Smackdown notes: New Intercontinental Champion, Stipulation for Rousey match
By: Dave LeClair
Friday Night Smackdown was a taped show and the final episode before Elimination Chamber on 2/19 in Saudi Arabia. It featured the Intercontinental title match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn and a face-off between Goldberg and Roman Reigns.
Match results:
- Ricochet defeats Sheamus
- Ivar defeats Jey Uso via DQ
- Sami Zayn defeats Shinsuke Nakamura to win the Intercontinental title
The most newsworthy part of the show was the title change that saw Zayn defeating Nakamura to win the Intercontinental Championship during the show. It was a good match, but not on the level of the NXT Takeover match between the two.
A stipulation was added to the Ronda Rousey and Naomi versus Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville match during the contract signing in the opening segment of Smackdown. Now, Rousey will have to wrestle the match with an arm tied behind her back.
Drew McIntyre cut a promo, which included him requesting ideas for how to destroy Madcap Moss. He asked WWE fans to tweet with the hashtag #madcapmauling to give him ideas. Corbin and Moss interrupted and made some dad jokes to push everyone towards the match at Elimination Chamber.
During Smackdown, it was announced that Big E would drive a pace car during the Daytona 500 NASCAR race.
The main event saw Roman Reigns come face-to-face with challenger Goldberg. Roman and Paul Heyman cut a promo and right before the show ended, Goldberg did his full entrance and came to the ring to face Roman. Goldberg said “You’re not next, I’m next,” and the show went off the air.
WWE had a lengthy Undertaker video package featuring lots of WWE superstars talking about Taker. This comes right after the WWE announced his induction to the Hall of Fame. The only noteworthy aspect was the inclusion of Shane McMahon.
Another video package followed, refreshing everyone on the Goldberg versus Roman Reigns feud.
