WWE Smackdown TV Report
August 3, 2012
Taped 7/31 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Aired on Syfy
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

This week's WWE Smackdown episode opened with a full pyro intro before Josh Mathews plugged WWE on the Road to Summerslam. Mathews yielded to Lilian Garcia, who introduced Vince McMahon to start the show. McMahon glided out on-stage as Michael Cole piped in that McMahon has a Smackdown GM announcement to make.

In the ring, McMahon smiled before noting that finding a new GM has been an ardous task. McMahon said they wanted to find someone the fans will like with integrity, authority, charisma, and the ability to back up his decisions. McMahon then gave the big intro for Booker T as new GM. Cole said his prayers have been answered because he hopes that Booker is no longer on commentary. Booker entered the ring all-smiles and shook hands with McMahon before posing in the ring. Cole then changed his tune giving Booker some praise and this being a new era for Smackdown.

Once Booker's music stopped, Booker thanked the crowd for their support before thanking McMahon and the Board of Directors. Booker said Friday Night Smackdown is about to blow up with him in control. Cole muttered under his breath about Booker being full of hyperbole, then Alberto Del Rio's music interrupted. Out came the #1 contender to the World Title not particularly in a good mood tonight.

In the ring, Del Rio sarcastically congratulated Booker on his GM appointment. Del Rio sucked up to Booker and vowed to become new World Hvt. champion at Summerslam. Booker called him out on spewing a bunch of crap before noting Del Rio had a few words to say about Sheamus Monday night on Raw. Del Rio repeated that Sheamus is beneath him and nothing but a peasant, growing up a fat, redheaded hooligan. Del Rio said in his DNA is the blood of champions and he was bred for greatness.

Suddenly, Sheamus's music played to bring out the World champion, drawing a frown from Del Rio. In the ring, Sheamus laughed at Del Rio, patted Booker on the shoulder, and congratulated Booker on his new role. Sheamus said they should celebrate with a pint after the show. But, as for Del Rio, he's proud of where he comes from, which generated piped-in cheers. Sheamus said he's not the type of guy to take three weeks off, unlike Del Rio. He asked him if he's really not going to wrestle until Summerslam. Booker cut off Del Rio's response, noting both men have individual matches tonight. Del Rio said he doesn't care what Booker says because he will not compete until Summerslam. Booker sized up Del Rio and reminded him that he's the boss and Del Rio will compete tonight. Del Rio muttered to himself before Booker noted Del Rio's opponent tonight is Randy Orton. Big reaction from the crowd as Cole questioned the announcement. Booker told Del Rio to hit the locker room and get ready. Del Rio angrily stomped off and declared he's bigger than this.

Booker re-addressed Sheamus and told him he's in a fisticuffs match against this man. Cue up Tensai's music, which drew a grin from Sheamus since he loves a good fight. Out came Sakamoto to signal the arrival of Tensai. Amazingly, WWE had an inset promo from Tensai cued up to discuss his match against Sheamus tonight. So, in the storyline, Booker gave Tensai a heads up on his match against Sheamus to be able to record a promo before letting Sheamus know about the match? Doesn't make any sense. Tensai paced the ring before Smackdown cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

1 -- World Hvt. champion SHEAMUS vs. TENSAI -- non-title match

The bell sounded back from break and Mathews repeated the news at the top of the show that Booker T has been named Smackdown GM. Sheamus and Tensai started things off with some big-man exchanges as Mathews recapped Sheamus's big Street Fight victory over Daniel Bryan Monday night on Raw. Tensai and Sheamus continued to exchange strikes and punches and slaps before Sheamus tackled Tensai and blasted him with right hand blows. Sheamus then decided to settle things down with a reverse chinlock.

Tensai took control of the match moments later and began wearing down Sheamus as the announcers wondered if Sheamus is 100 percent after the Street Fight on Raw. Sheamus then came back with a big clothesline taking Tensai over the top rope to the floor. Sheamus followed up on the outside with a kick to the head, but Tensai intercepted a flying splash and sent Sheamus back-first into the ringpost. Tensai in control heading to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Tensai and Sheamus were mid-brawl center-ring. Tensai landed a big corner splash to Tensai's back, but could only score a nearfall. Tensai then went to work on Sheamus's injured back with a bearhug as the crowd tried to rally behind Sheamus. Sheamus teased a bodyslam to counter Tensai's attack, but Tensai blocked and splashed Sheamus for a two count. Meanwhile, Tensai's belly was bleeding, as described by PWTorch specialist Benjamin Tucker in-person at Tuesday's TV taping. Tensai continued the assault, then went to the well again for a corner splash, but Sheamus cut him off, tried an Electric Chair, but Tensai blocked. So, Sheamus decided to smash Tensai off the ropes and over the top rope to the floor.

