WWE SmackDown live results: Ronda Rousey’s WrestleMania decision
SmackDown’s fallout from the Royal Rumble takes place at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma tonight.
Ronda Rousey will reveal which title she’s going to be challenging for at WrestleMania 38. Rousey returned last Saturday and won the women’s Royal Rumble match after eliminating SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Rousey appeared on Raw and had a brief confrontation with Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. Rousey then promised to announce her WrestleMania opponent on SmackDown.
Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble after Roman Reigns interfered. Paul Heyman betrayed Lesnar and gave Reigns the WWE title belt to attack Lesnar.
Lesnar won the men’s Royal Rumble match later that night. On Raw, Lesnar announced that he’s going to challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. Lesnar will also be in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match later this month.
Heyman will address his betrayal of Lesnar tonight.
Plus, Drew McIntyre will appear after making his return at the Royal Rumble. Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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They recapped Bobby Lashley defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman’s help at the Royal Rumble. It also recapped Lesnar winning the men’s Rumble match.
Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, and The Usos Segment
This was a fine opening segment. Heyman explained his reason for turning on Lesnar. It also featured Goldberg’s return, where he challenged Reigns for a title match.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos slowly made their entrance.
They recapped Seth Rollins defeating Reigns via disqualification at The Royal Rumble. After the match, Reigns attacked Rollins with a chair.
Michael Cole and Pat McAfee discussed Reigns vs. Lensar at WrestleMania 38.
Paul Heyman took the mic and noted he’s the special counsel for the Tribal Chief and Universal Champion. He said they’re here tonight to acknowledge what really happened. Heyman claimed it wasn’t a plan to make Lesnar look like a fool, but he does look like a fool.
Heyman noted that in a great city called Chicago, he made a mistake back in December. He told Reigns that night he’s protecting Reigns from Lesnar. Heyman added that he deserved to get a Superman punch for his comments. He said he got Lesnar added to the five-way at Day 1.
Heyman thought everything was perfect with Lesnar on Raw and Reigns on SmackDown. The only thing missing was Heyman with Reigns.
Instead, Lesnar came to SmackDown and challenged Reigns to a title-for-title match. Heyman thought that was the stupidest decision Lesnar could make. However, he assumed he’d be with Lesnar forever doing his ring introduction. Heyman promised he’d never do the introduction again.
At the Rumble, Reigns speared Lesnar, and that’s when Heyman realized he was wrong. He has to protect Lesnar from Reigns. He explained that Reigns walked over and reached out his hand to him. Heyman said that Bobby Lashley is the WWE Champion because of Reigns.
Heyman promised there would not be a title-for-title or champion vs. champion match at WrestleMania. Heyman then demanded that Oklahoma acknowledge Reigns.
Suddenly, Goldberg’s music hit to a huge pop from the crowd. Reigns was in shock to hear Goldberg’s music. The fans broke into a “Goldberg” chant.
Goldberg took the mic and said he acknowledges Reigns. He paused and then added as his next victim. Goldberg then challenged Reigns for the Universal title at Elimination Chamber.
Cole and McAfee ran down the line up for tonight.
Ricochet (w/Cesaro) defeated Ridge Holland (w/Sheamus) (1:48)
This was okay. They barely got anytime and it was all a set up for the next match.
Ricochet had the early advantage until Holland rocked him with a knee and an uppercut. Ricochet fought back but Holland dropped him on the ring apron. Cesaro and Sheamus started arguing at ringside. Ricochet took advantage and caught Holland with small package for the win.
Ridge Holland & Sheamus defeated Cesaro & Riochet (2:47)
The majority of the match took place during the break. They didn’t get a lot of time either. Instead of one match going 5 minutes they split the time between two matches.
Back from the break, the match was already in progress. The heels were firmly in control beating down Cesaro. Ricochet got the hot tag and hit a springboard clothesline on Holland. Ricochet missed a plancha and Holland took him out.
The finish came when Cesaro gave Sheamus a superplex, but Holland made a blind tag. He then hit the power slam on Cesaro for the win.
Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso) vs. Erik (w/Ivar) (1:19)
The match went about a minute and did a terrible job building up The Viking Raiders. Another very short match that didn’t seem to serve a purpose.
Erik had the early advantage and rocked Jimmy with a knee to the face. Jey interfered and avoided Ivar at ringside. Erik went for a full nelson slam, but Jimmy escaped and hit a superkick. He followed up with a the splash off the top for the win.
Aliyah defeated Natalya via count-out (2:23)
This wasn’t good. It was another very short match but also had a weak finish.
They recapped Aliyah defeating Natalya in 3.17 seconds and by disqualification.
Aliyah rolled up Natalya for a near fall at the bell. Natalya briefly took over, but Aliyah hit an hurricanrana and followed up with the Thesz press. She then gave Natalya a bulldog for a two-count.
Natalya fought back and rocked Aliyah with a discus clothesline to regain control. She beat Aliyah around ringside and threw her into the barricade. The finish came when Aliyah threw Natalya into the barricade and beat the ten-count to win.
In the back, Drew Gulak approached Shotzi. Drew McIntyre then walked past them both with Angela on his way to the ring.
Drew McIntyre Segment
This was a fine segment.
They recapped Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss attacking McIntyre at Day 1 and his return at the Royal Rumble.
