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WWE SmackDown Live comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Feb. 13, 2018) from the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for next month in Ohio.
Advertised for tonight: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin with the winner earning entry in the WWE championship match at Fastlane, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR FEB. 13
I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moment’s gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity. Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind. Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, but I’m still going to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with Dolph Ziggler making his entrance.
Baron Corbin’s music plays but turns off. They try again and we cut backstage where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, absolute heroes, are trying their damnedest to save me from having to liveblog the advertised match. They let up for a moment and go to leave, but when Corbin tries to get up they turn around and beat on him a bunch more before saying one down, one to go.
In the arena, Owens and Zayn come out and do a pincer attack, Sami heading up the crowd and drawing Ziggler out so Kev can catch him and beat him down! They drag Dolph back and throw him over the barricade and into the ringside area, where the Show-Off tries to rally but gets thrown into the apron by KO. Helluva Kick from Sami!
Baron comes back out but Owens and Zayn cut him off with ease and force Adam Pearce to come out with a few referees and keep them all separated.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw.
Charlotte Flair vs. Sarah Logan
Logan right in there, lockup in the corner, break, back to the collar and elbow in the middle of the ring, forcing Flair back but eventually the champ shoves her away. Sarah with a waistlock, into a judo throw, waistlock takedown, another, Charlotte breaks loose but Logan stays on her with a front chancery. Reversed by Flair into one of her own, biel, running boot, Sarah heads outside to talk strategy with the rest of the Riott Squad and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Flair hits a German suplex to take the momentum back! Folling it up with an atomic drop, Logan throws a chop and Charlotte gives three back! More chops against the ropes, slam denied and Sarah tackles her from behind for a nearfall! Stomp in passing, snap butterfly suplex gets two, and into a single arm cutthroat choke. Flair fights to her feet, gets whipped to the corner, ducks the charge and hits a high knee!
Double knees from Logan get two and cut the rally off, kicks and forearms, just laying ‘em into the side of Charlotte’s head on the mat but unable to finish the match just yet. Kneeling armbar, grinding the knee into the shoulder hard, shifting to a cover, only good for two. Kick, a chop, Flair trying to fight back in but she gets hung up on the ropes trying a boot and Sarah German suplexes her!
Logan staying on her with forearms, Charlotte gives her a good one right back to the face but Sarah sends her face-first into the middle turnbuckle. Flair with the STO backbreaker / reverse STO combo...
Charlotte Flair wins by pinfall with a spike Natural Selection.
Flair celebrates her victory with Becky Lynch and Naomi before heading to commentary to gesture that she has one left in her war against the Riott Squad.
Daniel Bryan is backstage when Shane McMahon rolls up, asking if Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are the type of WWE Champion he’s looking for? It’s not going down like that, and he’s already spoken to Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, and he’s gonna give them their opportunity tonight, in singles matches, Corbin against Owens and Ziggler against Zayn, and if either win, they get a spot in the title match at Fast Lane.
And if Sami or Kevin interfere in the match they’re not in, they’re out of the match, to boot.
On this bureaucratic action, we go to break.
Back from commercial we get another one of the Black History Month video packages centered around WWE’s trip to the National Civil Rights Museum.
Baron Corbin vs. Kevin Owens
Owens right in with punches and kicks in the corner until referee Mike Chioda warns him off. Baron with a few punches, KO heads to the floor and eventually back in to put boots to the Lone Wolf once again. Whip reversed, Corbin runs into a boot but clocks Kev with a right hand so hard he falls off the turnbuckles! On the floor, Baron puts him into the barricade!
Back inside, Owens heads right back out again but it’s a ruse and he puts Corbin into the apron and then the post! Back inside, KO with a punch to the ribs, overhead elbow, stomp to the midsection, pass into the corner, a whip sees Baron slide out and back in... and run right into a low kick! Cannonball connects... NOPE! On that close call, we go to break.
Back from commercial, Owens puts Corbin into the steps and takes him back in the ring for a running senton that comes up with a nearfall and follows it up with the grounded reverse chinlock. Knee strikes as he’s in danger of getting out of the hold, off the ropes, the Lone Wolf hits the chokebreaker! KO to his feet, he walks into right hands from Baron that knock him down.
