The February 28th, 2025, episode of WWE SmackDown on the USA network was presented from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. The go-home edition for WWE’s upcoming Premium Live Event, Elimination Chamber, was a thrilling show for the Canadian audience.
It featured explosive in-ring matches and appearances by some of the big names who will also be present for the Elimination Chamber, setting the excitement even higher for the show a day from SmackDown.
Quick Results
- Tiffany Stratton defeated Chelsea Green via disqualification.
- Jacob Fatu defeated Andrade El Idolo in the qualifying match of the WWE United States Championship No.1 contender tournament.
- LA Knight defeated Santos Escobar in the qualifying match of the WWE United States Championship No.1 contender tournament.
- Carmelo Hayes defeated Braun Strowman via disqualification in the qualifying match of the WWE United States Championship No.1 contender tournament.
- Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Bayley, Naomi, and Bianca Belair in a Six-Woman tag team match.
- LA Knight defeated Jacob Fatu and Carmelo Hayes in a triple threat match to become No.1 contender for the WWE United States Championship.
Best match
Out of all the matches that took place, the best match candidate would go to the final bout of the night. It was a triple threat match between Jacob Fatu, LA Knight, and Carmelo Hayes. All three men won their respective matches earlier in the night to qualify for the triple threat main event with a United States title shot against Shinsuke Nakamura hanging in the balance.
All three men went up against each other, displaying incredible feats of athleticism with power-packed moves and jaw-dropping spots. The action spilled all over ringside, with the fans erupting in a ‘This is Awesome’ chant. The final moments of the match saw Jacob Fatu overpowering both LA Knight and Carmelo Hayes. Fatu had Melo beat with a DDT and Moonsault. But LA Knight pulled him out of the ring and scored the pinfall to become the No.1 Contender for the US title.
Worst match
The US title tournament qualifying match between Braun Strowman and Carmelo ended before it started. Braun Strowman dominated in the beginning. However, Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga interfered and were taken out by Strowman. The match ended quickly with no major spots or reactions, except for the ending on WWE SmackDown.
Noteworthy Moments
The most noteworthy moment came in the final segment of WWE SmackDown. Cody Rhodes had an in-ring segment with Michael Cole regarding his thoughts on The Rock‘s offer last week. Rhodes tried to dodge some tough questions from Cole, and then came the mind games from The Rock.
He gifted Rhodes a customized American Nightmare truck as it pulled in ringside and then appeared on the titantron to further entice him regarding his offer. In the end, The Rock revealed a custom weight belt that read “June 11th, 2015,” which was the date Cody’s father, Dusty Rhodes, passed away, and also “Cody’s Soul” that left him stunned.
A top moment that took place on SmackDown was the ending of the match between Carmelo Hayes and Braun Strowman. It was then that Carmelo Hayes pulled an Eddie Guerrero stunt to have Strowman disqualified and picked up the win.
One more noteworthy moment came at the end of a huge six-woman tag team match on WWE SmackDown. The fast-paced action saw the team of Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan, and Raquel Rodriguez defeat Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Bayley when The Prodigy delivered a Pop Rox on the Role Model to pick up the win. However, the ending saw the unexpected arrival of Alexa Bliss right behind Roxanne, who took her out with an Abigal DDT as another Wyatt Family glitch appeared on WWE television.
Holy Sh!@ Moments
The biggest Holy Sh!@ moment of the night was Logan Paul getting the fans crazy at the expense of someone else only to diffuse the excitement. An in-ring segment on WWE SmackDown saw Men’s Elimination Chamber competitors, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Damien Priest, and CM Punk, calling their shots before the match. But the crowd went crazy after the music of John Cena hit, who was not announced for the show. The fans got up from their seats to see Cena, only for it to be Logan Paul trolling them.
Related: 4 Opponent Options For Seth Rollins At WrestleMania 41, Including Trick Williams
Lowlights
The Champion vs Champion match between WWE Women’s and US Champion, Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green, respectively, looked like a strong contest. But the ending, seeing Nia Jax and Candice LeRae attacking Trish Stratus and Stratton, shifted the entire focus from the exciting contest and short duration and became a lowlight for the evening.
Another lowlight was the short segment between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The promo segment of Zayn in Scotiabank Arena and Owens from the Rogers Centre felt like a filler segment with no excitement.
Also read: 5 Opponent Options For Logan Paul At WrestleMania 41, Including AJ Styles