Tensai tried to re-enter the ring, but Sheamus caught up on the ropes and landed four of ten forearm punches to the chest. Sheamus brushed aside Tensai's counter and finished him off with a full round of ten forearms to the chest. Tensai then stumbled into the ring and Sheamus tried to finish him off with a bodyslam, but Tensai kicked out at two. Sheamus wanted to follow with White Noise, but Tensai blocked and Sheamus sold the back injury. Tensai then tried to finish off Sheamus with a bodyslam, but Sheamus kicked out in time. That was Tensai's last gasp, as Sheamus ducked a follow-up clothesline, sprinted to the other side of the ring, and bounced off the ropes to deliver a big Brogue Kick with plenty of momentum behind it. Sheamus with the pin for the win.

WINNER: Sheamus at 13:32. If you like to see two big dudes simulate a fight/brawl in compelling fashion, this is your match. Another strong in-ring performance from Sheamus, who picked up another tough-guy win, and Tensai looked pretty good, too.

Booker T's Office: Eve was waiting for Booker T to return to his office in order to kiss up to him and present her resume working for John Laurinaitis. Eve said if there's an opening in his administration, she would like to join. Teddy Long then entered the shot and Booker offered him a spot on his staff. Booker said he needs someone with experience to help him out. In the background, Eve was angered by this development. Booker said he's sorry, but all of his positions have been filled. Long tried to escort Eve out of the office, but Eve brushed them aside and stomped off.

Summerslam hype: Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Back from break, Antonio Cesaro and Aksana were in the ring awaiting a match. On-camera, Mathews and Cole plugged Booker T as GM and noted Long's appointment as senior advisor. Cole offered a four-year-old political joke to mock the appointment. In the ring, Cesaro said hello to the crowd in five different languages, then U.S. champion Santino came out to face Cesaro in a return match from last week after Cesaro beat him.

2 -- U.S. champion SANTINO vs. ANTONIO CESARO (w/Aksana) -- non-title match

Cesaro quickly blasted Santino into the corner as the announcers debated whether Cesaro deserves a future title shot if he wins tonight. Cesaro followed with a European Uppercut before tossing Santino across the ring with a gutwrench suplex. Santino then ducked a clothesline, hip-tossed Cesaro, hit the Sailor's Salute drop, and pulled out The Cobra. Santino measured Cesaro, but Cesaro blasted him in the gut to block. Santino tried again and struck Cesaro with the Cobra this time. Santino made a cover, but Cesaro shifted his long leg underneath the bottom rope to stop the three count.

After arguing with the ref, Santino left the ring to go after Cesaro, but Cesaro chucked him into the barricade. Santino was slow to re-enter the ring, allowing Cesaro to grapple him and deliver an inside-hook flapjack for the pin and the win. Post-match: Aksana entered the ring to celebrate as Cesaro kicked imaginary dirt onto Santino.

WINNER: Cesaro at 2:35. Just fine, especially if it leads to Cesaro becoming U.S. champion down the road, especially with WWE heavy on babyface champions.

Still to come tonight: Six-man tag of Christian, Jericho, and Kane vs. Bryan, Ziggler, and IC champion The Miz.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: Matt Striker brought in Daniel Bryan, who had an angry facial expression to greet the world. Striker rolled footage on Bryan's "interesting few weeks," which documented Bryan's recent issues with A.J., The Rock, and, of course, Charlie Sheen. The video concluded with a look at Kane blasting him into a wall Monday on Raw. Back to the interview, Bryan was asked if he has any comments. "No!" he shouted. Bryan said he'll be saying "No!" a lot more often from now on. He said he doesn't want to hear "Yes!" chants anymore. Bryan, who was wearing a "No! No! No!" t-shirt, said he's the one who gets to say "Yes!," not these people. Bryan shouted that he doesn't need another evaluation from some quack doctor. Bryan shouted "No!" over and over as the fans live in the arena responded, "Yes!" On commentary, Cole offered an understatement that Bryan's a bit on edge right now.

In-ring: The lights went off to signal Chris Jericho's arrival for the top-of-the-second hour main event. The announcers recapped Jericho's recent feud with Dolph Ziggler on whether he's lost his touch, then noted Jericho won a tag match with Christian Monday night on Raw. On cue, Christian came out to join Jericho in the ring. Kane was out third for the face team. As Kane shot off his pyro in the ring, Smackdown went to break.

[Commercial Break. A local ad for Tuesday's Smackdown TV taping in Houston advertised John Cena vs. Big Show & John Laurinaitis, plus an appearance by Triple H.]

