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WWE SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Feb. 25, 2022) with a show emanating from Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, featuring all the fallout from the Elimination Chamber event that went down just this past weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Advertised for tonight: Universal Champion Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will sign a contract for their Title vs. Title Winner-Take-All match at WrestleMania 38.
Elsewhere on the card: Sami Zayn will celebrate his new reign as the Intercontinental champion, and Drew McIntyre will fight Madcap Moss in a rematch from Elimination Chamber.
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on FOX. It will be below this line here. (Note: Going forward, there will be no ban on GIFs or images in the live blog threads. Feel free to post as you wish.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR FEB. 25
The moment you walked in the room, my friend, the demons, they all went away. Be careful, they’re only asleep for a while, pretending there’s nothing to say. Throw salt in all the corners here, make sure you watch him leave, but I’ll be liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you folks.
The show opens with a recap of Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Championship back in the Elimination Chamber last weekend.
Michael Cole is in the ring and introduces Ronda Rousey.
She explains her long absence as a series of injuries and rehab and getting pregnant and says that as soon as she had her due date she knew she wanted to target this year’s Royal Rumble for her comeback. She talks about the role model her mother was for her and how she wants to set the same kind of example for her daughter.
This segues to talk about all her accolades and her victory in tag team action at Elimination Chamber.
Enter Charlotte Flair.
She says she showed Ronda a lot of mercy on Saturday and she felt sorry for her but it won’t be like that at WrestleMania, and she’s gonna send her home to work on baby number two. Sonya Deville attacks Rousey from behind and Charlotte posts her knee repeatedly!
Sonya gets in her face and asks why she’s such a failure but Ronda manages to monkey flip her out of the ring!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Adam Pearce is in his office chastising Sonya Deville for her actions just now and points out she wasn’t even wearing her jacket.
Los Lotharios get their entrance complete with annoyingly normative kiss cam.
Los Lotharios (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo) vs. New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston)
New Day running strong early, double-teaming Carrillo, E puts the Cobra Twist in! Keeping him isolated as Kofi tags back in, but Garza turns things around on the floor and takes his pants off to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Kingston is isolated as Los Lotharios work a heat segment at some length. Kofi gets the pop-up stomp for some separation and the path is clear! Tags made, E comes in hot and hits the trifecta of belly-to-belly suplexes on Carrillo! Off the ropes, Big Splash connects and Big is fired up!
Big Ending denied, Garza runs interference and Humberto cracks a superkick across E’s chest! New Day manage to hit a double team but Angel breaks it up and the match breaks down! SOS blocked, Garza clobbers Kofi with a suicide dive and approaches Big E’s birthday ATV.
That distraction is enough for Kingston to dive on him and roll him back inside, E hits a belly-to-belly on Carrillo and Kofi climbs... AND DIVES INTO A SUPERKICK! HE KICKS OUT! Big is about to run Humberto over with the ATV, Angel begs, Kofi rolls him through, hits a knee and the tag...
New Day win by pinfall with Midnight Hour on Angel Garza.
We see the Usos hanging out backstage with Sam Roberts.
A Toyota ad featuring Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs kayaking follows and sends us to break.
Back from commercial, Ridge Holland and Sheamus have a chat with New Day, admiring their ATV and threatening to beat them up.
Sam Roberts interviews the Usos.
They talk up Roman Reigns’ contract signing for the unification match against Brock Lesnar later tonight and say they’re gonna put the work on the Viking Raiders just like their cousin is gonna do to Lesnar.
Viking Raiders attack while they’re calling them smelly vikings and beat them down, demanding their title shot.
Xia Li is interviewed backstage.
She says she’s been waiting for this moment her whole life, and she’s worked hard in NXT to get here. She’s nervous but confident, because she is The Protector, and tonight Natalya will need protection.
Xia Li makes her entrance to send us to break.
Natalya vs. Xia Li
Natalya out the gates with a mat slam, boots in the corner, whip to the corner, setting Xia up in the turnbuckles, she goes up and over, dropkick for two. Neidhart with the discus lariat for two of her own, smashing Li into the corner and striking away on her! Snap suplex, disdainful headkicks get a warning from referee Jason Ayers but she disregards it.
Cobra Twist applied, Xia fights out, catches a kick, elbows to the knee, jumping knees to the face, kick to the gut, corner knee into an overhead elbow and then a northern lights suplex for a nearfall! Nattie with a double leg, step-through, Li blocks the Sharpshooter and kicks her aside!
