It's one of those rare occasions when Smackdown is presented live instead of on tape delay, although this show will be rerun in its regular timeslot on Friday.

John Cena, who made his debut on Smackdown in 2002, opens the show. He manages to name check almost every WWE TV show out there, and even throws in references to Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the XFL, the latter of which becomes a joke. Cena calls out WWE champ Alberto Del Rio, even though he's scheduled to face Wade Barrett. Ricardo Rodriguez is out and explains that Del Rio isn't there, which happens to be the truth. The champ is a late scratch as he had to return to Mexico to get his work visa renewed, something Barrett can relate to. Cena decides to use Rodriguez as a messenger by punching him out. Make of that what you will.

Barrett is out next and cuts a promo of his own, which took longer than the following match, or so it seemed.......

1. John Cena vs. Wade Barrett.

These two have had better matches. It comes off this time as a protracted squash, as Barrett gets most of his offense in early, culminating with a Black Hole Slam, but cannot follow up the move with a pin attempt. It's all Cena after that, ending with the Attitude Adjustment. Funny, it's the same way we ended Raw last night, even though it is a different opponent this time. Winner: John Cena.

Matt Striker is shaking as he tries to interview Mark Henry. Did Striker gets wardrobe tips from Miz this week? Stop the pain already! Henry doesn't care who he gets at Night of Champions, which pretty much telegraphs the end of tonight's show already.....

2. Sin Cara 2.0 vs. Daniel Bryan.

They will go with the replacement Cara for the time being, although the door appears to be opening for a future feud with the original, as you'll see soon enough. Total babyface match, but then, so was the match Bryan had with the original Cara back in the spring, and that was marred by Chavo Guerrero's interference. This time, Cara matches Bryan step for step, and finishes him with the springboard moonsault off the 2nd rope. Winner: Sin Cara 2.0.

Post-match, the two shake hands as Bryan is on his knees, but then Cara turns on him and kicks him in the chest, knocking him down and leaving him lying. Hmmmm........

Tag champs Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne are interviewed next. Kofi references the Rockers and Harlem Heat as two teams that left big shoes to fill for him & Bourne.........

Aksana makes her obligatory appearance, serving as the ring announcer for the next match.......

3. Natalya & Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox.

1st time that Kelly & Alicia have tagged. For some reason, they don't want to do a single between Alicia & Natalya, based on what happened on 8/19. As soon as Alicia got the hot tag, it was over. El squashola, as Beth cuts off an attempted axe kick with a version of the Polish Hammer, then hits the Glam Slam. Winners: Natalya & Beth Phoenix.

Triple H & CM Punk are out next to sign the contract for their match at Night of Champions. Yes, you read that right. HHH will be in his first match since Wrestlemania vs. Punk, who has stupidly made this a personal issue. Truth be told, both men are being played for fools, not only by Kevin Nash, but by John Lauranitis. Nash was announced last night as being Punk's opponent, but then HHH pulled rank at the end of Raw and put himself in. Like it's going to change the outcome. HHH cut a money promo on Punk, who finally was pwned on the mic for a change. No sooner has the deal been sealed than Nash comes out to the old NWO music, and as much as HHH tries to prevent a fight, Punk gets his shots in, but Nash lays him out with a boot, then shoves HHH down. Ya wonder if the COO finally realizes he's being played? Teddy Long made his only appearance of the night during this segment.

4. Sheamus vs. Great Khali (w/Jinder Mahal).

This was announced last night as Punk-Khali, but then they made a late change here, too. Sheamus is selling the effects of his brawl with Mark Henry 4 days ago, and it shows, as he can't even go up for a sideslam. He has Khali lined up for a Brogue Kick, but Mahal blatantly runs in and attacks to end it. Winner: Sheamus via DQ.

They tried taking out the Celtic Warrior, but Sheamus made his own save. Khali went for a brain chop with Sheamus laid against a ringpost, but Sheamus moved, and Khali hit the post. Michael Cole claimed Khali may have broken his hand. Mahal paid the price for his actions when Sheamus laid him out with the High Cross.

Preview of "Inside Out", Triple H's 2nd film for WWE Films this year. This time, he's reunited with one of his co-stars from "Blade: Trinity", Parker Posey, but has Michael Rappaport & Bruce Dern to work with this time, too. Looks promising......

5. WWE World title: Randy Orton vs. Christian.

In an interview, Christian felt this was his night. So why try to be a chicken and go for the escape to victory within a minute after the match starts? Doesn't sound like championship strategy to me. This required 2 ad breaks, but it was match of the year quality.

Back and forth they went. Christian hit the D'Lo Brown frogsplash for 2. Orton tried 3 times before hitting the hanging DDT. Christian kept trying to escape, but Orton was always there to stop him. The ending was epic. Both were on top of the cage, then settled onto the top rope. You had to know what was coming. Looking both ways as if he was crossing the street, Orton hit a top rope RKO that got a heavy pop. End of story. Winner: Randy Orton.

Post-match, Mark Henry came out. Orton met him at the cage door, but the Olympic Powerhouse bulled his way in and laid out Orton after a Vader Bomb, a 747 splash, and the World's Strongest Slam. Two years ago, the roles were reversed, but now, even Josh Mathews believes Henry will be the next champion. Has his time finally come?