Back live, the face trio awaited the arrival of the heels, starting with The Miz, who slowly came out on-stage holding his IC Title belt for everyone to see. Suddenly, Vickie Guerrero interrupted on-stage and demanded everyone stand up and show their love for future World champion Dolph Ziggler, but not before taking a dig at Jericho. Ziggler emerged on-stage with possession of his Smackdown MITB briefcase before joining Miz ringside. Out last was Daniel Bryan, who backed up at the sound of "Yes!" chants that flew in the face of his demand for that to stop. Bryan screamed at individual fans on the way to the ring as Miz tried to get Bryan to focus on the match, not the fans. Bryan ignored him, but eventually hit the ring to begin the match at the top of the hour.

[Second Hour]

3 -- CHRIS JERICHO & CHRISTIAN & KANE vs. IC champion THE MIZ & DANIEL BRYAN & DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)

Bryan and Christian started things off as the crowd mocked Bryan, who took out his anger on Christian. Cole also relayed information from a conversation earlier today that Bryan wants his finisher to be known as the No! Lock from now on. The teams went back and forth early on as Cole and Mathews debated whether Jericho really has lost his touch since he wasn't won a big match since returning to WWE. Jericho then knocked Ziggler to the outside and teased a big move, but Ziggler stood behind Vickie to save his hide. Jericho pointed down at Ziggler as Smackdown cut to break.

[Commercial Break. Another local plug for the Smackdown taping in Houston on Tuesday.]

Back from break, Miz and Christian traded control as Miz showed off his more aggressive side. Ziggler then re-entered to help the heels retain control of the match working on Christian. No sign of Bryan, though, as Miz and Ziggler isolated Christian with frequent tags. Christian came back with a second-rope uppercut on Miz as Jericho begged for a tag from ringside. Tags were made - Jericho for the faces and Bryan for the heels. Jericho cleaned house, knocked folks off the ring apron, and set up for a Lionsault, which connected.

The action broke down moments later before Miz rammed Kane to the outside. Christian then clotheslined Miz and himself to the outside. It came down to the legal men of Jericho and Bryan, but Vickie got involved to cause a distraction. Jericho cleared Ziggler with a Codebreaker during the chaos, but then walked into a roll-up from Bryan for the pin and the win. Post-match: Bryan sold shock that he won a match, then hit the ringside area to engage one fan in a direct "Yes! No!" battle that resulted in both men screaming. Bryan then went down the line of ringside fans yelling in people's faces, even picking out a child sitting on his dad's shoulders.

WINNERS: Team Bryan at 11:59. This felt like it could have gone about 20-25 minutes and not over-stayed its welcome with so many stars involved. It didn't seem like the individual feuds were advanced here, but Bryan continued to shine in whatever setting WWE puts him.

Backstage: Matt Striker brought in Randy Orton to discuss his return from absence. Orton said WWE is his life and he doesn't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. As for tonight, Orton said Del Rio is the #1 contender, but that's only because he hasn't faced him. Orton vowed to give the fans what they're dying to see: a perfectly-executed RKO to Del Rio.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Jinder Mahal was mid-ring entrance back from break. Ryback then made his entrance in a return match ordered by Booker T after Mahal walked out on their match last week. Before the bell, WWE cut to an inset promo from Ryback discussing food because everywhere he looks in WWE, there's food to be fed to him.

4 -- RYBACK vs. JINDER MAHAL

Ryback quickly tackled and slammed Mahal, who claimed last week that he was intelligent for walking out against Ryback last week. Ryback delivered a belly-to-belly suplex before kicking Ryback in the shins and delivering a running knee smash. Ryback quickly came back with a suplex before measuring Mahal for more punishment. However, Mahal bailed from the ring, grabbed a mic, and smashed Ryback in the face, causing a DQ. After the bell sounded, Ryback no-sold the mic shot and stared a hole in Mahal, who stormed away to the stage to avoid Ryback. In the ring, Ryback demanded to be fed more.

WINNER: Ryback via DQ at 1:12.

Backstage: AW and the Prime Time Players prepared for match action before Titus O'Neil reprimanded a backstage worker for not having PTP merchandise available.

[Commercial Break]

Raw plug: C.M. Punk wants all of the attention, but is that a good thing with a triple threat WWE Title defense at Summerslam looming?

In-ring: Kofi Kingston's music played to bring out WWE tag champs Kingston and R-Truth, who is scheduled for singles action. A.W. then came out on-stage to introduce the Prime Time Players ahead of Darren Young facing Truth tonight.

5 -- WWE tag champion R-TRUTH (w/WWE tag champion Kofi Kingston) vs. DARREN YOUNG (w/Titus O'Neil & A.W.)

