Michael Cole interviews Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel in the ring, asking them how Curtis will make sure Punk doesn't get his hands on Paul at Night of Champions. Curtis thinks he'll be able to stop him, but Paul thinks otherwise. He believes that Punk will hurt him no matter what and that the fans shouldn't buy the PPV because we're better off saving our money. Paul also says that he doesn't think he'll get hurt because Punk is better than Axel, but because Punk is his prodigal son. The crowd begins to chant the "Na-na-na-na/Hey-Hey-Hey/Goodbye" chant as they exit the ring.
3) Alberto Del Rio defeats Ricardo: Ricardo comes out to a decent pop, probably because of RVD. Meanwhile, ADR gets no reaction. This match was also short, with Ricardo landing in a dropkick and a few other moves. ADR wins after a reverse suplex from the top rope. RVD ends up saving Ricardo after the match and hitting a 5-Star Frog Splash onto ADR.
4) Dolph Ziggler defeats Dean Ambrose by DQ: Both men were pretty over in this match and were having a good match, until the rest of the Shield came out and attacked Ziggler. The Usos came out to make the save. Vickie came out next and said that since the match ended via DQ and the Usos stuck there noses where they don't belong, she's making a 6-man tag team match. It seems like the ghost of Teddy Long still haunts Smackdown main events.
5) The Shield defeated The Usos and Dolph Ziggler: Pretty good 6-man tag match. Everyone got their fair share of offense. The hot tag was made to one of the Usos who managed to hit Seth Rollins with a Samoan Drop, followed by a Superkick. He went for the splash off the top rope, but Rollins got his knees up and then rolled him up for the pin.
Lastly, the Cutting Edge featuring Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan ended the match. Edge said HHH let him do the show because it was best for business (Imagine that!). Edge, however, still doesn't respect HHH due to the fact that he lost his genitals and did what he did on Raw too. Edge tells Christian to come back and kick everyone's ass. Randy Orton comes out to a chorus of boos, followed by Daniel Bryan who got the pop of the night (besides Edge). Randy Orton says that Edge is jealous of him because he's a 10 time champ while Edge is a washed up talk show host. Edge comes back by saying he's an 11 time champ. Orton says that Daniel Bryan is good for business, but he's what's best for business. Daniel Bryan says he doesn't care what or who is best for business. Orton calls him naive before taking a cheap shot at him. Bryan eventually locks Orton in the Yes!Lock to end the taping.
Dark Main Event
Edge comes back in the ring, shakes Bryan's hand and leaves for good. Bryan gives his shirt to a little girl before Orton comes out.
1) Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton by DQ: Surprisingly, this match was about 15-17 minutes long and the crowd was very much into it even though we all knew the title wouldn't change hands. As Orton was in the Yes!Lock, the Shield came out and attacked Daniel Bryan. Kofi, Ziggler and RVD came out for the save. Bryan hit his running knee on Ambrose, Ziggler hit the Zig Zag on him too and RVD hit the 5-Star Frog Splash to end the night.
Notes
– More than half of the arena was blocked off
– People were disappointed that the Wyatts didn't show up even though they were advertised
– Someone's "Sit on my face Vickie" sign was taken away. Poor soul.
– Top Cheers (In order): Edge, Daniel Bryan, Tyson Kidd, Big Show, Mizco Inferno *Honourable mention to Robert Evans when he said he was from Ottawa*
– Top Boos (In order): Randy Orton, Vickie, Triple H, The Shield, Paul Heyman
