Haven’t been watching WWE long enough to remember the Two-Man Power Trip? No worries, because The Rock and Roman Reigns are doing their best to update the concept for the 2020s, which we’ll see again tonight on WWE SmackDown from Salt Lake City.
It’s been a little more than a week since the WrestleMania XL Kickoff in Las Vegas shook up the landscape along the Road to WrestleMania. It wasn’t just that Cody Rhodes stepped up and challenged Reigns again, bumping The Rock out of the way.
The more surprising development was that The Great One sided with the Tribal Chief, potentially adding one of the most famed champions in WWE history to The Bloodline. That’s pretty much a complete 180 from when it looked like those two men would be doing battle in the main event in Philly.
WWE wants us to think tonight’s show will answer the big unanswered question after Rhodes shuffled everything, which is what role The Rock will play at WrestleMania 40. Since Rhodes and Seth Rollins are on Raw, we probably won’t get a definitive answer tonight, but we should at least find out if things are leaning toward a tag team match, perhaps on night 1.
The other big thing that will happen in Salt Lake City will be finding several more competitors for the Elimination Chamber matches set for eight days from now in Perth, Australia. Two men and two women will join those bouts after tonight’s qualifiers, which will finish off the men’s field and leave just one spot left for the women.
That means it should be a fast-moving show and an eventful two hours. Off we go to find out.
WWE SmackDown results from Salt Lake City:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- A big Ford pickup truck pulls up to the arena earlier tonight, and out hops The Rock
- Dominik Mysterio get some mic time ahead of his qualifier, but you know that just means the fans get to boo the crap out of him
- Kevin Owens def. Dominik Mysterio by pinfall in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match
- Drew McIntyre says everyone wants to win the Chamber match, but he’s the only one who needs to win it, for himself and all of WWE; LA Knight arrives to throw some water on that idea as only he can, and they eventually need to be separated
- Earlier today, The Bloodline arrives, and Roman Reigns tells Jimmy Uso they’re going to fix everything Cody messed up
- Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate are feeling good ahead of their tag team title shot at Elimination Chamber; when an angry Mysterio dismisses their chances as he passes by, they challenge him and R-Truth to a match, but he responds that Truth isn’t part of The Judgment Day and they should know that
- Tiffany Stratton def. Zelina Vega by pinfall in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match; a slight distraction by Elektra Lopez furthers the LWO-Legado Del Fantasma beef too
- Things get heated in the locker room between Karl Anderson and AJ Styles, so any hopes of The O.C. getting back on the same page appears dead for right now
- IYO SKY delivers a taunting message for Bayley, and, alongside Asuka and Kairi Sane, says no one is ready for Damage CTRL
- Authors of Pain def. Javier Bernal and Beau Morris by pinfall in a quick squash match
- Byron Saxton gets a word with Logan Paul, who says everyone should be thankful for seeing his first live match on SmackDown and also says he’ll win tonight, at Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania to become a double champ
- Logan Paul def. The Miz by pinfall in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match
- Stratton is making no friends backstage, annoying Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, and eventually, Jade Cargill
- Paul Heyman is shown speaking with Grayson Waller outside the Bloodline dressing room
- Naomi def. Alba Fyre by submission in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match
- Dakota Kai approaches Bayley, but the Role Model still isn’t sure who she can trust and doesn’t want to discuss it right now
- Aldis says one of the free agents he’s been talking to is no longer a free agent: Bron Breakker has signed to be on SmackDown
- Roman Reigns and The Rock are in your city, and The Rock is in The Bloodline now
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Kevin Owens is in Elimination Chamber, and that’s the (R-)truth
Dom gets an early taste of KO’s power and doesn’t like it. He fires back with an athletic combo that ends with a dropkick, but Owens sends him out to the floor. Dom manages to walk away to avoid any chance of a dive to the floor, but he eats a right hand while avoiding the steel steps.
