Smackdown kicked off with Commissioner Roose live on the big screen from the comforts of his own home. Sitting on the deck of his shore house in South Jersey, Roose adressed the fans to explain that he was a bit banged up after getting his butt whipped by Real Deal at Payback. “Not gonna lie, that Real Deal is a tough SOB and he brought it last Sunday,” Roose said as he toasted his rum on the rocks to the camera. “I’ll be back next week, but it’s business as usual tonight. I have a great main event set up tonight featuring a six-man tag match. I’m gonna have…” but Roose was cut off by Alberto Del Rio‘s music.
Del Rio went down to the ring amid a series of boos. “Senior Roose, I don’t give a damn what you have planned tonight for I was robbed on Sunday!” Del Rio said, addressing Roose from the ring. “I want my rematch clause, right here, right now!” But as Del Rio was having a tantrum, Sheamus‘ music hit. Standing on the stage with his World Heavyweight Championship belt, Sheamus told Del Rio he wasn’t feeling up to it tonight and that he wasn’t going to defense his belt. After some more talking, Roose finally interrupted the champion. “You know what? This is my show, dammit, and just because I’m not there doesn’t mean I’m not running it. Del Rio, you want your title match, you got it. Now both of you get the hell out of here and prepare for your match so I can start my show.”
The first match of the night saw Godfather in singles action, taking on Christian. Godfather was impressive in this match, working through Christian rather handedly. He landed an emphatic Pimp Drop and got the pin for the one-sided victory. After the match, he grabbed the microphone and began to talk. “Roose has been giving me opportunities the past month and I feel like I haven’t been fully capitalizing on them. And with Money In the Bank right around the corner, that’s all gonna change, baby. I am officially entering myself in the Money In the Bank challenge in three weeks and I will win. Then after I win, I will be the next World Heavyweight Champion and I will let the party begin!”
The next match of the night saw Rey Mysterio take on X-Pac. The two put on an early display like they have in the past. The match went in the favor of Mysterio though, who countered a powerbomb attempt by X-Pac into a Hurricanrana. He flung X-Pac into the ropes and hit the 619 before landing the splash and victory.
Backstage, Justin Gabriel was shown talking to Billy Gunn about their loss in the triple threat match to Shawn Michaels. They called his win cheap and the he stole the chance to be champion from under them. Just then, Wade Barrett walks in on them talking and just laughs. “You have got to be kidding me. Look at you two whining like little babies about your loss.” Gabriel interrupts, “Sounds like you’re still a bitter after I kicked your ass at Extreme Rules.” Barrett then said, “At least I took my loss like a man, and not a little girl like you, Gabriel.” Gunn then challenged Barret and HBK to a match later that night.
As Smackdown came back on the air, Roose tweeted, “I think Billy Gunn has a good idea. He and Justin Gabriel will take on Wade Barrett and HBK.” In the mean time, Zack Ryder was in the ring getting set to take on Kofi Kingston. Ryder gave Kingston all he had, showing some great resiliency in the process. The match took itself in and outside of the ring a few times where each guy traded high flying attacks to the floor. The action finally brought itself back in the ring where Kingston and Ryder began trading counters, including an exciting series of pin attempts that ended with Ryder kicking out. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Kofi countered a grapple attempt by Ryder and hit the Trouble in Paradise. He earned the pin and the win.
Next up was the tag match between Barrett and HBK vs Gabriel and Gunn. Gabriel and Barrett started off the match. Barrett got the early advantage, tagging in HBK as the two worked well as a team to wear down Gabriel. Gabriel fought back, rolling up HBK in a pin attempt. The two traded some counters before Gabriel was able to break free and get to Gunn for the tag. But HBK tagged in Barrett and he and Gunn began to battle in the ring.
Gunn and Gabriel wore down Barrett though, and it wasn’t until Barrett hit a surprise clothesline that he was able to get HBK into the match. Gabriel tagged Gunn back into the match and Michaels and Gunn battled with the feud of a D-X betrayal lingering. With all four men now battling, Barrett knocked Gabriel over the top ropes, leaving the two legal men in the ring. Gunn turned around and almost walked into a Sweet Chin Music. Gunn avoided it, kicked HBK in the gut and landed the FameAsser. Gunn stole the win over the US Champion and immediately put him on the top of the list as contenders for the belt.
