SmackDown airs tonight (Feb. 16) with a live show emanating from Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is the third episode of SmackDown during the four week build towards Elimination Chamber 2024, which takes place on February 24.
This is one WWE power struggle that Triple H can’t win
The Rock and Roman Reigns return to SmackDown tonight to confront Triple H about the Cody Rhodes problem at WrestleMania 40.
The Tribal Chiefs were planning to have the biggest WrestleMania main event of all-time against each other, but Rhodes ruined that idea by changing his mind and using his Royal Rumble win to challenge Reigns for the WWE Universal championship on the grand stage. One thing led to another, and the WrestleMania XL Kickoff press conference was highlighted by The Rock turning heel and slapping the taste out of Cody’s mouth.
The Rock and Reigns warned Triple H that he needs to fix this problem, and if he doesn’t, they’ll fix it for him. Triple H shot right back at the Tribal Chiefs last week on SmackDown when they weren’t in the building. Triple H said it doesn’t matter what they think because he’s the guy calling the shots in WWE, and therefore Rhodes vs. Reigns is official for the WrestleMania 40 main event.
The big problem for Triple H is that Dwayne Johnson is actually a member of the TKO Board of Directors, which likely gives him the power to go over Triple H’s ahead and change the WrestleMania main event to his liking. A power struggle between Triple H and the Tribal Chiefs could very well play out tonight, and it’s easy to see why Roman is so confident that everything will change. I don’t think the Cody Crybabies will be happy when they see The Rock and Roman throw their weight around tonight and demonstrate why they are not to be fucked with by anybody in WWE, including Triple H.
One other thing to keep in mind is that tonight is a double taping for SmackDown, so this angle between The Tribal Chiefs and Triple H could play out across both episodes.
The rest of the card
– Tonight’s episode includes four Elimination Chamber qualifying matches. On the men’s side, it will be The Miz vs. Logan Paul and Kevin Owens vs. Dominik Mysterio.
– Paul was actually upset when he found out that The Miz is his opponent, even though Miz is the easiest guy in the field to beat, and the YouTube already has a career win over him.
– Meanwhile, Owens knows exactly how to deal with super punchable faces like Dirty Dom’s. However, the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view takes place in Australia, where Rhea Ripley will be received as a conquering hero. Will any of Rhea’s spotlight rub off on Dom if he is added to the men’s chamber match, given their very close relationship?
– The two women’s chamber qualifying matches are Naomi vs. Zelina Vega and Tiffany Stratton vs. Alba Fyre. This is Naomi’s first match since she returned to WWE at Royal Rumble, which makes her the heavy favorite over Vega. Meanwhile, Alba Fyre wasn’t originally planned to compete in a chamber qualifying match, but she’s being called on here to replace the injured Shotzi.
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
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