5 YRS AGO – WWE in New Jersey (7-5-13): Cody & Sandow & Brie vs. Brodus & Tensai & Naomi, Del Rio vs. Ziggler, McIntyre vs. True, plus A.J. Lee, Orton, Big E, Usos

The following report was originally published on PWTorch.com five years ago this week..

WWE Smackdown house show results
July 5, 2013
Wildwood, N.J. at Wildwood Convention Center
Report by Bill Conlin, PWTorch correspondent

The night started out with a six-person tag team event with Tons of Funk and Naomi taking on Rhodes Scholars and Brie Bella.

(1) Brodus Clay & Tensai & Naomi beat Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow & Brie Bella in a six-person tag match. The match ended with Team Rhodes leaving Brie Bella on her own and she was quickly pinned by Naomi.

(2) Justin Gabriel beat Heath Slater. The second match saw Slater dominate Gabriel for close to ten minutes before quickly succumbing to a Gabriel’s feet and aerial attack.

(3) Divas champion A.J. Lee (w/Big E. Langston) beat Kaitlyn to retain the Divas Title. With Big E. at ringside, A.J. was able to small package Kaitlyn for the clean win.There was no outside interference from Big E. After Kaitlyn chased A.J. out of the arena, Big E. hung out and challenged anyone in the audience to step up and challenge him. Cue the Viper’s music and the spotlight hit Randy Orton standing in the runway.

(4) Randy Orton beat Big E. Langston. Big E. held the upper hand for most of the 15-minute match, showing much promise as a wrestler and taking major heat. He was able to thwart several fan-led counters that Orton offered and strutted and mocked the crowd for much of the match. Like many Orton matches, it ended suddenly with an offensive barrage and RKO for the win.

[Intermission]

(5) R-Truth beat Drew McIntyre. Truth danced and spun his way to a win against McIntyre.

(6) The Usos beat Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young) in a Texas Tornado match. The Usos won the match, but I can’t give details because my two sons were busy getting their picture taken with Bob Backlund who thrilled the crowds (and I do mean crowds) with a strange combination of craziness and true affection when speaking to both young and old fans about WWE.

The Main Event on the card was a Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Title between Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler (without A.J. or Big E.).

(7) World Hvt. champion Alberto Del Rio beat Dolph Ziggler in a Last Man Standing match to retain the World Title. For about 15 minutes they fought back and forth with no one getting a true upper hand. Several Kendo Sticks, a trip through the crowd, a chair, and one malfunctioning table later, Del Rio was able to get a clean 10-count via a well-placed kick to the head.

With a substantial amount of Spanish-speaking fans in the audience, Del Rio could not heel out no matter how hard he tried until he grabbed the mic at the end of the match and told the crowd he was going to give “you Americans” a Fourth of July present of “bashing Ziggler’s brain all over this arena!” He turned to attack Ziggler with the belt, only to eat a Zig-Zag that sent the crowd home happy.

Biggest Pops: Randy Orton, Tons of Funk, Alberto Del Rio

Heel Action: Big E. Langston, Damien Sandow

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS 5 YRS AGO FLASHBACK: 5 YRS AGO – WWE in Tokyo, Japan (7-5-13): Team Hell No & Cena vs. The Shield, Sheamus vs. Cesaro, Jericho vs. Curtis Axel, Ryback vs. Miz