The Smackdown opened with a recap of the main event at SummerSlam and the live crowd exploded with yes chants but booing when Randy Orton cashing was shown. They also recapped the events from Raw as well with the McMahons.
Vickie Guerrero opened the show to a shit load of heat and introduced Randy Orton. He spoke about giving us what we want. It was hard to hear he got a lot of heat. He said that he told us the truth about cashing in his briefcase at SummerSlam. He said he was surprised by what Triple H did, and that he didn't need his help to win. He asked for our support and No! chants broke out. He said he is the face of the WWE.
Daniel Byran interrupted Orton and thanked John Cena for the opportunity at SummerSlam. Bryan said it's time for the face of the WWE to change. Bryan insulted how Orton looks and said he looks pretty. He also called Orton arrogant. Bryan said he had to scratch and suffer while Orton was handed every opportunity.
Bryan challenged Orton for the title by saying I can beat you for that pointing to the title. He challenged Orton for the title tonight, but Orton said it has to wait until Night Of Champions. Orton and Bryan stood face to face and Orton held up the title. Bryan hit and kicked Orton from the ring.
Vickie was show talking and yelling about What Bryan did backstage, and Wade Barrett interrupted. A steel cage match was announced for later in the show
1. Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman) beat Cody Rhodes. A pretty well wrestled match from both men, but there is a reason this match was on Smackdown. The crowd was pretty quiet for this match. The guy next to me caught me taking notes and told me to pay attention. WWE fans are crazy. A CM Punk chant broke out.
Heyman cut a promo afterward and received a ton of heat. He said he is in pain because of Punk. He moaned about Punk and trashed him, which caused a lot of heat. Heyman said Punk is lost without him. Axel said Punk doesn't deserve a title shot for his title, but he challenged him for the title for this coming Monday on Raw.
2. Dolph Ziggler beat Big E Langston (w/A.J. Lee). Ziggler won by pinfall after a Zig Zag.
3. World Hvt. Champion Alberto Del Rio defeated Christian. Del Rio defeated Christian via submission the arm bar. After the match, Del Rio said something about Latinos, which led to cheers, but he called all of us peasants and said that he wants us to follow the great Alberto Del Rio. Ricardo Rodriguiez came out and trashed Del Rio, and introduced Rob Van Dam. Christian dropkicked Del Rio off the top rope and RVD did a frog splash to end the segment.
4. Big Show and Mark Henry defeated Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, and Jinder Mahal in a handicap match. Show and Henry won by pinfall after Show hit the WMD.
5. Darren Young defeated Antonio Cesaro.
6. Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett in a cage match. A really good, competitive match with several near falls. And because of Bryan's involvement, this match would have been an awesome pay-per-view match. Afterward, Orton came out and RKO'd Bryan. The crowd booed to end the show.
WWE Friday Night Smackdown: The place to go if you mark for getting the same damn main event every week.