Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show where it's suddenly just kind of expected that The Rock might show up in some form! And yes, just like he did last Friday, Dwayne Johnson will doubtless dominate this week's blue brand news cycle as well (that's what happens when you give someone a belt engraved with the date their dad died) and we are no exception, as we most assuredly have thoughts. Thanks to a last-minute one-night US title No. 1 contender's tournament, we're actually touching on the majority of the show in this column, but that shouldn't stop you from checking out our "SmackDown" results page if you just need a rundown of all the things that happened on the EliminationChamber go-home show!
Unlike that results page, what you're about to read here is personal opinion and analysis, and completely subjective. This is where we go over our most passionate takes, both positive and negative, coming out of Friday's programming, with only the best and worst on the table. From Drew McIntyre calling out John Cena to Roxanne Perez pinning Bayley, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 2/28/25 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
Like, seriously. If this was your idea of a Toronto homecoming for Trish Stratus, Paul, I wish she would've actually just stayed at home.
Friday's go-home episode of "WWE SmackDown" began with the beloved hometown hero Stratus greeting the absolutely rabid Toronto crowd. To their credit, there were a lot of things to be rabid about Stratus herself is enough of a reason to go absolutely feral, but between the Toronto jersey and her 25th anniversary with WWE coming up later in March, she was poised to be a strong opening to Friday's episode of the blue brand. Stratus was given a mic to address her adoring Toronto audience, and I can confidently say that my hype for a Stratusfying homecoming ended about two minutes into her actual promo.
I don't know if it was an off-day for Stratus or what, but she just sounded so awkward on the microphone. There are certain cadences used when cutting a promo; there's a certain rhythm to your words. Cutting a promo is not simply just talking; it is a performance in and of itself think the difference between talking with a friend versus performing a Shakespearean scene with a costar. Unfortunately, Stratus just engaged in small talk with the audience, and storyline-relevant comments were only interspersed here and there in between comments about dads in the audience and her jersey. Don't even get me started on when Tiffany Stratton showed up. Stratton is normally digestible on the mic as a heel, but her "face turn" (if you can even call it that) has been handled so poorly that I cannot pinpoint a single moment where she was definitive in her identity as a babyface. Then Stratus and Stratton threw their shirts into the audience? Why did we have to dedicate air time to this house show-level segment?
Not even my beloved Chelsea Green could have saved this segment, and avid readers of these columns will know that I live for the inaugural Women's United States Champion. She managed to carry the promo portion of the women's opener (her yelling "Nicholas!" at Nick Aldis made me giggle out loud), and she and Stratton worked well enough in the ring in their subsequent post-promo match. However, not even the wrestling expertise of Green could save the match's finish, when Nia Jax and Candice LeRae (hydrogen bomb and coughing baby) came to crash the party. I get that WWE threw Green in there to give the opening portion of the show some spice, but she and Piper Niven just felt out of place next to the tensions (and I use that word loosely, dear reader, as the tensions between Trishy Time and Jax and LeRae are lukewarm at best) of Saturday's Elimination Chamber tag team participants. It doesn't matter if Green and Niven did all the work in the group project; everyone else did poorly enough that "SmackDown's" opening project utterly failed.
If you tuned into "SmackDown" for Trish Stratus' Toronto homecoming, I'm so sorry.
Written by Angeline Phu
Friday was that time of the month when all the participants in an upcoming marquee match got together to hash out their issues verbally for the last time before settling things between bells. This time around, it was five of the six entrants into the men's Elimination Chamber to determine who gets to face a potentially soul-less Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, with all of Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Damian Priest, and an over-hyped social media star getting some things off their chest. To be clear, everything up until the final moments of the segment felt as though they served the narratives of the characters involved ahead of the match, and I will be focusing on that as a positive. Logan Paul's promo was far from good, self-serving to little effect, and dragged the overall flow of the interaction through the mud. It was a classic heel move to catch the fans out with John Cena's entrance, so there is that. But otherwise let's focus on what was actually done well in the promo department.
Outside of Cena and Paul, every man in the Chamber has a lengthy history with the other in the wider canon. McIntyre starting the segment off with his "Hater of the Year" winning mentality, taking aim at the one man who wasn't in the building in Cena, was a natural way to kick things off; if there is one man in the locker room you would believe to have an issue with Cena's return and shot-calling into the Chamber, it's McIntyre. Every movement that threatens his goal of returning to the top of the mountain is perceived as a personal slight to him, and that was exactly what was remarked upon by the man to confront him: Priest.
