The show opens up with Tom Phillips welcoming us. He is joined by Corey Graves & Byron Saxton. Tom Phillips then hypes the main event tonight which is the #1 Contender’s Match between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn where the winner will face WWE Champion AJ Styles at WWE Fastlane.
We go right to the ring where Greg Hamilton introduces SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon.
Shane McMahon makes his way down to the ring. He starts by saying that normally he would be ecstatic about the main event match but he is not, because the stakes have epic implications. The winner goes on to WWE Fastlane to compete for the WWE Championship against AJ Styles. This leads to Shane McMahon calling SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan out. Daniel Bryan makes his way down to the ring. McMahon says that they both agree that SmackDown is the land of opportunity and one of the keys of their success is listening to the fans every week.
When we all feel a superstar deserves an opportunity, it’s up to them to give that superstar that opportunity, and Shane says that he thinks Bryan isn’t listening. “Rusev Day!” chants start up before Bryan has a chance to answer and McMahon takes due note of them. Shane says that Bryan keeps giving the same two guys opportunity after opportunity and the fans might want to see another superstar go after the WWE Championship.
Shane polls the crowd and gets a middling response, and Bryan says that the referee made a mistake at the Royal Rumble and he’s tried to turn a negative into a positive, make a huge main event for tonight wherein two of Shane’s least favorite superstars get to rip each other apart tonight and honestly he thought he was gonna get a well-deserved raise in pay.
Shane holds his horses on that even as the crowd chants and Bryan hopes he made due note of that as well. McMahon says that he is looking forward to seeing Owens and Zayn rip each other apart but Bryan gives them opportunity after opportunity for the WWE Championship. What Bryan has done with the Yes! Movement changed the WWE landscape forever and although he had a similar career path to Sami and Kevin, they’re not him.
The Yep! Movement is a cheap imitation of the greatest thing Daniel Bryan has created, and Shane doesn’t want him to let them manipulate him further. Shane says that he knows Bryan more than anything in this world, that he wants to compete in the ring, but what he’s doing. Before Shane can continue, Bryan cuts him off and asks what exactly it is that he’s doing. Shane says that he thinks it’s plain to see that Bryan is living vicariously through Owens and Zayn.
WWE Champion AJ Styles makes his way down to the ring. He says that since the new year started he’s traveled over ten thousand miles defending the WWE Championship. He’s been all over the world competing at the highest level because that’s what he does, and he was put on this planet to be phenomenal. He can deal with the bumps and the bruises and the pain, with canceled flight, with travel taking him away from his family, that’s part of the grind and he was built for it.
But what he can’t deal with is SmackDown management obsessing over Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. And he’s not just talking about Bryan, he’s talking to Shane too. Every time they make a decision based on those two, it affects him. He’s a fighting champion, he doesn’t care who wins tonight, so do him a favor and just stay out of the way tonight. He can control his own destiny, and he’ll walk out of Fastlane right into WrestleMania as WWE Champion, then AJ Styles heads to the back.
We head backstage with the New Day where we see Kofi Kingston’s hand is a unicorn attacking pancakes. Big E has Twitter open for social media questions and asks whether Corey Graves has a better jab or a left hook.
Commentary pumps up the rest of the show and we go to a commercial break on a video package hyping tonight’s Mixed Match Challenge.
Back from the commercial break, AJ Styles is walking backstage when he rolls up on Shinsuke Nakamura. Shinsuke tells him that he is gonna beat him at WrestleMania and then he just walks away.
Charlotte vs. Riott Squad Member Liv Morgan: The rest of the Riott Squad is at ringside. Charlotte starts off with a spear into the corner right off the opening bell. Charlotte follows up with some shoulder strikes, then stomps Liv down in the corner. They fight out to ringside briefly, and a distraction by the Riott Squad leads to Liv dropping Charlotte and taking control. Back in the ring, Liv slams Charlotte face-first into the mat, then puts her in a sleeper. Charlotte starts firing back with chops to the chest, then hits a fallaway slam. Charlotte follows up with a boot to the face, then she goes up top. Liv pulls Charlotte down then stomps on her. Charlotte comes back with a spear, but then gets distracted by Sarah Logan. She knocks Logan down, while Ruby pulls Liv outside to safety on the other side of the ring. The referee ejects Riott and Logan from ringside. Back in the ring, Charlotte hits a big boot on Morgan. Charlotte follows up with the Figure Eight for the win via submission. Winner: Charlotte
After the match, Flair stands tall and raises the title as her music hits. Flair goes to the announce table and says that’s 1 down, 2 to go. Flair walks to the back and stops to laugh at Liv, who is trying to recover on the floor.
