The 6^th January 2012 episode of Friday Night SmackDown! starts with a video recapping the events last week involving Randy Orton and Wade Barrett, and a video recapping the events of last week involving Cody Rhodes and Dustin “Goldust” Rhodes.

The first match to kick off the show sees Cody Rhodes taking on Booker T for the Intercontinental Championship, in a match which sees Rhodes get the victory and retain his title, when Rhodes hits Booker with a springboard kick to the face for the 3-count.

After a confrontation backstage between Cody and Dustin Rhodes, there is an interaction involving Teddy Long, Zack Ryder, Drew McIntyre, and Santino Marella in which Long makes a match between McIntyre and Marella, with the stipulation that if Marella wins then he becomes his Assistant, but if McIntyre wins, then Long might consider not firing him.

After an interaction between Long and Aksana, and a video recapping the 2008 Royal Rumble match which was won by surprise 30th entrant John Cena, an interaction between AJ and Alicia Fox is interrupted by Daniel Bryan who doesn’t sound happy that it doesn’t sound like they believe that he can beat The Big Show, but he is assured by AJ that she didn’t mean that, just that she is worried for him.

Back in the arena, Hornswoggle is pitted against Heath Slater in an Over The Top Rope challenge which sees Hornswoggle get the victory, when he holds on to Slater’s hair and forces him over the top rope and to the floor, after Slater tries placing him over the ropes.

Afterwards, Slater starts to attack Hornswoggle until Justin Gabriel hits the ring and makes the save, ending it with a 450-Splash to Slater.

Next, Ted DiBiase goes against Hunico (accompanied by Camacho) in a match which sees Hunico get the victory, when he slams DiBiase’s shoulder on the turnbuckle and follows it up with what appears to be a modified crucifix pinning combination for the 3-count.

After a video recapping the events between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett last week, Wade Barrett makes his way to the ring and talks about how Orton’s injury was clearly the by-product of a Falls Count Anywhere match, and that as for a medical update, Orton has a herniated disc in his lower back.

As for the medical update on his career however, Barrett claims that he is finished. He says that The Viper is extinct and just another victim of the Barrett Barrage. Barrett says that ironically the Royal Rumble in a few weeks will be in Randy Orton’s hometown, and that he says “ironically” as instead of seeing their hometown hero eliminate twenty-nine other competitors and book his place at WrestleMania, their hometown hero will have to sit with those fans and watch Wade Barrett win instead.

Wade Barrett says that with Randy Orton out of the way, there is not a single person who can stop him from winning, but before he can say anything more, Sheamus’ music hits and he makes his way to the ring.

Sheamus says that he couldn’t tell from the back if was Barrett standing in the ring or his Great-Uncle Wilfred. He says that Wilfred was exactly like Barrett, as he loved the sound of his own voice and talking about the fights from back in the day and the battles he won.

He says that the thing about his Great-Uncle however is that he was just a simple sheep-herder, and that the stories he told were just fantasy, just like how Barrett says that he is going to saunter into the Royal Rumble and encounter any problems.

Sheamus says that Barrett will encounter problems, and that he will be the biggest one. He says that his Great-Uncle Wilfred was kicked in the head by a wild mule when he was eight years old, which left him as not the most competent sheep-herder, but that it was his excuse for all his fantasy stories, so he asks what Barrett’s excuse for acting like a horse’s arse is.

Jinder Mahal’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, where he approaches Sheamus and has some words with him before slapping him, causing Sheamus to attack back. Wade Barrett takes advantage, and Barrett and Mahal attack Sheamus together, but Sheamus manages to regain the advantage – until he gets caught by Barrett and hit with the Winds Of Change, which Mahal follows up with the Camel Clutch.

After a video recapping Daniel Bryan’s cashing in of his Money In The Bank opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Championship at TLC (click here for our TLC report), and a video hyping the Royal Rumble, Santino Marella takes on Drew McIntyre in a match which sees Marella get the victory to become Teddy Long’s assistant, when he hits McIntyre with The Cobra for the 3-count.

After an interaction between McIntyre and Long in which Long states that his loss is Strike two, and that if he loses next week it could be strike three and out, and an interaction between Long and Marella in which Marella celebrates his victory, Primo and Epico (accompanied by Rosa Mendes) are pitted against Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston) in a tag team match which sees Primo get the victory, when Epico pulls him out of the way of Bourne’s Air Bourne attempt, and Primo follows it up by taking advantage and pinning the downed Bourne for the 3-count.

After Matt Striker interviews The Big Show about his upcoming World Heavyweight Championship match against Daniel Bryan, Natalya goes against Tamina in a match which sees Tamina get the victory, when she hits Natalya with a Samoan Drop and follows it up with the Superfly Splash for the 3-count.

After a video recapping the 3-on-2 Handicap match on Monday Night Raw between the team of John Cena, The Big Show, and Zack Ryder and the team of Mark Henry and Jack Swagger as well as the aftermath involving Kane (click here for our Raw report), and a video recapping the 1988 Royal Rumble match which was won by “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Mark Henry joins the announcers on commentary as The Big Show takes on Daniel Bryan in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The match sees Bryan get the victory and retain his title, when he gets in Mark Henry’s face and Mark Henry pushes him over, causing a disqualification.

While Mark Henry and The Big Show argue from their respective positions of the ring and ringside, Daniel Bryan celebrates on the stage with his World Heavyweight Championship as SmackDown! goes off the air.