It was great to have "The Punisher" as the man to confront McIntyre, as he has honestly been overlooked when it comes to discussing the forerunners to win the match. But he raised an excellent point, he has managed to foil McIntyre every time they have crossed paths. The key thing that resonated with what Priest said was that McIntyre not only lost to him throughout last year, but he did so because he could not manage his distractions, and the man he found himself distracted by will also be in the Chamber with them this weekend. Rollins was the next to come out, hearkening back to last year's Money in the Bank, where Rollins arguably had Priest beaten had it not been for McIntyre's cash-in and Punk's subsequent involvement. Speak the devil's name and he shall appear, Punk was soon to follow out, and it truly closed the circle on what has been a year of building into this weekend.
All of the men, outside of one outlier, have legitimate footing in the argument of main eventing WrestleMania opposite Rhodes. Punk has been chasing the main event for the entirety of his career, McIntyre hasn't got his hands on a solid title reign since the pandemic, Cena is on his last run and thus the last opportunity to main event and take his record-breaking 17th title win, Priest has remained a dark horse in the world title debate since losing it, and Rollins-Rhodes is a story fit to end at the "Show of Shows" just as it started. I thoroughly enjoyed the layering of logic and credibility to those individuals heading into this weekend, hammering home the idea that this time it really is anybody's guess.
Written by Max Everett
On the eve of their Unsanctioned match at Elimination Chamber, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn put an exclamation point on their story thus far. Zayn stood in the ring of the Scotiabank Arena in front of his Toronto fans; Owens, on the other hand, was standing inside the ring in an empty Rogers Centre, the building that will try to contain their rage and hatred Saturday night.
Last week, Owens cut a promo outside of Zayn's home while he was spending time with his wife and child.Tonight, Owens recalled the small venues that these two wrestlers began their story. KO is still adamant that he did nothing wrong, regardless of who Zayn is trying to convince. He also told Zayn that after he ends his career, he won't do a thing to help Zayn's family. Zayn got in the last word and his message was a bit uncomfortable he is worried about tomorrow, not for himself, but for what he is going to do to his arch rival and former friend. He is worried that Kevin's parents, wife, and children will not forgive him for what he does to "The Prizefighter."
Zayn delivered the message with a stoicism. The kind of calmness that lets you know that a deep rage lies just beneath the surface, waiting for the right time to explode. Owens is emotional and passionate. He doesn't really hide how he feels, especially when he thinks he is in the right. This is the most compelling story in WWE and they are set to deliver another incredible match in their several decades long story.
This segment set the tone for what's to come tomorrow night. No matter what happens in either chamber match, this will be Match of the Night and will likely be a Match of the Year contender.
Written by Samantha Schipman
Am I crazy if I already claim that 2025 is the year of Roxanne Perez?
Perez has always been one of WWE's most talented stars, even during her time in "NXT." Ever since she got called up to the main roster following her record-breaking performance during the 2025 Women's Royal Rumble match, though, she has been a star. She's not like other main roster call-ups, whose novelty and allure quickly fizzle out as they are reduced to enhancement talent (sorry Carmelo Hayes) or inactive names on the release shortlist. No, Perez is actually getting a push, from currently being undefeated on the main roster to being part of the infamous, grueling Elimination Chamber match something that only a handful of female Superstars have had the privilege of saying. Perez added another feather to her proverbial cap on Friday's episode of "WWE SmackDown," where she pinned current main roster rival, Four Horsewoman member, and women's Grand Slam Champion Bayley, *clean.*
Perez joined forces with current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to take on Bianca Belair, Naomi, and Bayley in the second half of "SmackDown," and the match itself was leaps and bounds better than the one between Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton earlier in the night. It served as a cute preview to Elimination Chamber, and while sixth and final Chamber entrant Alexa Bliss didn't show up until the end to deliver a post-match Sister Abigail onto Perez, it did make me a bit more excited to see just what kind of chaos the women get up to during Saturday's match-up. This was the night's "on-the-edge-of-your-seat" match; you really didn't know who was going to walk out of the match with a victory until the very closing moments.
