SmackDown: Fighting for Pride

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Backstory: In 2012, WrestleMania 28 saw the Match of a Lifetime with The Rock versus John Cena. John Laurinaitis earned full control over Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown. The WWE was progressing in a specific direction under People Power. Laurinaitis would remain in control of Raw and SmackDown until Night of Champions when John Cena beat Laurinaitis to take away that power. Over the next couple of months, Vince McMahon tried deciding what to do. Vince would then decide on bringing the brand split back with two General Managers. Abraham Washington would run Raw while Booker T runs SmackDown.

A new concept would be created to determine the rosters. For the first time ever, WWE would have a "Free Agency" period after Survivor Series through the end of 2012. General Managers would be able to negotiate with any talent to lure them to their rosters. But with Survivor Series, Vince obviously introduces a twist. Both General Managers would select five people to represent their team at Survivor Series, and the winning General Manager would receive an extra 5 million dollars to negotiate.

Washington's team of Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, and the Prime Time Players beat Booker T's team of Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, Rey Mystery, and Team Hell No. Washington gains $5,000,000 extra in the Free Agency period.

Of course, the extra 5 million allowed for Monday Night Raw to garner premier talent. Rosters were finalized on January 1st and Booker T has a long way to bring SmackDown up to prominence after hearing weeks of SmackDown being the "B Show."

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SmackDown! Roster

General Manager: Booker T
Commentary Team: Jim Ross and Edge
Journalist/Reporter: Josh Mathews
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia

Alex Riley
Antonio Cesaro
Christian
Cody Rhodes
Curt Hawkins
Damien Sandow
Daniel Bryan
Derrick Bateman
Dolph Ziggler
Drew McIntyre
Goldust
Jack Swagger
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Johnny Curtis
JTG
Kofi Kingston
Mason Ryan
Michael McGillicutty
Rey Mysterio
The Undertaker
Trent Barreta
Tyler Reks
Tyson Kidd
Wade Barrett
Zack Ryder

AJ Lee
Aksana
Kaitlyn
Layla
Natalya

World Heavyweight Champion: Dolph Ziggler
United States Champion: Zack Ryder

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JANUARY 27 2013 ~ ROYAL RUMBLE

30-Man Royal Rumble Match
featuring superstars from Raw and SmackDown
for a World Title Match at WrestleMania

WWE Championship Match
CM Punk(C) w/Paul Heyman vs. The Rock

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler(C) vs. Big Show

Alberto Del Rio vs. Chris Jericho

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Free Space

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Free Agency 2012 ends with the following rosters...

Signed to Monday Night Raw:
Alberto Del Rio
Big Show
Brodus Clay
Camacho
CM Punk
Chris Jericho
Darren Young
David Otunga
Epico
Evan Bourne
Ezekiel Jackson
Heath Slater
Hunico
Jinder Mahal
John Cena
Justin Gabriel
Kane
Lord Tensai
Mark Henry
Percy Watson
Primo
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Ryback
Santino
Sheamus
Sin Cara
Ted DiBiase Jr.
The Great Khali
The Miz
Titus O'Neil
William Regal
Yoshi Tatsu

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Signed to Friday Night SmackDown:
Alex Riley
Antonio Cesaro
Christian
Cody Rhodes
Curt Hawkins
Damien Sandow
Daniel Bryan
Derrick Bateman
Dolph Ziggler
Drew McIntyre
Goldust
Jack Swagger
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Johnny Curtis
JTG
Kofi Kingston
Mason Ryan
Michael McGillicutty
Rey Mysterio
The Undertaker
Trent Barreta
Tyler Reks
Tyson Kidd
Wade Barrett
Zack Ryder

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Reports are that while SmackDown didn't get many names that are currently on the main roster, the brand will be debuting superstars over the coming weeks.

Florida Championship Wrestling might be purged while a name or two might return to the WWE as well.

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BREAKING NEWS!

On the New Year's Eve edition of Monday Night Raw, Big Show defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing Match. Both men could barely stand and after Big Show countered a RKO into a Chokeslam through the electrical equipment beside the stage, it was a 10-count. Big Show limped to the ring to celebrate his title victory and got clocked by a briefcase and hit with a Zig-Zag.

