The 3^rd February 2012 episode of Friday Night SmackDown! starts with a video recapping the events leading to the match to take place on this episode between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett, followed by Theodore Long standing in the ring to kick off the show.

Long announces that the participants of the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship will be Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, and Randy Orton.

After Long’s explains the rules of an Elimination Chamber match and what it will mean for the winner of this one, Mark Henry’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Henry says that he’s not liking that he has six-to-one chance of coming out as the winner, perhaps less depending upon what number he picks.

He isn’t happy, but Long says that as he lost at the Royal Rumble, he should be happy at even being in the match at all. When Henry asks what that is supposed to mean and states that he is the most dominant and that he is the “big fish” and Long’s “meal ticket”, he instructs Long to take him out of the Elimination Chamber match and put him in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Daniel Bryan on this episode.

Teddy Long asks what happens if he doesn’t, to which Henry demands to get what he wants and deserves. Long says that he doesn’t know who Mark Henry thinks he is, but he is going to give him half his wish – first he is going to take him out of the Elimination Chamber match, and secondly there will be no World Heavyweight Championship match for him on this episode.

Mark Henry says that Long doesn’t get it, that he is replaceable just like John Laurinaitis was on Raw, and that he has got to do the right thing, and he says that he is not asking, he is demanding, as he then pulls Long’s tie out of his jacket.

Long says that what he just did is going to cost him, as he just put his hands on the General Manager of SmackDown!, and that as of this moment, Henry is indefinitely suspended. Long gestures to him to leave, and Henry seems to be about to do so, before apparently having another thought, as he says that if he’s going to be suspended, he might as well get his money’s worth out of it.

Before he can do anything however, Sheamus’ music hits and he makes his way to the ring. When Henry’s attention turns from Sheamus, Sheamus capitalises on it and hits him with the Brogue Kick, knocking him down and forcing him out of the ring.

Teddy Long then tells a retreating Mark Henry that security will be waiting for him backstage to escort him out of the door, before introducing his saviour and the 2012 Royal Rumble winner Sheamus, to the crowd’s approval.

Long asks Sheamus if he has decided who he will be facing at WrestleMania XXVIII (28), and Sheamus says that it is a question that a lot of people have been asking him for the past few days, but the answer is that he has not yet made a decision on who he will face.

Sheamus says that he will wait until after the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View, and rather than come out every week and make speeches, he says that he will do what he does best – what that is, he is unable to elaborate on, as Cody Rhodes’ music hits and he starts making his way to the ring.

Rhodes says that he doesn’t wish to fight Sheamus but rather warn him not to let success go to his head, as he says that nobody is going to remember that he won the 2012 Royal Rumble match. Instead, he says that the only thing that any of the fans are going to remember is the fact that Rhodes eliminated the most number of Superstars in the match by elimination (six of them).

He says that he will carry that momentum into the Elimination Chamber, where he will win the World Heavyweight Championship and become the first dual-champion in the WWE since The Ultimate Warrior.

Drawing comparisons between both Long and Sheamus with The Ultimate Warrior, he says that half of the time he can’t understand what either of them are saying. After a prompt from Sheamus, Long makes a match between Sheamus and Cody Rhodes to take place right now.

The match sees Sheamus get the victory, when hits Rhodes with the Celtic Cross for the 3-count.

Next, Cody Rhodes is still present at ringside as Justin Gabriel takes on Hunico (accompanied by Camacho) in a match that never gets going as Cody Rhodes enters the ring and attacks Justin Gabriel, followed swiftly after by Hunico and Camach joining in.

The Great Khali’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, taking out Camacho with a brain chop and Hunico with a two-handed chokeslam, as Rhodes bails out and leaves up the ramp.

After an interaction between Drew McIntyre and Teddy Long in which Long suggests that McIntyre find another way to impress him and be glad that he still has a job, and an interaction between Long, Santino Marella, and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan which results in a tag team match to take place next being granted, an interaction between Long and Aksana sees a spit-take from Long and Duggan return for his two-by-four.

After a repeat video announcing Mike Tyson being an inductee of the 2012 Hall Of Fame, Santino Marella and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan are pitted against Primo and Epico (accompanied by Rosa Mendes) in a tag team match which sees Primo get the victory, when he takes advantage of the momentary distraction provided by Rosa, and hits Marella with the backstabber for the 3-count.

Now, Michael Cole stands in the ring as he introduces Daniel Bryan and admits that he was wrong about him, but Bryan says that this interview is not about Cole and everything is not about Cole. Instead, he says that this is about Bryan, and he asks Cole to leave as there is something that he needs to say.

