The 728th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Toyota Center in Houston, TX. Rob Van Dam, Sheamus, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, Christian, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Curtis Axel. These are just some of the Superstars that World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio will have to choose from as SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero has given Del Rio the golden opportunity to hand-pick just one active member of the WWE roster to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against at SummerSlam and Del Rio would make the career-changing decision on SmackDown!
Quick Results
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* Cody Rhodes def. Jack Swagger via roll-up.
* Big E. Langston def. Sin Cara via Big Ending.
* CM Punk def. Fandango (with Summer Rae) via Anaconda Vise submission
* Divas Championship:
AJ Lee (c) (with Layla) def. Kaitlyn via Black Widow submission
* #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match:
Christian def. Randy Orton & Rob Van Dam by rolling up Randy Orton to become the new #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam.
Detailed Results
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With the world awaiting his hand-picked selection to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against at SummerSlam, SmackDown kicks off with the man himself, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio tells the fans “thank you for nothing”, saying that they did not want him to be their champion, but he is the champion and there is “nothing” that they can do about it. Del Rio continues, saying “thank you” to someone with “vision”, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. Del Rio then tries to lead a “Vickie” chant, but the crowd boos the proposal. Del Rio then says that John Cena “wasted” his pick on Daniel Bryan and he only did that because Cena is “afraid” of Del Rio. The World Heavyweight Champion claims that he thought about defending the title against Brock Lesnar, but Brock already has a match against CM Punk at SummerSlam. Del Rio then says that he has the “loco idea” of giving a title match to Houston’s own Booker T, but, like the city of Houston, Booker is a “huge disappointment”. The champion then says that the man that he has selected to defend the World Heavyweight Title deserves the title match more than anyone else, saying that the man is “big, fast, and strong” and he is the “perfect opponent” and that is why he is going to give the man his first World Heavyweight Title shot ever, revealing his pick as none other than his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez! This brings SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero to the ring and the boss does not look pleased with Del Rio’s pick, saying that she feels like the champion is trying to “disrespect” her. Vickie then calls Rodriguez a “little man-child” before Del Rio says that he is not trying to “disrespect” the GM and, if she does not like his pick, then he can pick someone else, proposing that he face The Brooklyn Brawler. Vickie is not amused, saying that she knew that Del Rio would make an “immature decision”, so she is taking the choice out of the champion’s hands and the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam will be decided in a Triple Threat Match as WWE Championship Contract “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Randy Orton, “Captain Charisma” Christian, and “The Whole Damn Show” Rob Van Dam will go to war in the main event with the winner challenging Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam!
After tossing Damien Sandow’s Money-in-the-Bank briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico last week, the opening match of the night would see Cody Rhodes face Jack Swagger, with Zeb Colter in his corner. In the end, it was Cody Rhodes countering the gutwrench powerbomb of Jack Swagger into a roll-up, picking up the win.
Moments after his match against Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes was being interviewed backstage, but the interview was cut short when Damien Sandow jumps Cody Rhodes, pummeling Rhodes and repeatedly slamming his head into an anvil case before Sandow is finally pulled off of his former tag team partner!
After AJ Lee cost him a victory on RAW, Big E. Langston would be looking to rebound as Langston would go one-on-one with Sin Cara. In the end, it was Sin Cara going for a springboard moonsault, but Big E. Langston catches Sin Cara in mid-air, dropping the high-flyer with the Big Ending en route to picking up the win.
After being interrupted by Fandango on last week’s SmackDown, “The Best in the World” CM Punk would go one-on-one with “The Lord of Dance” Fandango, with Summer Rae in his corner. In the end, it was CM Punk locking in the Anaconda Vise on Fandango, forcing “The Lord of Dance” to tap out to pick up the win.
The Divas Championship was up for grabs on SmackDown as Houston’s own Kaitlyn, with Layla in her corner, would challenge AJ Lee for the gold. During the match, the champion and challenger would find themselves on the outside of the ring, but when Kaitlyn goes for a right hand to AJ Lee, Layla steps in between the two! This gives AJ Lee the opportunity to blind-side the challenger, inevitably leading to AJ locking in the Black Widow on Kaitlyn, forcing Kaitlyn to tap out to pick up the win and successfully retain the Divas Title. After the match, Layla skips off hand-in-hand with AJ Lee.
Then it was time for the main event “The Whole Damn Show” Rob Van Dam, “Captain Charisma” Christian, and the WWE Championship Contract “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Randy Orton would square off in a Triple Threat Match with the winner becoming the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title with a title shot against champion Alberto Del Rio at SummerSlam. At the end of a grueling match, it was Randy Orton hitting the RKO on Rob Van Dam, but when Orton goes for the RKO on Christian, Christian counters with a backslide, surprising “The Viper” to pick up the win and become the new #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam! After the match, a disappointed Randy Orton offers his hand to Christian and the two former rivals shake hands in the ring before Orton exits. Rob Van Dam then gets to his feet as RVD also shakes the victor’s hand before leaving the ring, allowing Christian to enjoy his moment. Christian was then set to be interviewed about his victory, but Alberto Del Rio would jump Christian from behind, putting the #1 Contender down with a kick to the skull!
