Date: 03/18	7:00 PM
Views: 2,180

The SmackDown recap begins at 8 PM ET/7 CT. Press F5 or Refresh for the latest updates.

What's going to happen tonight on SmackDown? Now that Christian has returned to SmackDown, he's been able to have his buddy Edge's back when it comes to the man who put him out of action, Alberto Del Rio. Last week, Edge and Christian reunited for the first time in ten years and got the victory in a tag match. What's next in Del Rio's ongoing quest for the World Heavyweight Championship? Also tonight, The Corre's Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel defend the WWE Tag Team Championships against former champions Big Show and Kane. Will the two giants become tag champs again by putting their differences aside for a common enemy? Tune in to find out!

WWE Friday Night SmackDown

WWE is in Kansas City for SmackDown as we're over two weeks away from WrestleMania! Booker T and Josh Matthews inform us that there will be a WWE Tag Title Match as The Corre defend their titles against Big Show and Kane. NO COLE? SHIT. They're setting up his Cole Mine cell and here he comes, and Booker T look annoyed by it/him.

* Edge {World Champion} vs. Brodus Clay
  [non-title match]

Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodrigues accompany Clay to the ring. Edge ducks a couple clotheslines, but can't get much offense in because Clay catches and tosses him for a T-bone suplex. Clay goes after Edge's shoulder with shoulder blocks and an armbar. Edge battles back with some elbows but Clay blocks a tornado DDT and knocks him down with ease. Edge rolls away from a diving headbutt. Clay blocks another DDT but Edge trips him into the turnbuckle. Edge hits a crossbody for a near-fall. Edge slides under him for a sunset flip, Clay drops on his sternum with all 367 pounds and gets a close 2-count. Edge is slumped in a corner and avoids a butt bump, then hits a bulldog. Edge gears up for the spear and Ricardo distracts the ref while Del Rio grabs Edge's leg long enough for Clay to splash him. Chriustian comes down to attack Del Rio and even up the odds. Edge hits the SPEAR on Clay! WINNER: Edge.

Del Rio dropkicks Edge in the shoulder post-match and Christian makes the save. They battle outside the ring and over the announce table. They continue to brawl until SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long comes out. Long:"Break it up! Break it up! Now I'm not going to stand by and watch the four of you constantly get in each other's faces. So tonight, our main event will be Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian. It should be one-on-one, and to be sure that happens, that match will take place inside a steel cge!" Del Rio is freaking out and Christian looks pleased with it. Later tonight, the new United States Champion Sheamus will take on Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston in a non-title match. Breaktime.

The WWE "Smack of the Night" is from Raw when Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan to win the United States Title for the first time.

* "Champion vs. Champion": Sheamus {US Champ} vs. Kofi Kingston {IC Champ}
  [non-title match]

It's Kofi! I almost forgot about him. Shemaus locks up with Kofi and drives him into the corner. He goes for an armbar but Kofi comes back with punches. He leaps up for the corner punches but Sheamus drops him on his face onto the turnbuckle for 2. Sheamus hits a neckbreaker for another 2-count. He applies the camel clutch and Kofi quickly gets out the hold only to be knocked down with a huge back elbow. He drives an elbow in the back of Kofi's head, Kofi  gets a rollup for 2, then hits the pendulum kick. Sheamus rolls through a crossbody and goes for a powerslam, but Kofi escapes and puts the boots up. He counters Sheamus with the Russian legsweep and hits the Boom Drop. Kofi gets ready for the Trouble in Paradise but Sheamus rolls to the ropes. Kofi hits the very sloppy S.O.S. and it looks like he landed on his head! Sheamus even flipped over onto his stomach from the impact. Sheamus grabbed the ropes to stop the count. He rolled outside the ring, Kofi follows, Sheamus kicks the steps into his legs, and he hits the Brogue Kick inside the ring to finish him off. Very sloppy finish. WINNER: Sheamus.

Backstage, we see Kane and Big Show comes up to him. Big Show asks for them to put their differences aside to take the tag belts away from The Corre. He reminds him that they used to dominate as a team in the past and they used to put fear in the locker room. Kane grabs Big Show's throat and Show retaliates. They both let go and Kane laughs and says, "You complete me." Big Show responds with, "You're one crazy man," as he laughs too. Breaktime.