Tom Phillips introduces us to a Black History Month Video Package with WWE Superstars visiting the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis which is followed by a commercial break.
Back from commercial break, Renee Young knocks on Kevin Owens’ door to interview him. She asks him if tonight will affect his relationship with Sami Zayn. He says that that is actually a great question, but it’s up to Sami whether or not he can handle losing.
The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) vs. Enhancement Talents: Harper starts off with a big running dropkick on the first jobber, and follows up with a suplex. Harper then rolls outside and chases the second jobber right into Rowan, who drops him with a running cross body. Harper and Rowan take both jobbers into the ring and start beating on both of them. They hit a double team splash on them both at the same time. They double-team one jobber by hitting a powerbomb, then they hit the double crucifix powerbomb on the other jobber, and pin him for the three count. Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan)
After the match, Rowan and Harper stands tall as we go to replays. We come back and they are headed to the back but the music of The Usos hits and out comes the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos. The two teams face off for a second at the bottom of the ramp. The Usos keep walking and they enter the ring as The Bludgeon Brothers head to the back. Tom says that The Usos are about to lay down their street code. We then go to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, The Usos are already in the ring to cut a promo.
The Usos start out by saying that last week they came out here to let us know what Day One Ish means, and this week they’re gonna let us know what being locked down is all about. It’s not about getting booked and fingerprinted, orange jumpsuits, cold showers, assume the position, sleeping on a slap on concrete, no, what they’re talking about is a state of mind. They turn your mind into a prison and they run that prison.
The Usos continue by saying that a lot of cats out here starving and acting real hungry, and not for cupcakes, the hunger for success, and you all can’t eat until they say you can eat. A lot of cats are thirsty, not for purple stuff, but for the spotlight, and if you try to take a sip of their holy grail they’ll split you like the Red Sea. A lot of cats sleeping on The Usos, and not like bunk beds, but 2017 was a turnaround for them, from face-paint to snapbacks, from rainbow colors to white and black, from “yeah they might be alright” to “they had match of the night.”
The Usos end the promo by saying that we all can’t sleep until they say we can sleep, and we better recognize when we feel those goosebumps it’s not paranoia, it’s The Usos!
We head backstage where we see that Daniel Bryan is about to reveal the first-ever SmackDown Top 10 List. He reminds us of the rules and begins. In descending order, Tye Dillinger, Randy Orton, Becky Lynch, The Usos (together at 7), The New Day (together at 6), Bobby Roode, Naomi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Charlotte Flair, and at number one, WWE Champion AJ Styles.
Commentary talks about the list and we see The New Day in another area backstage. Big E consoles Xavier Woods for their 6th place ranking as he rubs pancakes on Xavier Woods’ face and says that he would give Corey Graves a 6% chance of winning a street fight.
We get a promo from Aiden English about how the mat is canvas because they’re artists, and the difference between him and Rusev. He tells Roode to prepare to lose his title, because Rusev is ready for his magnum opus, and that sends us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break, Aiden English is already in the ring and he is ready to sing for Rusev as he makes his way down to the ring with a song about how some holidays have groundhogs and cupid, but those are stupid, because today is Rusev Day and he is going to win the title.
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Rusev: The United States Title is on the line in this one. Rusev backs Roode into the corner early on as the referee pulls them apart. Roode and Rusev lock up again, and this time Roode backs Rusev up then taunts him. Rusev comes back with a snapmare and a front face lock on Roode, then drops him in the corner. Roode and Rusev trade strikes in the middle of the ring until Rusev catches him with a fallaway slam. Rusev puts the boots to Roode, then hits a vertical suplex on Roode. Roode comes back with some forearm shots to the face, then a clothesline in the corner and a swinging neck-breaker. Roode hits a flying clothesline off the top. Roode gets distracted by Aiden English on the apron, which leads to Rusev hitting a kick to the head of Roode. Roode starts fighting back, but Rusev stuns him with a knee to the body. Roode comes back with a spine-buster for a two count. English gets on the apron again, and Roode punches him off. Rusev rolls up Roode out of nowhere for a two count. Rusev follows up with a big boot, but Rusev is down too for a breather. Rusev goes for the Accolade, but Roode reverses into a roll up for a two count. Rusev rolls up Roode for a two count of his own, and then goes for the Accolade. Roode escapes again, and this time hits the Glorious DDT for the three count. Winner & Still The United States Champion: Bobby Roode
After the match, Roode stands tall with the title as we go to replays. We see English checking on Rusev as Roode’s celebration continues. Randy Orton hits the ring and drops Roode with an RKO outta nowhere as fans go wild. Orton drops English with another RKO next. Orton gets hyped up as the crowd cheers. Rusev stumbles to his feet but Orton drops him with a third RKO. We go to replays as Orton stands tall.
