The February 13th, 2018 episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from the RaboBank Arena in Bakersfield, CA. Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s show:
Owens & Zayn Beatdown Ziggler & Corbin
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This week’s episode of SmackDown kicked off with Baron Corbin versus Dolph Ziggler. The winner of the match will be added to the WWE Championship match at WWE Fastlane.
Corbin’s music hit and then it shut off. Baron’s music hit once again but he didn’t come down to the ring. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were shown backstage attacking Corbin. Owens and Zayn beatdown Corbin and then made their way towards the ring to attack Ziggler.
Dolph escaped through the crowd for a moment but Owens and Zayn caught up with him. Owens and Zayn beatdown Dolph for a bit and then brought him back to the ringside area. Ziggler tried to fight back but Owens shoved Dolph into the ring post. Sami connected with a Helluva Kick to Ziggler. Corbin then emerged from backstage and attacked Owens and Zayn. Corbin got in a couple of shots but wound up being launched into the barricade.
Owens and Zayn want the WWE Championship match to remain a Triple Threat match. Last week it was announced that AJ Styles will defend his title against Owens and Zayn at WWE Fastlane. Shane McMahon wanted it to become a Fatal 4-Way and made the match tonight between Ziggler & Corbin to determine the final Superstar in that match. I’m sure Shane McMahon will have something to say about Zayn and Owens’ actions tonight.
Charlotte Continued To Dominate The Riott Squad
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Charlotte continued her mission to take down the Riott Squad tonight when she faced Sarah Logan. Logan was accompanied to the ring by Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. Becky Lynch and Naomi joined Charlotte Flair ringside to even the odds.
Logan charged at Charlotte and forced her back to the corner to start off the match. Charlotte battled back and the two Superstars locked up in the middle of the ring. Charlotte shoved Sarah Logan away but Logan responded by taking Charlotte down to the mat. Charlotte connected with a boot to the face and knocked Logan out of the ring as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Logan connected with a chop to Charlotte in the ring. Charlotte responded with several chops of her own. Logan bashed into the back of Charlotte and knocked her to the mat for a two count. Sarah followed it up with a Suplex for another two count.
Logan controlled the next few minutes of the match and kept Charlotte grounded. Logan hit a German Suplex and went for the cover but Charlotte kicked out. Logan got pissed off that Charlotte kicked out and connected with a flurry of punches.
Charlotte connected with a big right hand but Logan bashed Charlotte’s face into the second turnbuckle. Charlotte connected with a Backbreaker and then launched Logan face-first into the top turnbuckle. Charlotte followed it up with the Natural Selection for the pinfall victory. After the match, Charlotte approached the announce table and said that there was one more member of the Riott Squad left to go.
Charlotte has defeated Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan on recent episodes of SmackDown. Her match tonight with Sarah Logan was very good. I think the match between Charlotte and Ruby Riott has the potential to be great and I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Baron Corbin Earned His Way Into The Fastlane Main Event
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Shane McMahon was pissed off and approached SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan backstage. Shane announced that Corbin will face Owens tonight and Dolph Ziggler will face Sami Zayn. If either Ziggler or Corbin with their matches, they will be added to the Fastlane main event. Thus, the WWE Championship will either be a Fatal 4-Way, Fatal 5-Way or remain a Triple Threat match if both Owens & Zayn win tonight.
Shane McMahon also added that if Owens or Zayn interfere in each other’s matches, they are out of the WWE Championship match at Fastlane. Shane referred to Owens & Zayn as Daniel Bryan’s boys during the backstage segment. Bryan didn’t seem bothered by Shane’s decisions and simply said “okay” before Shane stormed off.
Corbin came down to the ring selling injuries due to the beatdown by Owens & Zayn earlier in the night. Corbin started out the match by beating the hell out of Owens. Owens rolled out of the ring to try to avoid Corbin but Baron followed him out there. Sami Zayn was shown watching the action backstage on a monitor with a concerned look on his face as Corbin brought Owens back into the ring.
Corbin launched Owens to the corner and connected with a massive right hand that sent Owens back out of the ring. Corbin bashed Owens into the barricade and then kneed him in the midsection a few times for good measure. Owens drove Corbin into the ring apron and then threw Corbin into the ring post.
Owens brought Corbin back inside the ring and continued the beatdown. Owens knocked Corbin to the mat in the corner and hit a Cannonball for a two count as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Owens was threw Corbin into the steel steps and then brought Corbin back into the ring. Owens connected with a Senton for a two count.
Owens locked in a Chin Lock in the middle of the ring. Corbin battled to his feet and planted Owens with a Chokeslam Backbreaker. Corbin followed it up with a running Clothesline for a two count. Baron charged at Owens in the corner but Kevin got out of the way and Corbin crashed into the ring post. Owens climbed to the top rope but Corbin got back up and grabbed Owens by the throat.
Owens escaped to the ring apron and bounced Corbin neck-first on the top rope. Owens charged at Baron but Corbin was ready and connected with a Deep Six. Corbin went for End of Days but Owens escaped and hit a Superkick. Owens then went for the Pop-Up Powerbomb but Corbin held onto the ropes. Owens charged at Corbin but Baron caught him and planted him with the End of Days for the pinfall victory.
As of now, the WWE Championship match at Fastlane is a Fatal 4-Way between AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin. If Dolph Ziggler defeats Sami Zayn later tonight, the main event at WWE Fastlane will become a Fatal 5-Way. This was a pretty big win for Corbin. He overcame the beatdown earlier in the night and defeated Kevin Owens in a solid match.
