The post-Extreme Smackdown comes to us tonight from Orlando, FL. Many of us are excited to see our new beloved World Heavyweight Champion, Christian. Now, the spoiler alerts aside, I’ll treat this recap as if the event is unfolding live in front of me and I have no idea of any results in advance. The episode opens with a tribute to Christian having won the title, but also has a quote about him needing to keep it. He is introduced to the ring wearing street clothes to give a promo. Cole proclaims that he’s champion only because Edge got involved—I’d hoped with the draft we’d lose this idiot from at least one of the shows, but no such luck. At least the ‘Cole Mine’ no longer is decorated like a college dorm room with crap all over. Christian grabs the mike and holds up the title with both arms, stating he’s been waiting 17 long years to do that. The crowd chants Christian and he talks of how he’s dreamed of this moment as a little kid—what he’d say, what he’d do, where it would take place—and those dreams pale in comparison with what it feels like to actually stand there as the World Champion. He thanks Edge and some others who helped him along the way. He got a text from Edge that said, ‘Enjoy this moment because you earned it’. He says he’s enjoying every single second of it, and with Edge there is no Christian and he loves Adam from the bottom of his heart. He also puts over the WWE Universe—his peeps—for always having his back. Christian continues on, and knowing what I read earlier this week about tonight’s episode, I’m waiting to hear “voices in my head”, but instead we get Mark Henry’s music as he comes to the ring with a sarcastic smile and applause for Christian. I like the new persona (or return to his old one) by Henry, as he just came off too much like a teddy bear as a face. I actually kind of thought of John Candy in Spaceballs as Puke the wookie when I saw him as a smiling face. Henry goes on to say he wants a shot at the title, but Christian says, you realize this is made of Gold not Chocolate, right?”. Henry says, ‘so you got jokes?…well, Edge ain’t here to protect you anymore’. Just then, The Great Khali’s music hits and this walking, ‘no-wrestling/no-charisma’ oak tree comes down to the ring next. He says a bunch of stuff I don’t understand and you can just hear the phlegm in his throat. Translated, he says he wants a shot of his own. I can’t stand this guy. Christian asks what’s going on and is interrupted by “voices”. Next we finally hear Orton’s music and as it rings out to a pop we visibly see Mark Henry say “oh crap!” with his body language. Orton gets the mike next and says ‘he’s no freak, but he is Randy Orton’. He’s new on Smackdown and if ‘this is how you do things over here, then I’m not going to let this opportunity to pass me by, so if you would, throw my name in the hat for your World Title’. Teddy Long comes out next in the litany of characters. He says there’s a decision to be made about who will be the first in line to face Christian. He will not make the decision, but he will leave it up to the WWE Universe. Gee, I wonder who is gonna win a popularity contest between Orton, Khali, and Henry?! Cole wisely comments, “this is gonna be close”, and I can only assume he was being sarcastic. Neither Henry nor Khali get any kind of reaction and when it’s Christian vs. Randy Orton the crowds goes while making that match official…for tonight. Christian nods like, ‘Okay, that’s fine… I can deal’ as if he’s telling himself. Orton and Christian shake hands and we’re off to the next segment.

We have a good matchup next with Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan. For some reason Josh Mathews compares him to Ryan Reynolds…I thought Thor was the movie that comes out tonight, not Green Lantern. Anyway, Sector 2816 references aside, the match begins with the Celtic Warrior aggressively on offense at the outset. Bryan retaliates with sharp chops and a suicide dive that sends Sheamus into the crowd barrier outside. When I was psyched for the recent draft this is exactly the kind of fresh matchup I pictured. Sheamus back on the attack sends Bryan into the ring post from the apron. He follows with a crunching side backbreaker. After commercial Sheamus delivers another Irish Curse backbreaker and if this match was being judged on points, Sheamus would be winning a unanimous decision. He punishes Daniel with some harsh clubbing blows to his chest and then a running knee and flying shoulder tackle—all good for a near fall. Sheamus tries for super-plex but is pushed off to the mat – Bryan follows with a missile dropkick but he’s too punished from earlier to capitalize. He lands some martial arts kicks to the body and then one to the temple that gets a near fall. Bryan charges and is flipped over by a double ax handle. He avoids Pale Justice and then avoids Sheamus’ second flying shoulder tackle and is able to counter with the Labelle Lock. Sheamus nearly taps but gets his hand on the bottom rope. With Sheumus on the outside, he lands a big boot on the hard charging Daniel Bryan. He then goes into the ring and delivers a second consecutive pump kick to DB and gets the pinfall. SHEUMUS DEFEATS DANIEL BRYAN BY PINFALL. This was a pretty decent match but these two can do more…Bryan certainly can anyway.

