Welcome to Fightful.com's live coverage & discussion for WWE SmackDown (2/4/22)!
We'll be bringing you full, fight-by-fight results of every match on the card.
— The show begins and we see a highlight package from this past weekend's Royal Rumble event where Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship due to interference from Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Lesnar would then go on to win the men's Royal Rumble match and subsequently challenge Reigns for his title at WrestleMania 38 this past Monday night on RAW.
— We then cut to the live arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where Michael Cole and Pat McAfee are on commentary and welcome us to the show and out comes Universal Champion Roman Reigns alongside Paul Heyman as well as Jimmy and Jey Uso. We see a video package of Reigns' match against Seth Rollins from the Royal Rumble, where Reigns would lose via DQ but retained his title due to the disqualification. Paul Heyman introduces himself as well as Reigns. Heyman says he came to the show tonight to acknowledge what really happened at the Royal Rumble. Heyman says what happened last weekend wasn't done to make Lesnar look dumb but it did anyway and when he told Reigns that he needed to be protected from Lesnar, that was a mistake. Heyman says he got punched right in the face from Reigns because of it but he acknowledges that he deserved it. Heyman says Lesnar's stupid for challenging Reigns at WrestleMania and a GOAT [Reigns] can always slay a beast [Lesnar]. Heyman says he thought he'd spend the rest of his career introducing Lesnar but that won't ever happen again because at the Royal Rumble, Reigns smashed Brock Lesnar and at that moment he realized that he didn't need to protect Roman Reigns from Brock Lesnar but he needed to protect Brock Lesnar from Roman Reigns. Heyman says Reigns offered him the hand of forgiveness, the hand of love, the hand of family, the hand of the bloodline...and the hand of acknowledgment, so he handed Roman Reigns the WWE Championship and Roman Reigns smashed Brock Lesnar with it and now Bobby Lashley is the new WWE Championship which means that now everyone has to acknowledge that not there won't be a title versus title match at WrestleMania and now Brock Lesnar will do what Roman Reigns wants him to do and at WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar will acknowledge the Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Heyman says he acknowledges Roman Reigns as his Tribal Chief and bows to Reigns. Heyman tells the Oklahoma City crowd to acknowledge their Tribal Chief and WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg's music hits! Goldberg says he acknowledges Roman Reigns...as his next victim. Goldberg challenges Roman Reigns to a match at Elimination Chamber for the Universal Championship. Goldberg gets in Reigns' face and says 'YOU'RE NEXT!', drops the microphone and Reigns, Heyman and The Usos walk out of the ring as Reigns and Goldberg stare each other down from afar. Cole and McAfee run down tonight's card which includes Ronda Rousey's decision on her WrestleMania opponent, Drew McIntyre will be in action, Jimmy Uso will face Erik and up next after the break, Ricochet will face Ridge Holland,
Ridge Holland (with Sheamus) vs. Ricochet (with Cesaro)
— Holland tosses Ricochet around the ring early and often, Ricochet tosses him out of the ring then chases with a baseball slide but Ridge catches him and tosses him into the barricade. Ridge steps up on the apron then gets distracted by Sheamus and Cesaro talking outside of the ring and Ricochet sneaks back in the ring and drills Ridge with a pair of knees and gets the 1-2-3 for the win!
Winner - Ricochet
— Back from the break and this has turned into a tag team match.
Ridge Holland & Sheamus vs. Ricochet & Cesaro
— Sheamus and Cesaro start this one off, Sheamus gets the better of the exchange, Ricochet's tagged in, nails Sheamus with a moonsault from the top, goes for the cover but Sheamus kicks out at two. Cesaro's tagged back in by Ricochet, Sheamus drills Ricochet with a big boot, Ricochet goes flying out of the ring, Ridge gets tossed out, Sheamus rolls up Cesaro but the Swiss powerhouse kicks out at two but Sheamus continues the offense, goes up top, Cesaro nails him with a flying drop-kick, Ridge tags Sheamus behind Cesaro's back and plants Cesaro with The Northern Grit for the three-count and the win!
Winners - Ridge Holland & Sheamus
— We then see gameplay footage for the upcoming WWE 2K22 video game that's set to release on March 11. Jimmy Uso alongside his brother and fellow SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jey Uso make their way down to the ring and we head to another commercial break.
