The 555th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL. One week after getting the World Heavyweight Title taken away from him at the hands of new champion Jack Swagger and his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, Chris Jericho would be looking to get a shot at regaining the gold, but he would have to defeat the man partially responsible for Swagger’s title win, “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge when the two go one-on-one in a WrestleMania Rematch where the winner will be named the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship and will challenge the new champion, Jack Swagger, at WWE Extreme Rules!
Match Results
- Non-Title: Jack Swagger def. John Morrison by pin following the Swagger Bomb.
- Non-Title: Drew McIntyre def. Matt Hardy by pin following the Future Shock DDT on the outside of the ring.
- The Hart Dynasty def. The Dudebusters by Trent Barretta submitting to the Sharpshooter by David Hart Smith.
- #1 Contender’s Match for the World Heavyweight Title: Edge & Chris Jericho fight to a Double Count-Out.
Detailed Results
One week after shocking the world by cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank contract on an injured Chris Jericho en route to becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion, “The All-American Champion” Jack Swagger opens the show on SmackDown! The confident new champion says it “does not matter” who wins the #1 Contender’s Match between Edge & Chris Jericho to face him at WWE Extreme Rules, because he is “the odds on favorite” to walk out of Extreme Rules as champion! Swagger claims that being a champion “suits” him and that he is “born” to be a champion! Swagger continues by saying that there is “not a WWE Superstar that can stop his momentum”! Swagger then says that, with Shawn Michaels’ career being over, he should be recognized as “the greatest, natural competitor in the WWE” before proclaiming that he “deserves to be champion”! This brings out his opponent on SmackDown, John Morrison, who tells the new World Heavyweight Champion that Swagger “got lucky one night” last week and that it may make Swagger a “title holder”, but it does not make him a “champion”! After showing Swagger’s loss to Randy Orton on RAW, Morrison says that the new champion still looks like “the same, old Jack Swagger”! “The All-American Champion” responds by saying Morrison is the one who has not “changed” as Morrison’s “only claim to fame is living in the shadow of The Miz” and says that Morrison’s career will never “rival” his! After Morrison made light of Swagger’s “speech impediment”, Swagger tried to rush “The Friday Night Delight”, but the quicker Morrison countered and sent the new World Heavyweight Champion sailing over the top rope!
Following their volatile confrontation, the new World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Swagger, went one-on-one with “The Friday Night Delight” John Morrison in a non-title match. At the end of a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest, it was Jack Swagger hitting the Swagger Bomb en route to “The All-American Champion” picking up the win over John Morrison in the opening match! Jack Swagger’s attention must now turn to the main event of the evening where, in a WrestleMania Rematch, “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge would face the former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho with the winner becoming the #1 Contender for Jack Swagger’s World Heavyweight Title at WWE Extreme Rules. Which capable former World Champion will face Jack Swagger for the gold at Extreme Rules?
Following his shocking and vicious attack on Cryme Tyme partner and friend JTG on last week’s SmackDown, Shad Gaspard appeared on SmackDown to explain his actions! Shad says that the fans need to be a lot more “like” him and “take what they deserve” before saying that they should not let someone like JTG “stand in their way”! Shad then proclaims that it is not Cryme Tyme, but “Shad Gaspard’s time”! This brings out a revenge-fueled JTG, who tries to attack his former friend and tag team partner, but Shad slides out of the ring, allowing himself enough time to catch a pursuing JTG with a big boot on the outside! How will JTG react to being laid out, twice, by his estranged tag team partner?
After assaulting and laying out Matt Hardy before their scheduled match last week, Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre went one-on-one with Matt Hardy in a non-title match! After drilling Matt Hardy with a vicious Future Shock DDT on the outside of the ring, Drew McIntyre rolled Matt back into the ring and pinned “The Heart & Soul of SmackDown” to pick up the win!
In his hometown of Chicago, CM Punk and his Straightedge Society made a special appearance on SmackDown as “The Straightedge Savior” would initiate his NXT Rookie, Darren Young, into The Straightedge Society! CM Punk tells the fans in his hometown that he “saved” Luke Gallows & Serena from living the kind of lives that they still live! Punk said that there was a time when he would look into the eyes of Gallows & Serena and see “loneliness and despair”, just like he sees in the eyes of the fans and his NXT Rookie, Darren Young! Punk then turns his attention to his NXT Rookie and tells Darren Young that Young started his “journey” on NXT “full of hope and full of vigor” with people that supported him, but that they have “fallen to the wayside” because Young is “dead last” and if on the verge of being eliminated from the NXT competition! Punk then tells Young that he won his match on NXT due to the “power of straightedge” before telling the Rookie that he can “save” him! Darren Young then takes a seat in the middle of the ring as he prepares for the initiation into straightedge that would see his prominent hair get shaved off! Punk tells that becoming straightedge means that Young will not be a “loser” anymore and says that his own hair represents “all that is righteous” and that Young’s hair has been “filthed up” by the fans and their “civilization” before asking Darren Young if he is ready to accept CM Punk as his “savior”. After a moment of indecision, the NXT Rookie makes his decision and states that he “changes his mind” before shoving Punk to the mat! Luke Gallows then catches Darren Young with a shot from behind before all three members of The Straightedge Society commence a beat down of the young Rookie! CM Punk then gets ready to forcefully induct Darren Young into The Straightedge Society by shaving his head against the NXT Rookie’s will! Luckily for Darren Young, Rey Mysterio comes out and makes the save for Young before telling CM Punk that he accepts Punk’s challenge for Extreme Rules where, if Punk loses to Rey, then Punk must shave his head! After accepting the Extreme Rules showdown, Rey vows to defeat Punk, again, at Extreme Rules, shave his head, and put an end to The Straightedge Society! Can Rey Mysterio defeat CM Punk again at Extreme Rules and force CM Punk to have his head shaven?
In a rematch from last week’s WWE Superstars, The Hart Dynasty was in action on SmackDown as they faced off with The Dudebusters; Caylen Croft & Trent Barretta! The end of the match had the same results as their initial encounter a week prior as The Hart Dynasty had their hands raised in victory after David Hart Smith forced Trent Barretta to tap out to the legendary Sharpshooter!
Backstage, interview and NXT commentator Josh Mathews interviews Dolph Ziggler and asks “The Platinum Superstar” how it “feels” to put The Great Khali to “sleep”, Ziggler answers the question by putting Mathews in the sleeper hold; leaving the defenseless interviewer asleep on the floor! What prompted this attack by Dolph Ziggler? What is the status of Josh Mathews?
Then it was time to determine the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship as “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge would go one-on-one with former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho in a WrestleMania Rematch with the winner challenging new champion Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Title at WWE Extreme Rules! The animosity between Edge & Jericho reached a boiling point during the match as, after the match broke down into a knock-down, drag-out brawl on the outside of the ring, the referee ended up counting both competitors out of the #1 Contender’s Match! After getting the upper hand on Edge, Chris Jericho rolls Edge back into the ring and grabs a steel chair, but when Jericho gets ready to use the chair, Edge counters by laying Jericho out with the Spear! With both Superstars getting counted out, who is the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title? Who will challenge Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Title at WWE Extreme Rules?