Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. The Royal Rumble has come and gone, with Charlotte Flair winning the match a second time. Did we get any closer to discovering her opponent choice for WrestleMania 41? The women of Team Blue also had to contend with the forthcoming Elimination Chamber match. Two matches took place tonight to determine two out of the six women to enter the dangerous structure, one of them featuring Alexa Bliss. Shockingly returning to active competition after a hiatus of two years, did the former Goddess come back a winner? Lets get started and find out!
Bianca Belair and Piper Niven went toe-to-toe in the first of two Elimination Chamber qualifying matches tonight. Both went back and forth early on, although Niven would get the upper hand before the commercial break after a running senton on the floor. Once the show returned, Belair tried to hit a KOD, which was reversed into a forceful spinning Bossman slam that did not put Belair away. Niven continued to use her powerful offense, but ultimately fell victim to what was Belairs third attempt at a KOD that led to the EST claiming a victory.
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance spoke briefly with Nick Aldis, implying that they are now members of the SmackDown roster as a result of the transfer window thats brought other Raw stars like Damian Priest, The Miz, and Drew McIntyre to the blue brand. Unfortunately, not much could be made out of their conversation before Carmelo Hayes walked into Aldiss office.
Charlotte Flair made her way out to the ring to address the Memphis crowd after her Royal Rumble victory. She started off by asking the fans if they loved her or hated her, with the audience cheering and booing in response to both, but for Flair, when they boo, she hears money. The fans can never make up their minds, and thats good because she lives rent-free in everyones heads. She is wrestlings obsession: the fans are obsessed with her looks, obsessed with her championships, obsessed with her last name, obsessed with everything Charlotte Flair. She knows that fans that think that she thinks shes better than everyone on the basis of her last name, but thats not the only reason that she thinks shes better than everyone. Did people really think she was going to be out of action for 14 months and not come back, win the Royal Rumble, and make history? She entered the Royal Rumble on February 1st, 2025 with 29 unserious women and there was no way that she was going over the top rope. By winning the match, she became the first ever two-time womens Royal Rumble winner and punched her ticket to WrestleMania 41. Flair wants to feel inspired now that shes back, so she went to Raw and saw Rhea Ripley. She went to NXT and wanted to see if Giulia could inspire her. Here she is now on SmackDown, and she wants to see if Tiffany Stratton can inspire her.
Tiffanys music immediately interrupted The Queens spiel, with the Womens Champion stating that she wanted to congratulate Charlotte and welcome her back to WWE. Nobody and she means nobody is a bigger Charlotte Flair fan than Stratton. The Center of the Universe felt that WWE couldnt survive without Flair, and then she got injured which made everybody care for a day. When the Buff Barbie came along to the main roster, ticket sales went up, buildings were selling out, and WWE became hotter than it had ever been with Stratton at the top.
Flair would retort, telling the champ that she needs to get in line since there are other women claiming to be on top. Stratton says that she has been in line; from the moment she debuted on TV, she has been compared to her both positively and negatively, encouraging Flair to pick her, because at her first WrestleMania, shes going to beat her and no longer will she be the next Charlotte Flair, she will be the one and the only Tiffany Stratton.
Flair speaks again and saying that when she was in the ring with Rhea, she saw a kid. When shes standing in the ring with Tiffany, she sees a child begging her to make her a star at WrestleMania. If Stratton wants Charlotte to pick her as her WrestleMania opponent, shell need to get her hands and knees and beg her to choose her.
Nia Jax then came out with Candice LeRae and says that the blondie back-and-forth is cute and all, but its a little premature because she is going to be Womens Champion again. After speaking to Nick Aldis earlier, the two agreed on having Stratton defend her title against The Irresistible Force next week. If Charlotte wants to become Womens Champion at the Grandest Stage of Them All, shes going to have to go through her first. The Queen decides that shell stick around and watch next week to see what happens.
The second womens Elimination Chamber qualifying match then took place with Candice LeRae taking on the returning Alexa Bliss. The two locked up to start and things went slow for a minute as it appeared the two were trying to get comfortable with each others arsenal. LeRae eventually took control, with Bliss taking much damage from the Poison Pixie, who taunted her about how she should have stayed home and how she wasnt wanted back. The taunts triggered Blisss signature fury, clotheslining LeRae and throwing several punches her way. Notably, as Candice almost got a near-fall on Bliss, glitching effects briefly appeared on the screen without affecting the in-ring action. The near-fall led to a back and forth attempt at a Schoolgirl pin from both competitors, flustering LeRae who was hit by a Sister Abigail for the victory.
Bliss now joins Bianca Belair in representing SmackDown for the womens Elimination Chamber match, which will take place at this years Elimination Chamber event on Saturday, March 1st, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The match will also feature Raw superstar Liv Morgan, who qualified by defeating IYO SKY earlier this week on Monday Night Raw.
Byron Saxton interviewed the Womens United States Chelsea Green, who was comforting Piper Niven after losing to Belair earlier in the night. Saxton revealed that Green would be taking on Naomi next week in the third womens Elimination Chamber qualifying match for Team Blue. Green tells him that after she beats Naomi, shes going to head to Elimination Chamber, beat all the other nasty girls, and then herself, her Secret Hervice, and her motorcade are going to sail off into the sunset that is WrestleMania, where she plans on becoming a double champion. B-Fab and Michin interrupt her, with The Fab Female saying that Green eliminating her from the Royal Rumble (making her the first elimination) was not at the back of her mind, rather it is at the front of her mind. Michin adds that Green might not make it to the Elimination Chamber but she might also not be champion, lastly reminding her to stop stalling as they all know what is inevitable. The two walk off as Green and Niven are then confronted by Zelina Vega, who feels that maybe its time she gets a chance at the Womens United States Championship too, now that shes on SmackDown.
Friday Night SmackDown airs next week from the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. with the following matches set to take place:
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