Jimmy Uso (with Jey Uso) vs. Erik (with Ivar)
— Erik uses his power to gain the early advantage, drills Jimmy with a slam, goes for the cover but Jimmy's able to lift the shoulders after a two-count. Jimmy comes back with a super-kick, goes up top, nails Erik with a splash and gets the three for the win!
Winner - Jimmy Uso
— A video package is shown of Aliyah's 3-second victory over Natalya from two weeks ago followed by Aliyah's DQ win over Nattie from last week. Aliyah then makes her way down to the ring and she'll be in-action against...you guessed it, Natalya after the break.
Aliyah vs. Natalya
— Aliyah rolls up Nattie but Nattie kicks right out. Nattie starts laying into her with elbows, then knees and she starts yelling in Aliyah's face but Aliyah rolls her up once again and Nattie once again, kicks right out. Aliyah's launched over the top rope and onto the apron, she lands an elbow on Nattie, get back in the ring and hammers away with punches after a Thesz press and a follow-up bulldog, Aliyah goes for the cover but Nattie kicks out after a count of two. Nattie fights back with a running clothesline then tosses Aliyah out of the ring and tosses her into the barricade. Nattie tosses Aliyah around the outside until a count of nine and Aliyah sneaks away and slides into the ring and the referee counts 10 before Nattie can get back into the ring!
Winner - Aliyah (via count-out)
— Drew McIntyre is shown backstage and he's on his way to the ring as we head to a commercial break.
— Back from the break and Drew McIntyre is in the ring and says Brock Lesnar got the better of him this time at the Royal Rumble and says their paths will cross again. McIntyre turns his attention to the 'idiots' Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss who make their way out to the ring. Corbin asks Drew if it was worth it eliminating him and Moss. Corbin says it wasn't worth it to come back so quickly after he and Moss injured his neck and they're the reason that Drew's not going to WrestleMania. Moss sneaks behind Drew but Drew points his sword backwards, stopping Moss in his tracks. Drew tells Moss to tell him a joke and says if Corbin comes into the ring, he'll draw blood. Moss makes an Oklahoma joke, Drew says he wants to hear a Drew McIntyre joke and tells Moss to make him laugh. Moss asks Drew what does the criminal who's found not guilty have in common with the main event of WrestleMania...they're both going to get off Scott-free. Drew fake laughs and hits Moss with the Claymore Kick. Drew calls Moss an idiot and says he's going to make Corbin's life a living hell every single week and this is just the beginning.
— We then see footage of Sami Zayn on the red carpet at the Jackass: Forever premiere earlier this week where he confronted Johnny Knoxville. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura makes his way to the ring with Rick Boogs and Shinsuke will be in action against Jinder Mahal after the break.
Shinsuke Nakamura (with Rick Boogs) vs. Jinder Mahal (with Shanky)
— Before the match, Sami Zayn makes his way down to the ring to join commentary and to get a closer look at Shinsuke ahead of their title match in two weeks. Shinsuke gets to work early, goes right for the Kinshasa, Jinder blocks and slams Shinsuke, goes for the cover but Shinsuke kicks out at two. Jinder continues the attack, laying into the champion with stomps but Shinsuke fights back with some elbows and forearms before Jinder goes back on the offensive with a clothesline. Jinder clubs Shinsuke in the back of the head with an elbow then locks-in a head-and-arm choke. Shinsuke nails Jinder with a Pele kick then a drop-kick and lays out Jinder with the Kinshasa for the three-count and the win!
Winner - Shinsuke Nakamura
— We then see a recap of WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg confronting and challenging Universal Champion Roman Reigns to a title match at Elimination Chamber and Michael Cole announces that the match is official for the event in Saudi Arabia in two weeks and we head to a commercial break.
— Back from the break and Naomi is backstage with Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville. Pearce makes Naomi versus Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship official for next week. We then see a video package hyping up Roman Reigns' Universal Championship defense against Goldberg at Elimination Chamber.
— Back from the break and Michael Cole and Pat McAfee announce that Drew McIntyre will face Madcap Moss at Elimination Chamber. We then see Kayla Braxton backstage with Natalya. Kayla asks Natalya how she feels after losing to Aliyah once again and how she feels about her 'dungeon style' match against her next week. Natalya tells Kayla that she'll just go tell her, herself. Natalya goes into the locker room and Xia Li walks out and stares Nattie down. Natlaya says she'll just wait until next week to tell her and we head to the ring for our next match.
