By Jake Barnett

WWE Smackdown on SyFy
Taped 8/16 in Bakersfield, Calif.

[Q1] A highlight reel played that showed us Randy Orton's Title win and hyped his return. We cut right to the ring with Teddy Long, and he invited Randy Orton to the ring. Randy Orton entered the arena to a big reaction and Mathews welcomed us to Smackdown on commentary. They announce team plugged WWE's hash tags on Twitter and then put over Orton's triumphant return to the show.

Teddy Long did some kind of secret handshake with Orton and handed him the mic. The crowd started the “Randy! Randy!” chants and he reintroduced himself to the crowd as the champ. He talked up the beat down he gave Christian, and told the crowd Christian wouldn't be in the arena tonight. He then claimed his fight with Christian was over, and told Teddy Long he was ready to start anew.

Teddy then introduced a 20-Man #1 Contender Battle Royal to close the show. As soon as that was announced, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase came to the ring. Cody put over the Legacy reunited in the ring. He said they used to be considered lesser men, but not he was a champion too. He said he didn't reduce himself to petty barbarism to please the fans, because he didn't care about the people. He then announced his entry into the Battle Royal, and handed the mic to Teddy.

Teddy said both of them were aware of Randy's strengths and weaknesses. He said they hadn't forgotten about all those times he used them.....and then ate an RKO out of nowhere. Randy then stared down Cody and he backed out of the ring.

Cody re-entered the ring and demanded Teddy Long do something about the RKO. Teddy said he was going to make Randy Orton stand in the corner on one leg, and then have him write “I will not RKO Ted Dibiase” on a chalkboard backstage. Teddy then said since Teddy was indisposed, Cody would put his title on the line against Ezekiel Jackson next...[C]

Barnett's Brief: Remember when the Legacy breakup fizzled out a few years ago? Well, time hasn't made my heart grow fonder. Orton got to RKO somebody, so I guess Orton fans are probably happy, but that segment felt last minute and didn't really hold my attention.

Ezekiel Jackson made his way down to the ring. He got little reaction from the audience. Cole narrated the highlights from last weeks match between these two.

1. Cody Rhodes defeats Ezekiel Jackson at 3:37 to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Zeke worked his power and hit some clotheslinesin the corner and a side slam for a two count. Cody attempted to escape and ended up missing an enziguri and Zeke remained in control. Zeke hit a back body drop and got a near fall. Rhodes escaped and hit some offense in the corner followed by a cross body block for a two count. Rhodes got tossed into the corner by Zeke, but popped out and ending out eating some big punches anyway.

[Q2] Rhodes escaped to the outside, but got tossed into the steps for his trouble. Rhodes kicked the steps into Zeke's ankle, and he hobbled back into the ring. He couldn't apply the Rack, and Cody escaped and hit his beautiful disaster kick. He hit CrossRhodes a moment later for the pinfall.

The announce team plugged the Battle Royal in the Main Event...[c]

Barnett's Brief: Well, that was better than last week, but its not going to set the world on fire. Rhodes looks strong here, and Zeke looks like a guy who needs to improve before getting another push. I like Zeke, I think he has charisma, but he needs to work on adding some moves to his repertoire and polishing the rough edges. I hope he gets there.

Backstage, Zack Ryder interrupted Teddy Long and said Alberto Del Rio would be there any minute. He also said he agreed to compete and that Ryder would win the Battle Royal later tonight. We then got another 2 minutes of Aksana, who asked Teddy why his last name is “Long”, and whether he'd like to watch her with 20 men. Kill me now.

The announce team then introduced a video package that showed the various media coverage Justin Gabriel got in his home town of South Africa. They showed some highlights of him at home as well, along with a brief interview where he talked about getting a big home town reaction.

Justin Gabriel then made his way to the ring with some generic rock music and piped in cheers...[c]

Barnett's Brief: The Aksana and Teddy skits are brutal. Zach Ryder continues to get TV time on Smackdown, which is good. The piped in cheers for Gabriel were obvious, as the crowd closest to the ring was looking for who was coming out next before he even got to the ring.

[Q3] Tyson Kidd made his way to the ring next.

2. Justin Gabriel defeated Tyson Kidd at 4:11. Back and forth action between the two to start. Gabriel flipped out of a hiptoss and hit a leg sweep for a nice spot. Kidd took control with a head scissors onto the turnbuckle and a seated dropkick for two. Kidd hit a stiff looking back elbow for another two, and followed up with a bow and arrow with a knee to the back of the head. Gabriel fought out and hit a standing dropkick, with both men ending up on the ground.

Gabriel hit a spinning heel kick and a discus forearm for a two count. He then hit a springboard body block but Kidd rolled through. Kidd tried to apply the Maple Leaf, but Gabriel rolled him up for another two count. Gabriel went up for the 450, but Kidd jumped up and tried to suplex him. Gabriel fought him off and dropped him into the ring, and then hit a long 450 for the clean pin.