I did not expect for Perez to get the victory tonight like, at all. Sure, she's been on the up-and-up, but in a ring full of veterans, I expected Perez to fade into the background. Instead, Perez showed up and showed out. During the tail end of the match, Perez wriggled her way out of a Bayley to Belly attempt before targeting the "Role Model's" knee with a succinctly-placed chop to the joint. I am just in love with the way Perez runs the ropes; her use of the second rope (a la Rey Mysterio, my childhood hero) really works for her shorter stature. So, when she charged up for a clean Pop Rox, I was thoroughly revived after what was, until-then, a groggy "SmackDown."
I know Perez has been pushed to the stars in "NXT," but I'm just glad to see that her main roster move didn't kill that momentum, as it has for so many other "NXT" call-ups (sorry, Hayes). Sure, Perez is absolutely going to get pinned by Bayley on Saturday to set up for a potential WrestleMania feud, but I think that her win tonight was absolutely the move to build up this young star. "The Prodigy" is on top, and I am living.
Written by Angeline Phu
I recently wrote about being sick and tired of Shinsuke Nakamura and LA Knight being forever locked in a feud against one another for the United States Championship, but the changes tonight to "SmackDown" took my hatred of the matter to a whole new level. Hours before the show we found out that Knight wouldn't be outright challenging Nakamura tonight, like we originally thought after the champion attacked him last week, but rather, there would be a mini-tournament to determine the number one contender to the United States title. That seemed quite alright in my eyes, until I realized that Knight could somehow best Jacob Fatu in the tournament to go on to face Nakamura anyway. Sadly, that was the case, and Knight sneakily stole the victory right from Fatu's hands.
I used to be big on Knight and the crowd reaction he got, but the booking around the United States Championship, even before he got his hands on the gold, has just been ridiculous and tonight further proved that fact. Knight getting the victory over Legado del Fantasma's Santos Escobar made sense to at least get him to the triple threat match in the main event of the show, but him getting the victory over Fatu and Carmelo Hayes was just wild to me. Especially when it was Fatu who he made look silly, pulling him out of the ring after Fatu did the work, pinning Hayes.
If Knight is still supposed to be a babyface, which you would think he would be, since Nakamura is a heel, this is strange. I suppose it makes a bit of sense to further the storyline between Fatu and Solo Sikoa, but it was pretty blatant interference, something Sikoa shouldn't be too upset about had he watched the match. Long story short, unless something was up with Nakamura tonight that he couldn't compete, changing things up to book the tournament and the number one contendership match instead of just simply running Knight against the champion was silly and seemingly a waste of time outside whatever it means for the Bloodline. I'm also tired of poor Hayes eating all these pins, but that's an "NXT" callup rant for another day. I don't know if this was a case of "SmackDown" being three hours and WWE needing to eat up a lot more time, but Iwasn't a fan whatsoever. I don't necessarily want Fatu to go for the United States Championship, but him losing sucks, and it's something that could have easily been avoided with better booking on a shorter show.
Written byDaisy Ruth
I know that there is a section of the fanbase who are intrigued by the ongoing storyline between Cody Rhodes and The Rock, and have been enjoying the promos that The Rock has been cutting over the course of the past couple of weeks. However, I definitely cannot say that I am one of them with tonight being the nail in the coffin for me.
For starters, The Rock wasn't even there in person for this segment. While this normally wouldn't be a big deal, it did have an overall negative impact on the segment as he really should've been there live and in person. It was awkward to watch Rhodes standing on top of the entrance ramp staring at the Titan Tron as The Rock spoke to him given the length of time that this segment went on for, and it felt redundant with WWE having already done a much better version of this earlier in the night with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn anyways. The Rock also went around and around and around in circles with what he was saying, repeating phrases immediately after he had already said them and not adding anything new to create further interest to Rhodes' response to his initial offer tomorrow night at Elimination Chamber. On top of that, he still continued to flip between being a heel and a babyface especially in the beginning stages (although this segment did admittedly lean more towards him being the former) which kept taking me out of what he was actually saying and was rather distracting.
All of that was already enough of a recipe for disaster, but the one ingredient that the recipe did not need was The Rock invoking the name of Dusty Rhodes by saying he had been talking to him all week and gotten a weight belt made with the death date of Dusty written on it as a means of mocking him. There was absolutely no need for this, and felt like it was nothing more than a way to get more cheap heat on The Rock when there is already more than enough heat on him as is. It was unnecessary, and just made what was an already bad segment that much worse and uncomfortable.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
