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

2. Refusing The Chamber

Paul Heyman Roman Reigns Jey Uso Adam Pearce
WWE.com

SmackDown's opening segment was good despite the aforementioned logic hiccups of those Chamber qualifying matches and Adam Pearce giving both Kevin Owens and Jey Uso a pass. Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman, in particular, just play their roles so well that one gets the feeling they could make anything work.

They had some brilliant lines here.

First, Roman warned that he'd beat Edge so bad at 'Mania he'd end up with a legends contract. Ooft! That expertly touched on a possible Universal Title showdown without going overboard; the champ then knocked back the chance to compete inside Elimination Chamber. Finally, Heyman came away with some deluded genius by claiming that last year's WrestleMania 36 only failed to sell any tickets because Reigns wasn't present.

Nothing to do with a global pandemic or anything. Ha!

Roman telling Pearce that he definitely wouldn't defend his belt inside the Chamber was good stuff. Why would he? What kind of heel champ with sway would?

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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.