Evening The Odds.
The 769th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC. After being challenged to a match at Payback by Bray Wyatt, John Cena would kick off SmackDown to respond to Bray’s challenge. Will John Cena accept the challenge and does Bray Wyatt’s promise to be the “last man standing” give a clue as to what type of match Bray wants with Cena?
After tweeting out earlier in the week that Batista was the “weak link” of Evolution, Dolph Ziggler would get the chance to prove his point on SmackDown when “The Show-Off” goes one-on-one with “The Animal”! Also on SmackDown, champions would be in action as United States Champion Sheamus would go one-on-one with Titus O’Neil in a non-title match and Goldust & Cody Rhodes would be looking to get back into the tag team title hunt when they face WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos in a non-title match.
Match Results
- Non-Title: The Usos def. Goldust & Cody Rhodes by Uso pinning Cody Rhodes following the Superfly Splash.
- El Torito (with Los Matadores) def. Heath Slater (with Jinder Mahal, Drew McIntyre, & Hornswoggle) by pin following the springboard moonsault.
- Special Referee- Eva Marie: Nikki Bella def. Natalya by roll-up.
- Dolph Ziggler def. Batista by DQ following an intentional low blow.
- Non-Title: Sheamus def. Titus O’Neil by pin following the Brogue Kick.
- Santino Marella (with Emma) def. Damien Sandow by pin following the Cobra Strike.
- Cesaro (with Paul Heyman) def. R-Truth by pin following the Neutralizer.
- John Cena (with The Usos) def. Erick Rowan (with Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper) by pin following the Attitude Adjustment.
Detailed Results
After Bray Wyatt challenged John Cena to a match at Payback on RAW, SmackDown kicks off with John Cena. Cena says that he speaks for everyone around the world when he wishes Daniel Bryan a speedy recovery from neck surgery. Cena then turns his attention to Bray Wyatt’s challenge, saying that he knows that Bray cannot be challenging him to a Last Man Standing Match because Bray has never been in one. Cena continues, saying that the only way to win a Last Man Standing Match is to beat your opponent to the point where they cannot answer a ten-count. Cena says that you have to be “tough” to compete in a Last Man Standing Match, saying that Bray is “dangerous” because of his power to “manipulate” people, insinuating that Bray Wyatt does not have the testicular fortitude for a Last Man Standing Match. Cena continues, saying Bray must not have a brain in his head to challenge Cena to a Last Man Standing Match at Payback before Cena accepts the challenge! Cena then says that he is looking for a fight, so he is laying out an open challenge for any one member of The Wyatt Family to face him here tonight! Cena then says that he knows that Bray Wyatt will not be brave enough to answer the challenge himself, saying that Bray will send one of his “Duck Dynasty rejects” out to face him. Cena is then interrupted by The Wyatt Family, who appear on the tron. Bray says that he walks beside monsters and he can be the “most dangerous man” in the world, saying that whoever will be the “last man standing” will “conquer all”. Bray continues, saying that whoever loses will be lost in a “prison of his own thought” and saying that he “pities” Cena, but he also wanted to thank Cena for helping him find the “cure” to Cena’s “plague”. Bray then says that his cure is the one that will finally take the air out of John Cena, saying that they will not allow Cena to “medicate” them any longer. Bray continues, saying that one of them will be standing there, ready to lead the world into “tomorrow” while the other will just be left “waiting in the muck of your own ignorance”. Bray then tells Cena to “listen” before singing “He’s got the Whole World in his Hands”.
The opening match of the night would see WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos squaring off with Goldust & Cody Rhodes in a non-title match. Despite a valiant effort by Goldust & Cody Rhodes, The Usos would perservere as Cody Rhodes gets caught with a superkick before one of The Usos come off the top with the Superfly Splash, pinning Cody for the win. After the match, a clearly upset Cody Rhodes walks past Goldust, storming away from ringside.
After getting pinned by El Torito last week, 3MB’s Heath Slater, with Jinder Mahal, Drew McIntyre, & Hornswoggle in his corner, would face El Torito, with Los Matadores in his corner. During the match, Hornswoggle would accidentally headbutt Heath Slater below the belt and this would allow El Torito to take advantage, hitting the springboard moonsault en route to picking up the win.
In a rematch from RAW, Nikki Bella would go one-on-one with Natalya and, this time, Eva Marie would serve as the Special Referee. In the end, it was Nikki Bella rolling Natalya up for the win, sparking a post-match argument between Natalya and Eva Marie.
In a match that came about after Dolph Ziggler called Batista the “weak link” of Evolution on Twitter, “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler would go one-on-one with Evolution’s Batista on SmackDown. Throughout the match, Dolph Ziggler would refuse to give up, countering Batista at every turn, but “The Animal” would resort to a blatant low blow, ending the match via disqualification. After the match, Batista would plant Dolph Ziggler with the Batista Bomb, but Batista was not through. “The Animal” would bring Dolph Ziggler to the outside, tossing Ziggler into the ringside barricade before drilling Dolph with a powerbomb on top of the barricade! Referees then rush out to break things up, keeping Batista from doing further damage to Dolph Ziggler.
In a rematch from RAW a few weeks ago, United States Champion Sheamus would go one-on-one with Titus O’Neil in a non-title match. After some trash talking before the match, Titus O’Neil would pay for trying to intimidate the United States Champion as Titus would turn around into the Brogue Kick from Sheamus as Sheamus pins Titus for the win in record time.
In a match that was the result of an open challenge from Damien Sandow, the disgruntled Sandow would go one-on-one with Santino Marella, with Emma in his corner. In a relatively quick match, it was Santino striking with the Cobra Strike, pinning Damien Sandow for the win. After the match, Damien Sandow says that he is a “great soldier”, saying that they love it when the “smart guy” loses before Sandow’s microphone is cut off.
“The King of Swing” was in action on SmackDown as Cesaro, with Paul Heyman in his corner, would go one-on-one with R-Truth. Cesaro would make quick work of R-Truth, hitting the Neutralizer en route to picking up the victory.
Then it was time for the main event as John Cena would go one-on-one with one of the members of The Wyatt Family as Bray Wyatt would have the choice of Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, or himself to go against John Cena. However, Bray Wyatt would attempt to lead a three-on-one assault on John Cena, but The Usos would come to the aid of John Cena, fending off the assault for the time being. With The Usos standing guard for John Cena at ringside, Bray Wyatt would select Erick Rowan as the one to face Cena as the match officially gets underway. During the match, John Cena would lock Erick Rowan in the STF and Bray Wyatt would send Luke Harper into the ring, but The Usos would take Harper out and would keep Bray Wyatt back as John Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment, pinning Erick Rowan for the win.
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