Dolph Ziggler demanded the official start the bell as Big Show got to a knee, and after a DDT and a second Zig-Zag, Ziggler would win the World Heavyweight Championship on the final dual-brand event before the brand split is back in effect.

With Ziggler being signed to SmackDown, this means he'll bring the World Heavyweight Championship to the blue brand. Originally, Raw had signed both world champions Big Show and WWE Champion CM Punk to contracts as Washington planned to monopolize the WWE.

The newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion will kick off Friday Night SmackDown.

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JANUARY 4 2013 ~ FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN!

SmackDown! begins with General Manager Booker T. Booker T addresses the big question marks about SmackDown not having much money to build off of, and lacking really big names. Booker T acknowledges getting names like Undertaker and Rey Mysterio, ones loyal to the blue brand, but there's a lot of unknowns on the roster. He flashes back to SmackDown back in his days with Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, and those who felt disrespected and overlooked. Booker T predicts the same to happen here. Booker T introduces the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler who successfully cashed in his briefcase on Raw this past Monday night. Booker T congratulates Ziggler on his title win and bringing the world title to SmackDown. Going through the list of people to hold the title such as Triple H, Edge, Undertaker, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, and himself. Booker T instills that Ziggler is going to be a part of this future on SmackDown even after being overlooked for majority of his career. Tyson Kidd interrupts this and says if anyone's been overlooked, it's been him and has never received an opportunity at the World Heavyweight Champion. Kidd believes he can be the face of Friday Nights. Booker T glances at Ziggler and says Kidd can fight Ziggler right now, and if he wins, he can have #1 contender rights... but before that! Booker T introduces the man joining Jim Ross at commentary... The 12-time tag champion, the 5-time Intercontinental Champion, and an 11-time world champion. Booker T says SmackDown wouldn't have been the same without the Rated-R Superstar... EDGE! The place implodes as Edge gets settled in during the commercial break with Jim Ross before the opening contest.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyson Kidd in a non-title match
Edge's debut on commentary applauds Ziggler for his opportunistic cash-in on Monday's Raw that allows him to be the World Heavyweight Champion and perhaps the face of Friday Night SmackDown. And on the other hand, Edge seemed very impressed from fellow Canadian, Tyson Kidd. Kidd locked in the Sharpshooter and appears to make the new champion submit, but Ziggler reached the ropes in time. Kidd went for another Sharpshooter, but Ziggler kicks Kidd out of the ring. Kidd runs back in and gets caught with a DDT before the champion measured Kidd up for the Zig-Zag and a win!

Booker T is backstage talking to The Usos and thanks them for signing with SmackDown, but he's working on getting the tag team division built for them to compete in. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks pop by as Hawkins gets himself in trouble and into a tag team match for later this evening.

Jim Ross and Edge mention the tag team match made for later tonight, as well as tonight's United States Championship match between champion Kofi Kingston and challengers Jack Swagger and Zack Ryder. A flashback to last week's SmackDown showed Swagger and Ryder get a double count-out that results in tonight's triple threat match.

Antonio Cesaro w/Aksana vs. JTG
JTG looks to upset Cesaro and put a lot of fight into this match but Aksana's encouragement ringside gave Cesaro an edge and Cesaro puts JTG away with the Neutralizer.

Michael McGillicutty has a moment with Josh Mathews. Mathews asks about McGillicutty's future on SmackDown. He mentioned his lineage puts him ahead of the line. McGillicutty says his "perfect genes" are above and beyond anyone else on SmackDown when Cody Rhodes interrupts. Cody calls him out, saying he only hears excuses to not work as hard. Cody challenges McGillicutty to a match tonight and it's accepted!