Cody Rhodes comes out next with his deranged new remix version of his song. Close behind him are two ‘handlers’ carrying a pile of grocery bag masks. He enters the ring and we get a photo recap of last week’s Extreme Rules match where Rey Mysterio pulled a Great Muta and spewed Rhodes with green mist to get the win. Rhodes “hates that it will reflect as a loss to me in the record books, but I did enable Rey Mysterio to expose himself as desperate, gutless, and a coward”. He says thankfully he’ll no longer have to deal with the malevolence since he’s been drafted to Raw. Cody knows how to cut a good promo and this one is solid as he seamlessly rips the crowd and his opposition. The segment ends with his guys distributing the paper bags. Cole yells out that Booker T needs one.

We get a recap of The Corre (Barrett and Jackson) losing to the Tag Title champs and more buildup to their imminent implosion. Big Show’s music pops next and he comes to the ring dressed for action. Next out it is Ezekial Jackson. With all of The Corre in tow I can only assume this is the moment they finally turn on each other in an official capacity. Next we get Kane’s music as he struts down to the ring, presumably to provide support for his tag partner since he was facing a four on one situation. The two bohemeths lock up and Show takes down Jackson with a waist lock into a front face lock. Jackson rises and impressively back body drops Big Show all the way over. He beats him down and gets a near fall. Jackson pummels Show with a running clothesline and hits a thunderous power slam. Awesome stuff seeing these two handle each other like no one else can. Jackson with a side headlockand Show lands a side suplex and both mean lie on the ground in pain and fatigue. The Corre is showing full support for Jackson so far. EZ and Show trade blows and then Show lands a couple short clotheslines followed by an avalance and shoulder block takedown. He signals for the KO punch, which triggers The Corre to intervene. Slater hits the apron but Kane takes him out. A brawl ensues outside the ring and in the skirmish EZ Jackson devastates Big Show with a running big boot followed by a clothesline for the pinfall victory. EZEKIAL JACKSON DEFEATS BIG SHOW VIA PINFALL. After the match, Slater and Gabriel try to celebrate with Jackson but he’s not too into it. Barrett points at Jackson and admonishes him for something and Jackson storms out of the ring by himself while the other 3 Corre members act confused. They may as well just get past the inevitable breakup and do it already. Next up is a replay of the Rock Birthday party from Monday. That doesn’t need to be recounted yet again here.

In Divas action, it’s Layla versus Alicia Fox. I’m not sure which of the two is supposed to be the face or heel. Booker observes Layla has a lot of making up to do in the Divas locker room from her time with Michelle McCool, and the announcers put over the fact she was caught up in the wrong crowd. Layla wins in a squash match with a some kicks and a reverse neckbreaker. LAYLA WINS VIA PINFALL. The quick match is evidently just a reason to put over Karma (aka Awesome Kong), whose music plays after the match and she stalks to the ring looking like a menace. They play it up that she is hypnotizing the other divas in a frightening trance (I guess that explains Kelly Kelly’s annoying expression last week on Raw). Both Fox and Layla are paralyzed until Layla wises gets out of dodge and watches from the rampway. Alicia Fox kicks Karma from behind and it’s the no sell of all no sells. Karma catches Fox as she charges again and hits a big clothesline followed by her finisher (double chicken wing facebuster). Layla runs away and the crowd chants “one more time”. I guess Karma isn’t really a heel, but rather a vigilante type. Next we go backstage and see the three Corre members approach EZ Jackson. They ask him what is his problem, and Barrett says ‘this isn’t working’ but they can’t let people know he’s the one walking away from The Corre. There’s a standoff and Jackson attacks them but is beaten down by the numbers game. He’s pummeled by all sorts of items in the locker room (cooler, towel bin, etc.) and is laid out unconscious, thus completing his probable face turn.

Next up is Sin Cara coming to the ring, and I like the fact that Chavo Guerrero is in the announce booth. They sell it that he’s interested in Luca Libre competitors, and being a fan of Chavo (who is painfully underrated), I’m glad he’s getting some kind of attention. Next out is Tyson Kidd and we have the makings of another great matchup of new SD roster members—Tyson Kidd and Sin Cara. I’m rooting for Kidd but I’m sure Cara will go over. Hammer lock by Kidd to start and a creative snap mare by Cara into a springboard elbow. Cara then hits an insane headscissors takedown where he never seems to stop spinning around the world. Kidd lands a snap suplex on the outside and a big kick to the base of Cara’s neck for a nearfall. Chavo says Sin Cara is one-dimensional with nothing but aerial tactics. This one is fast and furious. Cara hits a flying body press from the top but Kidd retaliates with a reverse side kick. Chavo calls Cara a thief and that he’s stealing all his moves from the Guerrero family (probably true). Cara hits his finisher from the top rope, which is a wild and fun-to-watch move, but it’s so over choreographed that he needs his opponents complete consent and cooperation to make it work…that’s the unrealistic part of it that I don’t care for. Either way, a fun but all-too-brief match and once again WWE misses the boat with Tyson Kidd. It’s good to see the seeds of a buildup between Chavo and Sin Cara. Hopefully they won’t just dismiss Chavo and will let these two great performers wow some people. Chavo enters the ring and with some tension he shakes Cara’s hand but there’s nothing else but mutual respect as Cara leaves the ring without incident.