Bryan talks about defeating Mark Henry and The Big Show in a steel cage at the Royal Rumble (click here for our Royal Rumble report), and he says that he is a great champion and considers himself to be a great role model, then urging people to be like him and become vegans.

He says that he realises that like a harbinger, there are sacrifices that he has to make, and many things that he will have to endure, but he says that he will not stand for prejudice against him, and that he should not have to defend his championship in an Elimination Chamber – especially not against five other men, and even more especially against a man who he has defeated a number of times, and who holds the shortest World Heavyweight Championship reign in WWE history.

Bryan points out that he is talking about The Big Show, describing him as a man who has consistently failed and consistently been rewarded, and who intentionally knocked over his 95lb girlfriend AJ as if she were a piece of meat.

He says that Show is a failure as a competitor and human being, and that as such he should not be in a championship match. Bryan says that this is why if Long doesn’t change his mind and take Show out of the Elimination Chamber, he will take his case to the WWE Board Of Directors, and Teddy Long will join John Laurinaitis in the unemployment line.

The Big Show decides to make his presence known, as his music hits and he makes his way to the ring – he quips that he would have been out sooner, but he was in the back finishing a great big steak.

He says that the key to being a role model is not telling people what to do like a dictator, but instead letting them follow the actions of an example to follow. Show says that Daniel Bryan is not a role model, but instead a very lucky, pompous, arrogant, little ass, and that though Bryan will still be that after the Elimination Chamber, he will no longer be the World Heavyweight Champion.

Show says that Bryan can’t hide in that match, that nobody can save him and he can’t climb out. Bryan says that he understands that the odds are against him and that he may lose his championship, but he says that it won’t be to Show, as he will lose just like he always does.

Bryan says that once a loser, always a loser, and that he has proven that he can defy the odds, and that he has proven over and over and over – punctuating each over with a finger poke to Show – something that he is cut off from saying, as The Big Show apparently decides that he has had enough and attacks Bryan.

The Big Show hits Daniel Bryan with a chokeslam, after which AJ – who is wearing a neck-brace – makes her way down the ramp and enters the ring in an attempt to stop Show from continuing the assault. Show appears to be attempting to explain himself to AJ, but every step he takes towards her results in her backing a step away from him, visibly afraid of him.

Daniel Bryan attempts to take advantage of Show’s distraction, but Show immediately turns to him and catches him, then getting ready to hit him with the Weapon of Mass Destruction, until AJ grabs his fist and stops him.

This allows Bryan to bail out of the ring, and while Show tries to talk to her, she carefully exits the ring, where she then hugs Bryan, who promises to keep her safe as they leave together.

After an interaction backstage between Beth Phoenix and Natalya that sees Natalya apparently break wind again before running off, and an unsuspecting Santino Marella once again walking into the stench before quickly making his exit, Aksana and Tamina go against Natalya and Beth Phoenix in a tag team match which sees Beth get the victory, when she hits Aksana with the Glam Slam for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Beth leaves but Natalya decides to pick at the remains of Aksana, only to be taken down by Tamina, who then follows it up with a Superfly Splash on Natalya.

After a video recapping the earlier events involving Mark Henry and Teddy Long, the announcers reveal that the person replacing Henry in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship will be The Great Khali.

After a video hyping John Cena and an image hyping the match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII (28), Matt Striker interviews Randy Orton about his match with Wade Barrett later on in this episode, where Orton states that given the opportunity, he would have done the exact same thing to Barrett that he did to him.

Orton says that he will beat him in their match, and he will beat him again in the Elimination Chamber along with everyone else, and will walk out of it as a ten-time champion.

After a video hyping WrestleMania XXVIII, and a video recapping the events of two months ago involving Randy Orton and Wade Barrett, Wade Barrett takes on Randy Orton in a match which sees Orton get the victory, when he hits Barrett with an RKO onto a steel chair for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Teddy Long informs Daniel Bryan and AJ that Bryan will be facing Randy Orton next week, which prompts Bryan to claim that he is not afraid of giants or snakes, and for AJ to stay there and watch what he is about to do.

As Randy Orton celebrates in the ring, oblivious to the match announcement made backstage by Teddy Long, Bryan makes his way to the ring and does some sort of celebration of his own, much to Orton’s bemusement.

Bryan continues his odd celebration while he leaves, as SmackDown! goes off the air.