McIntyre discussed rumors that he’d be out of action for several months. He didn’t care what the doctors told him. He trained hard and returned at the Rumble. He added that he’s feeling good. McIntyre pointed out that the Rumble came down to him and Lesnar. McIntyre noted they’re one apiece now, but he’ll get back to that later.
McIntyre turned his attention to Corbin and Moss. Happy Corbin interrupted and mocked him. He wondered how it felt to be thrown out by Lesnar.
Moss tried to sneak attack McIntyre, but McIntyre caught him. He demanded Moss tell him a joke. Eventually, Moss told a bad joke about WrestleMania being Scot Free. McIntyre pretended to laugh but then hit the Claymore kick on Moss. He promised Corbin that he’s next.
They showed clips of Sami Zayn crashing the Jackass: Forever premiere. Johnny Knoxville had security throw him out.
In the back, Zayn was with Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville. Zayn was furious that they showed the footage. He demanded his match with Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Eventually, Pearce agreed to give him the match in two weeks. Pearce joked about inviting Knoxville.
Natalya then walked in and demanded a match with Aliyah that’s submission or pinfall only. Natalya added that it’s going to be dungeon style.
Cole and McAfee confirmed Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg at Elimination Chamber.
Championship Contender’s Match: Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (w/Rick Boogs) defeated Jinder Mahal (w/Shanky) (3:15)
This wasn’t a good match. They went just over three minutes and the commentators spent most of the time talking about Zayn and Knoxville.
Before the match, Boogs tried playing Nakamura’s music on his guitar, but it didn’t work for some reason.
Zayn joined Cole and McAfee on commentary.
Nakamura had the early advantage after hitting a sliding German suplex. He went for the Kinshasa, but Mahal countered. Mahal took over and rocked Nakamura with a knee for a near fall.
Mahal then slowed the pace down with a chin lock. Nakamura fought back with a kick to the head. He followed up with the Kinshasa for the win.
They recapped Naomi eliminating Sonya Deville in the women’s Rumble match. Later in the night, Deville returned to eliminate Naomi.
A furious Naomi approached Deville and Pearce in their office. She demanded that Deville meet her in the ring in 5 minutes. Instead, Deville announced Naomi challenging SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair for the title next week. Naomi was skeptical but Pearce assured her the match would happen.
They announced Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss for Elimination Chamber.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed Natalya. She went to the trainer’s room to find Aliyah. Instead, Xia Li walked out, so Natalya backed off.
New Day defeated Los Lotharios (9:43)
New Day and Los Lotharios had a good match. Both teams worked hard, and the fans were into it. Definitely, it was the best match of the night.
Earlier today, New Day crashed the Los Lotharios photo shoot.
Big E held Humberto, and Kingston rocked him with a penalty kick. Kingston climbed to the top rope, but Angel caused a distraction. Humberto took advantage, and the heels took over. Angel knocked Big E off the apron. Kingston fought back and went for a dive, but Angel rocked him with a superkick.
Back from the break, Los Lotharios were firmly in control. Humberto hit a back suplex on Kingston and slowed the pace down with a chin lock.
Humberto attempted a moonsault, but Kingston got his feet up. Big E got the hot tag and ran wild. He caught Angel with a series of belly-to-belly suplexes. He followed up with a big splash.
Big E went for the Big Ending, but Angel slipped out and hit the backstabber. New Day recovered and hit a doomsday/bulldog for a very close two-count. Big E attempted the spear through the ropes, but Angel moved, and Big E caught his knee on the middle rope. Angel then hit a moonsault on Big E.
Los Lotharios hit a doomsday/dropkick combo on Kingston for another close near fall. Kingston recovered and hit a double foot stomp to regain control. New Day fought back and hit the Midnight Hour for the win.
Ronda Rousey Makes Her WrestleMania Decision
This was a good closing segment. Rousey was good in her role, and the fans were firmly behind her tonight. They teased that Rousey would face Becky Lynch and Flair would take on Sasha Banks at WrestleMania. Instead, Rousey chose Flair as her WrestleMania opponent.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair made her way to the ring for Rousey’s announcement.
Back from the break, Sonya Deville and Flair were standing in the ring. Deville noted she spoke with Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch earlier. Lynch claimed that she’s taking on Rousey at WrestleMania and expects the contract on Raw.
Deville decided that Flair could pick her opponent for WrestleMania instead. Flair said she’s not surprised Rousey rather take on Lynch. Flair then challenged Sasha Banks to a match at WrestleMania.
Suddenly, Rousey’s music hit, and she made her way to the ring. She got a good reaction from the fans. Rousey agreed that becoming a mother changed her. She didn’t travel with her baby in an ice storm to have a chat. She wants to teach her daughter the family business of kicking ass. The fans broke into a loud “Ronda Rousey” chant.
Rousey got in Flair’s face and told her she’s not special. She then promised to see Flair at WrestleMania. Flair held up her title and said that’s her baby and her baby is prettier than Rousey’s. Rousey didn’t like that comment. She took off her jacket, but Deville got in her face. Deville noted she runs SmackDown, not Rousey.
Rousey threw Deville out of the way. She avoided Flair, but Deville jumped on her back. Flair took the chance to jump out of the ring. Rousey then threw Deville down and put her in the armbar to end SmackDown.
Rousey taking on Flair is official for WrestleMania 38.
Next Week: SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defends against Naomi.
In Two Weeks: Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura defends against Sami Zayn.