Home / Results / Smackdown / January 6, 2012

1. Intercontinental title: Cody Rhodes def. Booker T.

2. Over-the-top challenge: Hornswoggle def. Heath Slater.

3. Hunico def. Ted DiBiase.

4. Santino Marella def. Drew McIntyre.

5. Non-title: Epico & Primo def. Air Boom when Primo pinned Evan Bourne.

6. Tamina def. Natalya Niedhart.

7. World title: Daniel Bryan def. Big Show-DQ due to interference from Mark Henry.

After a recap of last week's falls count anywhere match between Randy Orton & Wade Barrett, and a confrontation between the Rhodes brothers, we start with an Intercontinental title match.

1. IC title: Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T.

Return match from TLC. At the PPV, Rhodes ambushed Booker twice before the match, and thus had an unfair competitive advantage. Not so this time. Michael Cole, however, is burying Booker at the desk. How unprofessional can you get? I think we're looking at Cole's next feud, folks.

Back & forth they went, the momentum shifting from champ to challenger and back again. Book hit the axe kick, but Rhodes kicked out. Rhodes connects with the Beautiful Disaster on his 2nd attempt and retains. Winner: Cody Rhodes.

Backstage, big brother Dustin (aka Goldust) congratulates Cody, but gets browbeaten anyway. Cody's ego, like Cole's, is out of control, but it appears a family feud is next for Cody, the result of the creative team being unable to find someone on the active roster to challenge Cody.

2. Over-the-top challenge: Hornswoggle vs. Heath Slater.

Ever since the Corre broke up, Slater can't buy a win. This is no different, as he can't use his size advantage to get the better of the last cruiserweight champion. 'Swoggle is on the apron, and, with the help of a handful of hair, snapmares Slater over the top and to the floor. Slater's theme song needs to change to something more appropriate. You know, like, "Lonesome Loser". Winner: Hornswoggle.

Post-match, Slater attacked Hornswoggle before his former partner, Justin Gabriel, made the save, and added to Slater's misery with an STO and the 450.

3. Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico (w/Camacho).

Hunico now has a sidekick in Camacho (Donny Marlow from FCW, the son of former WCW/WWE superstar Haku, aka Meng.), and rides a tricked out "low-rider" bicycle to the ring. I think these two are being posited as the 2nd coming of Los Guerreros, but not with the flashy rides. Camacho did exactly nothing of note, and in this case, didn't need to. Hunico turned aside his usual high flying style for a more ground based assault, and looked impressive here. He sent DiBiase into the post, shoulder-first, then rolled him up with what looked like a submission move, but Ted's shoulders were down for the 3. Winner: Hunico.

4. Santino Marella vs. Drew McIntyre.

Earlier in the show, US champ Zack Ryder officially resigned as the assistant to GM Teddy Long. The less said about Long's never ending flirtation with disaster, aka Aksana, the better. Santino Marella was being recommended as Ryder's replacement, which means Santino could be in line to 3-peat as IC champ inside of 6 months. McIntyre is feeling the wrath of Teddy, more than 18 months after the humilation Long had to deal with when Drew was IC champ himself. Sounds to me like McIntyre may be nearing the end of his contract.

Anyway, McIntyre's luck continues to be all bad. He had Santino right where he wanted him, but couldn't hit Future Shock. After slipping off the top rope, McIntyre wanders back in, and walks right into the Cobra. Winner: Santino Marella.

Things can't possibly be worse for McIntyre, can they? Oh, wait. They may put him in a match with Hornswoggle next week. Slater needs a partner, and........

5. Non-title: Air Boom (Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne) vs. Epico & Primo (w/Rosa Mendes).

Rosa could be better off dancing in lower heels or barefoot. Her picture-in-picture promo, spoken entirely in Spanish, could've used subtitles. The Colon cousins have beaten Air Boom in non-title matches before, but couldn't cash in at TLC. Thankfully, someone finally got a clue, and Josh Mathews referenced Primo's previous tag title run, just 3 years ago, with brother Carlito. 2nd best match on the show, after the IC title match. The end came when Bourne misfired on the shooting star, thanks to Epico pulling Primo out of harm's way at the last possible second, and Primo pinned the fallen Bourne. Winners: Epico & Primo.

Earlier, Wade Barrett decided to play doctor and reported that Randy Orton has a herniated disc in his back (legit), which they say is the result of the match last week, but it really isn't. Barrett thinks Orton's done. I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, fella. Oh, yeah, Sheamus showed up and renewed hostilities with Barrett, before Jinder Mahal, now all buffed, came in and made it a double team. Sheamus was laid out after the Winds of Change (Black Hole Slam), and then Mahal added the camel clutch.

6. Natalya Niedhart vs. Tamina.

Clips of their respective fathers, Jim Niedhart & Jimmy Snuka, were shown before the match. It was all Tamina. Mid-ring crossbody left both hurt, but Tamina got up first, and hit a Samoan drop, followed by the Superfly Splash. Winner: Tamina.

Earlier, Daniel Bryan had questioned why his "girlfriend", AJ Lee, was pals with Alicia Fox. Man, is he clueless, or what? Both divas are concerned about his match with Big Show. Bryan would later disrupt Matt Striker's interview with Show. Uh-oh.

7. World title: Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show.

Mark Henry joins the announcers for this, and questioned Cole's line of questioning. Good. The guy's been with the company almost as long as Henry, and he's a bigger jerk. This was mostly about Bryan avoiding getting caught in the grip of the colossus. His kicks wore down Show, and got him down to his knees, but of course, Show would kick out with authority. At the end, Bryan was on the floor, and Henry, who was after both men to stay in the ring, shoved Bryan down, leaving ref Scott Armstrong no choice but to call for the bell. Winner: Daniel Bryan via DQ.

Smells like a 3-way at the Royal Rumble.