Commentary hypes up the main event for later tonight and we get a promo from Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin calling Breezango buffoons and The Ascension clowns. They say that they are here to bring prestige to the tag division and if the other teams are jokes, they got the punchlines. They says that this week they are targeting The Ascension, and they’re weapons of tag destruction.
This sends us to a commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we are just in time for the entrances of the next match.
Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs. The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor): Konnor and Shelton start off, and Konnor overpowers him early on. Benjamin comes back with some knees and kicks, then tags in Gable. They briefly double team Konnor, then Gable starts working over Konnor’s knee. Viktor gets the tag and cleans house. He rolls up Gable and Shelton breaks up the pin. Konnor runs in to take out Shelton, but Shelton hits him with a spine-buster. Viktor throws Shelton outside, then Gable grabs him from behind for a German suplex. Shelton tags in, and they hit the double team powerbomb for the three count. Winners: Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable
After the match, Gable and Benjamin hit the corners to pose as we get replays.
We head back to The New Day as they are answering more questions. The New Day says that if they were judged individually, it would have to be the smartest and strongest of them which Xavier and Big E agree that it is Kofi Kingston. Kofi then says that he would break his #1 position in half and give it to both of them if he could.
Commentary walks us through some Twitter reactions from the top ten ranked superstars.
We go to another area backstage where Sami Zayn is being interviewed. He says that tonight is his opportunity to step out from Owens’ shadow. He continues by saying that it is hard for him to admit it, but he’s won all these titles and that’s fine because they’re best friends. But even as best friends, they have fought more than anybody, and he knows what Kevin is capable of. He’ll stop at nothing, but then again, neither will he.
Sami makes his way down to the ring, and our main event will begin right after the commercial break.
Back from the commercial break and we get some hype for tonight’s Cruiserweight Championship Tournament Matches on 205 Live.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn: The winner of this match gets a WWE Title shot at Fastlane. AJ Styles is on commentary for this one. Owens and Zayn lock up off the opening bell, and Owens takes Zayn down with a front face lock. They separate, then Owens drops Zayn with a shoulder block. Sami comes back with some arm drags, then a shoulder lock. Sami slaps Owens across the face, then Owens returns the favor. Sami tackles Owens and pummels on him, and Owens rolls outside for a breather. Owens tries to get back in the ring, but Sami blasts him off the apron. Back in the ring, they trade strikes until Owens stuns Zayn with an enziguri, and then hits a suplex neck-breaker for a two count. Zayn comes back with a tornado DDT for a two count of his own. Owens drops Zayn now and goes up top for a Swanton bomb, but Zayn blocks it with his knees. The fight spills out to ringside, where Zayn leaps through the ropes and hits a tornado DDT on the floor. Back in the ring, Zayn charges forward, but Owens stops him with a superkick. Owens goes up top and hits a frog-splash for a two count. They slowly fight up to their feet, then Sami shuts him down with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. They fight back out to ringside, in front of where AJ is sitting on commentary. Zayn starts talking trash to AJ, then shoves him. AJ shoves Sami back, then starts punching Sami and Owens. AJ beats down both Sami and Owens, and the referee calls for a DQ. Winner: No Contest
After the match, AJ beats Sami into the ring and knocks him back out. AJ stands tall but Owens comes from behind and grabs him. AJ also takes Owens and sends him to the floor. AJ launches himself over the top rope, taking Sami and Owens down on the floor. AJ returns to the ring and yells about how he wanted a winner. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan comes out and announces that it will now be a Triple Threat Match at Fastlane due to the match having no winner and the outside interference. Bryan’s music hits as AJ isn’t happy in the ring. Owens and Sami talk at ringside as we go to replays. We see AJ yelling and holding the title as Owens backs up on the stage and Sami backs up the ramp, away from Owens. We get more replays. AJ lays the title down in the ring and stands tall as SmackDown goes off the air.