The 8^th July 2011 episode of Friday Night SmackDown! starts with a video recapping the events of the contract signing last week, followed by us joining Josh Mathews in the ring to interview Daniel Bryan, Kane, Sin Cara, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Cody Rhodes, and Wade Barrett about being part of the SmackDown! Money In The Bank match to take place at the Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View.

Mathews asks Bryan what his thoughts are on competing in his first Money In The Bank match are, to which he says he is excited and nervous as he has dreamed of being the World Heavyweight Champion since he was a kid, and that the opportunity is worth every single risk he’s going to take.

He starts to say about how he might be an underdog, but Cody Rhodes grabs the microphone and says that is because Bryan is a common man, incapable of exceptional things that exceptional people do – and Rhodes says he himself is one of those exceptional people.

Rhodes talks about how he overcame personal tragedy and pain, and says that when he grabs the briefcase, he is no longer the WWE’s blind spot but rather the World Heavyweight Champion, which will mean that the fans will have to do what they fear the most, which he says is swallow their pride and look him in the eye.

Wade Barrett is interviewed next, and Barrett says that he is sick and tired of having to listen to what everybody else is going to do, because the achievements of the other men in the ring pale in comparison to what he himself has achieved – winning NXT Season 1, spearheading a revolutionary group of soldiers… and at this point he is interrupted as Sheamus rushes the ring with a steel chair, causing some to bail out and those who don’t to be hit with it.

Grabbing a microphone, Sheamus says that what is really going to happen at Money In The Bank is that he is going to win the Money In The Bank Ladder match, and when Randy Orton beats the “scrawny, malnourished, googly-eyed, homely weasel” Christian for the “fiftieth time”, he is going to cash in the contract and walk out the new World Heavyweight Champion.

As far as Orton goes for later on in this episode of SmackDown! however, Sheamus says that he is going to get him, and hit him so hard that he knocks the voices out of his head, citing the footage that he then plays of Orton’s punt to his head last month as the reason.

Sheamus says that the biggest regret of Randy Orton’s career so far is that he didn’t punt him hard enough, because now he’s back. Christian’s music hits and he starts to make his way to the ring as he clarifies with Sheamus that he and the rest of the “clueless morons” don’t think that he can beat Orton.

He asks what it was that Sheamus called him as he says that he didn’t quite catch it, so Sheamus happily repeats himself and asks what he is going to do about it. Christian says that there’s not much that he can do about it other than say that he’s the same “scrawny, malnourished, googly-eyed, homely weasel” that beat Sheamus right before Orton punted him in the head, and that he’s also the brand new World Heavyweight Champion after Money In The Bank.

Christian says that he came out because he wants to thank Sheamus as he’s going to be a big part of that, because when he ripped up the contract last week, his legal team went over the contract again and added another clause – one that says if Randy Orton is disqualified or if there’s another case of bad officiating, Christian automatically becomes the World Heavyweight Champion.

He says that Sheamus is so smart that he would have had it put into his own contract too – but then Christian remembers that Sheamus is only good at fighting. Christian asks Sheamus if he even knows how to read a contract, calling him “Ronald McDonald” in the process, so Sheamus’ response is to throw the steel chair at him.

Teddy Long’s music hits and he makes his way out onto the stage where he tells Sheamus that he isn’t the number one contender, Christian is, but if he wants to face Orton so much, he is happy to make it (as he then does) for later on, though it won’t be for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Throughout the episode of SmackDown! are videos recapping past Money In The Bank Ladder matches, but next up is Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase taking on Daniel Bryan and Ezekiel Jackson in a match which sees DiBiase get the victory for his team when he takes advantage of Rhodes’ springboard kick to Jackson, and hits Jackson with Dream Street for the 3-count.

After a video hyping Mark Henry and the destruction he’s wrought over the past few weeks, we go backstage where Matt Striker interviews Henry about his actions last week to the audio technician, pointing out that he is facing fines, suspensions, lawsuits, and the possibility of criminal investigation.

He asks him how is going to deal with it all when you also add facing Kane later on, and The Big Show at Money In The Bank, to which Henry just stands there looking intimidating enough to scare Striker away.

Back in the arena, Jinder Mahal (accompanied by The Great Khali, who joins commentary) is pitted against Trent Barreta in a match which sees Mahal hit the full-nelson slam for the 3-count. Afterwards, Khali enters the ring, picking Barreta up and pushes him into Mahal for him to hit another full-nelson slam.

Backstage again, Todd Grisham briefly interviews Sheamus about the recent rampage he has been on, with Sheamus telling him that it’s an Irish thing and he wouldn’t understand.

Back in the arena once more, Tamina (accompanied by Alicia Fox) goes against AJ (accompanied by Natalya) in a match which sees AJ get the victory when she avoids Tamina’s corner splash attempt and rolls her up for the 3-count.

Next, Kane takes on Mark Henry in a match which sees Henry get the victory when he hits Kane with the World’s Strongest Slam for the 3-count.

Randy Orton is interviewed by Todd Grisham about why he would agree to the clauses in the contract that would make Christian the new World Heavyweight Champion if Orton is disqualified or if there is any biased officiating.

Orton says that it is because just like everybody else, he can not take it any more as he is sick and tired of Christian asking for one more match. He says that he doesn’t care what is in the contract as the result will be the same – an RKO, and a 1-2-3.

As for later on and Sheamus, he says that there is no denying that he’s the most fearsome brawler in the WWE and he knows that at some point after beating Christian he will be facing Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship, but as for later on, Sheamus should be careful for what he wishes for – as some have rocks in their head, some hear voices, but if Grisham sees Sheamus, he should tell him that he said good luck.

Now, Tyson Kidd is pitted against Sin Cara in a match which sees Cara get the victory when he hits Kidd with the top-rope C4 for the 3-count.

Backstage, Matt Striker approaches Teddy Long and asks him what he intends to do about Mark Henry, to which Long says that the investigations are on-going, and when they are completed he will take the results under advisement.

Striker says that it sounds like a politically-correct answer, so asks him straight up if he is intimidated by Henry – Long’s response however is to simply walk away.

After Jimmy and Jey Uso perform a War Dance, they go against Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel in a match which sees The Usos get the victory when they hit a superplex followed up by a top-rope splash for the 3-count.

It’s time for this week’s Johnny Curtis appearance, and he points out that he still hasn’t made his SmackDown! début yet, saying that he has what’s needed to be a great Superstar, and though he’s not sure what is missing, what he does know is that when he makes his début he is going to take the cake, as he then takes a birthday cake from somebody, laughing as he blows out the candles.

After a Raw Rebound video recapping CM Punk’s comments last week and the events involving Vince McMahon and John Cena on this week’s Raw (click here for our Raw report), Randy Orton takes on Sheamus in a match which sees Christian join commentary.

The match ends with Orton getting the victory as a result of a disqualification when Christian attacks him when he appears to be getting ready to hit Sheamus with an RKO. Afterwards, Sheamus hits Christian with a Brogue Kick, but turns around only to get hit with an RKO from Randy Orton.

Randy Orton celebrates in the ring with his title held aloft as SmackDown! goes off the air.