WWE SmackDown: Burning Questions to Address After Feb. 7 Show

All eyes were on Elimination Chamber 2017 as the imminent arrival of the pay-per-view dominated the discussion after Tuesday's WWE SmackDown aired. 

Dolph Ziggler has to face two wrestlers at once at Sunday's SmackDown-branded event. Natalya will look to put her hands around Nikki Bella's throat. And Bray Wyatt remains the favorite to walk out of Elimination Chamber with the WWE Championship in hand.

Tuesday's go-home show set up all those bouts while leaving a number of questions lingering in the air.

Will the dynamic of Ziggler's match work? Will Natalya and Bella make good on all the buildup to their battle? Does WWE have a swerve in store for fans, or is Wyatt destined to claim his first singles title?

Read on for a look at all those unknowns ahead of the Elimination Chamber PPV.

Will Handicap Match Prove to Be a Mistake?

Ziggler went on a rampage again. After Apollo Crews pinned him on Tuesday, The Showoff retaliated with a barrage of chair shots. Kalisto tried to save the day but took a beating of his own.

In response to Ziggler's latest meltdown, SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan booked Ziggler to face both Crews and Kalisto in a 2-on-1 Handicap match. 

That's a strange move, given Ziggler's heel status. That kind of bout is normally reserved for the story of a babyface overcoming the odds. WWE may be generating pity for the villain in this case.

And what looked to be a certain launchpad for Crews suddenly has less potential to propel him.

If Ziggler wins on Sunday, Crews and Kalisto will look weak after being unable to take down a single foe together. If Crews and Kalisto win, the power of the victory will be mitigated by the stipulation. This won't be a career-changer for Crews as it could have been had it been one-on-one.

Perhaps WWE has something clever tucked away in its sleeve, but for now, it seems like the company overthought this.  

Can Bella vs. Natalya Live Up to the Hype?

A feud that has been brewing since last November is set to climax at Elimination Chamber.

Once Natalya revealed that she attacked Bella at Survivor Series 2016, the two rivals have battered each other at every turn. Brawl after brawl has upped their animosity for each other.

Natalya has hit Bella with a series of verbal blows, including several in a split-screen interview on Tuesday. She told The Fearless One she would never have a baby. She called her a poor wrestler and a poor excuse for a human being.

Now, it's time to follow all that aggression up with in-ring action.

Will WWE give these women the proper time to tell their story between the ropes? Will they be able to produce a match as intense as its preamble?

Natalya is at her best when against top-tier competition. Her most compelling matches have come against Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and AJ Lee. Bella isn't on Flair's or Lynch's levels, but she's a much-improved performer. Her resume isn't rife with classics, but she's never been part of such a developed story, either.

The safe bet is that both Bella and Natalya excel on Sunday unless WWE's bookers get too cute for their own good and overcomplicate this.

Was The Ascension's Win a Fluke?

In a preview of the Tag Team Turmoil match for American Alpha's tag titles set for the PPV, SmackDown featured 12-man action on Tuesday.

Viktor of The Ascension pinned Rhyno to end the bout.  

That was a stunning development. The Ascension has been SmackDown's bottom-feeding team since the brand split last July. Before that, it rarely won.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful pointed out how long it's been since The Ascension came out on top:

Is WWE finally going to book The Ascension as something other than hapless? Is a deeper, more competitive division on the way?

Probably not.

WWE hasn't committed to The Ascension, The Vaudevillains or Breezango. Instead, its strategy seems to be to cram all the teams together. Viktor's pin was likely to just make Sunday's match seem less predictable.

American Alpha and The Usos will continue to get the bulk of the attention. History says The Ascension is due for another long losing streak after this.

Is a Wyatt Win Inevitable?

Wyatt will enter the Elimination Chamber along with five other men. And despite his lack of championship pedigree and a history of losing big PPV bouts, The Eater of Worlds is the odds-on favorite to survive that gauntlet.

WWE offered a number of hints to that end on Tuesday night.

For one, as Greg Parks of PWTorch pointed out, announcers didn't bring up the possibility of Wyatt facing Randy Orton at WrestleMania:

Wyatt also wasn't included in the Fatal 4-Way featuring Elimination Chamber challengers. 

Instead, he sat at ringside during Orton's match against John Cena. Their bond was on display without any hints of their alliance splintering.  

Downplaying the real possibility of The Wyatt Family members facing each other feels like an attempt to take us by surprise. The same goes for showing Orton and Wyatt getting along. It's typical wrestling booking sleight of hand.

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Wyatt winning on Sunday, but WWE has gone the illogical route before. Going with Cena vs. Orton at WrestleMania would be a sign of just how out of touch the company is.