3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Feb 12)

2. No Win = Qualification?

Roman Reigns Adam Pearce
WWE.com

Adam Pearce laid out the qualification scenarios for Elimination Chamber during a suitably-tense opening staredown with Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Jey Uso. At one point, he outright said that Kevin Owens didn't need to qualify for the Chamber because of what happened at Royal Rumble.

Wait, what?

KO lost to Roman at the Rumble. How does that automatically snag someone a berth inside the Chamber on 21 February? Also, why does Jey Uso get a free pass too? Surely it would've been more logical for Pearce to try and stick it to the heels by putting Uso in a tough qualification bout on the show. No?

WWE missed an easy lay up here. Pearce has been fighting against Roman's tyranny for a while now, but he was all-too-happy to sidestep the 'Chief's' power play bid yet again. Then, he handed his cousin a free pass into the number one contendership mix.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.