We’re ready for the main event and Orton comes to the ring first as the challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship. Christian comes out to an equal pop. Josh Mathews questions the fairness of having Christian defend his title just five nights after a grueling ladder match (technically, it was more like 2 or 3 nights afterwards). I say not really but this business is definitely about being fair…we all know that. We get a championship match ring introduction. Christian kisses the belt and acquiesces it to the referee. The bell rings and the champ and the challenger lock up. Christian has the upperhand early with a shoulder block takedown and a stiff right hand. Orton follows with a high back body drop as he hammers away at Christian’s chest with pounding forearms. Orton gets a mean look and looks back to the crowd for some implicit approval. Christian retreats to the apron and is caught in a headlock between the top and middle ropes as the Viper sets up his DDT, but Christian is too fresh and he struggles to his feet easily and flips Orton over the top rope to the outside. Christian hits a baseball slide drop kick and slingshots himself over the top rope to the outside but Orton moves and Christian hits the floor hard. Back in the ring after the break, and Orton is stomping away at Christian. Cole says Orton was impressive throughout the entire break but we assume he’s had the upperhand most of the match. Orton with a knee drop and lateral press for a two-count. Orton whips Christian into the corner, and then another one and Christian falls to the ground in pain. Mathews observes that Orton is going after all the bruises and injured areas from Christian’s ladder match (not that a Last Man Standing match is that much less grueling, but oh well…). Orton racks him up and does it again, smashing Christian a third time into the turnbuckles and he follows with a pin attempt that’s good for two. Christian gets to the ropes and hugs the middle one for a respite, but Orton grabs him by the midsection and applies a waist lock. Christian fights out with some elbows and punches. Orton clotheslines both men over the top and they spill to the outside in an awkward fall. We go into the second break and Orton has been taking it to the champ for most of the match. We return and Christian has a chin lock in the center of the ring. The champ hits a reverse elbow smash off the ropes but is given a shoulder suplex by Orton. The announcers observe that Orton may be more hungry than Christian. Orton and the champ trade shots and Christian’s hit with some hard clotheslines by Orton, but then the champ retaliates with a dropkick from the middle rope. Captain Charisma hits a couple more moves and then a cross body from the top rope and gets a near fall. Christian with another flying elbow from the middle rope and he sets up killswitch but is hit with Orton’s snap powerslam for a very near fall. Both men struggle to their feet and Christian goes for Killswitch again but is shoved into the ropes. Orton charges but runs into a drop over toe hold that plunges him chest first into the middle rope. Christian slingshots shimself over the top rope to hit a big right from the floor but he misses. Orton with the middle rope DDT for a 2.75 count. Neither man can believe the champ kicked out. Orton goes for Angle Slam but Christian turns it into an inverted neckbreaker for a near fall of his own. This match is really getting good. Orton hits the Angle Slam this time out of nowhere and the Apex Predator begins his malicious meltdown. Each man goes for his finisher but neither hits it. Christian tries another reverse cross body from the middle rope but he dives right into the RKO and he’s pinned. RANDY ORTON WINS THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP VIA PINFALL. Unfortunately, the spoiler reports ruined this surprise for many of us earlier in the week, thus tainting what would have been a huge swerve for most of us. Orton celebrates and leaves the ring and Christian is distraught and perplexed in the ring. The camera shows many people in the crowd visibly upset. As Christian leaves the ring the crowd begins to try and cheer for him but the disappointment is apparent. We fade to black with Christian far away in the camera shot going to the backstage area. Not sure what to say at this point other than I really hope there’s a grander plan that eventually puts the title back with Christian. If this is all they have planned for him then I once again will be completely disenchanted with WWE Creative—they build up Christian’s rise for months, give him the belt, and then take it away after four measly days just to give it to a guy that has had way more than enough chances, and personally, I’m pretty much sick of. It was nice to have a new face in the title picture and now we’re back to staleness with Cena and Orton on top. . . I much prefer the Smackdown champion over the Raw one, but either way I’m still yawning.

Source: wrestlingtruth.com