* Trent Barreta vs. Cody Rhodes

Rhodes in wrestling in his dress pants, shirt and shoes again this week. He hits a few headbutts using his facemask and gets the quick victory. WINNER: Cody Rhodes. What a waste.

We see clips from SmackDown last September when Del Rio attacked Christian and put him out of action with his Cross Armbreaker. Breaktime. We come back with a video of Shawn Michaels describing the dynamic of the Undertaker at WrestleMania. LayCool come out to the ring because a commercial break.

* Layla vs. Kelly Kelly

Michael Cole and Michelle McCool shake hands through on of the holes in the Cole Mine as she sits down for commentary. Layla and Kelly battle it out in the ring, but on commentary it's all Cole and McCool taking over as they talk about "Snooki sticking her nose in LayCool's business." Kelly wraps her legs around Layla's head. She stomps on her, whips her to a corner, goes for a cartwheel splash but Layla kicks her in the back. Layla counters Kelly, but she comes back and drops her off the top rope with an assist from McCool for the 3-count. I honestly could not care less how or why it happened. (Sorry.) This match lasted longer than Cody Rhodes' match! WINNER: Layla.

Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel of The Corre head to the ring before a commercial break. Commercial for The Chaperone plays. SmackDown is disappointing me tonight. Honestly I would be at the Ring of Honor show in Plymouth, Massachusetts with my good buddy Coke0 right now!

* WWE Tag Team Championship: The Corre {C} vs. Big Show & Kane

Gabriel starts off with Kane and he gets backed into a corner. Kane gets a 2-count early on and Gabriel tags out. Slater runs in and gets dropped.Kane hits a sidewalk slam for 2. He punches Slater in a corner but misses a big boot. Slater attacks the knee and finally The Corre have the upper hand as Gabriel tags in and goes for the knee. Slater is back in an attacks the knee. Gabriel is in again, he leaps off the top and flies right into a big uppercut. Big Show gets the tag and is a big house of fire. Show splashs Slater in a corner and knocks him down with the shoulder block. BIG SHOW HITS THE CHOKE SLAM! 1-2... and Gabriel pulls the referee out of the ring drawing the DQ. WINNERS by DQ: Big Show and Kane... but STILL WWE Tag Team Champions: The Corre.

Big Show gets ready to choke slam Justin Gabriel but the rest of The Corre run down. Ezekiel Jackson clotheslines Big Show and Wade Barrett throws Kane into the barricade. In the ring WADE BARRETT HITS WASTELAND ON BIG SHOW!! Kane fights back but the take out Kane outside the ring and throw him into the steel steps. Show slaps Slater and Barrett kicks Show in the head. They place one half of the steps on Kane and Barrett slams the other half onto Kane. Barrett and Zeke pick up Big Show for a flapjack onto the announce table and it collapses in shambles under his weight.

Backstage Todd Grisham interviews Del Rio about competing in a steel cage for the first time. "Tonight TL is trying to defer with my destiny. Christian is trying to defer with my destiny. They're trying to lock me in a cage? I'm not an animal!" WrestleMania commercial follows.

* Jack Swagger vs. Chris Masters

Cole is giving Swagger a standing ovation as he makes his way to the ring. We see clips from Raw when Cole and Swagger put the Ankle Lock on J.R. and Jerry Lawler. (Cole calls it the An-Cole Lock. Seriously.) Swagger clotheslines Masters for a near-fall. He applies the armbar as Cole talks non-stop about his upcoming Mania match. Back to the match, Masters almost locks in the Masterlock but Swagger counters into the Ankle Lock. Masters breaks free but Swagger wraps his leg around the ringpost. Ankle Lock is applied again and Masters taps out. WINNER: Jack Swagger.

Cole exits his Cole Mine to apply the An-Cole Lock onto Masters screaming, "C'MON LAWLER! C'MON LAWLER!" Why is Cole putting his hands on a wrestler?! This is going too far! We go to a commercial promoting Dancing With the Stars involving Chris Jericho. Rey Mysterio is walking backstage to the ring before a commercial break. The "WWE Rewind" is from SmackDown three weeks ago when Dusty Rhodes made an appearance to help his son Cody attack Rey Mysterio.

