Viper Defanged.
Five nights after SummerSlam, the 783rd edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix, AZ. Following a loss to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam and a loss in 6-Man Tag action on RAW, Randy Orton would be looking to get back on track as “The Viper” would go one-on-one with “Mr. Friday Night” Rob Van Dam on SmackDown.
After quite possibly ending the career of Dean Ambrose on RAW courtesy of the Curb Stomp through a stack of concrete blocks, “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” was in action on SmackDown as Seth Rollins would go one-on-one with “The Real American” Jack Swagger. Also on SmackDown, the black-and-gold-clad brothers of Goldust & Stardust would face The Wyatt Family’s Luke Harper & Erick Rowan in tag team action and, in a rematch from RAW, new Divas Champion Paige would face Natalya in a non-title match.
Match Results
- Seth Rollins def. Jack Swagger by count-out.
- Rusev (with Lana) def. Sin Cara by submission to the Accolade.
- Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam fight to a double count-out.
- Non-Title: Natalya (with AJ Lee) def. Paige by submission to the Sharpshooter.
- Goldust & Stardust def. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan by Goldust rolling up Luke Harper.
- Roman Reigns def. The Miz (with Randy Orton) by pin following the Spear.
Detailed Results
SmackDown kicks off with “The Viper” Randy Orton, who says that, just because Roman Reigns won the “battle”, does not mean that he won the “war”. Orton says that one match does not define him and one match does not define Roman Reigns, saying that he has been called a lot of things, but he has never been called a “loser”. Orton continues, saying that his loss to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam has made him more “focused” and that Roman will get what is coming to him. “The Viper” then turns his attention to his opponent on SmackDown, telling Rob Van Dam that he is nothing more than “collateral damage”, vowing to put RVD away before saying that he “deserves” their respect and, now that he has regained his focus, he will “take” the fans’ respect.
As a result of an intense confrontation on WWE Main Event, the man who may very well have ended the career of Dean Ambrose on RAW was in action on SmackDown as the opening match of the night would see “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Seth Rollins square off with “The Real American” Jack Swagger. The story of the match would be the injured ribs of Jack Swagger and, after Swagger narrowly gets back into the ring to avoid the ten-count, Seth Rollins would immediately capitalize with the Curb Stomp, knocking “The Real American” back out of the ring. Swagger would not move at all for the entire ten-count as Seth Rollins picks up the win via count-out. After the match, Bo Dallas would make his way to the ring to address Jack Swagger. As the ringside doctor checks on Swagger, Bo Dallas tells Swagger that he has went from an “American hero” to an “American zero”, saying that he is going to become the new “American sweetheart”. Bo continues, saying that all they have to do is look fear in the face and say, “I bo-lieve”.
Backstage, The Miz tells Director of Operations Kane that, unless it is about his rematch for the Intercontinental Title, then Kane should speak to his “agent”, saying that is why he has an agent to deal with “freaks” like Kane. The Director of Operations then informs The Miz that, since “The A-Lister” is interesting in “sequels”, he will give The Miz a rematch tonight when Miz goes one-on-one with Roman Reigns!
After a confrontation with Mark Henry ended with Rusev falling at the hands of “The World’s Strongest Man” on RAW, “The Hero of the Russian Federation” Rusev, with Lana in his corner, would face Sin Cara on SmackDown. In the end, it was Rusev locking in the Accolade on Sin Cara, making Sin Cara tap out to pick up the win. After the match, Lana would again insult America and this would again bring out Mark Henry, but this time, Rusev would quickly exit the ring, walking away from a fight with “The World’s Strongest Man”.
Backstage, Rob Van Dam is being interviewed by Renee Young when Randy Orton attacks RVD from behind, leaving RVD laid out before telling Renee Young to tell RVD that he will be waiting for him in the ring.
Then it was time for Randy Orton to face Rob Van Dam and, after the ambush by Orton a few minutes earlier, RVD would run down to the ring looking for revenge and Orton would quickly hop out of the ring. “The Viper” would then wait for the referee to calm RVD down before the match officially gets underway. The match would quickly break down on the outside of the ring as Randy Orton would repeatedly toss RVD into the ringside barricade, as well as the steel steps, bouncing his head off of the announce table. After the referee finally calls for the bell, Orton continues the assault, dropping RVD back-first onto the announce table and, with a smile on his face, Orton would then blast RVD with a clothesline before planting RVD on the arena floor with the suspended DDT. Orton then rolls RVD into the ring before bringing a steel chair into the ring, sitting on the chair and mocking RVD before delivering an RKO to RVD on the steel chair! Randy Orton then finally slides out of the ring, allowing the ringside physician to attend to Rob Van Dam.
In a rematch from RAW, the new Divas Champion was in action on SmackDown as Paige would face Natalya in a non-title match. Similar to what happened on RAW, AJ Lee would come skipping down to the ring during the match, but this time, AJ Lee would grab the Divas Title and skip up to the stage with it. AJ Lee would then place the title belt on the stage, making Paige come get it and nearly costing Paige the match by count-out. The Divas Champion would make it back to the ring, but with Natalya would lock in the Sharpshooter on Paige and, with AJ Lee staring into Paige’s eyes, Paige would tap out as Natalya picks up a big win.
In tag team action, Goldust & Stardust would face The Wyatt Family’s Luke Harper & Erick Rowan on SmackDown. In the end, it was Goldust surprising Luke Harper with a roll-up, picking up the win for himself and Stardust. After the match, Luke Harper would attack Goldust from behind, knocking Goldust to the outside. Erick Rowan then sends Goldust spine-first into the steel ring post before Luke Harper tosses Stardust over the ringside barricade, bringing Stardust back to ringside and throwing a chair at Stardust. Back in the ring, Luke Harper would blast Goldust with a clothesline, followed by a big splash from Erick Rowan.
Then it was time for the main event as, after a big victory over Randy Orton at SummerSlam, Roman Reigns would go one-on-one with The Miz on SmackDown. As soon as the match begins, Roman Reigns would spot Randy Orton slowly making his way to ringside. However, despite Randy Orton’s presence at ringside, Roman Reigns would make quick work of The Miz, hitting the Spear on the former Intercontinental Champion, picking up the win. After the match, Randy Orton would enter the ring and a brawl would break out between Reigns and Orton with both men trading shots before Orton takes Reigns to the outside, but Roman would keep fighting back. Orton then grabs a steel chair, jabbing Reigns in the mid-section with the chair before delivering a shot to the back of Reigns. Back in the ring, Orton again sets the steel chair up in the center of the ring, but Reigns again fights back, using the steel chair against Randy Orton before blasting “The Viper” with the Superman Punch, sending Orton into retreat!
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