WWE Friday Night SmackDown July 8, 2011 Results

The 620th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZ. After both he and former tag team partner, Big Show, were assaulted, and nearly destroyed, by Mark Henry over recent weeks, “The Big Red Machine” Kane looks to end Henry’s reign of terror as he goes one-on-one with “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry on SmackDown.

Match Results

• Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase def. Daniel Bryan & Ezekiel Jackson by Ted DiBiase pinning Ezekiel Jackson following Dream Street.
• Jinder Mahal def. Trent Barreta by pin following the full nelson side slam.
• A.J. def. Tamina by roll-up.
• Mark Henry def. Kane by pin following the World’s Strongest Slam.
• Sin Cara def. Tyson Kidd by pin following the Sin Flyer.
• Jimmy & Jey Uso def. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel by Jey Uso pinning Justin Gabriel following the Superfly Splash.
• Non-Title: Randy Orton def. Sheamus by DQ after Christian interferes.

Detailed Results

The show kicks off with SmackDown commentator Josh Mathews standing in the ring with seven of the eight competitors in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match as Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Daniel Bryan, and Kane gave their thoughts on the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match. Daniel Bryan states that the opportunity to achieve his dream of becoming the World Heavyweight Champion is “worth all of the risks” he is going to take. Bryan is then interrupted by Cody Rhodes, who explains that, at Money-in-the-Bank, he will no longer be a “blind spot” because he will be the World Heavyweight Champion. Rhodes adds that, when he is champion, they will all have to do what they “fear” the most and look him in the eye. Former Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett then offers his thoughts, saying that he is “sick and tired” of listening to what everyone else is going to do as their accomplishments “pale in comparison” to what he has achieved.

Wade Barrett starts to list off his accomplishments, but the eighth competitor in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match interrupts as Sheamus rushes to the ring with a steel chair as “The Celtic Warrior” swung the chair at anything that moved, delivering a gut shot to Daniel Bryan and Heath Slater, followed by a shot to the back on Justin Gabriel while Cody Rhodes avoided the attack. Sheamus then turns his attention to Wade Barrett, catching Barrett in the mid-section with the chair before setting his sights on Sin Cara, but Cara dives over the head of Sheamus and narrowly escapes as Sheamus delivers a chair shot to the spine of Wade Barrett. Sheamus then stands tall in the ring with chair in hand as “The Celtic Warrior” explains that, at Money-in-the-Bank, he will win the Money-in-the-Bank contract and, after Randy Orton beats Christian to retain the World Heavyweight Title, he will cash it in Orton and become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Sheamus continues that, when he sees Randy Orton, he is going to hit the World Heavyweight Champion so hard that he will “knock the voices” out of Orton’s head for Orton’s punt to his skull last month!

Christian then makes an appearance and reminds Sheamus that he beat Sheamus just before Sheamus was punted last month before proclaiming himself as the World Heavyweight Champion. Christian continues that his lawyers came up with a new title contract after Sheamus ripped the old one to shreds and, in the new contract, his lawyers added the stipulation to the Money-in-the-Bank title match that, if Randy Orton is disqualified or there is another bad call by the referee, then Christian will become the new World Heavyweight Champion! Christian then asks Sheamus if he even “knows how to read a contract”, prompting a furious Sheamus to hurl a chair at Christian. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long then comes out and, much to the happiness of Christian, the GM announces that Sheamus will go one-on-one with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton in the main event. Nine nights before Randy Orton defends the World Heavyweight Title against Christian at Money-in-the-Bank, what will Sheamus have in store for the World Heavyweight Champion?

Nine nights before they are two of eight competitors in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes were in tag team action on SmackDown as Daniel Bryan teams with Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson to face Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase. In the end, it was Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase isolating Ezekiel Jackson from Daniel Bryan with Rhodes hitting the Beautiful Nightmare Kick, allowing DiBiase to hit Dream Street en route to pinning the Intercontinental Champion.

Backstage, Matt Striker is interviewing “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry as Striker questions Henry about his assault on a “civilian” last week that may result in a “criminal investigation” of Mark Henry, as well as Henry’s match against Big Show at Money-in-the-Bank. However, Mark Henry backs Matt Striker up, prompting Striker to flee from the irate “World’s Strongest Man”.

After Ranjin Singh revealed the truth about the relationship between Jinder Mahal and his brother-in-law, The Great Khali, Khali was a guest on commentary as Jinder Mahal went one-on-one with Trent Barreta. In the end, it was Jinder Mahal picking up another dominant win, hitting the full nelson side slam on Trent Barreta en route to picking up the victory.

The Divas were in action on SmackDown as A.J., with Natalya in her corner, went one-on-one with Tamina, with Alicia Fox in her corner. In the end, it was A.J. catching Tamina with a roll-up en route to picking up the win. However, the loss prompted an argument between Tamina and Alicia Fox after the match.

After weeks of causing mass destruction in his attacks on Big Show, Kane, and even an audio technician, an irate and unpredictable “World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry went one-on-one with “The Big Red Machine” Kane. During the match, Kane looked to have the match won after planting Mark Henry with the chokeslam, but Henry was barely able to get his foot on the bottom rope to break the count. Kane then responds by taking Mark Henry to the outside of the ring with the intent of chokeslamming Henry through the announce table, but Henry counters, sending Kane spine-first into the ring apron and steel ring post. Henry then rolls Kane in the ring, hitting a big splash on Kane before hitting the World’s Strongest Slam en route to picking up the win.

Nine nights before he is one of eight competitors in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, “The International Sensation” Sin Cara went one-on-one with Tyson Kidd on SmackDown. In the end, it was Sin Cara hitting the Sin Flyer on Tyson Kidd en route to picking up the win.

Two more of the eight competitors in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match were in tag action on SmackDown as former WWE Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel faced Jimmy & Jey Uso. In the end, it was a miscommunication between Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel that allowed The Usos to take advantage as Jey Uso hits the Superfly Splash on Justin Gabriel en route to picking up the win.

Then it was time for the main event as, one month after being punted in the skull by Randy Orton, Sheamus was out for revenge as “The Celtic Warrior” went one-on-one with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton in a non-title match, with the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title at Money-in-the-Bank, Christian, seated at ringside. In the end, Randy Orton was poised for victory over Sheamus, but Christian jumps in, attacking the World Heavyweight Champion. However, Sheamus took exception to his shot at revenge being taken away, laying Christian out with the Brogue Kick, but “The Celtic Warrior” was laid out with the RKO by Randy Orton! What will happen in nine nights at Money-in-the-Bank when Randy Orton defends the World Heavyweight Title against Christian in a match where, if Orton is disqualified or the referee makes a “bad call”, then Christian will be crowned the new champion?

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