Jinder Mahal Got The Better Of Roode & Orton
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Bobby Roode cut a promo before the open challenge. Roode said that he wanted to steal a tradition from John Cena and defend the title every week. Roode added that he wishes to surpass Cena and become the greatest United States Championship. Bobby asked that the Superstar that wants to accept the challenge come down to the ring, rather than hitting him from behind with an RKO. Randy Orton accepted the challenge came down to the ring and Roode was pumped up.
Jinder Mahal interrupted the Roody and Orton staredown and came down to the entrance ramp with a microphone. Mahal stated that while the WWE Universe respects him, the SmackDown locker room clearly doesnt because the voted him #9 on the SmackDown Top 10 list.
Jinder claimed that he respected Randy Orton and hopped up on the ring apron. The crowd chanted “RKO” as Mahal said that the rest of the SmackDown Live roster believes Orton has already peaked. Orton responded that he didn’t give a damn about a Top 10 list. Mahal brought up that Roode was ranked higher on the list after being in WWE for only six months. The crowd once again chanted RKO and Mahal backed away from Orton.
Roode informed Mahal that he didn’t even make the list and shouldn’t be talking. Roode noted that he has nothing but respect for Randy Orton, but offered his opinion on way Orton was ranked #9. Roode said that the locker room was getting tired of Orton attacking them from out of nowhere. Orton then hit Sunil Singh with an RKO out of nowhere. Jinder Mahal capitilized and planted both Orton and Roode with a Khallas.
I find it hard to believe that Randy Orton would care about his ranking on a Top 10 list. I also couldn’t get over that Mahal continually said that he respected Orton, after he had an overly long feud with him last year for the WWE Championship in which he did nothing but disrespect him. It makes sense for both Mahal and Orton to be in the United States Championship picture, but this promo fell flat.
New Day Enjoyed Some Pancakes & Won A Match![new day pancakes]()
New Day came down to the ring for a pancake eating contest. Big E shoved a bunch of pancakes in his mouth but the competition was ruined by Gable & Benjamin. Gable and Benjamin said that New Day were not serious competitors and should leave WWE to open their own version of Ihop. New Day boasted about being the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all-time. Woods claimed that nobody wanted to see Gable & Benjamin as champions.
Gable and Benjamin threw a couple of pancakes on the canvas to irritate New Day. Big E grabbed a plate of pancakes and shouted to stop touching the pancakes. Gable stated that nobody likes pancakes. Benjamin said “from now on we are eating waffles” and flipped Big E’s plate of pancakes in the air. SmackDown went to commercial before the the tag match between the two teams. Kofi Kingston threw a bunch of pancakes in the crowd during the break.
When SmackDown returned, Benjamin connected with a knee to the face for a two count. Gable tagged in and connected with an awesome rolling kick to Kofi for a two count. Kofi knocked Gable out of the ring after Benjamin tagged out. Kingston tried to tag in Big E but Gable pulled him off the ring apron. Gable knocked Woods to the floor and shushed the crowd when the booed.
Big E and Gable tagged in. Big E planted Gable with three Belly to Belly Suplexes in a row. Big E followed it up with a Splash. Gable responded with an unbelievable German Suplex.
The referee missed a tag between Gable and Benjamin because Woods distracted him. Kofi and Big E then hit Midnight Hour on Gable for the pinfall victory.
The promo before this match was awkward as hell. Shelton Benjamin is great in the ring but is comedy isn’t really his thing. I would have rather just had those five minutes added to the match, but that is just my opinion.
Dolph Ziggler Earned His Way Into The Fastlane Main Event
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Dolph Ziggler was interviewed backstage by Renee Young. Ziggler called Owens & Zayn cowards for attacking him earlier in the night. Dolph said that the only reason he is back is because he wants to main event WrestleMania and vowed to become WWE Champion.
Kevin Owens approached Sami Zayn backstage. Owens asked Sami to not let him down and win his match versus Ziggler. Sami brought up how Owens let him down by losing to Corbin and said that it is every man for himself at WWE Fastlane.
Dolph Ziggler controlled the match early as Kevin Owens watched the match backstage. Zayn battled back and catapulted Ziggler throat-first into middle rope. Ziggler hit a Dropkick as SmackDown went to a break. When SmackDown returned, Sami went for a Suplex but Dolph escaped and hit Zayn with a DDT.
Ziggler followed it up with a Fameasser for a two count. Both Superstars battled on the top rope. Sami got the upper hand and planted Dolph with an Exploder Suplex off the top rope. Zayn catapulted Ziggler into the ring post and then went for the Helluva Kick but Ziggler got out of the way. Dolph hit the Zig Zag and went for the cover but Sami was able to kick out at the last moment.
The crowd chanted “this is awesome!” as both Superstars made their way back to their feet. Sami launched Ziggler into the ring post and then did it a second time. Sami went for the Blue Thunder Bomb but Dolph reversed it into a roll-up for a two count. Zayn connected with an Exploder Suplex in the corner. Sami geared up in the corner for the Helluva Kick and went for it but Dolph hit a Superkick out of nowhere for the pinfall victory.
Much like RAW last night, there were some great matches tonight on SmackDown. The main event for WWE Fastlane is now a Fatal 5-Way match. AJ Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The odds are stacked against AJ Styles but I think everyone is still expecting him to leave Fastlane as WWE Champion.
