Beard, Game, Match.
Two nights before SummerSlam, the 730th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, CA. Before he challenges John Cena for the WWE Championship this Sunday at SummerSlam, #1 Contender Daniel Bryan would go one-on-one with Wade Barrett in a rematch from last week’s SmackDown, but this time, there will be no disqualifications. Also, after Big Show made his surprise return on RAW to help Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam scare away The Shield, “The World’s Largest Athlete” would team with “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry and “The Whole Damn Show” Rob Van Dam to combat The Shield, United States Champion Dean Ambrose and WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, in a 6-Man Tag Match.
Match Results
- Christian def. Damien Sandow by roll-up.
- AJ Lee & Layla def. Kaitlyn & Natalya by AJ Lee pinning Kaitlyn following the Shining Wizard.
- 6-Man Tag: Big Show, Mark Henry, & Rob Van Dam def. The Shield by Rob Van Dam pinning Dean Ambrose following the Five-Star Frog Splash.
- The Miz def. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter & Antonio Cesaro) by roll-up.
- Non-Title: Curtis Axel def. Zack Ryder by pin following the Axel Cutter.
- No DQ: Daniel Bryan (with Triple H) def. Wade Barrett (with Mr. McMahon & Brad Maddox) by pin following the flying headbutt.
Detailed Results
SmackDown kicks off in an unsettling way as, two nights before he faces Kane in the first ever Ring of Fire Match at SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt leads his charges, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan, to the ring. Wyatt takes a seat in his rocking chair in the center of the ring as Wyatt introduces himself before introducing his “brothers”, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan. Bray continues, saying that their actions have been “misinterpreted” before telling a “story” about a “special little boy” who went to school like the rest of the children and the other children would call the larger boy names like “freak” and send the boy home crying. Wyatt then says that, one day, the young boy decided to run away and he found another “crutch” to hide behind and this crutch was a mask and behind that mask, the man became a new man who calls himself Kane. Bray continues, saying that he knows who he is and he would bite the head off of a snake just to taste its poison, saying that, this Sunday, he is going to show Kane that “one man’s hell is another man’s paradise”, again telling Kane to “follow the buzzards”. The corners of the ring then ignite and The Wyatt Family looks towards the stage, anticipating Kane’s arrival, but “The Big Red Monster” would appear behind the trio at ringside, pulling Erick Rowan out of the ring, sending Rowan into the steel ring post and tossing Luke Harper into the steel ring steps, leaving Bray Wyatt alone to combat Kane! In the ring, Bray Wyatt charges at Kane, but Kane gets the better of Wyatt until Harper & Rowan come back into the fight. Kane would manage to combat the two big men, tossing Rowan & Harper out of the ring, but the distraction would allow Bray Wyatt to take Kane down. With Kane down, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan jump on “The Big Red Monster”, beating Kane down and allowing Wyatt to hit his sinister twisting neckbreaker, which he calls Sister Abigail, on Kane in the middle of the ring, screaming at Kane to “follow the buzzards”!
Two nights before he challenges Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam, the opening match of the night would see “Captain Charisma” Christian going one-on-one with the World Heavyweight Championship Contract “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Damien Sandow. In what has become Christian’s key to success, Christian would surprise Damien Sandow with a roll-up, scoring the victory over “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank”. After the match, Damien Sandow would take a run at the #1 Contender, but Christian would counter, taking Sandow down with the Spear. However, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio would attack Christian from behind, waylaying “Captain Charisma” with right hands before the champion grabs a microphone, telling Christian that it is the “end of the road” for him, saying that Christian will “never” be the World Heavyweight Champion again. Del Rio then pops Christian in the head with the microphone, but when the champion goes for the cross armbreaker on the #1 Contender, Christian counters, planting the World Heavyweight Champion with the Killswitch in the center of the ring!
Before she teams with Dolph Ziggler to face AJ Lee & Big E. Langston in a Mixed Tag Match at SummerSlam, Kaitlyn would team with Natalya to face Divas Champion AJ Lee and Layla in tag team action. In the end, it was Layla kicking the legs out from under Kaitlyn, setting Kaitlyn up perfectly for the Divas Champion as AJ Lee hits Kaitlyn with the Shining Wizard en route to picking up the win for herself and Layla.