* Rey Mysterio vs. Ted DiBiase

Maryse is out with DiBiase, even though they've broken up about 4 times. DiBiase kicks Rey and catches him by the leg. Mysterio comes back with a head scissors to the turnbuckle, but then DiBiase dropkicks Rey in the air. Rey counters a powerbomb but DiBiase runs off the ropes with a clothesline. He applies the camel clutch and Rey battles out. DiBiase drives a knee to Rey's back, goes for a powerslam but Mysterio counters into a swinging DDT. Mysterio goes for a headscissors bnut DiBiase iumpressively counters with an sitout facebuster! Mysterio counters the Dream Street with a head scissors and the 619! Rey points to the WrestleMania sign and hits the splash from off the top rope. WINNER: Rey Mysterio. Maryse immediately walk away at the end of the match. WHAT WAS THE POINT??

We see clips from WWE Elimination Chamber when Del Rio attacked Edge at the end of his Chamber Match until Christian made his return to get revenge on Del Rio. The steel cage match is still to come later tonight! Breaktime. We come for a Raw Rebound featuring Snooki and also getting a LOT of media exposure. The commentators run down the Mania card afterwards.

* Snooki, Trish Stratus & John Morrison vs. LayCool & Dolph Ziggler
* WWE Title Match: Miz {C} vs. John Cena
* Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
* No Holds Barred: Undertaker vs. Triple H
* World Title Match: Edge {C} vs. Alberto Del Rio
* The Rock hosts WrestleMania

The steel cage lowers before a commercial break. Including all the squash matches, bullshit matches and everything else, this main event cage match actually the EIGHTH match tonight! Another commercial for The Chaperone plays on the way back to the show.

* Steel Cage Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

The bell rings and both men are battling right away. Del Rio kicks Christian in the back and tries to slam his face in the cage. Christian comes back and tries the same but Del Rio blocks it. He blocks the Killswitch and tries to escape the cage. Christian meets him on the ropes and he holds on to block a German suplex. He gets to the top and Del Rio brings him down with a SAMOAN DROP FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE! Commercial break.

We come back to the main event and Del Rio is in control. He throws Christian into the cage and hits a baseball slide meshing his face into the cage! Del Rio hits a back suplex for a 2-count then applies a rear chinlock. Christian gets to his feet but Del Rio drops him back down. Del Rio ascends the cage  and Christian slowly gets up to grab his foot and pull him down. Del Rio kicks him in the leg, picks him up and darts him into the cage but Christian hangs on and drops him with an inverted DDT for a near-fall! Christian hits a big right hand and throws Del Rio into the cage for 2.9!

Del Rio grabs his leg to prevent Christian from walking out of the door. So when Christian instead decides to climb up the cage, Del Rio stops him and hits a leaping enziguiri! Del Rio crawls to the door and Christian grabs him by the leg. Del Rio almost makes it out, goes for the Cross Armbreaker but Christian counters with KILLSWITCH. DEL RIO KICKS OUT AT 2.99999. Christian climbs the cage, Del Rio pulls him down and pushes him into the steel cage. Del Rio uses him as a stool to climb the cage. He's almost up and over before Christian climbs up with him. They trade blows while sitting atop the cage, Christian gets laid out, Del Rio starts to descend, Christian does too and traps Del Rio's arm in the rungs! CHRISTIAN DROPS FIRST AND WINS THE MATCH!

Del Rio is upset and goes on the assault! He tosses Christian over the barricade. Del Rio: "Christian! Now I'm going to destroy you like I'm going to destroy Edge at WrestleMania!" Suddenly a car horn starts honking and Edge is in Del Rio's car! Edge: "Alberto, this is a really nice car. A Bentley, worth about $200,000? Nice car, beautiful interior, nice rims." Del Rio: "What are you doing to my car?" Edge: "Be a shame if something happened to the car. I could slip and accidently kick a headlight. I could accidently step on the roof and stomp it in. SHUT UP! Or I could grab my good friend in the passenger seat, Mr. Chair." Del Rio: "Edge, I beg you!" Edge: "I could..." And here comes Brodus Clay to attack Edge from behind. Del Rio heads over to grab the chair and place it under Edge's left arm. He takes another chair and does a Con-Chair-To to Edge's arm! As usual, several referees show up to stop Del Rio after the fact. That's how SmackDown comes to a close. Not-so-great show, but a fantastic main event.