Xia lines her up...
Xia Li wins by pinfall with a crescent kick.
We get a recap of Sami Zayn winning the Intercontinental Championship back.
He makes his entrance wearing a gold smoking jacket, because of course he does, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sami Zayn gets on the mic and... my sound cuts out entirely but I mean it’s Sami Zayn celebrating getting his baby back, I don’t really think we need a road map here.
“Oh boy I’m Sami Zayn and I overcame a year worth of conspiracies to regain the Intercontinental Championship I never should have lost look at me I’m so great, etc etc.”
Eventually Johnny Knoxville makes his entrance and slides in the ring to confront Sami. They bicker back and forth while I fiddle with my remote and find the closed captioning button. Anyway, turns out Johnny’s been challenging him to defend the title and accuses him of not having enough balls.
Zayn jumps him and beats him down before hitting the Helluva Kick!
He grabs his balloons and title belt and celebrates to send us to break.
Back from commercial we get a Black History Month video package highlighting pillar of the community Titus O’Neil’s charitable efforts.
A recap of Sami Zayn beating Johnny Knoxville up follows.
Sami is backstage complaining to Adam Pearce, Pearce berates him for breaking Johnny Knoxville, and Ricochet rolls up and steps up to challenge the fighting champion. Adam says it’s official, Ricochet gets to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship next week!
Naomi makes her entrance to join commentary for this next one.
Sasha Banks vs. Shotzi Blackheart
Jawing, Shotzi goes for a Shotei and gets caught but fights out of Banks muscling her down into the crossface! Snap suplex, another one, doing the Three Amigos but Blackheart suplexes her into the ropes and gets two! Sasha hits a Meteora, off the ropes, basement Codebreaker, the lungblower connects...
Sasha Banks wins by submission with the Bank Statement.
Post-match, Naomi gets on the mic and says she and Sasha are going after the tag titles.
Madcap Moss and Happy Corbin are interviewed backstage.
Corbin laughs at Moss’ Elimination Chamber loss and says tonight, Drew McIntyre has to deal with him in a WrestleMania-caliber match.
Drew McIntyre makes his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Corbin gets on the mic before the bell and asks if Drew really wants to waste a WrestleMania caliber match and be humiliated in Hershey, Pennsylvania in front of these pathetic people. Nothing would make him happier than stomping him into pulp, and he talks about what an inspiration Madcap Moss is for being so tough.
He asks Moss to take the match back and he agrees, and they attack McIntyre.
Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
McIntyre easily overcomes an initial flurry from Moss and gets him up for the Alabama Slam, but Madcap runs away and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Moss is in control, back and forth, trading big lariats, overhead belly-to-belly suplexes from McIntyre! Jumping neckbreaker, kip-up, countdown, Corbin runs interference, Madcap with a thumb to the eye and a DDT... NOPE! Drew regains his wits...
Drew McIntyre wins by pinfall with the Claymore.
Ronda Rousey is interviewed backstage and says she’s gonna show everyone what happens when an authority figure steps out of line, and we find out she’s been booked against Sonya Deville next week.
The Bloodline make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial commentary hypes up a bunch of upcoming matches.
Roman Reigns is in the ring with the Bloodline and a bunch of a security and asks Hershey to acknowledge him. Paul Heyman takes over to talk up Reigns/Lesnar as the biggest match in WrestleMania history, bigger than noted racist Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, bigger than “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. the Rock, bigger than Brock Lesnar vs. the Undertaker.
He keeps talking and we do a hard cut to break that he refers to as a cliffhanger.
Back from commercial, Brock Lesnar makes his entrance.
He introduces himself as your new reigning defending etc WWE Champion and admits he has to contain himself because he’s very impulsive, and if you think for one second that these skidmark security guards can stop him from jumping the table and kicking their asses, you got another thing coming.
The only thing that’s stopping Brock Lesnar from coming across the table is Brock Lesnar and this contract. He’s gonna sign this contract because at WrestleMania he’s gonna kick both their asses and get paid for it.
The contract signed, Paul again tells Brock he’s gonna lose the title in Madison Square Garden and never even make it to WrestleMania, and Roman signs the contract. Reigns says he’s gonna smash him at WrestleMania and he ain’t even got a chance because this show is his, ring, cameraman, and crowd.
Everybody, up to and including the security in the ring right now. Lesnar goes apeshit on them, throwing them around, tossing chairs and tables at them.
Once he’s cleaned house, that’s it.
That’s the show, folks.
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