WWE taped this week’s WWE SmackDown Tuesday night from the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Below are full results:
WWE SmackDown
* The Rock’s music hit and the building literally started to shake. My God, what an ovation. There are loud rocky chants that picked up after the music stopped. Rock held up a Hershey bar to a big pop. Rock talks about how he lived an hour away in Bethlehem, Pa. He shows a picture of himself when he was 15 and had a Cody Rhodes style mustache. He did the “Finally…” routine.
Rock said tonight is the first sold out WWE event in Hershey in a decade. He tells the origin story of Candy Ass and cuts a promo on John Cena. Rock said he’s going to beat Cena at WrestleMania, which led to boos, to Cena sucks chants, to Rocky chants. There is a very pro-Rock crowd in that respect. Rock started his millions routine when he was interrupted by John Laurinaitis, which drew huge heat and a “You Suck” chant.
Rock asks who in the blue hell he was. Laurinaitis says Teddy Long gave him permission to come out. Laurinaitis said they are two peas in a pod, Rock is the People’s Champion, and Big Johnny started people power. Laurinaitis says John Cena is the reason he was fired and he wants retribution; he wants to be in Rock’s corner at WrestleMania. Rock says we’ll let the people decide and they boo. Rock says he and Laurinaitis should send Cena a message together but they need a handshake first. Rock lays Laurinaitis out with a spinebuster and a People’s Elbow. Rock then pulls a giant Hershey bar from under the ring, signs it and gives it to kids in the crowd. Rock posed for a bit then left.
* Chris Jericho beat Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett in a non-title match. Jericho came out for his match to a big pop. Wade Barrett was out next to relative silence. Barrett hit a shoulder block on Jericho, who responded with chops and a clothesline. Barrett came back with punches and a headbutt. Barrett whipped Jericho to the corner and hit a boot to Jericho to send him to the outside. Y2J continued getting punished, and Barrett cut off a comeback with a stiff back kick to the midsection. In the end, Jericho hit the Codebreaker for the win.
Jericho speaks after the match and says he would love to face the Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania but guesses he will face Fandango instead. The Fandango silhouette drops down on the stage. Jericho picks on Fandango’s name.
Fandango made his full entrance to the ring, followed by “You Can’t Wrestle” chants. Fandango said nothing and danced back to the back.
* Paul Heyman was interviewd by Josh Mathews. Heyman said it is a must lose situation for Triple H. The Ryback/Mark Henry bench press challenge is up next.
* The Ryback/Mark Henry bench press challenge was up next. Booker T and Teddy Long came out to introduce the contestants. There were huge “Feed Me More” chants for Ryback. Henry came out to some decent heat. Booker said if they get physical, they will be banned from WrestleMania.
Henry won a coin toss so he went first. He benched 220 lbs. 54 times. Apparently, this was a new record. Big Hungry was on his way to breaking that record, when Henry drops the weight bar across Ryback’s neck and Ryback rolls around choking. Ryback was helped to the back. There were “Feed Me More” chants throughout the segment.
* Daniel Bryan and Kaitlyn (w/Kane) defeated Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee (w/Big E Langston). Zigglers music hit and we’re on our way to a mixed tag match. Ziggler took the early control with a shoulder block. Kaitlyn and AJ tagged in. AJ hit successive neckbreakers. Bryan and Ziggler tagged back in and traded offense. Langston tried to interfere but was taken out by Kane, who was taken out by Ziggler. In the end, Kaitlyn speared AJ for the win.
* The Shield cut a promo on the big screen. Stating that the team of Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show don’t stand a chance. They said they would believe in The Shield.
* Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) fought The Great Khali (w/Natalya, Hornswoggle) to a double count out. They both get counted out. Khali overpowered early, with Swagger getting in a few shots. Swagger puts the Patriot Lock on Khali on the outside and ignored the 10 count, resulting in a double count out. Ricardo Rodriguez comes out and tells Swagger to come and get him. Alberto Del Rio sneaks in the ring and puts the armbreaker on Zeb Colter. Del Rio holds Zeb and Ricardo hits him with the crutch. Swagger comes back and Del Rio hits him. A good pop for Ricardo and a better one for Del Rio.
* Backstage interview with Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show.
* They show Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tweet talking about inducting Bruno Sammartino into the HOF.
* Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro vs. Sheamus, Big Show and Randy Orton is up next.
* Sheamus came out to a good pop, followed by Orton to a much bigger pop, followed by Big Show to a noticeably smaller pop. Rhodes Scholars and Cesaro came out together. Sandow tried to silence the crowd to very negative effect.
* Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show defeated Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, and Antonio Cesaro. Orton and Cesaro started things off with Randy taking an early advantage. Sheamus tagged in and roughed up Cesaro a bit, then Big Show and Cody tagged in. Big Show dominated, then Orton tagged back in and roughed up Cody a bit. That mustache is wonderful. Cesaro tagged in and got some shots but was double teamed by Orton and Sheamus. Sandow tagged in and traded offense with Sheamus. Orton came back in and took control. The heels took control for a while, isolating Orton in their corner. In the end, Sheamus made the hot tag and hit the Brogue Kick on Rhodes for the win.
After the match, The Shield’s music hit and they started to head down through crowd, but Orton and company met them halfway up the stairs and a fight ensued, with The Shield sent packing to a thunderous pop. Orton, Show and Sheamus beat them up bad and then pose at the top of the stairs.
Dark Match
* Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Ryback beat the Shield by DQ when Rollins brought in a chair. Orton, Sheamus, and Ryback hit their finishers to send the fans home happy.
Biggest Pops:
The Rock (by a mile)
Ryback
Randy Orton
Most Heat:
John Laurinaitis
Zeb Colter