New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) vs. Los Lotharios (Angel & Humberto)
— Big E and Angel start this one out, Big E lays Angel out with a running clothesline, tags-in Kofi, who lays out Angel, goes for the cover but Angel kicks out at two. Angel sneaks a tag to Humberto, who also gets taken out by Kofi, who goes for another cover but Humberto's able to lift the shoulders after a count of two. Humberto gets some offense win and tosses Kofi into the corner, Humberto tags-in Angel and they both attack Kofi, Big E gets knocked off the apron by Angel, all four men brawl outside the ring. Kofi launches himself off the middle rope to the outside and Humberto smokes him with a super-kick and we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Los Lotharios continues their attack inside of the ring. Angel takes off his pants then tags-in Humberto, who locks-in a choke onto Kofi then a slam and goes up top for a moonsault but Kofi gets the feet up and crawls to his corner and tags-in Big E, Humberto also makes a tag to Angel but Big E nails him with a belly-to-belly, then another one...and a third. Big E nails Angel with a splash, leads a 'New Day rocks' chant, goes for The Big Ending but Angel stops the momentum with a back-stabber, Big E comes right back with a urinage then tags-in Kofi, who goes up top with a flying bulldog, goes for the cover but Humberto sneaks back into the ring and breaks it up, Humberto takes out Big E on the outside, Angel rolls up Kofi back in the ring, Kofi kicks-out, Angel tags-in Humberto, they take out Kofi with a flying missile drop-kick/slam combo, Humberto goes for the cover but Kofi kicks-out at two-and-a-half. Angel's tagged back in, goes for the Wing Clipper, Kofi rolls out and makes the tag to Big E,who plants Angel with The Big Ending and gets the 1-2-3 for the win!
Winners - New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston)
— After the match we see a video package highlighting Ronda Rousey's return this past weekend at the Royal Rumble where she won the women's rumble match and it's announced that she'll be here next but SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair makes her way to the ring and we'll hear from her after the break.
— Back from the break and Sonya Deville makes her way out to the ring where SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair was set to speak. Sonya says that RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch has informed her that Ronda Rousey has chosen Becky to face at WrestleMania. Sonya says a contract is expected to be signed by Becky this coming Monday night on RAW. Sonya says 'after' Charlotte retains her title against Naomi, next week, Charlotte will be in need of a WrestleMania opponent so she'll allow Charlotte to name that opponent now. Charlotte says she's not surprised that Ronda chose Becky because she [Charlotte] has been there day in and day out, winning, fighting and competing and has become the most dominant champion in all of WWE. Charlotte says Ronda's been too busy playing video games and having a baby. Charlotte says she's not saying Ronda's not a game changer and not an elite athlete but she'd be worried for Ronda if she didn't choose Becky because mom versus mom is an easier root. Charlotte says she's never been better and she's the main event of WrestleMania, so if Ronda wants to choose Becky on the under-card, be her guest because number one doesn't talk about number two. Charlotte asks the crowd who she should choose to face at WrestleMania, Charlotte says she'll pick someone who isn't here tonight, Sasha Banks. Charlotte says she wishes Sasha was there so she can hear Sasha thank her and WrestleMania is going to be the best and worst day of her life and she'll have a contract waiting for her for when she gets back. Ronda Rousey's music hits and she makes her way out to the ring. Ronda says Charlotte loves to talk about her and last time she checked, she won the Royal Rumble and she gets to pick who she faces. Ronda says Charlotte was right about one thing, being a mom changes her perspective and she didn't fly across the country with her baby during a snow storm just to talk, she wanted to show her baby the family business of kicking ass and she owes Charlotte an ass beating. Ronda says she and Charlotte need to be clear about one thing...she's not special...she was just first...'see you at WrestleMania, bitch!' yells Rousey. Charlotte says the SmackDown Women's Championship is her baby and she's prettier than Ronda's. Rousey takes off her jacket, Sonya tells Ronda that she has a terrible temper and she runs the show, not Ronda, Sonya tells Ronda to back-off, Charlotte charges Ronda, Ronda tosses Sonya aside and throws Charlotte away, Sonya latches onto Ronda's back with a rear-naked choke, Charlotte slides out of the ring and Ronda locks-in an arm-bar onto Sonya until Sonya taps out. Ronda and Charlotte stare each other down from afar as the show goes off-the-air.
