WWE SmackDown! Spoilers (12/30/11)

Adam M. attended Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown! tapings from Indianapolis, Indiana last night and has sent in the following notes and spoilers from the show that will air this Friday, December 30, 2011:

Dark Match: (1) Skip Sheffield defeated Seth Rollins.

SmackDown!: Booker T opened the show in the ring and is interrupted by Cody Rhodes. Goldust comes out without his makeup and tells Cody not to talk bad about the Legends. Booker challenges Cody to a rematch for the Intercontinental Title next week. Booker left and Cody attacked his brother, leading to Booker running back for the save.

(1) Jinder Mahal beat Ted DiBiase in the opening contest.

* Drew McIntyre walks in on Teddy Long and Aksana and is ready for his SmackDown return match.

(2) Kaitlyn and Alicia Fox beat Tamina and Natalya. Tamina turned on Natalya after the match.

* Big Show interrupts Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee. Teddy Long comes out and announces Show vs. David Otunga tonight with Mark Henry in his corner.

(3) Hunico beat Justin Gabriel.

(4) Big Show beat David Otunga. Daniel Bryan came out during the match and attacked Henry.

(5) Ezekiel Jackson beat Drew McIntyre.

* Sheamus comes out and talks about the Royal Rumble. Hornswoggle joins him and says he will win the Rumble. Heath Slater comes out to trash Sheamus and gets thrown out of the ring.

(6) Sheamus defeated Heath Slater.

* Teddy Long announces Bryan vs. Big Show next week for the World Heavyweight Title.

(7) Wade Barrett defeated Randy Orton in a Falls Count Anywhere Match after throwing him down a flight of stairs in the back.

Close Friend Of John Cena Reveals His Feelings On Being Booed Every Week

With a helping hand from John Cena, 40-year-old heavyweight boxer Monte Barrett participated in a week long training camp with WWE’s developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling in late October/early November. As a close friend of Cena’s, Barrett has personal insight on the WWE Superstar. He commented on the hostile reaction Cena receives from grappling fans on a weekly basis to Power Slam.

“We talked about that on [November 14, 2011] and I asked him. A lot of the fans say, “John’s not great, and he’s only got a certain amount of moves,” Barrett says.

“The Rock [left WWE] and John took over. He just told me, “I don’t take it personally, so you don’t either. It’s a job.” Me, I was bothered because the people booed him to death [on Raw]. Rock got a standing ovation. Who knows? John might take a back seat for a while.

“People got tired of Michael Jordan always winning, the Green Bay Packers too. They want different champions, like Lennox Lewis in boxing. It’s our nature to want a changing of the guard. Maybe [Cena] needs to take a back seat, then rise up again in a year or two.”

WWE Introducing New Stage At Tonight’s RAW House Show (Photo)

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Both Vickie Guerrero and WWE Champion CM Punk are both putting over a new stage set-up that WWE is going to be using for the RAW house shows, starting tonight at a live event from Philadelphia, PA.

Guerrero posted the following on Twitter today: “Flying to Pittsburgh!!! I can’t wait to see the new stage setup tonight. See all of you there”

CM Punk also posted a tweet along with a sneak-peak photo of the stage, which is somewhat abstructed due to the dark background and two stage spotlights. “A horrible sneak peek picture of the new house show…er…LIVE EVENT set. Looks much better in person,” the WWE Champion wrote.

Check it out below:

Was Randy Orton Already Injured Before Last Night?

A new report out by F4WOnline.com reports that Randy Orton might not have been entirely injured at last night’s tapings but rather that it was a pre-existing injury that has been nagging at him.

It’s also possible that Orton was already injured but he might have made his condition worse last night during a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Orton has also been protected in-ring wise since December 19th to prevent him from doing a lot of physical work.

The angle at last night’s tapings in his match with Wade Barrett had a spot where Orton was thrown down a flight of stairs by his opponent.

Spoilers: 2 Matches Announced For First SmackDown! Of 2012

It was announced at last night’s SmackDown! tapings that Booker T will face COdy Rhodes on the first episode of SD! for 2012 on Jan. 6. The grudge match comes after Rhodes retainted the IC Title at TLC but Booker T defeated him Monday night on RAW.

They also announced that Daniel Bryan will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show next week as well.

Notes From Madison Square Garden WWE House Show

As noted previously, WWE held a house show at Madison Square Garden from New York City last night. Below are a few notes from the show:

– Mick Foley worked the show as the host and ended up getting into an altercation with Jack Swagger. Foley then booked him into a match against the in-ring return of Jerry “The King” Lawler, which the RAW color commentator ended up winning after Foley got involved in the match by using Mr. Socko.

– John Cena and Kane competed in a match last night. Like their previous bouts at live events and dark matches, the match ended in a disqualification after Kane ended the short match by hitting Cena with a steel chair. Kane left the ring but came back only to get caught up in an Attitude Adjustment finisher by Cena.

– FCW World Champion Leo Kruger was in attendance last night and lost to Alex Riley. Kruger caught a heel promo before the match. The match didn’t seem to get over with the crowd with many people describing it as being “flat” and “dull.”

Tony Chimel Returns At SmackDown! Tapings, SD! Dark Match Result

Former SmackDown! announcer Tony Chimel, who stepped aside from the blue brand after he was replaced by Lilian Garcia, worked Tuesday’s tapings as an announcer for both the web-based Superstars and NXT. He replaces Eden Stiles, who recently left the company.

After last night’s SmackDown! tapings, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match officiated by Booker T.

Randy Orton Injured – Possibly Out Of Action For Six Months

The Twitter feed of the WWE Insider reported last night during the SmackDown! tapings in Indianapolis that Randy Orton was injured. “BREAKING: @RandyOrton injured at #Smackdown in Indianapolis tonight. More details to follow on WWE.com as they become available,” the tweet read.

The WWE website quickly reacted to Orton’s injury, pulling him out of scheduled Street Fight Matches with Wide Barrett at the live events this weekend — a feud that was expected to take place for a few more months still. Sheamus has substituted for Orton against Barrett for now.

Orton was reportedly injured during a Falls Count Anywhere Match against Barrett at the tapings last night. The word backstage is that Orton suffered a back inury of some sort. The early prognosis for his injury isn’t looking great with the possibility that Orton could be out of action for at least 6 months — well past WrestleMania 28 in early April.

Report: The Reason For Zack Ryder’s New Storyline With Eve Torres

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that U.S. Champion Zack Ryder is being placed in a romance storyline with Eve Torres because of fear of that Ryder’s involvement in the main event the week prior may have actually caused a ratings drop-off.

We reported over the weekend that WWE was actually considering dropping the WWE Championship off CM Punk due to similar trends that suggest that viewers switch channels or channel surf when Punk appears on television.

The main event of last week’s six-man-tag match featuring Ryder, Punk, and Daniel Bryan vs The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and Dolph Ziggler drew a 2.67 cable rating, which was not only the lowest-rated main event for RAW this year, but the lowest non-holiday main event since Dec. 8, 1997.

CM Punk Denied Entry Into Madison Square Garden Last Night

WWE Champion CM Punk was actually denied entry into a WWE house show in Madison Square Garden last night as he tried to get into the building. Apparently the security guard didn’t believe Punk was an actual pro wrestler but was eventually left in after another guard stepped in and let him into the building.

Later, Punk wrote about the situation on his Twitter. “Sellout the Horizon on a Monday, refused entry to the Garden on Tuesday. My life is awesome,” he wrote. “Some serious Larry David s–t.”