Sidestep the charge, out and back in, huge lariat and Owens goes down hard! Corbin sets Kev up in the turnbuckles, but clubs and a headbutt or two fight him off, sidestep the charge, schoolboy... NOT ENOUGH! Stomp in passing, Owens heads up top, Baron meets him with the goozle! KO fights him off, hangs him over the top rope... and charges into DEEP SIX!
Duck a lariat, superkick, he sends Baron into the ropes for the powerbomb but comes up empty, Corbin launches off...
Baron Corbin wins by pinfall with End of Days, earning a spot in the WWE Championship match at Fast Lane.
Commentary discusses the SmackDown Top 10 List and the controversy about some of the placement of people on the list before informing us that Bobby Roode will have a United States Championship Open Challenge after the break.
Back from commercial, Bobby Roode makes his entrance.
He gets on the mic and says that from the moment he won the title he said he wanted to be the greatest United States Championship in history, but to do that he has to steal a tradition from a man he wants to surpass, John Cena. Cena defended the title week in and week out against anyone and everyone, so it gives him great pride and respect to continue the United States Open Challenge.
Obviously the open challenge is for anyone in the locker room, but for tonight, he’s hoping that the man who accepts his challenge comes out and meets him face to face instead of hitting him with an RKO outta nowhere.
Of course, Voices hits and Randy Orton comes out, we have a match.
...except Jinder Mahal’s music hits before the bell can ring. He says at least the WWE Universe respects Orton, but the SmackDown roster do not, voting him #9 on the top ten list. He talks up Randy’s credentials before reminding him that he beat him for the WWE Championship, but he does respect him. The rest of the roster thinks the Viper has peaked.
Randy says he doesn’t care about any top ten list and never will. Mahal questions this, bringing up that it’s been sixteen years and he’s number nine, but Roode’s been around six months and he’s number five! Orton’s sacrificed everything for his career, and this is how far he gets? Jinder says he respects Randy again, but has it on good authority that Roode considers himself a future Legend Killer.
Bobby says those are big words for a man who couldn’t even make the top ten. Why couldn’t he make the list? Nobody respects him, and speaking of respect, Roode has nothing but it for Orton and everything he’s done. But why is Orton number nine? Just his opinion, but people are getting sick and tired of being attacked out of nowhere. Randy asks if he means like when he-- RKO OUTTA NOWHERE ON THE SINGH BROTHER!
Jinder fires back with Khallas on both men!
We go to break on a hype reel for tonight’s Mixed Match Challenge.
Back from commercial we’re reminded that Ronda Rousey will be signing her WWE contract at Elimination Chamber.
Big E does the deal and the New Day make their entrance.
They head in the ring where they have eight platters of pancakes set out on a table. You see, today is Shrove Day, or Fat Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, baby! To celebrate their favorite holiday, Big E is going to destroy the pancake eating record, which stands at 113 pancakes in eight minutes. E feels good, so it’s on!
We have a pancake counter on screen but no timer, which seems like a mistake. Big is just jamming pancakes into his mouth but it’s not incrementing at all--
And Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin show up to poop the party. Chad says this is awesome, when he was training for the Olympics, this is exactly what he envisioned being a part of. Good job! Shelton says he thinks what they’re doing is great, what New Day have done for pancakes is astronomical and they should take their act on the road. Think about it, they could open up their own version of iHOP and leave the SmackDown tag division to a couple of serious competitors.
Big E exposes his nipples while Xavier asks if they’re being serious before reminding them that your boys set the record for longest reigning tag team champions in WWE. And riddle him this, who even wants to see Gable and Benjamin as champions? Nobody, that’s who. Chad throws a pancake on the canvas and Shelton follows suit as they mock New Day. Benjamin flapped his jack!
Big E gets hot about them touching their ‘cakes, and Gable says it’s okay because they have news-- nobody likes pancakes. (That’s completely incorrect, I have it on good authority that former Evolve World Champion Timothy Thatcher enjoys his pancakes and he enjoys them dry!) From now on, Shelton says, they’re eating waffles! Woods and Kingston have to hold E back and we go to break.
Back from commercial and a match is in progress!
