WWE SmackDown returns to SyFy this coming Friday night (Aug. 9, 2013) from Rockford, Illinois, but the show was taped, as usual, on Tuesday night. That means full spoilers are readily available if you're the impatient type who doesn't want to wait a couple days for the payoff.
Unwrap that present early:
- Randy Orton def. Rob Van Dam in yet another good outing from RVD. It seems he's seamlessly transitioned right into the role Chris Jericho was occupying. He's just giving everyone great matches along the way, putting guys over left and right.
- MizTV with AJ Lee and Big E. Langston brings out Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn and, to the surprise of no one, a mixed tag match for SummerSlam is announced. Don't expect much from the segment.
- Fandango def. Kofi Kingston, getting his win back from Raw this week. We may even have a bona fide program between the two.
- Daniel Bryan def. Wade Barrett in a match stemming from their encounter on Raw that saw D-Bry shave Wade's beard. No surprises here.
- Kane def. 3MB only for the Wyatt Family to appear on the titantron to cut a promo. Bray was said to be really good here, and it's expected to be made clear what the "Ring of Fire" means. It doesn't seem to be an Inferno match, meaning the loser won't be lit on fire, but rather a match set up just like it with fire all around the ring that will end via regular means like pinfall and submission.
- Christian def. Alberto Del Rio in yet another non-title bout. Described as a good match, and it's the second time in three weeks that Christian has gone over on Del Rio like this. I'm not sure why the world heavyweight championship hasn't just changed hands.
- Speaking of which, Christian laid Del Rio out with a Killswitch after "ADR" tried to attack him following the match -- Del Rio dying that slow death -- and Damien Sandow rushed the ring to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. Alas, it was only a tease, as Cody Rhodes came down to stop it from happening. This makes absolutely zero sense, seeing as they already announced Rhodes vs. Sandow at SummerSlam and if Sandow were to win the title here, wouldn't that mean Rhodes would be getting a title shot at the biggest party of the summer? This marks the second night in a row in which WWE brought atrocious booking to the main event angle.
That's the show, Cagesiders. Your thoughts?