WWE taped this week's Main Event and Smackdown episodes last Thursday. The following is our in-person report on the taping...

WWE Smackdown TV taping report
July 25, 2013
Houston, Tex.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Top News & Notes: Christian became #1 contender to the World Title in the main event of the Smackdown taping for the August 2 episode. ... WWE officially announced the TLC PPV on December 15 in Houston. ... Alex Riley joined Michael Cole on commentary for Smackdown. ... Ricardo Rodriguez was re-introduced into storylines, but he did not appear in-person. ... Layla turned heel on Kaitlyn to help A.J. Lee retain the Divas Title over Kaitlyn on Smackdown.

- The Smackdown taping started promptly at 7:00 p.m. with a WrestleMania 29 video package. By the end of the night, the main portion of the arena looked full based on how WWE configured the building. Estimate of 8,000 in attendance.

Dark Match: The Wyatts beat Tons of Funk at 4:25. Big boos for the Wyatts, who have connected with the crowd. Rowan won with a big splash on Clay. Afterward, Bray got out of his rocking chair and finished off Clay before sending a message to Kane. Not your standard dark match. Unless they were re-doing a TV match because they had the SD ring apron and lighting.

After the dark match, the ring crew quickly changed the Smackdown banners to Main Event. JBL and Josh Mathews were introduced for the Main Event taping.

Main Event SPOILERS 7/31

(1) Wade Barrett beat R-Truth at 13:52. Fantastic long-form TV match. Several good nearfalls as the match built to the finish, whcih was Barrett delivering the Bullhammer from outside the ring as Truth tried to drag him back in the ring. This turned out to be the second-best match of the night, and not just because it was the first "official" match of the night.

- Next, WWE aired footage from "last week's Raw," which hasn't aired yet. The footage focused on the Punk-Heyman feud leading into Punk vs. Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

- WWE announced via graphic that World champ Del Rio will announce his Summerslam opponent "this Friday" on Smackdown, which will be the 8/2 episode taped tonight.

(2) The Usos beat Prime Time Players at 12:22. The first 11 minutes of the match was completely off. No chemistry and they just didn't seem to have a solid gameplan to execute in the ring. Then, Usos did all their signature offense and won with a Superfly Splash. Heavy editing needed.

- Up Next: Cena-Bryan "respect" reviewed from Raw.

(3) Mark Henry beat Drew McIntyre at 2:55. Total squash for the final match of Main Event. The crowd received Henry as the babyface here. It's just odd that a character who lied about retiring and used his family to get a title shot just one month ago is now in the face role. But, WWE has quickly moved along and the audience has, too.

In-between tapings, JBL left the ringside area and Lilian Garcia was introduced as Smackdown ring announcer. Lilian then sang the National Anthem, flashing back to the SD taping in Houston after 9/11.

For Smackdown, Michael Cole and Alex Riley were introduced as the commentary team.

Smackdown SPOILERS 8/2

- C.M. Punk vs. Fandango and A.J. vs. Kaitlyn for the Divas Title in Kaitlyn's hometown was announced for tonight.

- World Hvt. Champion Alberto Del Rio opened the show. Del Rio said Vickie Guerrero has allowed him to pick his Summerslam opponent, just like John Cena was allowed to. Del Rio ran down D-Bryan, who Cena picked, and Booker T, then did a big hype and drumroll for his opponent... Ricardo Rodriguez, who appeared via bio pic on the Titantron.

Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero was not having this. After running down the suspended Ricardo, she said she figured Del Rio would make an immature decision, so she lined up a triple threat #1 contender match - RVD vs. Christian vs. Orton. All three came out on stage to stare down Del Rio. Orton was the most popular of the three, but he was introduced last. Also of note, Orton was without his WWE Title MITB briefcase.

(1) Cody Rhodes beat Jack Swagger at 1:57. The match never really got going, then Rhodes won with a quick sunset flip pin. Beforehand, Colter tried to cut a promo about ol' Sam Houston, but Cody slapped the mic out of Zeb's hand. Also, Zeb's mic cut out for three-fourths of the promo, drawing cat-calls from the crowd about Zeb being "censored."

- After a commercial, Josh Mathews interviewed Cody about tossing Damien Sandow's MITB briefcase in the water "last week." Cody basically framed his response as he would have done the same thing that Sandow did at MITB because it was every man for himself, but he got tired of Sandow talking down to him. Rhodes tried a joke that fell flat in the middle of this. Sandow then jumped Cody from behind. Based on tonight's activity, Rhodes is not clicking in the face role; he comes across like another WWE heel who "entered the face role" based on external circumstances
as opposed to changing his own values to align with the audience's.