Backstage, Ryback is being interviewed about not being on the card for SummerSlam when “The Sin City Cyborg” decides to bully another innocent crew member, punching the crew member in the gut and tossing him over a table to the concrete before going back and telling interviewer Renee Young that people are scared of him.
Before he challenges Dean Ambrose for the United States Title on the SummerSlam Kickoff this Sunday night, “The Whole Damn Show” Rob Van Dam would team with “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show and “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry to combat The Shield, United States Champion Dean Ambrose and WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, in a 6-Man Tag Match. In the end, it was Big Show leveling Dean Ambrose with the Knockout Punch and Rob Van Dam following it up with the Five-Star Frog Splash on Dean Ambrose, pinning the United States Champion to pick up the win for himself, Big Show, and Mark Henry.
In a rare in-ring appearance, the Official Host of SummerSlam, The Miz, would go one-on-one with Jack Swagger, with Zeb Colter & Antonio Cesaro in his corner. During the match, the referee would order the ejection of Zeb Colter & Antonio Cesaro from ringside and this would distract Jack Swagger long enough for The Miz to catch Swagger with a roll-up to pick up the win.
Two nights before he leads Brock Lesnar into Lesnar’s war against CM Punk at SummerSlam, Paul Heyman’s other client, Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, would face Zack Ryder in a non-title match on SmackDown. In the end, it was Curtis Axel hitting the Axel Cutter on Zack Ryder en route to picking up the win. After the match, Paul Heyman would comment on Brock Lesnar’s battle with CM Punk at SummerSlam this Sunday. Heyman says that, at SummerSlam, CM Punk will be the “target of revenge” for Brock Lesnar.
Then it was time for the main event as, after he was screwed out of a victory by RAW General Manager Brad Maddox, who inserted himself as the Special Referee, on RAW against Wade Barrett, the #1 Contender for the WWE Title, Daniel Bryan, would face Wade Barrett in a rematch on SmackDown, but this time, there would be no disqualifications. During the match, Wade Barrett would take full advantage of the lawless match, grabbing a kendo stick, wearing Daniel Bryan out with the stick, but Daniel Bryan would fight back, knocking Barrett to the outside before diving to the outside. Daniel Bryan then follows this up with a missile dropkick to Barrett in the ring, but this is when WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon takes it upon himself to come out to ringside as the match continues. Later on in the match, Daniel Bryan would get his hands on the kendo stick, striking Wade Barrett repeatedly with the stick before locking in the Yes Lock on Barrett, but that is when Mr. McMahon would make his move as the Chairman pulls the referee out of the ring, taking the referee out of the match! In the ring, Wade Barrett would recover, blasting Bryan with the Bull Hammer Elbow and McMahon would call for Brad Maddox to rush out to the ring, but Bryan would manage to kick out of the pin attempt. Daniel Bryan would then take Wade Barrett down, but when Bryan pins Barrett, Maddox refuses to count the pin at the order of the Chairman! While Daniel Bryan argues with Maddox, McMahon slips the kendo stick in to Barrett, but Barrett would miss his target, instead hitting the RAW GM, taking Maddox out of the match!
With no referee in the ring, Daniel Bryan would shove Barrett through the table set up in the corner of the ring. Meanwhile, on the outside of the ring, Mr. McMahon takes the referee shirt off of referee Mike Chioda, prepared to call the match himself, but the Special Referee for this Sunday’s WWE Title match, Triple H, marches down to the ring with his referee shirt on! This brings a smile to the face of the #1 Contender as Daniel Bryan hits the flying headbutt on Wade Barrett and Triple H administers the fair count as Bryan finally picks up the win! After the match, Triple H raises the hand of Daniel Bryan and, together, they chant “yes” in the face of Mr. McMahon! Triple H then exits the ring, letting Daniel Bryan have his moment, but the WWE Championship Contract “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Randy Orton comes out to the stage, holding his briefcase high above his head, letting Daniel Bryan know that “The Viper” will be keeping a close eye on the WWE Title match this Sunday at SummerSlam.
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