Daniel Bryan comes to the ring and mentions him and Kane losing the titles at TLC against the Prime Time Players and after signing with two separate brands, Team Hell No is no more. Bryan claims he carried the team, he alone was the WWE Tag Team Champions, and will soon be the World Heavyweight Champion of SmackDown! The crowd is behind Bryan, but Damien Sandow comes to the ring and degrades Bryan by calling him an ignoramus and saying his mental instability is not worthy of Raw, let alone SmackDown, or even this country. Bryan then punches Sandow straight in the mouth and this incites a match.

Damien Sandow vs. Daniel Bryan
Sandow was looking to bite off a bit more than he could chew against Bryan before he sidestepped a suicide dive that changed the match entirely. Sandow worked on the neck of Bryan and went to finish it with a Terminus, but it got countered with a Labell Lock that Sandow quickly tapped his way out of.

As Jim Ross and Edge are breaking down that match, they hear about breaking news and send it backstage to Josh Mathews. Mathews reports next week, SmackDown will host WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper for a very special edition of Piper's Pit! "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has chosen for his guest star, Rey Mysterio!

Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks vs. The Usos
This match looked bleak with Hawkins getting bullied by The Usos before Tyler Reks came in and "rek'd" the opposition. Hawkins gets tagged back in to take credit for wearing Jey Uso down, but once Jimmy got tagged it was looking up for The Usos. Jimmy Uso tries an Uso Splash on Hawkins, but Reks pushes him off and Jimmy's throat catches the rope before Hawkins rolled him up in a schoolboy to win.

Wade Barrett is heading to the ring before commercial and says he has something to get off his chest... following the break, Barrett is in the ring. Barrett calls it a travesty to sign to SmackDown, be the biggest star on the brand, and not be scheduled for a match on the opening show. Barrett blames Booker T, and because he did play hard-ball, Booker is punishing him. Wade says he didn't sign to sit on the sidelines, but he wants to become World Heavyweight Champion. Christian interrupts Barrett, coming to the ring and responding that nobody is out to get Barrett, but he's done nothing to show himself worthy of such an opportunity. Christian cites Barrett running Nexus into the ground and nobody wants SmackDown to be run into the ground with Barrett as leader. Barrett tells Christian to retire and join Edge on commentary so he can play second fiddle again. Christian takes exception to this and gets in Barrett's face before the Brit steps back, knowing he got under Christian's skin. Wade steps out of the ring and passes by the commentary booth, grabbing a water and quickly throwing it in Edge's face. Barrett sees Christian hop out of the ring and he jumps the barricade. Christian stands by Edge fuming after Barrett's disrespectful antics before the main event happens next.

Following commercial, Edge is regathering himself while Josh Mathews announces next week Christian will get his hands on Wade Barrett, announced during the commercial break from Booker T's office. We now get ready for the main event, a title match!

Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston(C) vs. Zack Ryder for the United States Championship
Swagger's mat-wrestling dominated Kingston and Ryder while Edge compared Swagger to another mat-wrestler in Kurt Angle. Kingston's athletic ability was minimized because of Swagger but Ryder had two big near falls that brought the WWE Universe out of their seats. At the end, Swagger had caught Kingston's ankle off a springboard dropkick attempt and a beautiful counter in the Patriot Lock. Swagger wrenched on the ankle before he's hit with a Rough Ryder outta nowhere! Kingston rolls over holding his ankle and Ryder jumps quickly on Swagger, but Swagger powers out at two. Ryder then steps back and sees Swagger already getting to his feet and Zack hits the Rough Ryder a second time, center of the ring! Ryder hooks the leg and the WWE Universe explodes!

Ryder is on his knees when handed the United States Championship and he clinches the title close to him before getting up and raising the title high as he gets on the second rope. Ryder exits the ring and jumps the barricade, celebrating with the fans as this new era of SmackDown finishes with a title change to a fan favorite.

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JANUARY 11 2013 ~ FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN!

