Big Show started things off by reminding us that Del Rio has never pinned him ahead of their title clash at Elimination Chamber, and that all his rage from the World Champion's actions as of late have been bottled up just for that occasion. Chris Jericho then joined Show and warned him that if they both win their respective matches on Sunday then he's going to go on to WrestleMania to topple him. Seeing where this was all going, GM Booker T then booked the two in a bout that night. Amusingly Show mouthed the words "I hate you" to Booker afterwards. It was a fair start to the show.
Mark Henry won via DQ versus Randy Orton in a largely solid encounter. As usual these two worked well together and gave worthy displays. The disqualification came after Orton had enough and decided to clobber his future opponent in the Elimination Chamber with a steel chair, but Henry soon made a recovery and swatted away the weapon before applying a World's Strongest Slam on 'The Viper'.
Afterwards Henry told Stryker backstage that no one was going to stop his road to WrestleMania, reminding him of all the people he's taken down in the short time since returning. I'm still going with Orton to win the Chamber.
Tamina Snuka pinned Layla in a passable Divas outing. It was certainly above average compared to the standard of most female wrestling in WWE today, with both women putting in decent enough efforts.
The Rock came out and warned CM Punk that he was simply holding onto his championship belt after taking it on Raw until Sunday when he beats him and earns it back. CM Punk then appeared on the big screen and informed Rocky that he wants him to get wound up and beat on him at Elimination Chamber because then he'll be stripped of the WWE Championship. Rock responded by calling Punk's words "worthless" after he failed to beat him at the Royal Rumble and after he fails to beat him again at EC. It was one of the better promos from 'The People's Champ' as of late.
Brodus Clay & Tensai beat 3MB (Heath Slater & Jinder Mahal) in an average tag bout. There were some sloppy moments and the action was pretty pedestrian to be honest, but I wasn't expecting much here anyway. I've yet to really get behind the team of Tensai and Clay, they just haven't really impressed, but I'm hoping that'll change at some point.
Afterwards The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) took out the two victors. Ambrose then warned Cena, Ryback and Sheamus, their opponents at Elimination Chamber, that their actions have consequences and that after their match nothing will change.
The Miz defeated Cody Rhodes in a fair match up. Not the most exciting bout you'll see but there was solid wrestling from both men, and it was paced nicely as Cody aimed for Miz's injured shoulder which was attacked by Cesaro on this week's Raw, so I appreciated the consistency with the bandages on him.
Jack Swagger beat Zack Ryder in a pretty forgettable contest. Much like on Monday night, Swagger dominated Ryder for the most part and eventually forced him to tap to the Patriot Act. Afterwards Swagger introduced his good friend Zeb Colter, who bashed Ryder for caring more about his appearance than his country and accused many Americans of doing the same, claiming the country was "broken." I'm really interested in this storyline with Swagger and Colter and where it could lead.
Big Show pinned Chris Jericho in a great main event. I thought it'd be a decent enough match, but it definitely succeeded that. Both men gave terrific displays and worked hard to provide the top match of the night. Big Show grabbed the one-two-three after quickly applying a KO punch out of nowhere. Afterwards Del Rio appeared on the stage and they stared off intensely.
Overall I found it a pretty enjoyable show, with some above average matches and a great main event. My highlights were Orton versus Henry, The Rock and CM Punk's segment and Jericho versus Big Show. Ambrose's promo was also decent. For a SmackDown I'll take three memorable parts. Unfortunately the other matches were quite average, and you wouldn't miss much by skipping them.
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