SmackDown airs tonight (Feb. 27) with a live show emanating from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This is the final episode of SmackDown during the four week build to Elimination Chamber,
which takes place on Saturday (Feb. 28).It’s time for Rhea Ripley to lose her championship
RHIYO is back on SmackDown tonight to defend the WWE women’s tag team championship against The Irresistible Forces. This is a rematch after their bout from a couple of weeks ago was thrown out by the referee when things got out of control. Nia Jax and Lash Legend tried
to ambush Rhea Ripley on last week’s show, but IYO SKY was there to help send the heels packing.
I have a feeling things won’t work out so well for the babyfaces this week with the belts on the line. That’s because Rhea Ripley looks like the favorite to win the women’s Elimination Chamber match, which sets up her up for a WWE women’s championship match against Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42. If that’s the plan, then RHIYO needs to drop the tag titles soon so that other top stars on the roster like Charlotte Flair have something to fight for at WrestleMania.
WWE did give Lash Legend a monster push in the women’s Royal Rumble, so winning tag team gold tonight may be the next step in their plan to turn her into a big star. RHIYO has plenty of enemies who could potentially try to cost them the match tonight, including United States Champion Giulia and fellow Elimination Chamber participants Asuka, Raquel Rodriguez, and Kiana James.
Add it all up, and I think RHIYO is probably losing their tag team gold on this go home show. But the only way to find out for sure is to tune into SmackDown tonight.
The rest of the card
The leader of the Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy) does battle with the MFT leader (Solo Sikoa) in a singles match tonight. The data at CageMatch says this is only the second time Uncle Howdy has gone solo for a match since the Wyatt Sicks debuted in mid 2024, so it’s a rare occurrence. Will Uncle make the most of it by beating Solo’s ass with some spooky shit and getting back the Wyatt family lantern? Or this one destined to end in DQ and a chaotic faction brawl afterwards?
The Miz ran his big mouth last week and accidentally got himself booked in a match tonight against Oba Femi. After the A-Lister is obliterated, with GM Nick Aldis find a way to sweeten the pot that convinces Femi to sign with SmackDown instead of Raw?
Jordynne Grace vs. Candice LeRae is also scheduled for tonight’s card. Grace is trying to bounce back after suffering her first main roster loss in a title match against Jade Cargill a couple of weeks ago. One person who isn’t bouncing back anytime soon is depressed Johnny Gargano. Will he be planking at ringside for this bout?
Finally, WWE is advertising an exciting new segment on SmackDown where Cody Rhodes, Trick Williams, Randy Orton, LA Knight, Je’Von Evans, and Jey Uso all stand in the ring together. SmackDown is three hours long, so I think there’s a pretty decent chance that Nick Aldis channels his inner Teddy Long and books some kind of tag team match out of this segment. Which of these six men will stand a little taller over the others before they clash inside the Elimination Chamber on Saturday night?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Kiana James, Alexa Bliss, and Tiffany Stratton are the three SmackDown women who have qualified for the women’s Elimination Chamber match. Will they do more than just stand around next to each other if they cross paths tonight?
– WWE Champion Drew McIntyre usurped Nick Aldis’ authority multiple times last week, including after the GM’s stern warning about it. Is it now time for Aldis to punish the champ by finally booking him in a match against Jacob Fatu, which the GM has already indicated is on the way? McIntyre might also run into an RKO at some point tonight after his unprovoked attacked that screwed over Orton in last week’s main event.
– Sami Zayn is having a hard time processing the fact that he is a losing loser who always loses the big one. The crowd wasn’t happy about it last week when he apologized to Cody Rhodes for blaming him for his failure to qualify for Elimination Chamber. Will Trick Williams continue to rub salt in Sami’s wounds tonight, or will Zayn find a way to turn things around and get himself back in the WWE title mix?
– Is Charlotte Flair really okay with sitting on the sidelines at Elimination Chamber and rooting for her tag team partner Alexa Bliss, or will The Queen find a way to get the spotlight back on herself tonight?
– What does Aleister Black have to say after beating Randy Orton last week, and will he wrap it up in less than six months?
– Michin is back on SmackDown, and she wants a piece of Jade Cargill’s ass. Does this mean Jade might actually have to defend the WWE women’s championship again before WrestleMania in April?
– Which SmackDown star will Kit Wilson read poems to about toxic masculinity tonight? When does he get to beat Matt Cardona or Apollo Crews in a singles match?
– It looks like Shinsuke Nakamura is trying to convince Tama Tonga to abandon Solo Sikoa and MFT. Perhaps Tonga will have to first lose against United States Champion Carmelo Hayes before he begins to see the light. Does Ilja Dragunov move to the back of the line for a title shot after losing against Tama last week, or is there no actual line due to the nature of open challenges?
– Royce Keys has beaten Chris Sabin and Nathan Frazer in dark matches before SmackDown airs over the last couple of weeks. Will Keys get to beat another jabroni tag team wrestler in another dark match tonight, or does he finally graduate to SmackDown TV to do something like attack Damian Priest?
– Who or what is inside the Elimination Chamber mystery crate? Maybe R-Truth will uncover a clue tonight.
– Where the f*** are the Street Profits?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