A.W. has a live mic again tonight. Fortunately, it's a taped show. Early on, Young clotheslined Truth to the outside, then A.W. distracted the ref to allow Titus to land a cheap shot on Truth. This brought Kofi over to attack Titus, which then brought over A.W., who threw his jacket at Kofi. Kofi paused to stare down A.W., then chased him up the entrance ramp. More chaos ensued back in the ring allowing D-Young to pin R-Truth following a gutbuster. A.W. then led Titus & Young in a victory celebration as the tag champs recovered ringside.

WINNER: Young at 1:52. Very short, chaotic match to apparently set up PTP'ers for another Tag Title shot.

Still to come: A review of C.M. Punk's Monday night on Raw.

[Commercial Break]

Announcers: Back on Smackdown, Mathews reset the show, noting Booker T is the new Smackdown GM, before introducing a Raw video package on C.M. Punk's explanation for his apparent heel turn the previous week. The video also showed the main event of John Cena vs. Big Show that ended with a No Contest due to Punk's interference before A.J. booked a triple threat match for Summerslam. Mathews then fed to a Tout video package with various fans reacting to the WWE Title match at Summerslam. Some clearly did not follow Bruce Mitchell's guide to Tout in this week's Torch Newsletter.

Announcers: Cole and Mathews talked on-camera about Punk wanting to be in the spotlight and getting his request at Summerslam. Mathews then fed to a replay from earlier tonight when McMahon named Booker T the new Smackdown GM. Cole said he's glad Booker is GM so he doesn't have to be a commentator anymore.

Backstage: Booker was on the phone excitedly discussing his new GM position. Divas champion Layla then walked into the shot to congratulate Booker on his new role. Cody Rhodes suddenly entered the shot to interrupt. Layla decided to exit, then Rhodes said he would like to congratulate Booker on still finding a purpose at his age. Rhodes said he hopes him ending Booker's career doesn't affect their working relationship. Booker responded by telling Rhodes that he'll be in the middle of the ring against Sin Cara next week. Rhodes stomped off, then Booker and Layla re-engaged in a conversation about shaking things up.

In-ring: Randy Orton's music played to bring out Orton for his Smackdown return following a two-month absence. Mathews excitedly talked up Orton's return before Orton posed in the ring heading to commercial.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Back from break, Orton was pacing in the ring preparing to get a piece of Del Rio. Ricardo Rodriguez then introduced Del Rio, who made a vehicular entrance next to the stage. Del Rio slowly made his way to the ring as Smackdown closed in on the top of the hour, indicating the main event won't be going very long. Before the bell sounded, Cole said he disagrees with Booker booking Del Rio in a match tonight despite Del Rio's request to skip in-ring action before Summerslam.

6 -- RANDY ORTON vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO

Del Rio quickly welcomed Orton back to Smackdown with early strikes, which woke up Orton, who responded with multiple clotheslines. Orton then landed ten punches in the corner and Del Rio bailed to the floor to recover. Del Rio quickly scampered back into the ring to try to take Orton off-guard, but Orton back-dropped him to the mat. Orton then punted Del Rio in the chest and wanted his second-rope DDT, but Del Rio back-dropped him to the ring apron before landing a neckbreaker. Orton recovered on the floor, then Del Rio threw him into the guardrail to continue focusing on Orton's shoulder and arm. "Welcome back, Randy," Del Rio taunted.

Back in the ring, Del Rio went to work on Orton's shoulder and arm as Ricardo argued with ringside fans in the background. Del Rio continued the assault as the crowd tried to rally behind Orton. Del Rio gave Orton an opening, though, allowing Orton to deliver clotheslines into a snap powerslam. Orton followed with a trademark elevated DDT from the second rope, then teased the RKO, but Ricardo hit the ring to interfere, causing a DQ.

Post-match: Del Rio tried to apply the cross arm-breaker to Orton, but Orton dropkicked Del Rio to the outside. Ricardo and Del Rio recovered on the floor as Orton collected himself in the ring. Orton then demanded another piece of Del Rio, but the heels retreated up the entrance ramp. Suddenly, Sheamus emerged and chucked Del Rio into the ring, where Orton delivered a properly-executed RKO, just as he predicted. Sheamus smiled and clapped, then shouted, "Welcome back, fella!" from ringside. Orton was more of in a fighting mood than willing to acknowledge Sheamus, though, and Mathews noted Orton wants to be back atop the food chain on Smackdown. Cole added that Sheamus proved he is ready for Del Rio at Summerslam, then Orton posed in the ring to close the show.

WINNER: Orton via DQ at 6:13. A fine "welcome back" for Orton to begin his journey back to the World Title picture and start the slow build-up to a Sheamus-Orton title feud. Del Rio didn't exactly look like the #1 contender by the end of the segment, but the bigger prize for Smackdown is the eventual Sheamus-Orton feud.

***

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