WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - February 22nd, 2024

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LA Knight battles the sinister Drew McIntyre!

The Megastar goes one-on-one with The Scottish Warrior in an intense Elimination Chamber preview showdown. The two have never clashed inside a WWE ring and started their conflict last week in a backstage altercation where referees and agents had to separate the two. Which engaging Superstar can gain the important victory one night before they head down under for the Elimination Chamber Match?


:smackdown:

– We are LIVE inside the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT. where Corey Graves and Wade Barrett welcome us to the final stop on the road to WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth.

Liv Morgan vs. Tiffany Stratton

We see live shots of LA Knight, Liv Morgan and Tiffany Stratton arriving to the venue and walking the hallways backstage with their bags. We then shoot inside the arena where we hear the familiar sounds of the theme music of Bianca Belair.

Out comes "The EST of WWE" in street clothes, as she is not scheduled for a match. After she settles in the ring, a video package airs to promote the Women's Elimination Chamber match tomorrow in Perth, Australia.

Belair stays at ringside and takes a seat to get an up-close and personal view of our opening contest. With that said, Liv Morgan's theme hits and out she comes to continue her "Liv Morgan Revenge Tour." She settles in the ring to a nice pop and her music dies down.

Now the entrance tune for her opponent plays and out comes Tiffany Stratton. The former NXT Women's Champion makes her way to some boos from the Salt Lake City crowd. She settles in the ring and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.

We see Stratton avoid the fight early on, rolling out to the floor and letting the crowd boo her while babbling about how it's "Tiffy-Time!" When she does finally get in the ring, Morgan jumps off to the offensive lead early on. We head into a mid-match break as Stratton starts to take over.

When we return, we see Stratton still dominating the action and taunting Morgan verbally while doing so. Morgan starts to fight back and then the fight spills out to the floor in front of Belair. Belair ends up getting involved, and the distraction leads to Morgan being pinned by Stratton.

Winner: Tiffany Stratton

– Backstage, Drew McIntyre talks about how if he doesn't win the Men's Elimination Chamber match on Saturday in Australia, his comeback will have been as pointless and as big of a failure as CM Punk's was. The crowd boos.

Eventually we see Bobby Lashley walk up and interrupt him. He explains why he's gonna win and reminds McIntyre of when he beat him up at WrestleMania 37. He laughs and walks off as Drew looks pissed. We head to another commercial break.

– When we return, we see Ashante "Thee" Adonis in his house trying on different looks as he gears up for his big comeback. After this goofy segment wraps up, we shoot to the commentary desk.

– Corey Graves sets up a video package looking back at The Rock and Roman Reigns' appearance on last week's SmackDown and their message to Cody Rhodes. We then see footage of The Bloodline attacking Cody during his match on Raw, resulting in his first singles loss in quite some time.

– After the package wraps up, we see Roman Reigns messing with Jimmy Uso asking who told him to do what he did on Raw. He then reveals it was actually he who called the play and he commends Uso for playing it out to perfection. Paul Heyman comes in and says Grayson Waller is here. Reigns says send him in. We head to another break.

Bron Breakker vs. Dante Chen

We see Bron Breakker warming up in his dressing room. After some WWE Elimination Chamber footage is shown from social media, we check back inside the Delta Center where Breakker's theme hits. Out comes the former NXT World Champion for his SmackDown in-ring debut.

Already in the ring is Breakker's opponent, Dante Chen. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Bron starts dominating the offense straight out of the gate. He runs the ropes super fast, leading to Graves pointing out how he has been clocked in at over 20 mph running the ropes, the fastest ever recorded.

Breakker hits a couple of big lariats, which they call Steiner-Lines like Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner clotheslines were always referring to back in the day, and then ultimately finishes Chen off with a picture-perfect Spear for the pin fall victory.

Winner: Bron Breakker

– Kayla Braxton is backstage with The Judgment Day. Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh promise victory in their tag-team tilt against Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne tonight and then Damian Priest and Finn Balor talk about how they're going to beat them at the WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth PLE when their tag titles are on-the-line tomorrow.

Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh vs. Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne

The Judgment Day theme hits and off goes Dom-Dom and JD. The two make their way out and head to the ring for our next match of the evening. As the duo settle inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see Elektra Lopez confront the LWO duo of Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro. She taunts them for turning on Santos Escobar and not being loyal to Legado Del Fantasma. Santos and his new goons, Humberto and Angel, beat them down and tell them this is just the beginning.

