WWE Smackdown TV taping report
June 25, 2013
Columbia, S.C.
Report by Jim H., PWTorch correspondent

Main Event SPOILERS 6/26

Josh Mathews and The Miz were on commentary.

(1) Chris Jericho beat Cody Rhodes via submission. Jericho got a huge pop. Lots of Y2J chants early in the match. This one started pretty slow, but built up nicely. Some very believable nearfalls (especially considering there was no way I thought Rhodes was going to win). Jericho kicked out of Cross Rhodes, then hit the Code Breaker, but Rhodes got his foot on the rope at two. Rhodes rolled up Jericho and grabbed the tights, but Jericho kicked out. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho and Rhodes tapped out. About a 12-minute match. Afterwards, Jericho played to the crowd.

Christian vs. Dean Ambrose was announced for later.

Antonio Cesaro and Zeb Colter came out on the ramp and cut a promo. Zeb called Cesaro a real American, then mocked South Carolina's mascot, the Gamecock, for some cheap heat. He likened it to a chicken, which wakes people up, and now it's time for him to wake some people up. Zeb was upset about the Dublin Street Fight and Fiesta Del Rio on this week's Smackdown, because they are un-American, like a lot of other things going on on this country. Zeb said that Cesaro is more American than 95 percent of us, leading to Cesaro talking about his pride and self-sufficiency. He came here the right way and worked hard to pull himself up from the bottom. He waited out a "U-S-A" chant, then said he embraces what we take for granted, which makes him ... the personification of the American Dream. Zeb concluded by vowing to take the country back.

(2) Christian beat U.S. champion Dean Ambrose via DQ in a non-title match. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns accompanied Ambrose to the top of the stairs, but no further. They replayed The Shield's attack on Christian from last week. Ambrose immediately bailed and Christian chased him around the outside, only for Ambrose to slide back in and attack Christian as he came in (why do faces ALWAYS fall for that?). Christian went for the Killswitch early, but Ambrose blocked it. He charged at Christian, but Christian low-bridged him to the outside. Ambrose took control on the outside and maintained it back in the ring. Christian started to make a comeback, but Rollins ran out and pushed him off the top rope, resulting in a DQ after about five minutes.

Post-match, all three Shield members started beating down Christian. The Usos then ran out to make the save and cleared the heels. The Usos and Christian stood tall in the ring.

They advertised C.M. Punk & Curtis Axel vs. Prime Time Players "tonight on Raw." Huh? They got the graphic wrong; that match is Monday.

(3) Prime Time Players beat Tons of Funk. The Players came out first. WWE then cut to a commercial. The Funkadactyls suddenly appeared in the ring during the break. They were with another African-American lady who I did not recognize. Cameron and Naomi had mics and said something, but I couldn't hear what. Then, the three women sang Tons of Funk's theme song as they came to the ring. Unfortunately, it was not enough to propel the so-called Funkasaurus and Sweet T to victory, as Titus got the pin after he ducked a splash and Darren Young rammed the Funkasaurus's shoulder into the ringpost.

This concluded the Main Event taping.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline