A special thanks to Rick Lunkenheimer who attended the tapings and with some more time gave use a great detailed report.
10-11-11 Smackdown Recap
Before Taping: DX music hits to a HUGE pop. Out comes Shawn Michaels wearing the commemorative 10-11-11 Dallas DX t-shirt while Triple H comes out in a suit. They do their usual entrance before Triple H starts talking about the duo not using the phrase "Suck It" because WWE doesn't want them to. Of course, Shawn's answer is that he doesn't work for the WWE, and it didn't take them long to realize that technically Triple H was relieved of his COO duties and therefore wasn't an employee anymore. As Triple H starts doing his "Are you ready?" Shawn stops him. The two banter back and forth about Triple H being too corporate in his suit "from Men's Warehouse" that was "picked out by [his] wife." Not long after, the suit jacket, tie and shirt come off revealing the DX commemorative shirt underneath. As Triple H is putting on his arm band and wrist band, you hear Vince's voice from back stage urging them to "hurry up" which of course elicits a slowdown from the pair.
Once Triple H is properly attired, he begins his "Are You Ready?" again and of course the crowd goes wild. They push for a chant of "We want Wrestlemania" from the fans. The fun continues for a while before the music hits again and the pair slowly work their way around meeting with fans (including an adorable little one that mom was doing the DX chop with earlier). Cue Vince's music. Vince briefly comes out from behind the screen only to see both Shawn and Triple H standing on the ramp and immediately retreats, only to poke his head out a couple more times. DX continues to celebrate with the fans before slowing making their way up the ramp. When Shawn got most of the way up the ramp, he stopped, ran back down and visited with a few more fans before eventually joining Triple H and heading back stage.
Begin Taping: Booker T, Josh Mathews and Michael Cole are introduced as the announce team and make their way to the table. Then, Teddy Long comes out and introduces John Laurinaitis to boos throughout the arena before chants of "You Suck" begin. He talked for a bit, but frankly I tuned out anything he said because he annoys me. Then, the 41-man Battle Royal that was teased for the card was announced followed by a long parade of Superstars to the ring. You name him, he was probably in the ring. Among those involved were The Miz, R-Truth, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, John Morrison, Tyson Kidd, Ezekiel Jackson, David Otunga, Christian, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Curt Hawkins, Alex Riley, Percy Watson, Mason Ryan, Daniel Bryan, JTG, Jey and Jimmy Uso, Justin Gabriel, Jinder Mahal, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, William Regal, Dolph Ziggler, Heath Slater, Sin Cara, Drew McIntyre, and Michael McGillicutty.
With about a half-dozen guys left in the ring, The Miz takes a hit and rolls under the bottom rope and out of the ring where he stayed until Randy Orton was the only man left standing and thought he had won. Then in comes the Miz and it isn't long until both have gone over the top rope and fighting outside the ropes on the edge. The match ends with an RKO and the Miz's foot hitting the ground just a split second before Orton's. For winning, Orton was given the opportunity to choose a champion he'd like to face that evening, and of course he chose to face Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly: Beth Phoenix and Natalya came out followed by Kelly Kelly–donning a Stars jersey–and Eve. For about the billionth time, Beth and Kelly Kelly battled for about two minutes before Beth GlamSlammed Kelly Kelly and pinned her for the three-count. No surprise there.
Sin Cara vs. Justin Gabriel: Sin Cara's music begins, but there's no sign of him. Cue the cameras backstage that cut to Sin Cara Black attacking Sin Cara Blue. After a short scuffle, Sin Cara Black removed Sin Cara Blue's Mask (though you couldn't see his face). Sin Cara Black then removed his own mask and put on Sin Cara Blue's Mask. Out came Justin Gabriel followed by Sin Cara Black with Sin Cara Blue's mask on. Of course the lights were low as they usually are during Sin Cara's matches. Sin Cara won in a pretty uneventful match.
Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio: Nothing special about this match until Christian comes out and attacks Sheamus who gets the win via DQ. Christian speared Sheamus twice before leaving the ring.
Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder: Out comes Vickie Guerrero to introduce Swagger and Ziggler, but the crowd was booing so loud we couldn't hear what she was saying. They're followed by Tag Team Champs Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne (in street clothes) and Zack Ryder, who was filling in for an injured Bourne. Your usual tag team fare ensues followed by Ryder pinning Ziggler for the win.
World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry: It's your typical one-sided match between the two and shortly after Orton gains some momentum, Cody Rhodes comes out to attack, giving the win to Orton by DQ. As Henry and Rhodes both turn their focus on Orton, Big Show ran out to Orton's rescue and the pair cleared the ring.
Dark Match: WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio: The match starts with Del Rio playing a game of keep away jumping in and out of the ring avoiding the match altogether. After Cena calls him out on it, the two finally begin battling. It doesn't take long for Ricardo Rodriguez to be sent backstage by the referee. As Cena locked in the STFU, Rodriguez ran out from the back, hitting Cena from behind and ending the match by DQ in Cena's favor. Rodriguez held up Cena so Del Rio could hit him with the belt, but of course Cena ducked out of the way and Del Rio hit Rodriguez instead. Cena celebrated in the ring with DX glow sticks people threw in there before signing a few autographs and heading up the ramp.