Back inside the arena, the theme for the New Catch Republic duo of Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne hits. They make their way out and settle in the ring. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. McDonagh and Bate kick things off for their respective teams.

Following some brief back-and-forth action, we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Dom and McDonagh controlling things until the New Catch Republic gets the much-needed tag. Bate and Dunne fire up with unique double-team offense and ultimately hit a double Tyler Driver for the win. After the match, Balor and Priest come out but get beat down for their efforts.

Winners: Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne

– We shoot backstage to a quick segment, where Kevin Owens and Logan Paul interact briefly. Paul Heyman and Grayson Waller also enter the scene. They all agree that they aren't fond of "The Prize Fighter."

The Street Profits vs. The Authors Of Pain

Now we return inside the Delta Center again where the theme for The Street Profits hits. Out comes Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins accompanied by "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley. We head to a pre-match commercial break as they settle in the ring.

When we return from the break, we see Dakota Kai limping and being helped to the trainers room. The commentators question what happened to her while making it clear she cannot stand on her own weight right now.

Back inside the Delta Center, the lights go out and then the theme for The Final Testament hits. Out comes The Authors of Pain for this scheduled tag-team bout, accompanied by Karrion Kross, Scarlett and Paul Ellering. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

After some early action, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the AOP continue to dominate the offense. When we return, we see much of the same for the next several minutes until finally Ford breaks up a pin attempt to keep The Street Profits alive.

From there, we see Ford and Dawkins fire up on offense and take over. The duo hit a huge Avalanche Blockbuster off the top-rope for a close near fall. As they continue to dominate, we see interference from The Final Testament guys lead to Bobby Lashley getting involved.

He is beating down The Final Testament guys at ringside until his arm is smashed into the steel ring post and then blasted with a steel chair by Karrion Kross. Meanwhile, in the ring, the AOP capitalize on the chaos and hit their double-team finisher for the pin fall victory.

Winners: The Authors Of Pain

– We check-in with Dakota Kai, who is having her ankle/leg checked on by doctors when SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis comes in to see how she is. Bayley also pops in and asks if she can have a moment alone with Dakota.

After everyone leaves, Bayley asks Kai what happened. She said she was left alone in the locker room with The Kabuki Warriors and they attacked her. Bayley said that shouldn't have happened. She says she should have been there for her.

She says she's gonna make them pay. Kai says again how she's got Bayley's back. We head to another commercial break after this wraps up.

– When we return from the break, we see a look inside The Bloodline locker room. Roman Reigns clears the room and is left alone as "The Wise Man" Paul Heyman walks in with Grayson Waller.

After Waller takes a seat, Heyman walks off. Reigns tells Waller he's got something to tell him that is for his ears only. With that said, the camera cuts away and they are left alone to talk.

– When the quick Reigns and Waller backstage segment wraps up, the commentary duo of Corey Graves and Wade Barrett run down the lineup for tomorrow morning's WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth premium live event in Australia.

LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre

The theme for LA Knight hits and out comes "The Mega Star" to a big pop from the Salt Lake City crowd. He settles inside the squared circle for our final match of the evening here on the WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth "go-home" episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown.

On that note, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break. When we return, the theme for "The Scottish Warrior" hits and out comes Drew McIntyre. Before the match begins, Logan Paul's theme hits and the WWE United States Champion comes out.

Paul joins Graves and Barrett on special guest commentary for this main event bout between Knight and McIntyre. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. After some brief back-and-forth action, we head into a mid-match commercial break as Kevin Owens comes out to also join in on commentary.

As we settle back in from our final commercial break of the evening, we see Owens and Paul bickering on commentary as Knight is getting pummeled by McIntyre in the ring. After some more back-and-forth action, we get to the finish, which sees all hell break loose as Owens gets bumped and then gets involved.

We see Owens hitting everything that moves with Stunners. McIntyre ends up laying out Owens and he stands tall. As it seems the show is going to go off the air on that note, we see Randy Orton appear behind McIntyre in the ring.

Drew turns around into an RKO from "The Apex Predator." Orton closes the show on the ropes posing as his theme plays and the commentators plug WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth. That's how this week's show goes off the air.

Winner: No Contest