This Week's WWE SmackDown Ending Explained (Feb 28, 2025): Results & What It Means [SPOILERS]

Warning: The following copy has SPOILERS for WWE SmackDown (Feb 28, 2025)

It's WWE's final stop on the road to tomorrow night's Elimination Chamber, as SmackDown rolls into the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton will be in attendance ahead of their tag match with Nia Jax and Candace LeRae, and there's an enormous 6-woman Tag team match as Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan, and Raquel Rodriguez take on Naomi, Bianca Belair and Bayley. The Canadian-born women's US Champion, Chelsea Green, will also be bringing her unique brand of chaos to proceedings.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will speak ahead of their Unsanctioned Match at Elimination Chamber, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre are also going to be vying for a place in the Main Event of WrestleMania, alongside John Cena and Logan Paul. Carmelo Hayes and Miz continue their unlikely union, the Tag Team division continues to be carnage, and Cody Rhodes has thinking to do about The Rock's offer ahead of tomorrow night's big decision.

WWE SmackDown Results - Feb 28th, 2025

Cody Rhodes is shown arriving and two men in suits walk him to his own private dressing room, courtesy of The Final Boss, The Rock.
Trish Stratus opens SmackDown in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, in her hometown. She says this year, in her 25th anniversary as a wrestler, her kids will see her wrestle for the first time, and she's excited to mix it up with today's superstars.
She brings out Tiffany Stratton, but is interrupted Chelsea Green, and Piper Niven (dressed as a mountie) who calls Trish and Tiffany's opening a "snoozefest".
Chelsea is cheered but she says she is proud to be United States champion, quickly turning those cheers to boos. An impromptu match is made between Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton.
Tiffany Stratton defeats Chelsea Green via DQ. Candace LeRae and Nia Jax interfered as Tiffany set up the Prettiest Moonsault Ever.
There's a staredown from Trish and Tiffy in the ring, and Jax and LeRae to end. the segment
Stood with Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu is seen backstage telling Solo his kick last week was an accident. Solo says they need to make a statement, he asks Jacob to bring home the US Championship to the family, and gives Fatu his spot in tonight's United States Championship tournament.
Cody Rhodes is shown a lavish spread of food, provided by The Final Boss. R-Truth is eating his food, and telling him he should really think about The Rock's offer, as Cody looks into the distance.
Jacob Fatu wins the first of three qualifying matches to determine the US title's number one contender against a very impressive Andrade.
The three winners of these qualifiers face each other at the end of the evening in a Triple Threat Main Event to determine the Number One Contender for Shinsuke Nakamura's Championship.
Santos Escobar approaches Street Profits asking for an apology for falsely accusing them of injuring them. Montez and Dawkins refuse and Nick Aldis steps in to make a match between Los Garza before things get physical.
DIY come out to talk to the audience, but Street Profits brutalize them. Pretty Deadly arrive on the scene, getting the upper hand on Street Profits, but Motor City Machine Guns join the brawl, followed by Los Garza joining the melee, taking out tag teams and security. It is chaos.
Drew McIntyre approaches Cody Rhodes. He says ten years ago, when they traveled together, they both would have done anything to reach the top.
He notices Cody didn't answer The Rock straight away, and says that's probably because Cody sold his soul a long time ago.
A John Cena vignette airs, and Drew McIntyre cuts it off midway through in the arena. He calls Cena a hypocrite, and asks Toronto if they saw Cena's press conference. Drew says Cena wanted WWE superstars to address him and, outside of Punk telling him he didn't qualify the right way, nobody has.
Drew wonders what the John Cena of 2010/11 would make of today's John Cena. He says Cena can use his stroke all he likes, at Elimination Chamber, Drew will bury him.
Drew is interrupted by Damian Priest. Priest tells Drew all he does is complain and cry, he tells Drew all about his failures and his obsession with CM Punk and how it continually costs him.
Priest says he will eliminate Drew tomorrow, reminding him he beat him in this arena at last year's Money In The Bank.
Seth Rollins interrupts; He joins the discussion and reminds them about last year's WrestleMania and says that's the past, and he's here to address the future.
He says he is not injured anymore, and that means Drew, Priest and everybody else doesn't stand a chance at Elimination Chamber, when CM Punk's music hits.
Punk says Drew and Seth are obsessed with him, but he is obsessed with winning and going to WrestleMania.
Each man throws a series of excellent barbs at one another and then it happens. John Cena's music hits.
And it's Logan Paul. The boos are enough to shake the ground of the arena.
Logan Paul laughs at everyone, he berates Cena for not showing up, and calls Cena a "classic celebrity wrestler".
He goes in a circle through everyone before he gets to Punk, and asks him how his jaw is. Punk says he can find out and then chases Logan out of the arena, as the excellent segment ended.
LA Knight defeats Santos Escobar to qualify for the US Champion Number One Contender match, after catching the Legado Del Fantasma man with a mid-air BFT.
An emotional Sami Zayn comes to the ring. He says he knows that Kevin Owens in Toronto, and calls him to the ring to talk.
Kevin is at the Rogers Center. He antagonizes Sami about his neck, and he calls it the biggest match of their careers.
Kevin still protests that he is the good guy, and when Sami is in a wheelchair and he can't provide for his family, Owens will watch them suffer because it's all his fault.
Sami says he is nervous. He is nervous that Kev's dad, wife, or children won't forgive him for what he does at Elimination Chamber, because Sami is prepare to end him.
Kevin says there's only one thing left to say. "See you tomorrow night".
Miz and Carmelo Hayes are shown talking about Melo Don't Miz, but Miz speaks to Cody Rhodes.
Miz tells Cody he lives in Hollywood and The Rock runs the place. He says Rhodes is "better than being the least famous person on a four judge reality show", and tells Cody that he knows how big The Rock's offer is.
Miz tells Cody if he doesn't take the offer, someone else will.
Carmelo Hayes defeats Braun Strowman via DQ after interference from The Bloodline. Tama and Solo attacked Braun with a chair, when the ref entered the ring, he saw Hayes on the floor and a chair in the ring, calling for a DQ.
Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez defeat Naomi, Bianca Belair and Bayley with Roxanne pinning Bayley via Pop Rocks.
Alexa Bliss creeps up behind Perez and leaves her lying after a vicious Sister Abigail DDT.
Charlotte Flair is interviewed. She says that Tiffany Stratton needs to understand that her time is up at WrestleMania.
A Shinsuke Nakamura vignette airs in which he promises to make an example of whoever wins the number one contender's match.
LA Knight is the new Number One Contender for the United States Champion, pinning Carmelo Hayes.
Punk is seen with Cody and asks him "what the hell does Rock want with your soul"? Punk says he should take Rock's offer, shine it up, turn it sideways, and tell him to shove it up his part-time ass as Cody heads to the ring.
Michael Cole is in the ring and says the Cody he knows would never take The Rock's offer. He reminds Cody of finishing his story, and that he represents the fans of WWE.
Cole tells Cody that he could have it all, he could run the place, and be put on the board. He then says there's a gift for him, as a new truck is rolled into the arena for him.
The Rock is then shown on the screen, ready to board his plane to Toronto. He says "he knows Cody is going to make the right decision".
Rock says he's been talking to Dusty Rhodes all week long, and he says Cody's been talking to him too and that is why he knows he's going to do the right thing.
He says Cody will be The Rock's champion and have his soul.
He then shows Cody a belt with Cody's Soul and the date of Dusty's death on it. Rock says he loves Cody and he'll see him in Toronto.

