Here’s SmackDown! in case you missed it:
From The Rabobank Arena (The Former Bakersfield Centennial Garden/The Centennial Garden) in Bakersfield, California:
Hosted by Michael Cole and John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL).
This week begins with SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero introducing WWE Champion Randy Orton. Orton stated that at Summerslam, he didn’t know that Daniel Bryan would be Pedigreed by Triple H (Hunter Hearst Helmsley), but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to surrender his Money In The Bank briefcase. He vowed to do his part as the face of the company until Daniel Bryan appeared, and thanked John Cena for the match on Sunday. He stated that the reason that Orton’s success was credited to his family history in wrestling, and because of how “pretty” he is. Daniel stated that Orton is “pretty” that it makes him sick.
Daniel demanded a rematch for the title during the show, from which Orton told him “Sorry shortstuff! You’ll have to wait ’til Night of Champions!”. After that, he tried to RKO Daniel, but Daniel dodged it and dropkicked him right out of the ring.
1. A NON-TITLE MATCH: Cody Rhodes vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel with Paul Heyman.
THE WINNER: CURTIS AXEL.
POST-MATCH PROMO: Paul Heyman stated that he is emotionally distressed from his former friend/client CM Punk being reduced to a “sad, pathetic loser”. He stated that Punk shouldn’t have faced Brock Lesnar, and that Punk is lost without him. Curtis Axel then challenged Punk to a match next week on RAW.
2. Big E Langston with WWE Divas Champion A.J. Lee vs. Dolph Ziggler.
THE WINNER: DOLPH ZIGGLER!!!
3. A NON-TITLE REMATCH: Christian vs. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Alberto del Rio.
THE WINNER: ALBERTO DEL RIO.
POST-MATCH PROMO: Alberto del Rio stated that not everyone can be him, and labeled everyone peasants. Ricardo Rodriguez appeared and told him that heroes stand up for people, and don’t look down on them. After that, he summoned Rob Van Dam (RVD) and as he headed to the ring, Christian attacked del Rio from behind. After Christian’s assault, del Rio ended up in RVD’s Rolling Thunder maneuver.
4. A 3-ON-2 HANDICAP MATCH: The 3MB (Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre) vs. The Big Show and “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry.
THE WINNERS: THE BIG SHOW AND “THE WORLD’S STRONGEST MAN” MARK HENRY!!!
NOTE: After the match, WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns appeared on the Titantron and told Big Show and Mark Henry to step aside and let the new era take over.
5. Antonio Cesaro with Jack Swagger and Zeb Coulter vs. Darren Young with Titus O’Neil.
THE WINNER: DARREN YOUNG!!!
NOTE: BEFORE THE START OF THE MAIN EVENT, CM PUNK ANNOUNCED ON TWITTER THAT HE ACCEPTED CURTIS AXEL’S CHALLENGE NEXT WEEK ON RAW!!!
6. A STEEL CAGE MAIN EVENT: Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett.
THE WINNER: DANIEL BRYAN!!!
After the match, Randy Orton charged behind Daniel Bryan and RKO’ed him on the floor.
Match #’s 1, 3 and the main event are the highlight matches of the night!!!
Cody Rhodes, Curtis Axel, Christian, Alberto del Rio, Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett are the wrestlers of the night!!!
ANALYSIS: This show had much better matches than RAW did this week.
Next week, WWE Friday Night SmackDown! will be held at The Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of The University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada.