The 24^th August 2012 episode of Friday Night SmackDown! starts with photos recapping the events of the match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio at SummerSlam (click here for our SummerSlam report) and hyping that the controversy of that match will be addressed in this episode.

After a video recapping Randy Orton’s match with Alberto Del Rio on Monday Night Raw (click here for our Raw report), Randy Orton makes his way to the ring to kick off the show. He introduces himself and says that he thrives on confrontation and that while Alberto Del Rio says that his win over him on Raw was tainted, he says too bad, and he deserves to face Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Orton says that some may have a problem with what he just said, so he invites them to come out to the ring right now and confront him. He is answered by Sheamus’ music hitting and him making his way to the ring too.

Sheamus says that he’s not out there to disagree with him, and that everyone knows that Del Rio has had his chances and blown them time after time, and his point is that not only does he think that Orton should be at the front of the line to face him, but he wants him to be at the front of the line to face him.

Booker T’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, where he says that Randy Orton taking on Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship would be huge, and that he would like to see it, but they need to talk about what happened on Raw.

He is interrupted by Alberto Del Rio making his way to the ring with Ricardo Rodriguez, where Del Rio asks what Orton is doing there as the title is his, and addressing Booker T, he calls Sheamus a criminal and cheater, and calls Orton nothing but a crazy animal, asking if those are the type of people he wants as the World Heavyweight Champion.

Del Rio says that everyone knows that Sheamus cheated at SummerSlam and that he was robbed, and that the only reason that Orton won the match on Raw was because Sheamus cheated again. He tells Booker T that he has filed a protest and has heard nothing, so suggests that it is a conspiracy and that everybody is against him.

He says that Booker T is a criminal and cheater just like Sheamus, and goes on a rant about how everyone is against him until Booker interrupts him to complete what he was saying before. Booker says that Orton is always in line for a title shot, but the person who is next in line for a title shot is Alberto Del Rio… until he came out flapping his gums, so he changed his mind and later on in this episode will see a rematch from Raw of Alberto Del Rio taking on Randy Orton, and the winner of the match will officially be the Number One Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

After a video recapping the events at SummerSlam involving Kane and Josh Mathews, Teddy Long joins Michael Cole on commentary as Jinder Mahal takes on Ryback in a match which sees Ryback get the victory, when he hits Mahal with the muscle-buster for the 3-count.

Next, Kaitlyn joins commentary as Alicia Fox is pitted against Layla in a match which sees Layla get the victory, when she hits Alicia with a kick to the head for the 3-count. Afterwards, Kaitlyn enters the ring and hugs and shakes hands with Layla, but they are then interrupted by Eve Torres’ music hitting and her making her way to the ring.

Eve looks between the two women and then raises the arms of both women, while the women themselves look bemused at her actions.

After a video recapping the events of Raw involving CM Punk, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and John Cena, and an interaction backstage involving Dolph Ziggler, Vickie Guerrero, and Sheamus, which sees Teddy Long appear and make a match between Sheamus and Ziggler for later on, Cody Rhodes joins commentary as Sin Cara goes against Heath Slater.

The match sees Slater get the victory, when he takes advantage of Cara’s mask being turned around courtesy of Rhodes, when he hits Cara with a reverse-DDT for the 3-count. Afterwards, Rhodes attacks Cara and attempts to remove his mask until referees appear and force him to back off.

Now, Vickie Guerrero joins commentary as Sheamus takes on Dolph Ziggler in a match which sees Sheamus get the victory as a result of a disqualification, when Ziggler hits Sheamus with the Money In The Bank briefcase.

Afterwards, Ziggler tells the referee that he wants to cash in his Money In The Bank contract, but he changes his mind and takes it back when he notices that Sheamus is once again getting to his feet.

After a video hyping Wade Barrett and a video recapping the SummerSlam Pre-Show match between Santino Marella and Antonio Cesaro for the United States Championship, Santino Marella makes his way to the ring and talks about how long he was the United States Champion, and how every moment in the past week he feels like he has been less and less American.

He says that he feels like he let everybody down when he lost the title to Cesaro, and that everywhere he goes he is asked whether he and The Cobra can ever be back on the same page, so he decides to find out right now.

Marella talks to The Cobra sock-puppet on his hand and tells it that they can once again become the United States Champion, until he is interrupted by Antonio Cesaro’s music hitting (a newer version that is based on his previous one) and him making his way out onto the stage with Aksana.

Aksana introduces Cesaro, who then says “winner” in five different languages, followed by them kissing and Cesaro saying that he personifies being a winner unlike Marella. Marella isn’t happy, so he exits the ring and makes a bee-line straight for Cesaro and gains the upper-hand until The Cobra is distracted by Aksana’s presence, allowing Cesaro to take Marella down.

Next, Darren Young and Titus O’Neil join commentary as Primo and Epico (accompanied by Rosa Mendes) are pitted against Kofi Kingston and R-Truth in a Tag Team match which sees Truth get the victory for his team, when he hits Primo with the jumping reverse STO for the 3-count.

After a video showing highlights of the SmackDown! World Tour in the Far East, Matt Striker interviewing R-Truth and Kofi Kingston, with interruptions from a number of other tag teams resulting in a brawl breaking out, and an interaction involving Booker T, Teddy Long, and Eve Torres, a video from Raw recaps the words from Paul Heyman and Shawn Michaels regarding the SummerSlam match between Brock Lesnar and Triple H.

Now, Sheamus joins commentary as Randy Orton goes against Alberto Del Rio in a match which sees Del Rio get the victory to become the Number One Contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, when he puts Orton in the cross-armbreaker, forcing him to tap out.

Afterwards, Del Rio shoves Ricardo Rodriguez down and grabs one of his shoes which he then throws at Sheamus, prompting Sheamus to enter the ring and start brawling with Del Rio. Del Rio gains the upper-hand however thanks to Rodriguez’s interference, and he takes Sheamus down with a shot to the head with Rodriguez’s other shoe.

As Del Rio leaves up the ramp with Rodriguez, Dolph Ziggler’s music hits and he hits the ring, demanding that the referee enter the ring as he clearly intends to cash in his Money In The Bank contract.

Ziggler’s plan is scuppered however, when Orton re-enters the ring and hits Ziggler with an RKO. Del Rio watches from the ramp while Sheamus struggles to his feet and Orton stands apparently happy with his actions, as SmackDown! goes off the air.