Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Naomi and Bianca Belair were already in the ring for what would be an Elimination Chamber qualifying match between The Girl with the Glow and Women’s United States Champion, Chelsea Green. Before things could get underway, commentator Wade Barrett interviewed Trish Stratus, who just happened to be in the front row. Barrett grilled the Hall of Famer on whether or not it was likely that the fans would be seeing her at Elimination Chamber, taking place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Saturday, March 1st. Stratus said it was great to deliver a little Stratusfaction at the Royal Rumble two weeks ago and felt that entering at #25 was a great way to celebrate her 25th anniversary. Stratus additionally said that the Elimination Chamber is one of the most exciting Premium Live Events, it is where the Road to WrestleMania is finalized, and it’s in Toronto, confirming that she will be at the event – however, she’ll have to decide if she wants to be watching from a seat or a suite.
After Chelsea Green made her entrance with her ‘Secret Hervice” Piper Niven alongside her, Naomi immediately started with a series of pins, attempting a roll up twice followed by a crucifix pin. Green then slapped Naomi and tried to pin her, but Naomi quickly took control of the match and unleashed a rapid flurry of offense throughout, even reversing an Un-pretty-her but failing to put Green away. When Green tried it again from the top turnbuckle, it was countered into an X-Factor by Naomi for the win.
Naomi now joins Bianca, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, and Bayley in this year’s women’s Elimination Chamber match. However, one woman is still yet to enter the match. We’ll find out this coming Monday on Raw when Raquel Rodriguez takes on Roxanne Perez in the final qualifying match.
A clip from the ESPN show Get Up aired. Featuring Michelle McCool and husband The Undertaker, Triple H appeared via video to announce McCool’s induction for the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame. McCool will also be appearing on WWE’s new LFG: Legends & Future Greats series, airing Sunday nights on A&E beginning in two days on February 16th. More info on the Hall of Fame induction can be found here.
Candice LeRae and Nia Jax were talking backstage when they were quickly interrupted by Alexa Bliss, who tells Jax to have fun in her Women’s Championship match against Tiffany Stratton, and that she hopefully does better than Candice did last week. Jax says she thinks she’ll be fine, as she’s familiar with former friends betraying her. Bliss thinks Jax’s comments are funny because her and Lilly were thinking that if she wins the Women’s Championship and Bliss wins the Elimination Chamber, they could be facing each other again at WrestleMania; for a history lesson, Alexa, at the time Raw Women’s Champion, made some comments about Nia’s weight and her being easily manipulated, which led to them facing off at WrestleMania 34 in 2018. Back to the segment, Bliss wished Jax good luck and walked away. A Wyatt Sicks graphic also briefly appeared, suggesting that with their recent move to SmackDown, the group may be going after Bliss next, as she formerly had a partnership with the late Bray Wyatt during the pandemic era.
The Women’s Championship match between Nia Jax, the challenger, and Tiffany Stratton was then set to begin as we neared the final hour of the show. Charlotte Flair was seen watching the match from backstage.
Stratton started by charging toward Jax only to be quickly overpowered by her. The Buff Barbie would rely on her athleticism to take her opponent out, but The Irresistible Force remained committed to inflicting as much harm as she could, no matter how embarrassing and taking much pleasure in it. A body slam and leg drop combo only got Jax a near fall, showing that Stratton would not be going down without a fight, a mindset that defined the champion in what has been her toughest title match yet. Jax‘s frustration would grow as Stratton kicked out of every possible move, even missing the Annihilator. LeRae openly interfered as Stratton set up the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, causing a disqualification and allowing Jax to hit the Annihilator on her opponent. As the Poison Pixie grabbed a steel chair from the timekeeper’s area, out from the crowd came Trish Stratus to save Stratton, but she too was attacked, with officials coming in to stop Jax and LeRae from continuing.
As they walked away, Charlotte Flair’s music then interrupted as she walked out to the ring. Stratus was now gone but Stratton remained laid out in the ring. Grabbing the steel chair that LeRae had wanted to use, Flair used it to sit down over Stratton, taunting her to wake up. But why? “The Queen chooses you. I’ll see you at WrestleMania!”
Naomi and Bianca Belair appeared once again as they walked into Nick Aldis’s office, with Aldis announcing that there’s been a development regarding Jade Cargill’s November attack. Having gotten an anonymous tip in the form of a video, Aldis showed the footage, which featured Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez walking through the parking lot of the Delta Center (the arena in which the attack took place) during the moment that Naomi, Bianca, and Bayley had been by Jade’s side as she was taken into the ambulance. Bianca and Naomi say that they knew it was the two of them, but Aldis says that they don’t know anything yet, adding that he will call Adam Pearce to figure out the next steps, and reminding them that they can’t jump to conclusions. It doesn’t matter to the both of them though, as they now plan on going to Raw to handle Liv and Raquel themselves.
Now walking backstage, Tiffany Stratton had an impromptu interview with Byron Saxton, who asked for her reaction to Charlotte challenging her at WrestleMania. Stratton says that Charlotte’s going to know that it’s Tiffy Time, but right now, it’s a little hard to focus on WrestleMania after what Candice and Nia did to her. Trish Stratus walked in, mentioning that she knows that Stratton has problems with them, and now, so does she, so she’s thinking that the two of them team up in Toronto at Elimination Chamber. The two smile at this thought, with Stratton asking if it’s going to be “Tiffy and Trishy Time” in Toronto, with the segment ending as the champion clapped in glee.
Friday Night SmackDown will emanate next week from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. As of this writing, nothing is currently advertised for the women.
Nonetheless, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown in the comments below!
