WWE Smackdown was filmed on Tuesday night from Columbus, Georgia. This represents the final effort for WWE to push this weekend's TLC, with Smackdown airing this Friday night. The Usos defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in the show opener. Interestingly, after Kidd and Cesaro had made their entrance, a vignette for NXT's The Acension aired. The new team will be debuting on WWE TV shortly. During the match itself, Miz and Mizdow did commentary. Miz flirted with Naomi who was at ringside for The Usos. Nikki Bella defeated Alicia Fox. Jack Swagger defeated Titus O'Neil via submission with the Patriot Lock. O'Neil did look genuinely hurt after the match, but maybe it was just his selling of the beating. Big E defeated Goldust in a singles match. John Cena came out for a rare Smackdown appearance, getting a big pop in the process. It was smart for WWE to use Cena here, as he's one of the few guys who could draw some extra interest in TLC. He talked a bit about Sunday's show until Seth Rollins interrupted. The two men argued back and forth about their upcoming match. It will be Cena vs Rollins in a tables match on Sunday, with Cena losing his number one contender status if he loses. The main event was Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and Erick Rowan versus Kane, Luke Harper and Big Show. The finish was Ryback hitting the shell shocked on Harper for the 1-2-3. The babyfaces then set up tables, ladders and chairs to deck the heels and close the show with a visual sell for Sunday. On the whole, it wasn't a totally awful show, but it was hardly the most riveting effort to sell TLC. A lot of this was the same kind of contrived stuff we see before any pay per view.