SmackDown! starts tonight with a review from last week's SmackDown that saw World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler top Tyson Kidd in singles action, Wade Barrett dousing Edge with his own water, and Zack Ryder walking away the new United States Champion. And to kick things off tonight, World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler comes to the ring! Ziggler says last week's match against Tyson Kidd was refreshing. In the past, Kidd would never wrestle the World Heavyweight Champion but this is a new era. Ziggler lays the open challenge to anyone in the back and it's Trent Barreta! It's mentioned by Edge that Ziggler and Barreta are close friends.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Trent Barreta in a non-title match
Barreta and Ziggler know each other so well and this challenges the champion because how familiar they are with each other. Yet it's Barreta coming close to beating the World Heavyweight Champion, but once Ziggler gets on a roll, it's only a DDT and Ziggler waits for the Zig-Zag to nail Barreta and win this match.

Booker T stands by, separating Wade Barrett and Christian. Booker T informs them that the winner of their match tonight will be the #1 contender and challenge Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. As Barrett signs off on this, Christian asks for a water. Booker T grabs Christian a bottled water out of his fridge and he signs off on the match and takes a sip of the water before throwing the rest in Barrett's face - a little payback from last week. Christian tosses the bottle aside and tells Barrett he'll see him later.

Cody Rhodes vs. Michael McGillicutty
McGillicutty tries getting away from Rhodes and creating space, and each time he's caught, until the one time that was used to rope Cody in and McGillicutty took control. McGillicutty wore him down before trying for the McGillicutter, but it's countered in a Cross-Rhodes! Cody goes for the cover, but McGillicutty instinctively puts his foot on the bottom rope. Cody frets and ties for the Disaster Kick, but McGillicutty sidesteps and puts his hand up. Cody grabs his eye, but the action was so quick that the official didn't see anything and a Perfect-Plex finishes Cody off. Upon further review, McGillicutty caught Cody's eye on the springboard attempt and got away with it.

After break, the ring is set up for Piper's Pit before Hall of Famer Roddy Piper comes out to a standing ovation. Piper welcomes everyone to Piper's Pit and isn't keen on wasting much time, inviting his guest Rey Mysterio! Mysterio makes his first appearance on SmackDown in 2013 and Mysterio thanks Piper for living a childhood dream. Piper says this isn't a dream, a favor, or a charity case - but it's to answer the golden question. Piper asked why Mysterio would forfeit more money from Raw to sign with SmackDown. Piper kept berating the decision, not allowing an answer, before Mysterio would puff his chest out and interrupt Piper. Mysterio explained he's loyal to SmackDown and he's good friends with Booker T, and Piper then turns this to Rey receiving benefits and favors from Booker T. Piper claims Mysterio is taking the cheap way out. Piper calls Mysterio a disgrace to the ring and Mysterio gets in Piper's face to defend his honor. Rey says Piper made his Hall of Fame career out of taking the easy way out and Rey will never, but Piper said at the end of the day he's a Hall of Famer and commands respect before he slaps the taste out of Rey's mouth. Mysterio then strikes Piper back and ends up hitting a 619 on Piper's Pit! As Mysterio leaves, Piper receives medical assistance during the commercial break.

After the break, Jim Ross and Edge promise to monitor the situation of Roddy Piper and provide further medical updates. Meanwhile, JTG is in the ring awaiting action.

Damien Sandow vs. JTG
Sandow and JTG battle each other, both looking to bounce back from losses last week to Daniel Bryan and Antonio Cesaro respectively. Much like last week, JTG showed the will to power through and fight but it wasn't enough once Sandow finishes JTG with a Terminus.

After his win, Damien Sandow requests a microphone and calls Daniel Bryan a fluke and issues a rematch for next week's SmackDown.

Josh Mathews stands by with his guest Drew McIntyre. Mathews asks what McIntyre can bring to the new era of SmackDown. McIntyre says he arrived on SmackDown years ago as "The Chosen One." He reflects on being handpicked by Vince McMahon himself, but since he's not reached his full potential. McIntyre blames bad writing on Raw holding him back. McIntyre says he's not the future of the music business, he's the future of sports entertainment. McIntyre says it's cliche for people to set the goal of world champion, but he predicts that by the end of 2013, SmackDown will be introduced to the Age of McIntyre.

