WWE Smackdown Results: Rollins addresses his attack on The Shield as The Authority dominate the show.

Our round up of all the action from WWE Smackdown on Friday night

Triple H was a big part of Friday's WWE Smackdown action (Twitter)

Triple H entered the arena and introduced new cohort Seth Rollins to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Seth Rollins explained that the only person that needs to know why he betrayed The Shield is himself, this was met with the music of Dolph Ziggler who said what Rollins did was by far worse than what The Shield has done to anybody else and that was that he turned his back on his own brothers. Ziggler went on to call Rollins a traitor and said that he sold out, Triple H responded saying that Dolph Ziggler is right that Rollins sold out and that he’s done what Ziggler will never do, which is sell out arenas. Triple H then set up a match between Ziggler and Rollins right away as the two squared off in the ring.

Triple H watched on from ringside as “The Architect” chokes Ziggler in the corner before “The Show Off” fights back with a series of punches and a throw to the outside. Rollins retreated to his new manager to recover and waste some time then proceeded to ferociously beat down on Ziggler. There was a near fall from Ziggler when he hit the Famouser but Rollins managed to get the win following the Black Out. The two put on a great technical match but it was The Authority’s new prodigy that had his hand raised by the COO.

The Usos took on Rybaxel in a tag team match to get the in-ring action underway. Ryback and Curtis Axel worked well with each other to isolate each Uso with double-team suplexes and dominate the match. Jey was on the receiving end of some hard-hitting elbows in the corner by Ryback who tagged Axel in but Jey was able to fight back here and send Ryback to the floor. Jimmy finally tagged in and hit the Samoan splash for the three count.

Lana walked towards the ramp to brag about the greats the her country of Russia has produced and told the fans to praise her leader Vladimir Putin. Rusev then entered the ring to prepare for his match against Xavier Woods, although the match was ended in less than thirty seconds with a side kick by Rusev followed by the camel clutch. The post-match celebration saw Rusev stand proud as a Russian flag lowered to the ring.

Intercontinental Conflict

The fans were treated to a triple-threat match between Bad News Barrett, Rob Van Dam and Cesaro for the Intercontinental Championship. Paul Heyman got on the microphone before the match started and reminded the crowd of how Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Heyman then diverted the attention to the “Swiss Superman” Cesaro as the match got started.

RVD hit his signature spots with a moonsault onto Cesaro then a barricade leg drop on Barrett. RVD managed to then counter Cesaro’s gut wrench suplex to climb the turnbuckle and hit the Five Star Frog Splash. The match was nearly won by RVD but Barrett appeared out of nowhere to hit the Bull Hammer to retain his title.

The lights instantly cut out following the match for Bray Wyatt to appear smiling in a demon like manner on the big screen. Wyatt said that he felt the reaper pulling him down when John Cena locked him in the box but said that in death you will find rest and in rebirth he will grow much stronger. Wyatt paused for a moment and concluded that you have to accept responsibility and become a leader and that there is nothing left to fear as he is “reborn” and told the fans to join him as the lights faded.

Big show faces the Blackout

Randy Orton faced The Big Show in the main event of the show, a match that was set up by Triple H earlier in the show when Show confronted Rollins. Big Show went for the knockout punch on Orton but Triple H climbed onto the apron to cause a distraction. Show didn’t take this lightly and grabbed the necks of both Orton and Triple H to set up a double chokeslam.

Rollins ran down the ramp and springboarded into the match to deliver a flying knee to Show to send him to the mat and cause a disqualification. “The Viper” hit the RKO before Triple H hands a steel chair to Rollins who placed it under the face of a helpless Big Show. Rollins hit the Blackout curb stomp onto the chair but decided that this was not enough and ran off the ropes to hit another one. The trio stood over a knocked out Big Show with an abundance of cocky smiles to end the show.

A very Strong Smackdown this week that managed to give substance to the changes that occurred on Monday’s Raw. Seth Rollins showed that he is very capable of delivering interesting promos and put on classy matches without the backing of his former comrades. At first it seemed odd for Rollins to be one chosen to betray The Shield but not only did the move cause a stir amongst the fans, it will set up a run of interesting matches going forward as Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose will seek to get revenge on the defector.

The mid card scene is looking stronger than ever with Cesaro, RVD and Barrett all competing for the Intercontinental Championship, looks like the triple threat here will set them up for another showdown at Money in the Bank, possibly in the ladder match itself. The Big Show won’t take the beating he received lightly and we will likely see a match between him and Rollins on Raw.