Backstage, Matt Striker interviewed Khali and Jinder Mahal. Khali mumbled a bit, and Jinder translated it as saying that he will win the Battle Royal. Jinder then yelled at him, and told him he would win the Battle Royal, which Khali reluctantly agreed to.

Barnett's Brief: Decent match from these two, but a lot sloppier than you would expect considering the match they had a few weeks ago on NXT. A good win for Gabriel, but matches like that aren't going to shoot him up the card.

[Q4] Chimel introduced Ricardo Rogriguez, who then introduced Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio came out in a silver Lamborghini.

Del Rio grabbed a mic and introduced himself to the crowd. He said he had been talking about destiny for months. He said he is standing in a Smackdown ring just to prove that destiny is real, and that he is the undisputed WWE Champion. He said Bakersfield meant a lot to him, as he had debuted and defeated Rey Mysterio just one year ago. He said one year ago the crowd hated him, but not they love him (the crowd booed heavily). He then chuckled as he talked about his first title defense, where he defeated Rey Mysterio again.

Alberto then introduced a video that showed his victory and attack on Rey from Monday. Del Rio said he is a real champion after the video, because he is a real champion. He asked who would be man enough to face him, and Daniel Bryan entered the ring. Del Rio then asked “You? You want another beat down?” Bryan asked why Del Rio thinks he's special, when he took the easy way out and cashed in his briefcase on a weak opponent. He called Del Rio pathetic and then finished his walk to the ring...[c]

Barnett's Brief: Decent promo from Del Rio, but largely more of the same. He had the crowd when he started running down Rey Mysterio, and got some genuine boos throughout. Bryan's entrance got a decent reaction, and he cut a very logical promo for his character and showed decent intensity, which is something he has lacked in the past.

[Q5] 2. Alberto Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan at 15:35 in a non-title match. Del Rio and Bryan traded kicks for a minute to open the match, before Del Rio took control and worked the arm. Loud Daniel Bryan chants broke out during a rest hold. They worked some mat wrestling once the match slowed a bit from the opening pace, and Del Rio worked a headlock. Bryan broke free and hit a knee to the gut and several kicks to the back for a two count.

Del Rio ate some more kicks before he caught Bryan climbing the ropes and hit a jumping arm breaker from the top for a near fall. Del Rio continued to work the arm with strikes and basic submissions. Bryan fought back and hit some European Uppercuts, but Del Rio took control after Bryan ran into the turnbuckles. Del Rio hit a dropkick to Daniel Bryan's head as he lay prone. Del Rio continued to work the arm and stomp on the tricep of Bryan.

Bryan broke free from the arm hold and hit a back elbow and a boot from the corner. He then hit a string of kicks on Del Rio while he was downed in the corner. Bryan hit a clothesline, but favored his arm and couldn't capitalize. He went for a back body drop, but telegraphed it and ate a kick. Del Rio then charged and Bryan dumped him over the top. Bryan then hit a big knee on Del Rio from the apron.

Bryan climbed the ropes as he got back in the ring and dove at Del Rio. Del Rio ducked and immediately hit a german suplex for two. Del Rio placed Bryan on the top rope facing the crowd, and attempted to hit a big back suplex, but Bryan rolled and hit splash on Del Rio. Both men lay in the ring for a standing count...[c]

Bryan hit a big leg kick as we got back. The crowd is reacting big to Bryan's strikes. Bryan hit a big dropkick on Del Rio in the corner. Bryan climbed the ropes and hit a missile dropkick for a very good near fall. Bryan shot a nice angry expression towards the ringside camera, and then got up and kicked Del Rio in the chest twice but missed the third. Del Rio shot up and attempted a German Suplex but Bryan slipped out. Bryan then locked in his version of the Guillotine, but Del Rio ran him into the turnbuckle and broke free. Del Rio then dragged Bryan into the middle of the ring and locked in the Cross Arm Breaker for the tap.

After the match, Del Rio locked in the Cross Arm Breaker again, but Hunico Sin Cara came down and took out Del Rio and hit a huge splash at ringside. Sin Cara checked out Bryan at ringside.

[Q6] Matt Striker interviewed Mark Henry backstage, and showed some images from Summerslam. He asked Henry about the Battle Royal. His thought was that he should already be the #1 contender, since he'd taken out everybody else. He's tired of being in the same boat as everybody else. He said he sees the Battle Royal as a boat, and 19 men are going overboard and they're all going to sink.

Barnett's Brief: WOW. Great match from these two. I'm kind of sad it wasn't on PPV and wasn't for a title. Bryan looked great and got legitimate crowd reactions for almost all of his major offense. Where was this crowd for the match with Barrett on Sunday? Mark Henry was great on the mic again. He's just intense enough and just intimidating enough that you don't think he's crazy.

