Just five nights after a destructive and controversial Money-in-the-Bank, the 622nd edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. After literally being spit in the face by Christian, Randy Orton went berserk at Money-in-the-Bank, delivering a low blow to Christian that cost Orton the World Heavyweight Championship and, after realizing what Christian had pulled off, Orton viciously assaulted Christian with a monitor shot to the head before Orton planted the new champion with two RKO’s on the Spanish announce table and, on SmackDown, the volatile and extremely unstable Randy Orton would face the man he attacked with a steel chair last week, “The Big Red Monster” Kane in a Street Fight.
Match Results
- Champion Vs. Champion: Non-Title: Christian def. Ezekiel Jackson by pin following the Killswitch.
- Daniel Bryan def. Heath Slater by submission to a guillotine choke.
- Sheamus and Wade Barrett fight to a Double Count-Out.
- Street Fight: Randy Orton def. Kane by pin following the RKO on a steel chair.
Detailed Results
The show kicks off with the former World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Orton, sitting in the middle of the ring as Orton states that there is “a lot going on” in the WWE at the moment with the company being without a WWE Champion and Triple H taking over as WWE Chairman, but SmackDown will not continue until Christian comes to the ring because they have “unfinished business”! Footage is then shown of Christian spitting in the face of Randy Orton with the intention of setting Orton off, which it did, as Orton delivered a low blow to Christian and, per the stipulations of their match, the disqualification led to Christian being crowned the new World Heavyweight Champion. Orton did not have to wait long to get his wish as the new World Heavyweight Champion, Christian, comes out and tells Orton that Orton’s “unfinished business” is with the “voices” in Orton’s head, as well as Orton’s inability to control his “anger”. Orton then accuses Christian of “hiding” behind his team of lawyers, but Christian calls it “superior intellect” before adding that everyone knew the rules of the match, including Randy Orton, and Orton “chose to break the rules”. Orton responds by reminding Christian that the new champion spit in his face, but Christian alleges that he did not “mean to do that” and calls his title win “justice” for having to go against the “incompetence” of SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, referees, and the “unseen forces” that “protect” Randy Orton. Christian then proclaims that, “through it all”, he is “back on top” as a two-time World Heavyweight Champion before adding that he is “still not talking” to any of the fans, but Orton interrupts and demands his mandatory rematch for the World Heavyweight Title on SmackDown. Christian responds by telling Orton that “rematches don’t grow on trees”, adding in that “nobody likes a whiner”. Christian continues, telling the former champion to go to the “back of the line like everybody else” before saying he is going to go talk to his lawyers, but Orton responds by saying they can “settle this” right now.
With that, Randy Orton exits the ring, making a beeline for Christian, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long brings out several referees to keep Orton back and away from the new World Heavyweight Champion. The GM assures Randy Orton that Orton will get his rematch, but Orton knows full well that he has a Street Fight against Kane on SmackDown. Long then tells Orton that he “expects” Orton to be the “bigger man and walk away without incident”, but Christian would raise the World Heavyweight Title belt high above his head, taunting the former champion. This prompts Orton to attack Christian, but referees and several members of security quickly pull Orton off of Christian. However, the World Heavyweight Champion shouts at the General Manager over Orton’s attack, which leads to the GM’s ruling that, if Randy Orton is going to face Kane in a Street Fight, then Christian can face Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson.
Per the orders of SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, new World Heavyweight Champion Christian goes one-on-one with Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson in a Champion Vs. Champion Match. In the end, it was Christian overcoming the power of Ezekiel Jackson, hitting the Killswitch en route to pinning the Intercontinental Champion.
SmackDown Commentator Michael Cole appears in the ring as Cole was set to interview a man he has publicly deemed a “nerd” since his debut as the winner of the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, Daniel Bryan appeared on SmackDown. The pompous announcer looks to get the interview done quickly as Cole reiterates what he has been saying since Money-in-the-Bank, that Daniel Bryan’s win was a “fluke”. Bryan responds by telling Cole that Cole has “buried” him since he set foot in the WWE before telling Cole that his “opinions means absolutely nothing” to him. Cole then tells Daniel Bryan that Bryan is going to do what everyone else who has been “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” has done as Bryan will wait until the champion is weakened then he will “take the easy way out”, cashing in the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and “attempt” to become the World Heavyweight Champion, adding that, in his mind, Bryan will never “deserve” to be the World Heavyweight Champion. Daniel Bryan responds by saying that Michael Cole did not “deserve” to be one of the “marquee matches” of WrestleMania and the only thing Cole did “deserve” on that night was getting “booed out of the building by 70,000 people”.
