WWE SmackDown Results - 23rd August

The show opened with Vickie Gurrero, who invites WWE champion Randy Orton. Randy spoke about Triple H‘s pedigree on Bryan and how he is going to be the face of WWE. Daniel Bryan interrupted him and said he wants to finish what he couldn’t on RAW this week. He talked about Orton’s looks and his wrestling ability and demanded a rematch. Orton asked him to wait till the Night of Champions and tried to RKO Bryan, who countered with a dropkick to send Orton out.

Curtis Axel vs Cody Rhodes

A good back and forth match, that finally saw the Intercontinental Champion in a legit match. Rhodes looked solid as usual as he managed to pull off some real good spots. Heyman distracted Rhodes as he went up top, Axel took advantage of this and picked up the victory.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Post match, Heyman with his sling on spoke about how personal and physical the rivalry with Punk has turned out to be. Axel says that he doesn’t have a good opponent for his Intercontinental title and challenges Punk to a title match at RAW next week.

Dolph Ziggler vs Big E Langston

Big E attacked Ziggler from behind even before the bell rang. The referee had to pull Big E back and start the match. Big E went back to work again and tossed Ziggler, who looked clueless. Ziggler managed to get some breathing space outside the ring, where he managed to turn the tide by sending Big E into the post. AJ then distracted Ziggler and Big E hit a clothesline. He then went for the Big Ending, but Ziggler countered and hit the Zig Zag for the win.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Alberto Del Rio vs Christian

Lilian Garcia introduced Alberto Del Rio in Mexican as the match began. Christian started off with a few dropkicks and took Del Rio out of the ring. After a break, both wrestlers are unable to find momentum with Christian trying a few moves from the top rope. Del Rio countered most of what Christian had to offer and hit a huge dropkick on the face for a two-count. Christian countered with a DDT for a close fall. Del Rio came back with an Enzuigiri to the back of the head for another two count. He then applied a cross arm-breaker to make Christian tap out.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio picked up the mic and spoke about being the Mexican and Latin hero that his people wanted. He spoke about Mexicans being peasants, only to be interrupted by Ricardo Rodriguez. Ricardo introduced RVD, who immediately started running into the ring. Christian dropkicked Del Rio and put him down. RVD hit the Rolling Thunder and then celebrated with Ricardo.

3MB vs The Big Show & Mark Henry

Squash match. 3MB got tossed all over the ring by Show and Henry as the three were made to look ridiculous. Big Show hit a chokeslam on Drew Mac and then sent Slater into the WSS from Henry, and finally knocked out Drew with a KO punch to pick up the victory.

Winner: The Big Show & Mark Henry

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins appeared on the Titantron and spoke about the beginning of a new era.

Darren Young vs Antonio Cesaro

A quick match that ended as Young hit the Gut Check on Cesaro for the win.

Winner: Darren Young

Wade Barrett vs Daniel Bryan: Steel Cage Match

As always, the main event brought the best match of the night and with Daniel Bryan in it, wasn’t a surprise. Bryan started things with a few YES kicks but Barrett countered. He remained in control with a few holds as we went into commercials.

Back from commercials, Barrett still remained in control as Bryan started a comeback. Bryan sent Barrett face first on the cage and tries to escape but Barrett pulled him back. Bryan then hit a few dropkicks to pump up the crowd, but Barrett countered with a huge clothesline for a two-count. After a few back and forth action, Bryan hit a huge powerbomb from the top rope followed by a strong running knee to pick up the victory.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Randy Orton comes from under the ring as Bryan is celebrating. He hits an RKO on Bryan out of nowhere and stands tall over Bryan as the show ends.