Nine nights before SummerSlam, the 624th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY. Nine nights before he gets his No Holds Barred rematch against Christian for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam, “The Viper” Randy Orton teamed with “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison to face World Heavyweight Champion Christian & R-Truth in tag team action.
Match Results
- Sheamus def. The Great Khali by pin following the Brogue Kick.
- Natalya def. A.J. by submission to the Sharpshooter.
- Daniel Bryan def. Tyson Kidd by submission to the guillotine choke.
- Non-Title: Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Banned: Ezekiel Jackson def. Zack Ryder by submission to the Torture Rack.
- Mark Henry def. Vladimir Kozlov by pin following the World’s Strongest Slam.
- 6-Man Tag: David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, & JTG def. Jimmy & Jey Uso & Trent Barreta by David Otunga pinning Trent Barreta following the double team elbow drop.
- Christian & R-Truth def. Randy Orton & John Morrison by Christian pinning Randy Orton following the Killswitch.
Detailed Results
After stepping up to try and stop the seemingly unstoppable path of destruction by Mark Henry last week, Sheamus kicks off SmackDown nine nights before his showdown with Mark Henry at SummerSlam as “The Celtic Warrior” went one-on-one with “The Punjabi Nightmare” The Great Khali, with Jinder Mahal in his corner. After taking everything that The Great Khali had to dish out, including the Khali Vise Grip, Sheamus slayed the giant Great Khali by blasting Khali with the Brogue Kick en route to picking up a big win. Can Sheamus do the same to Mark Henry when they go one-on-one in nine nights at SummerSlam?
Mentor and protégé faced off on SmackDown as second-generation Diva Natalya went one-on-one with A.J. In the end, it was Natalya locking in the Sharpshooter on A.J., forcing A.J. to tap out to pick up the win. After the match, Natalya looked like she was helping her protégé to her feet, but the former Divas Champion abruptly ended her friendship with A.J. as Natalya shoved A.J. down before taking the young Diva to the outside, sending her back-first into the ring apron before suplexing A.J. on the arena floor. Following this attack, Natalya grabbed a microphone and stated that she is “with” Beth Phoenix on Phoenix’s agenda before Natalya tells A.J. that the days of “the cute, perky, little princesses are over”. After Beth Phoenix’s attitude change on RAW and Natalya’s similar attitude change on SmackDown, can anything stop these two powerhouse Divas from taking over?
After getting locked in the LeBell Lock and forced to tap out by “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Daniel Bryan last week, Wade Barrett was a guest on commentary as “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Daniel Bryan went one-on-one with Tyson Kidd. In the end, it was Daniel Bryan locking in a guillotine choke on Tyson Kidd, forcing Kidd to tap out to pick up the win.
After being named the Assistant to the General Manager by WWE COO Triple H last week, Theodore Long’s new Assistant, Zack Ryder, appeared on SmackDown to deliver the “State of the Showski” address. Ryder welcomes everyone to “ZackDown”, proclaiming that ratings were “through the roof” last week because of his new position. Before Zack Ryder can deliver his “State of the Showski” address, he is interrupted by Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson as Ezekiel asks Ryder why Ryder put him in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match against both Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase last week. The Assistant to the GM tries to smooth things over with the Intercontinental Champion, saying that he thought Ezekiel agreed to the match. However, the discussion is then interrupted by the arrival of Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase as Rhodes calls Ezekiel’s protests “sour grapes”, adding that Ezekiel does not “deserve” to be champion. Cody Rhodes then challenges Ezekiel Jackson to put the Intercontinental Title on the line against him so that he may “resurrect” the image of the Intercontinental Championship, just like he “resurrected” the career of Ted DiBiase. Ezekiel interrupts and tells Ted DiBiase that DiBiase is being “used” just like he was “used” as a member of The Corre before telling DiBiase that there is “nothing greater than freedom”. Rhodes argues that DiBiase wants to “associate” himself with a “future” and that Ezekiel’s “ignorance” is turning the Intercontinental Championship into a “memento of mediocrity”, adding that DiBiase has “free will” before telling DiBiase to go into the ring and “beat the champion” out of Ezekiel Jackson. The Assistant to the GM agrees to the match, but is then interrupted by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, who says that he does not care what “sounds good” to Zack Ryder and reminding Ryder that, despite Ryder’s proclamations otherwise, Ryder is not the Assistant General Manager, but he is the Assistant to the General Manager, meaning that Ryder does not have the power to make matches. The GM then announces that his Assistant, Zack Ryder, will go one-on-one with Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson and Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase are banned from ringside!
Per the orders of SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, the Assistant to the General Manager, Zack Ryder, went one-on-one with the man he put in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match last week, Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson, in a non-title match with Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase banned from ringside. In the end, it was Ezekiel Jackson making fairly quick work out of the Assistant to the General Manager, forcing Zack Ryder to submit to the Torture Rack to pick up the win.
Nine nights before he clashes with Sheamus at SummerSlam, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry went one-on-one with “The Moscow Mauler” Vladimir Kozlov. In the end, it was Mark Henry making quick work of Vladimir Kozlov, planting “The Moscow Mauler” with the World’s Strongest Slam en route to picking up the win. After the match, Mark Henry headed to the outside of the ring and grabbed a steel chair and, much like he did to Kane & Big Show, Mark Henry placed the chair around the ankle of Vladimir Kozlov before dropping all of his weight onto the steel chair, snapping the ankle of Kozlov. This brought out Sheamus who, with a steel chair, ran Mark Henry out of the ring as Henry refused to come back into the ring, leaving Sheamus standing tall in the middle of the ring. What will happen in nine nights when Sheamus and Mark Henry go one-on-one at SummerSlam?
After David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty successfully retained the WWE Tag Team Titles against Jimmy & Jey Uso last week, WWE Tag Team Champions David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty teamed with JTG to face the team of Jimmy & Jey Uso and Trent Barreta in 6-Man Tag action. At the end of a chaotic match, it was David Otunga hitting the elbow drop off of the second rope on Trent Barreta en route to picking up the win for his team.
After weeks of puns and plays on words, next week’s SmackDown will feature the debut of NXT Season Four winner, Johnny Curtis. Next week’s SmackDown will also feature a big return as, after being sent through a ladder by Sheamus at Money-in-the-Bank a few weeks ago, the high-flying “International Sensation” Sin Cara returns to Friday Nights!
Then it was time for the main event as, nine nights before Christian defends the World Heavyweight Title against Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred match at SummerSlam, World Heavyweight Champion Christian teamed with R-Truth to face “The Viper” Randy Orton & “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison in tag team action. During the match, Christian entered the ring to break up a pin attempt by John Morrison, but Christian’s entrance into the ring caught the eye of Randy Orton as Orton chased after Christian, who quickly escaped from the ring before fleeing into the crowd. At the end of a chaotic match, it was Randy Orton hitting the RKO on R-Truth, but this distracted Orton long enough for Christian to take advantage as the World Heavyweight Champion hits the Killswitch on Orton en route to picking up the win for him and R-Truth. Can Christian achieve similar success when he defends the World Heavyweight Title against Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred match at SummerSlam?
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