The Men Set the Stage For Elimination Chamber

A Star-Studded Verbal Brawling Session Saves SmackDown

This was a “go home” show for a PLE that feels like it had little to offer ahead of this Saturday’s final PLE before WrestleMania. A verbal war broke out between the heavy hitters, as the Men’s Chamber entrants saved the day for what was a pretty flat episode of SmackDown. That said, this was a segment that shows just why the men's Main Event scene is in such great health.

Firstly, Damian Priest dropped many zingers (especially at Drew McIntyre’s expense) when he could’ve been a footnote among that much star power. Logan Paul and CM Punk have great chemistry, with the influencer using Cena’s music as everyone waited for the 15-time champ. It was galling brilliance from the most hated man in WWE. With Seth Rollins and Drew also on the run of their lives, this could be the best Chamber match in an awful long time, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

The Rock Lays Out The Red Carpet

The Final Boss is Making Life Very Difficult For Cody Rhodes

Last week’s SmackDown may have left folks scratching their heads, but the sinister subplot from The Rock towards Cody Rhodes came into focus here as The American Nightmare was wined and dined by the former People’s Champ. It’s genuinely unpredictable, and a tact we have never seen before, which is exciting in itself.

R-Truth, The Miz, Drew, and finally CM Punk all had words of advice for Cody. As a viewer, it’s easy to know which way we hope Cody sides, and the eye-watering “real life” power of The Rock’s superstardom makes this believable and evil. Cody will give the world his answer at Elimination Chamber, as the road to WrestleMania begins to take its final form.

It was a slow and fairly uneventful episode of SmackDown, but LA Knight is the new Number One Contender for the US Championship and Cody Rhodes's decision at Elimination Chamber feels like a fork in the road for him and WWE. Roxanne Perez is already building main roster momentum, the tag division's scramble was fun but felt a little "copy and paste", and the men of the Elimination Chamber had a fantastic final segment ahead of the Chamber match. It was a show where three hours definitely dragged, but now all eyes turn to Elimination Chamber and the final PLE on the way to WrestleMania.