WWE Friday Night SmackDown February 17, 2012 Results

Snake subject to change.

Two nights before WWE Elimination Chamber, the 652nd edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Save Mart Center at Fresno State University in Fresno, CA. As reported by WWE.com earlier in the week, Randy Orton suffered a concussion on RAW and will not be cleared to compete in this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship, so SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long would hold an Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal to determine who will replace Orton in the Chamber. Also, four of the six participants in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match would face off in tag team action as the gargantuan team of “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show and “The Punjabi Giant” The Great Khali faces the team of Wade Barrett and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. After being suspended indefinitely by Theodore Long two weeks ago, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry is rumored to be somewhere in the arena.

Match Results

• Big Show & The Great Khali def. Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes by Big Show pinning Wade Barrett following a chokeslam.
• Hunico (with Camacho) def. Ted DiBiase by roll-up with the tights.
• Non-Title: Primo & Epico def. Jimmy & Jey Uso by Primo pinning Jimmy Uso following the Back Stabber.
• Non-Title: Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton by “forfeit”.
• Non-Title: Daniel Bryan def. Sheamus by DQ.
• Jinder Mahal def. Ezekiel Jackson by submission to the Camel Clutch.
• Tamina Snuka & Alicia Fox def. Beth Phoenix & Natalya by Tamina Snuka pinning Natalya following the Superfly Splash.
• Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal: Santino Marella wins to replace Randy Orton in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match.

Detailed Results

Four nights after a shot to the back of the head with the World Heavyweight Title by Daniel Bryan on RAW resulted in a concussion, the show kicks off with Randy Orton and SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long as the GM regretfully informs Orton that Orton will not be allowed to compete due to his injury on SmackDown and will not be cleared to compete in the Elimination Chamber Match. Long then tells Orton that security is waiting to escort him out of the arena before a seething Orton makes his exit. With Randy Orton out of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match, who will replace “The Viper” inside the Chamber?

Two nights before they are four of the six participants in the Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship, the opening match of the night saw “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show team with fellow giant, The Great Khali, to face Wade Barrett and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes in tag team action. In the end, it was Big Show planting Wade Barrett with a chokeslam en route to picking up the win for his team. After the match, Big Show sends a definitive message to The Great Khali that it will be every man for himself inside the Chamber as Show knocks Khali out with the W.M.D.

Backstage, Theodore Long is scrambling to figure out who will replace Randy Orton in the Elimination Chamber Match when the GM is confronted by the man he suspended indefinitely two weeks ago, Mark Henry! Henry demands that he be put in the Elimination Chamber Match in place of Orton, but before Henry can get an answer out of the GM, Big Show enters Long’s office and says he just did Long a “favor” in the tag match and now the GM needs to do him a favor by letting him go one-on-one with Daniel Bryan. Mark Henry steps in and tells Show to wait his turn, but the angry giant lets his fist do the talking by knocking Mark Henry out with the W.M.D. The fire-breathing giant then takes to wrecking Long’s office, breaking the GM’s television and turning furniture over, prompting the GM to make a quick exit! How will Theodore Long respond to an angry Big Show’s demands?

Backstage, Theodore Long is talking with a security team, asking the four of them to wait until Big Show has calmed down and then escort the giant out of the arena. One of the security team members refuse to go anywhere near the “angry giant” and the nervous GM suggest they call in back-up.

After overcoming a broken wrist to catch Hunico with a roll-up to pick up the win last week, Ted DiBiase would go one-on-one with Hunico, with Camacho in his corner, in a rematch. During the match, Camacho would attack the injured wrist of Ted DiBiase behind the referee’s back, allowing Hunico to roll DiBiase up and hook the tights for good measure en route to picking up the win.

The WWE Tag Team Champions were in action on SmackDown as Primo & Epico, with Rosa Mendes in their corner, faced Jimmy & Jey Uso in a non-title match. In the end, it was Primo getting his knees up during an attempt at the Superfly Splash by Jimmy Uso before Primo hits the Back Stabber on Jimmy Uso en route to picking up the win for himself and Epico.

After taking Randy Orton out of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match with a belt shot to the back of Orton’s head on RAW, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan appeared on SmackDown just two nights before he defends the gold inside the Elimination Chamber. The champion states that he got “two for the price of one” on RAW and it was time for him to show who he really is and what he is really about. Bryan continues that it is his understanding that both Big Show and Randy Orton were escorted out of the building before saying that if either Show or Orton has any “guts”, they would be out there facing him right now, but they are not because they are “afraid”. Bryan then proclaims that “everyone is afraid of Daniel Bryan”, saying that they are afraid of tapping out and losing to him because he “keeps on winning”. Bryan then says that none of the fans had any faith in him, but he proved all of them wrong and, at WWE Elimination Chamber, he will prove them wrong yet again. Bryan continues that he has been “beating the odds” his entire life and, this Sunday, he will emerge victorious inside the Elimination Chamber. Bryan then orders ring announcer Lilian Garcia to announce him as the winner over Randy Orton via “forfeit” before Lilian reluctantly makes the announcement before the champion celebrates. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long then comes out and says that they all want to see Bryan compete and, while Randy Orton cannot compete, he has found a Superstar who will be more than happy to face him before Long brings out the winner of the 2012 Royal Rumble, “The Great White” Sheamus!

