Daniel Bryan won his first WWE Championship through the underhanded trick of cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot against an exhausted Big Show. Though he held onto it for a while, Sheamus managed to take the belt in an 18-second match at Wrestlemania -XXVIII, courtesy of a roll-up while Bryan was distracted by a kiss from his manager AJ. At today’s WWE Smackdown, he’ll try to reclaim the belt against the Irish champion, but it’ll be an uphill battle since Sheamus has proved he can more than hold his own with the best. Meanwhile, the always dangerous Randy Orton will pit his RKO finisher against the Big Red Machine Kane, newly returned to his fearsome red-masked persona. Orton and his father were put out of commission by Kane in an attack with a steel pipe in March. The match will be no disqualifications, so look for weapons to play a prominent role.
Tue., Aug. 7, 6 p.m., 2012
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2012.