Daniel Bryan continues that, in the WWE, nobody “deserves” anything because you have to “earn it”, revealing that he, over his 12 years in the business, he has detached his retina and can “barely see” out of his left eye and that he has been kicked in the head so many times, he cannot hear out of his left ear! Bryan continues that he had to watch his mom cry because he refused to quit the business after so many injuries and he has never “complained” about it because he has “dreamed” of being the World Heavyweight Champion since he was a “little boy”. Bryan then states that, at Money-in-the-Bank, he “crawled” over seven other Superstars to earn the right to face the World Heavyweight Champion at any time he chooses over the next year before telling Michael Cole that, no matter how many times Cole calls him a “nerd”, he has “earned” his opportunity. Daniel Bryan then states that, if he is going to be the World Heavyweight Champion, he does not want it to be a “fluke” before revealing that, for the first time in the history of the Money-in-the-Bank concept, he is going to tell the world the exact time and place he will be cashing in his title opportunity! Daniel Bryan then reveals that he will be cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank contract on April 1, 2012 in Miami, FL as he will challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII! Daniel Bryan then tells Michael Cole that he is going to live his “dream” and cash in the Money-in-the-Bank contract in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII. Heath Slater then interrupts Daniel Bryan, telling “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” that he will be the first man to cash in the Money-in-the-Bank contract and “lose”, because Bryan is a “loser”. Slater continues that Bryan was a “loser” in NXT, he was a “loser” as part of The Nexus, and he will be a “loser” at the hands of Heath Slater.
After announcing that he will cash in his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity for a World Heavyweight Title match in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII next year, SmackDown’s “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Daniel Bryan went one-on-one with Heath Slater. In the end, it was Daniel Bryan forcing Heath Slater to tap out to a guillotine choke to pick up the win.
Five nights after destroying the ankle of Big Show with a steel chair at Money-in-the-Bank, Mark Henry is asked backstage when the destruction is going to end and Henry says “never” before saying that, what he did to Big Show, gave him a “perverted pleasure”. Henry continues by saying “power, strength, invincibility”, adding that he is talking about himself.
Five nights after both men took part in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus went one-on-one with the man who attacked him last week in response to an attack by Sheamus two weeks ago, Wade Barrett. In the end, both big men found themselves brawling on the outside of the ring, leading to a double count-out for both Superstars. After the match, Sheamus argued with the referee over the decision, which allowed Wade Barrett to come from behind, sending Sheamus skull-first into the steel ring post. Barrett then rolls Sheamus back into the ring before attempting to lay Sheamus out with Wasteland, but Sheamus fought out of the move before laying Barrett out with the Brogue Kick.
Then it was time for the main event as, five nights after a rage-filled attack led to him losing the World Heavyweight Title to Christian, former World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton looked to take out his aggression in a Street Fight against “The Big Red Monster” Kane in a match with no disqualifications and no count-outs. It did not take long for the match to spill to the outside as both Randy Orton and Kane fought on the outside of the ring before Orton went under the ring, getting a kendo stick, using it on Kane before “The Big Red Monster” is able to fight back. Later on in the match, Kane strips the announce table, intent on chokeslamming Randy Orton through it, but Orton managed to avoid this fate, delivering a kick to Kane, but appearing to do damage to his own leg in the process. Bad leg and all, Orton continued the attack on Kane, placing the ankle of “The Big Red Monster” on the bottom half of the steel steps before stomping Kane’s ankle into the steel before sandwiching Kane’s ankle between both halves of the steps! Despite both Superstars having leg injuries, Randy Orton came out of nowhere to hit the RKO on Kane, but Kane kicked out. Orton then went for the punt on Kane, but “The Big Red Monster” popped up, delivering a thunderous chokeslam to Orton, but Orton kicked out. Kane then went to drastic measures, bringing a steel chair in the ring with the intent of delivering the Tombstone Piledriver to Randy Orton, but Orton fought out, delivering the RKO to Kane on the steel chair en route to picking up a big win. After the match, Kane found his way to his feet, leading to a stand-off between the two men, but Kane extended his hand to Randy Orton as both former World Heavyweight Champions shook hands out of respect for a great match!
Randy Orton then exits the ring, but as Kane once again uses the ropes to get back to his feet after a brutal Street Fight, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry makes his way to the ring. Not one to refuse a fight, Kane met Mark Henry with a right hand, but Henry went to the injured leg of Kane, smashing the knee of Kane into the mat. Mark Henry then screams at Kane that he is not going to show Kane any “respect” before delivering the World’s Strongest Slam to Kane, following it up with a big splash. Unfortunately, Mark Henry was not done there as Henry went to the outside of the ring, grabbing a steel chair and, much like he did to Big Show at Money-in-the-Bank, Henry placed the chair around the ankle of Kane before climbing to the second rope and dropping all of his 400+ lbs. onto the ankle of Kane, leaving Kane screaming and grabbing at his ankle as EMT’s and referees tended to Kane. What is the status of Kane following this heinous attack by Mark Henry? How much more destruction will SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long allow out of Mark Henry?
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