Roose then came back up on the big screen to adress the fans. “You know, I was thinking about tonight’s main event between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. A simple match just doesn’t seem like it would be good enough for the two. They’ve been through a lot, they seem to genuinely hate each other and they’d love nothing more than to hurt each other. To think, maybe a chair shot comes into play. Or a kendo stick. Or maybe the announce table could become a weapon. I think a no DQ match to decide the championship would be a great idea.”
The fifth match of the night saw Road Dogg take on Brodus Clay. Road Dogg jumped out to an early start, landing some left jabs to Clay. But a stiff headbutt knocked Road Dogg down and Clay continued to wear him down. Clay whipped him into the corner and squashed him into the turnbuckle. He did the same thing again, knocking the wind out of Road Dogg who fell to the mat. Clay went for another splat in the corner but Road Dogg got out of the way. Road Dogg began his comeback, starting the Shake, Rattle & Roll with the jabs. But as he went for the final punch, Clay headbutted him again. Clay then went to the ropes, mocked Road Dogg’s dance and then landed the What the Funk for the 1-2-3 win.
The final match of the night was the main event between Sheamus and Del Rio for the belt. It was a no DQ match like Roose announced earlier and it set up to be a great battle between the two rivals. Del Rio went to the ring first, and as Sheamus came out, Del Rio raced up the ramp after him and that’s how the match started. The two fought on the ramp with Sheamus knocking down Del Rio. As Del Rio scrambled to his feet, Sheamus chased him up the ramp and up to the stage area.
The two began to fight on the stage. Sheamus went to slam Del Rio’s head into the set up but he countered, driving Sheamus’ head into the ramp. He then whipped Sheamus off the stage and onto the floor where they kept battling. They worked their way through the crowd with Del Rio using chairs and throwing soda and food into Sheamus’ face.They work their way back to the ring where the match continues.
Del Rio kept working on Sheamus in the ring, but the Celtic Warrior fought back. After a couple signature axe handles and a running slam, Sheamus set Del Rio up for the White Noise. After landing it, Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick but Del Rio ducked under it and landed an Enziguri. Del Rio began his rally and then called for his Cross Arm Breaker. He nailed it, putting Sheamus in the submission move. Sheamus tried to get to the ropes but he couldn’t. After holding out from tapping, Sheamus used his strength to roll over on top of Del Rio. He pulled his arm free and muscled Del Rio into a Four Leaf Clover. Del Rio was close to the ropes though and got out of the hold.
The two went back to battle and Del Rio whipped Sheamus into the corner. He landed another kick to the head of Sheamus, knocking the champion loopy. Del Rio went for the Cross Arm Breaker and locked it in. But just as that happened, John Cena’s music hit. Cena came running down to the ring and broke the hold, which allowed Sheamus to roll out onto the floor. He lifted Del Rio up into an AA and landed the move. Cena then went to help Sheamus up, but instead of helping him up, Cena picked up Sheamus and landed an AA to the floor.
Cena continued the assault on Sheamus, throwing him into the barricade and wailing on him. He then speared Sheamus through the barricade and into the time keeper’s area, leaving the Celtic Warrior battered. Cena then walked over to the announce table and pulled the cameras out and set it up for use. He pulled Sheamus from the carnage and picked him up, AA-ing him through the announce table, earning more stunned silence from the crowd.
Cena stood over Sheamus and mocked him with the U Can’t C Me before hoisting Sheamus’ battered body into the ring. A groggy Del Rio crawled over to the champion and pinned him for the victory, winning himself the World Heavyweight championship. His celebration was very short lived as Cena slid into the ring and landed the AA on Del Rio again. He stood over Del Rio, holding his championship belt up to a chorus of boos as the show went off the air.
Real Deal vs Roose: Road to Wrestlemania 