The Feb. 4 episode of SmackDown focused on the Elimination Chamber qualification matches, and emphasized competition more than story. Those matches were far more exciting than anything on the previous Friday’s show, and the narrative picked up a bit with hints about general manager Theodore Long’s fate and the return of a wrestling legend to the WWE.
Booker T. returned as an announcer and Vicki Guerrero continued to feud with Kelly Kelly
That legend was Booker T., now part of the SmackDown announcing team. But his nostalgic moment in the ring was interrupted by acting general manager Vicki Guerrero and her boyfriend Dolph Ziggler. As she arrived, the announcers said they’d received word that Long’s recovery wasn’t going well, and that he might never return to SmackDown.
Guerrero talked about the upcoming match pitting Edge and Kelly Kelly against Ziggler and Lay-Cool, and angrily called Kelly to the ring to account for her attack on Guerrero during the Royal Rumble. Both Guerrero and Ziggler blamed Kelly for costing Ziggler the World Heavyweight Championship, while she called Vicki “a vindictive, paranoid, power-hungry witch”.
Things got even livelier when Ziggler ordered Kelly out of the ring, and she responded by attacking both him and Guerrero. Lay-Cool rushed the ring and ganged up on Kelly, but the arrival of Edge brought the drama to a close. He knocked Ziggler through the ropes and onto the floor and escorted Kelly to safety.
Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov ran into trouble with The Corre
The first match of the evening found Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov facing Corre members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel. Both Slater and Gabriel found themselves overwhelmed by Kozlov at first, but they were able to turn the tables when Kozlov tossed Gabriel out of the ring and was momentarily distracted. Slater took advantage by hitting Kozlov in the back of the knee from behind, and Gabriel leapt from the top rope and pinned Kozlov for the win.
Kofi Kingston faced Drew McIntyre for an Elimination Chamber slot
Next came the first of four Elimination Chamber qualifying matches, between Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre. As they arrived in the ring, Michael Cole announced that Vicki told him Ziggler already had a guaranteed slot for the Elimination Chamber- no great shock there.
It was a contest between Kingston’s balletic grace- at one point, he leaped over McIntyre’s charges three times in a row- and McIntyre’s brutish aggression. The latter was best characterized by the way the first half of the match ended, with McIntyre slamming Kingston into the top of the steel steps before the cut to a commercial break.
Kingston turned things around and got McIntyre in a corner, kicking him so savagely that Cole went on a rant about how he should have been disqualified. He appeared to be headed for victory when Ricardo Rodriguez suddenly appeared on the Titantron, announcing Alberto del Rio. All del Rio did was grin, but this was enough of a distraction to allow McIntyre to take Kingston down and win the match.
The second qualifying match between Rey Mysterio and Jack Swagger was full of excitement
The second qualifying match found Rey Mysterio facing Jack Swagger, continuing the previous match’s theme of mobility against muscle. The match had hardly started when a dodge by Mysterio led to Swagger careening under the ropes and into the announcers’ table. In general Swagger had a tough time dealing with Mysterio’s moves.
This changed when he evaded a 619 attempt by leaving the ring and came back to knock Mysterio down as he was about to jump from the ropes. Swagger focused on Mysterio’s knee, slamming it into the corner pole and twisting it around the ropes.
Swagger’s aggressive approach paid dividends as he slammed Mysterio into the announcer’s table and then leapt onto him from the top rope once they were back in the ring. Mysterio was able to regain some momentum when he rolled out of the way of another flying leap, but Swagger still kicked out of a subsequent pin attempt.
The match finished on an exciting note. Swagger intercepted Mysterio’s 619 and got him in an ankle lock, but Mysterio escaped and kicked Swagger in the face, knocking him to the canvas. That was the end, as Mysterio pinned Swagger and won the match.
A comic segment with Alberto del Rio preceded two brief qualifying matches
A backstage segment found Kelly Kelly accusing Edge of not having faith in her. After this setup for later developments, Alberto del Rio arrived to celebrate his Royal Rumble victory. Unfortunately, this segment also involved Hornswoggle trying to hit a pinata (and hitting del Rio instead). But del Rio’s ease at playing the comic villain almost made up for it.
Chavo Guerrero faced Kane in the third Elimination Chamber qualifier. Guerrero dodged Kane’s early attempts at holds and chokeslams, but Kane caught him as he jumped from the top rope and put him away easily.
The final Elimination Chamber qualifier renewed the rivalry between The Big Show and Wade Barrett. The referee got knocked out early on and The Corre interfered, with Ezekiel Jackson knocking The Big Show down. He kicked out of one pin but Barrett got him down again and won the match. Though The Big Show tried to take revenge after the match, Jackson picked him up and slammed him to the mat.
The mixed tag team World Heavyweight Championship match ended with a surprise
Finally, we had the handicap match for the World Heavyweight Championship. To no one’s surprise, Vicki Guerrero interrupted the start of the match to announce that Edge would lose his title immediately if he used the Spear. He looked as though he was going to break that rule early, but instead he just kicked Ziggler out of the ring.
By the break, Michelle McColl and Kelly Kelly had tagged in, but Kelly’s early aggression gave way to McCool slamming her head into the barricades. McCool and Layla collectively beat up on Kelly and stymied her efforts to tag Edge back in. When she finally got the tag, the referee didn’t see it.
Edge knocked Ziggler out of the ring anyway, and Kelly surprised everyone by using the Spear against Layla. After all, no one said she couldn’t use it. After her victory, Vicki announced she was firing Kelly, and took her screechy ranting to new heights while reducing Kelly to tears. She then told Edge he’d have to face Ziggler again next week to defend the title, in a match with herself as a special referee.
Vicki’s abuse of power made for a nice cliffhanger to conclude the episode. Will Edge be able to beat the odds when the deck is stacked against him? And what about Teddy Long? It was a great conclusion to a highly entertaining episode.