AJ and Kelly Kelly made their way out first. Alicia Fox and Natayla came out next.

3. Kelly Kelly and AJ defeated Natalya and Alicia Fox at 4:26. Nattie basically beat the crap out of AJ for the first minute, until AJ hit the worst looking head scissors of 2011. AJ got caught on the ropes, and then Nattie smashed her head to the mat. Alicia then tagged in and went to work with stomps and a head lock. Alicia tagged in Nattie a moment later, and they hit a double suplex on AJ.

Nattie slapped AJ and tagged in Alicia Fox. Alicia tossed AJ into the corner and hit a leg choke. AJ broke free and tagged Kelly, who slapped Alicia on the ass and then hit spinning head scissors. She then hit a stinkface, which Josh Mathews called “effective”. The match broke down with everybody in the ring. Nattie cleared AJ to the outside, but Alicia missed her Axe Kick and Kelly hit her Rocker Dropper for the win.

After the match, Alicia and Nattie argued about the match. Alicia went to leave the ring, but Nattie attacked her form behind and locked in the Sharpshooter on the outside.

Barnett's Brief: The match didn't have a ton of action to be honest, but they continue to sell the story of Beth and Nattie's frustration with their lack of immediate success, and it's working.

[Q7] The announcers introduced a video of the Summerslam Red Carpet Event and Fan Axxess.

Randy Orton's music hit and he came out to sit in the booth for the Battle Royal...[c]

16 guys are already in the ring. Sin Cara, Wade Barrett, Sheamus and Mark Henry got separate entrances.

Mark Henry won the #1 Contenders Battle Royal at 17:16. There was a cluster in the middle of the ring with everyone going after Mark Henry, but he broke free and tossed Trent Baretta and Yoshi Tatsu within the first 30 seconds. Guys mostly paired off from here. Johnny Curtis was eliminated by Wade Barrett. Khali protected Jinder Mahal in the corner. Khali chopped William Regal's chest as he attempted to get at Jinder. Zack Ryder was eliminated by Sin Cara. Zeke tried to eliminate Rhodes, but he skinned the cat. Jackson eliminated Rhodes with a clothesline a second later.

[Q8] Jackson then went after Khali, beating him down in the corner until he ate a big chop. Khali eliminated Jackson a minute later. Mark Henry sized up Khali, and pie faced him. Khali hit a big chop on Henry and Henry went down. Khali went to toss out Henry, and Henry fought out and picked up Khali and tossed him out. Sheamus then went after Khali, but Henry rolled under the bottom rope.

Sheamus eliminated Slater a moment later with the Brogue Kick, and Henry threw him into the steps on the outside...[c]

Gabriel and Sin Cara almost eliminated Sheamus, but he rolled back in. Henry is still on the outside at this point. Jinder Mahal narrowly avoided getting eliminated by Sin Cara. Guys are pretty much paired off, with William Regal being eliminated during the break. Sin Cara hit a cross body block and eliminated Gabriel. Henry threw Gabriel over the barricade. Sheamus eliminated both of the Usos, and then Henry tossed Jimmy at the announce crew and broke the table. Orton must be pissed.

Henry got back in the ring and quickly tossed out Jinder Mahal and Ted Dibiase. Sin Cara eliminated Tyson Kidd with a body scissors. We're down to Sin Cara, Sheamus, Barrett and Henry. Everyone assaulted Henry, and Sheamus stomped him in the corner for a good 20 seconds. Barrett the clobbered Sheamus and attempted to eliminate him, but Sheamus pulled him out onto the apron with him. Both men fought on the apron, and a moment later Sheamus eliminated Barrett with a big boot. Sheamus and Sin Cara tangled up next. Both men teased being eliminated, but Henry grabbed Sheamus and tossed him out.

Sin Cara jumped and hit a big splash on Henry, and knocked him down. Sin Cara attempted a hurricanrana, but Henry didn't budge. Sin Cara attempted a springboard splash, but Henry countered with a WSS. Henry pressed Sin Cara up and tossed him out to win the match and the #1 Contenders Spot.

Henry went to ringside and him and Orton had a staredown. Henry jawed at Orton and said he smelled fear.

Barnett's Brief: Well, the match was nothing to talk about. Typical Battle Royal fare with Henry looking like a monster throughout. I thought his assaults on the outside of the ring were effective because they gave him something violent to do, when he would have been pretty restricted when there were 10 guys in the ring. It's also just good heel tactics. The stare down to close the show was good, as Henry was able to intimidate Orton on the outside, which is the first real crisis of confidence for Orton in months.

Questions, comments, or concerns? Please contact me at barnett.jake@gmail.com or on twitter @barnettjake.

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