Per the orders of Theodore Long, the World Heavyweight Champion was in action as Daniel Bryan went one-on-one with “The Great White” Sheamus in a non-title match. After finding himself unable to get the better of Sheamus, Daniel Bryan would take advantage of the short temper of “The Great White” by slapping, taunting, and even spitting in the face of Sheamus, making Sheamus snap. This results in the champion getting exactly what he wanted with Sheamus getting himself disqualified! What will happen this Sunday when Daniel Bryan is locked inside the Elimination Chamber with five other Superstars with no disqualifications and no count-outs?

Backstage, both Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes confront Theodore Long, demanding to know who the sixth man will be in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match with the GM informing them that he is holding an Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal, where every able Superstar from SmackDown, RAW, Superstars, or even NXT, in the arena will be allowed to enter the Battle Royal with the winner replacing Randy Orton inside the Chamber!

Former Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson was in action on SmackDown as “Big Zeke” went one-on-one with Jinder Mahal. In the end, it was Jinder Mahal picking up a surprise win by forcing Ezekiel Jackson to tap out to the Camel Clutch to pick up the win.

Two nights before she challenges Beth Phoenix for the Divas Title at WWE Elimination Chamber, Tamina Snuka teams with Alicia Fox to face Divas Champion Beth Phoenix & Natalya. In the end, it was Tamina Snuka hitting the Superfly Splash on Natalya en route to picking up the win for her team. After the match, Beth Phoenix tries to rush Tamina, but Snuka catches the Divas Champion with a super kick! Tamina then goes for the Superfly Splash, but Phoenix is narrowly able to escape.

Backstage, Interim RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis confronts SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long to let the GM know that he is going to bring “excitement” to the Battle Royal by entering his legal counsel, David Otunga, into the match. Can the Harvard Law graduate survive the Wild Card Battle Royal and earn a spot in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match?

Then it was time for the main event as every Superstar from SmackDown, RAW, Superstars, or NXT was eligible to enter the Elimination Chamber Wild Card Battle Royal with the winner replacing Randy Orton as a participant in the Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Title. In the potential career-changing Battle Royal was Santino Marella, Tyson Kidd, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Curt Hawkins, Tyler Reks, Yoshi Tatsu, Ted DiBiase, Justin Gabriel, Ezekiel Jackson, Primo, Epico, Darren Young, Alex Riley, Jinder Mahal, Heath Slater, Derrick Bateman, Percy Watson, Titus O’Neil, Johnny Curtis, Hunico, Camacho, Michael McGillicutty, Drew McIntyre, and David Otunga. The first elimination saw David Otunga eliminating Derrick Bateman, followed by Otunga eliminating Percy Watson. Ezekiel Jackson then eliminates Titus O’Neil before Drew McIntyre eliminates one of the Usos before McIntyre hurls Tyson Kidd to the outside as well. Jinder Mahal then eliminates Heath Slater before Ted DiBiase narrowly eliminates Darren Young and Hunico throws Yoshi Tatsu out. Ted DiBiase then eliminates the man who cost him his match earlier, Camacho, before Justin Gabriel eliminates Michael McGillicutty. Justin Gabriel then eliminates Curt Hawkins before Primo & Epico eliminate Alex Riley. The WWE Tag Team Champions then use Johnny Curtis to eliminate Tyler Reks by hurling Curtis into Reks, taking both men out of the match. Primo & Epico continue to work together as the tag champions eliminate the remaining Uso before Primo outsmarts his cousin, by eliminating Epico! Hunico then eliminates Ted DiBiase, but Hunico would try and get another shot on DiBiase, but DiBiase pulls Hunico off of the apron, eliminating Hunico. A battle between Primo and Justin Gabriel on the apron then ends with Justin Gabriel knocking Primo off of the apron to eliminate the tag champion moments before Ezekiel Jackson sends Gabriel over the top, as well as Jinder Mahal. It was then down to four as Santino Marella, Drew McIntyre, David Otunga, & Ezekiel Jackson remained in the Battle Royal. Santino Marella then eliminates Drew McIntyre before Santino manages to eliminate Ezekiel Jackson, leaving only Santino and Otunga in the match. In a battle of assistants, it was Santino Marella sending David Otunga over the top rope to shock the world by earning the right to join Big Show, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali, and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan in the Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship! Can Santino Marella do the unthinkable this Sunday inside the Elimination Chamber by becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion?

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