12 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 12)
2. A Lazy Elimination Chamber Warm-Up
As far as in-ring action goes, WWE built towards the women's Elimination Chamber with the exact same match as last week, as The IIconics, Carmella and Naomi, and Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose all faced off. The repetition is lame, but at least they switched it up by decreeing that whoever won the bout would be guaranteed the advantage of not starting the Chamber.
The bout offered nothing to get excited about. The IIconics did some solid heel work (we'll get to them later), but the action was too basic to get the adrenaline going. As such, the wrestlers never really got out of first gear, let alone second or third, and while Naomi's split-legged Moonsault looked great for the victory, it came just moments after we'd returned from a momentum-gutting commercial break.
Pinning Rose gives Naomi a boost in their feud, and the loss means 'Fire & Desire' most now start the Chamber against Bayley and Sasha Banks. An interesting pair-off, particularly as Mandy and Sonya began last year's bout by double-teaming Bayley, but this match didn't hit the mark.