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs. New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston)
Kofi and Shelton, Benjamin catches him with a wicked pop-up knee strike! Tag to Gable, he goes to work on Kofi’s arm, knee drop armbreaker into a kneeling armbar, Kingston flips him away but Chad catches him with the rolling Koppo kick for a nearfall! Tag back to Shelton, hammerlock but Kofi fights out, clubbing blows, tag back to Gable, Kingston starts to rally, lands on his feet on a back suplex, almost has the tag... and Chad yanks Big off the apron.
Benjamin clocks Woods in the head for good measure and heads back in the ring. Tags soon made, E comes in hot with the belly-to-belly suplexes, three in total! Thinking about the Big Ending, no good, both men down and out but referee Brian Nguyen didn’t see a tag and New Day are able to capitalize...
New Day win by pinfall with Midnight Hour on Chad Gable.
New Day celebrate with a bit of tromboning.
Backstage, Dolph Ziggler runs into an interview. He says he’s been a little more selective lately, picking his spots and somehow here we are, another opportunity. He lives for this, he loves it, and it’s about doing what he was put on this planet to do, perform in that ring. No one does what he can do, and no one will outshine him, and Sami and Kevin know that, hence the attack from behind.
They know it’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to stop him, and the only reason he’s back is for the one thing that’s eluded him his entire career-- he wants to main event WrestleMania, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t walk in there as WWE Champion.
On that bombshell, we go to break.
Back from commercial we get a hype reel for WrestleMania.
New Day are walking in a smoky area talking about how dominant they are and how it’s lights out for anybody who challenges them. They’re not just any other tag team, they’re real brothers and nothing can break their bond, ride or die from the womb to the tomb-- LUKE HARPER JUST SHATTERED THE TV THE PROMO WAS PLAYING ON WITH HIS HAMMER!
Backstage Kevin Owens gives Sami Zayn a pep talk that turns into him telling Sami not to let him down, and Zayn tells him there’s no “we” in the title match.
We get entrances, but the actual match will have to wait until after the break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up a women’s trios match for next week.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Sami Zayn
Dolph in hot, forcing Sami into the corner and getting pulled back by referee Mike Chioda. Ziggler goes low, picks a leg, front chancery applied, but Zayn finds sanctuary in the ropes and breaks dirty with a headbutt to the midsection. Locking up, they end up right back in the ropes and Dolph breaks with a vicious right hook! Following it up with a neckbreaker, corner body avalanche, another neckbreaker, but the sequence is only good for two.
Sami rolls outside and takes a breather before heading back in. Struggling for control, Zayn turns Dolph around and hammers him with forearms to the back of the neck! Stomps in the corner, double leg, catapult into the middle rope and Sami smells blood in the water, choking Dolph under the ropes. Clubbing away in the corner, shifting to chops, whip reversed, back elbow up, pop to the second, boot to the face, he comes off the ropes... right into a dropkick from Ziggler that sends us to break.
Back from commercial, Sami has a rear chinlock on but Dolph is able to get to his feet. Whipped off into an elbow, only a two count, following it up with disdainful kicks. Straight suplex, Ziggler floats over, waistlock, back elbows fend that off and Dolph gets the big DDT! Off the ropes, Fameasser denied on the first try but the second try lands home... NOPE!
Ziggler to his feet first, he heads to the apron and climbs the turnbuckles but Zayn is right with him. Dolph knocks him down, Sami crotches him and they jockey for position some more... SAMI ZAYN WITH THE EXPLODER SUPERPLEX! Back to their feet, trading blows, Sami gets a rush of forearms, off the ropes, catches the dropkick and catapults Ziggler into the ringpost!
Waiting for Dolph to get up, he dodges the Helluva Kick, Zig Zag... NOT ENOUGH! Ziggler waiting, Sami sidesteps the superkick and puts him into the post! Pulling him in, Zayn puts him into the post a second time! He drags Dolph up, hooks him but Ziggler gets a few punches off, victory roll... NO GOOD! Sami catches him with the corner exploder suplex! Calling for it, he charges in for the Helluva Kick but Dolph has it scouted...
Dolph Ziggler wins by pinfall with the superkick, earning a spot in the WWE Championship match at Fast Lane.
Dolph celebrates with the people.
That’s the show, folks.