(2) Big E. Langston beat Sin Cara at 2:51. Cara got in enough offense for this to not be a total squash. Cara flew right into the Big Ending for the finish.

- Backstage, Kaitlyn played to the hometown crowd ahead of her Divas Title shot tonight. Layla gave her a big hug to show support. Uh oh.

- In the GM office, Vickie addressed Del Rio following his "immature actions," then Raw GM Brad Maddox walked in. This led to a conversation about Del Rio being under his authority on Raw this coming Monday. Of note, the "Mid-South" DVD cover art was prominently displayed on the wall behind Vickie.

- Fandango and C.M. Punk's issues "last week" on Raw and Smackdown were documented ahead of their match next.

(3) C.M. Punk beat Fandango (w/Summer Rae) via submission at 11:55. For the finish, Punk executed a superplex into the Vice, which Fandango submitted to instantly before Punk could really crank it in. Pretty good TV match. Slow-paced, but good, and the third-best match of the night. On the way out, Fandango and Summer Rae yelled at fans near the production area to remain in heel mode.

- Backstage, RVD was interviewed about his World Title chance tonight. Christian interrupted, then Orton interrupted. Orton said he's not complacent with the WWE Title MITB briefcase, and maybe he'll be WWE champ and World champ. All three agreed to disagree.

- Exterior shot of the Toyota Center, focusing on the big Dwight Howard banner outside the building.

(4) Divas champion A.J. Lee beat Kaitlyn (w/Layla) via submission at 3:30 to retain the Divas Title. A.J. applied Black Widow following an anti-climatic heel turn from Layla, who simply protected A.J. on the floor leading to the submission. The crowd was indifferent, plus it was telegraphed in the backstage segment. A.J. and Layla skipped away from ringside together to make their association official. And, Kaitlyn cried in the ring.

- Video Package on WWE and the National Guard showed Layla hugging military personnel. Back in the arena, Lilian shouted out to Texas military representatives ringside.

- Video Package on Booker T through the years on "Booker T Day" in Houston. It was the long-form 2013 HOF video package. Booker T then came out on-stage for a brief message about the honor. No Teddy Long interruption.

- WWE ran a promo for the TLC PPV in Houston in December.

- Next up was the #1 contender match to the World Title. Orton was out first, then Christian, who took the mic and asked if he deserves one more match. The crowd was mixed with boos and cheers. He over-confidently vowed to become #1 contender, which drew more boos than cheers. RVD was out next, then Del Rio came out on-stage. He said Ricardo could beat any of the "Three Stooges," then vowed to make the winner tap out at Summerslam. "Whatevs," RVD indicated with a nonchalant reaction.

(5) Christian beat Randy Orton and RVD at 15:44 to become #1 contender to the World Title at Summerslam. Best match of the night with all of the signature moves and some good one-on-one sequences. For the finish, Orton hit the RKO on RVD, but Christian backslid Orton for a quick three. Afterward, Orton and RVD showed respect to Christian. Of note, Cole and A-Ry did not do commentary during the match, so apparently it will be dubbed into the broadcast. A-Ry at least paid close attention to the match, but Cole shifted between leaning back in his chair, reading his notes, talking to production members off-camera, pointing to his watch, or engaging Josh Mathews, who walked through the crowd at about the 10:00 mark to prepare for a post-match interview. Cole certainly gave off the vibe of someone who was ready to tap out after four TV tapings in four days.

After the match, Mathews entered the ring to try to get an interview with Christian, but Del Rio blindsided Christian out of nowhere. Smackdown went off the air with Del Rio standing tall over Christian. Refs then spilled out to check on Christian. They eventually helped him out of the ring and Christian sold all the way to the back, even falling down at the curtain.

- When Smackdown was off-air, Del Rio stole Sign Guy's signature red hat, then Dolph Ziggler was introduced to face Del Rio in the advertised bonus main event.

Bonus Main Event: Alberto Del Rio beat Dolph Ziggler at 6:22 in a Street Fight to retain the World Title. Del Rio sent Ziggler head-first into a steel chair for the win. Basic action.

Afterward, Cole and A-Ry bailed from commentary, then Del Rio said this isn't over until he says it's over. He swung a chair at Ziggler, but Ziggler ducked and hit Zig-Zag. Ziggler then showed off and tried to take a victory lap on the way out to close the show, but there were only a few takers. Lilian signed off and plugged TLC in December.

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