems pointless if you want to drag something out another month. We got a new US Champion and matches set for Barcelona, not much more you can ask for. The next show after this will be Monday night in Madison Square Garden for Raw. I'll see you there.
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