KO turns and gets a surprise in the form of R-Truth, and his sudden appearance gives the momentum back to Mysterio, who quickly earns a near fall.
After commercials it’s still Dom on the attack, with Truth looking concerned for … Owens, we guess? The crowd comes alive as KO rallies by simply punching and stomping the heck out of Mysterio until he ends up on the outside. A lariat sets up a running senton, and back into the ring they go.
Truth calls for a Cannonball, which KO delivers after a crotch chop. There’s a frog splash, but Dirty Dom digs deep to kick out.
Mysterio counters a Popup Powerbomb with a facebuster (sort of) and a near fall. Dom wants Three Amigos but ends up getting outdone by his opponent. Mysterio counters the final suplex with a DDT for two.
Shortly after, KO finds the mark with a Swanton Bomb, but Mysterio is able to kick out yet again. Dom responds with a 619, which still isn’t enough to win it. Mysterio tells Truth to get a chair, even telling him he’s in The Judgment Day if he does it.
Truth grabs a chair from the timekeeper’s area … but sits in it instead of handing it over.
Owens delivers a superkick and a Popup Powerbomb, and that’s the end of that.
Logan Paul’s double champ plan continues with a victory over The Miz
The announcers put over how hard it is to believe that this is Paul’s first match on SmackDown, and it is a little wild. He and Miz know each other well, of course, having worked together when Paul was first breaking into WWE.
Paul isn’t quite on target with a standing moonsault, showing a little of his inexperience, as Nick Aldis is shown watching the action from a luxury box with Jade Cargill and Bron Breakker, among others.
Miz’s strikes back Paul into a corner, where the It Kicks draw applause from the fans. His corner attack is on target as well, but Paul has some fight left and sends Miz hard into the ringpost. A jumping clothesline sets up a splash on the apron before a commercial break.
Miz is feeling his second wind after that, with a Hart Attack to send Paul to the canvas. A flatliner follows, and the A-Lister covers for a two count.
Double knees in the corner don’t finish Paul either, so Miz keeps working over the right knee that Logan has been selling from early in the bout. Paul isn’t finished, though, hitting Miz with his own finisher and earning a near fall.
This one still isn’t out of gas, as they fight to the floor and Paul gets brass knux from his buddy again. Miz rushes in and clobbers him, angrily taking the weapon for himself. But Paul is able to take advantage of the brief moment of confusion, dragging Miz back into the ring for an inverted Skull Crushing Finale and a victory to secure a spot in Elimination Chamber.
Roman Reigns welcomes The Rock to The Bloodline
With all of The Bloodline beside him, Reigns heads to the ring for some acknowledgement. He lets the crowd reaction soak in for some time before he even says a word.
“Can I be honest with all of you?” Reigns finally says. The Tribal Chief calls the people of Utah idiots, at least collectively. He doesn’t want them to mess up the “greatest night ever in WWE,” to which they immediately chime in with “Cody” chants.
The occasion, however, is that tonight is the first night we can say The Rock is a member of The Bloodline. That brings out The People’s Champ himself, to a very loud and somewhat mixed reaction. But we’ll have to wait through commercials to see what he says.
The Rock tells the fans they’ve broken a Utah state indoor attendance record … for the biggest group of trailer park trash The Rock has ever seen. He says they’ll all have a story to tell about looking greatness in the face.
This side of The Rock has been there all along, even if we haven’t seen it in years. He blames the people for having the biggest WrestleMania event in years in their hands and flushing it down the toilet by pining for Cody having the chance to finish his story.
But what is Cody’s story? After all, Reigns beat Rhodes last year at WrestleMania. Should he get a rematch? The Rock talks about teams from real sports who get to the championship game, lose and move on. But the fans here don’t understand that because they’re “spoiled, entitled, little crybaby bitches.”
The Rock says he’ll do anything to ensure Rhodes leaves a loser like he is now … if you smell what The Bloodline is cooking.