Smackdown kicked off with Justin Gabriel coming down to the ring. Gabriel went on a tirade on how he was screwed, losing his belt to a washed up Shawn Michaels. He said there was no way he was going to miss a PPV match because of it and wanted to invoke his rematch clause during Smackdown.
Commissioner Roose came down to the ring to calm Gabriel down. He told Gabriel that he can’t have his match here tonight because he already scheduled Michaels and Gabriel in separate matches. “But what I can do is make the match at Payback a triple threat match against Billy Gunn and the champion Michaels. I see those types of matches have been your specialty lately so you may wanna mentally prepare for that.”
The first match of the night saw D-X’s Road Dogg and X-Pac take on the team of Heath Slater and Zack Ryder. Road Dogg and Slater started the action off with Road Dogg taking the early advantage. After about a 10-minute exchange, the ref was accidentally knocked down by a heel kick from X-Pac. As he and Slater battled, Road Dogg slid a chair into the ring and X-Pac connected with Slater’s back. He then landed the X-Factor and the ref came-to to count the 1-2-3, earning a victory for D-X.
The next match of the night saw Kofi Kingston take on The Miz in singles action. The match started out smoothly but didn’t last long. Through the crowd came Team USA, who slid into the ring and began to beat down on Kofi and prompt the disqualification. After Kurt Angle landed the Olympic Slam on Kofi, Mark Henry picked him up to deliver the World’s Strongest Slam.
Backstage, Randy Orton and John Cena were shown discussing their match against the unlikely partners of Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. “Look, we may have a match coming up in a few days, but we know how to coexist in the ring. Those two don’t,” Cena said. “If we just focus on this match and win, then we can drop the buddy-buddy act and prepare for our match for Payback.” Orton looked back at Cena and said, “Deal.”
The third match of the night saw Shawm Michaels take on The Godfather in singles action. It was a tune-up match for the United States Champion Michaels, who wasn’t too pleased that Gabriel’s whining switched up the match at Payback. After disposing of Godfather with a Sweet Chin Music to earn the win, Michaels grabbed the microphone.
“I tried to teach Justin Gabriel a lesson on humility by beating him, not only once but twice with the second being for his precious belt. He comes out here and whines and complains and Roose rewards him with a triple threat match at Payback? I’ll teach him a lesson at Payback once again, retaining my belt and continuing on as the US Champion. And as for you, Billy Gunn. You want to turn your back on D-X? Well the beat down I will give you is a long time coming, Jack!”
Backstage, Alberto Del Rio barged into Roose’s office to demand why he has to team up with Sheamus. Roose quickly dismissed the World Heavyweight Champion, telling him he doesn’t care right now. “Look, I have Team USA invading my show and you’re worried about a little tag match? Get the hell out of my office!”
The fourth match of the night saw Rey Mysterio take on Billy Gunn. Roose came down to the ring with Mysterio, chair in hand, just in case Team USA decided to make their way back out again. Roose was right in anticipation as this match didn’t get that far off the ground when Henry and Angle came in through the crowd.
After Angle delivered the Olympic Slam to Gunn, he and Henry both worked on Mysterio. Roose came into the ring with a chair and wrapped it along the back of Henry. Unfortunately, the chair shot didn’t phase Henry, who clothslined Roose and landed the World’s Strongest Slam on him. He stood over Roose with a smile and yelled, “that’s what I do!”
The fifth match of the night saw Justin Gabriel take on Wade Barrett in singles action. Barrett had the early advantage with his deadly combo of strength and agility. Gabriel was able to battle back though, sneaking in a tilt-a-whirl DDT that knocked both men down. Gabriel used his quick feet to gain the advantage but Barrett powered out of it. As he lined up the Bull Hammer, Gabriel ducked underneath it and hit an Enziguri. He jumped to the top ropes and landed the 450 splash to earn the win.
The main event saw the strange bedfellows-type match with Orton and Cena taking on Del Rio and Sheamus. It’s strange because they’re teams now, but will be fighting each other in days. Orton and Del Rio started the match off with some intense action. Del Rio would knock down Orton and turn to mock Sheamus, telling him this is how a champion operates in the ring. Del Rio taunted too long and without knowing, Cena was tagged in.
Cena went right after Del Rio, beating him down in his own corner while Sheamus laughed. Cena and Orton operated on Del Rio in their own corner, keeping the champion down. But Del Rio was able to land a kick on Orton out of nowhere and knock both men down. Del Rio crawled for his corner and Sheamus dropped from the apron to leave Del Rio to himself. Del Rio continued to battle with Orton, fighting back on his own and gaining huge momentum.
After a kick to the jaw knocked Orton down, Del Rio began to signal for his Cross Arm Breaker. But Del Rio was close to his corner and Sheamus reached over and tagged himself in. With a confused look on his face, Del Rio watched as Sheamus Brogue Kicked Orton and earned the pin. Del Rio and Sheamus began to shove each other and brawl. As Orton came to, he turned to Cena, wondering where he was when he was getting pinned, the two began to argue and fight as well. Smackdown went off the air with both sides brawling in and outside the ring.
Real Deal vs Roose: Road to Wrestlemania 