United States Champion Zack Ryder comes to the ring to celebrate and bask in the glory of his victory last week. Ryder thanks the WWE Universe and shows his gratitude for their support. Ryder says he believes in SmackDown's Land of Opportunity sentiment and he's chosen the right brand. Ex-champion Kofi Kingston comes out and says he's happy for Ryder as a friend, but as a competitor, he was never pinned. Kingston and Ryder have a stare-off before Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks show up. Hawkins starts congratulating Ryder, but it's backhanded by making comments about carrying Ryder for those years and Hawkins solely being responsible for Ryder's tag team and individual success. Kingston counters and says the opposite, that Ryder is the "Shawn Michaels" and Hawkins is the "Marty Jannetty" of their team. Hawkins challenges him to put it to the test, Hawkins and Reks versus Kingston and Zack Ryder. Kingston looks hesitant and everyone picks up on it, as Ryder accepts the challenge to prove Hawkins, Reks, and Kingston wrong.

Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks vs. Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder
Edge was able to provide great insight into Hawkins and Ryder in his time mentoring them as the Edgeheads, specifically saying that Hawkins has the most potential but Ryder's gotten over with the fans. Edge points out that Ryder's getting in his head a lot this match, taking offense to the comments made pre-match while Reks and Hawkins take advantage of this. Ryder nearly loses this match by getting too heated, almost getting disqualified by not letting up on Hawkins in the corner. Ryder gets pulled away and Reks gets the tag, who comes in with a big boot. Reks throws Ryder around until space allows for Kingston and Hawkins to get simultaneous tags in. The former United States Champion is about to put Hawkins away with a Trouble in Paradise before Tyler Reks steps in the way with a steel chair. The official tries grabbing the chair from Reks, while Jack Swagger runs to the ring and trips Kingston before slamming his ankle into the ring post. Swagger then clotheslines Ryder on the outside as he stands by and watches Hawkins pick Kingston up and hit a Hangman's Facebuster to win.

Following the match, Jack Swagger locks the Patriot Lock on the current United States Champion Zack Ryder right in front of Edge and Jim Ross. Edge stands up from the table to convince Swagger to let go and Swagger locks eyes with Edge before snapping the ankle. Ryder rives in pain and Swagger backs away after the mission is finished.

Josh Mathews provides an update that Roddy Piper was taken to the hospital for further evaluation but is resting safely. Mathews also reports that Booker T is considering disciplinary action against Rey Mysterio. Jim Ross weighs in and says Mysterio isn't in a good spot, but Edge vouches for Jack Swagger to receive a punishment after his actions moments ago. World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler then joins JR and Edge on commentary for the #1 contender match. When asked who he'd rather face, he says he'll wrestle them both if he needs to.

Christian vs. Wade Barrett to determine the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship
Christian had a lot to handle against Wade Barrett who looked at his best. Barrett got a little arrogant and Christian's veteran awareness would cost Barrett a couple opportunities. As Christian tried to hit an Unprettier, Barrett countered and pulled him in for an elbow. After Barrett only got a two, he rolled out of the ring in frustration and grabbed a water bottle. He walked by Edge and threw the water in Ziggler's face this time. Ziggler stood up and Barrett dared the champion to throw a punch. Edge convinced Ziggler to restrain himself and Barrett slides back in the ring to get hit with a Spear, in tribute to his best friend! Christian then pulled Barrett up and hit the Unprettier and gets the three!

Christian celebrates and Dolph Ziggler sets his headset down as he gets in the ring to pose for a classic photo. Ziggler holds the World Heavyweight Championship up between their two faces, just a couple weeks prior to their title match at the Royal Rumble PPV.

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BREAKING NEWS!

Following Christian earning the #1 contender rights on SmackDown for Dolph Ziggler's World Heavyweight Championship, Abraham Washington filed a complaint to the WWE Board of Directors. On behalf of Big Show, Washington claimed the champion never got his contractually guaranteed rematch.

At the end of Raw, Vince McMahon announced that Big Show will receive his rematch against SmackDown's Ziggler at the Royal Rumble PPV. This means Christian will no longer compete for the World Heavyweight Championship and the title could return to Raw after the event if Big Show defeats Dolph Ziggler.