Smackdown!

Green Bay, Wisconsin
September 5, 2002

Rey Mysterio pinned Billy
After defeating Rico the previous week, Mysterio opened up the show by taking his chances against Rico's associate Billy. The 10-time former Tag Team Champion wasted no time, jumping Mysterio before the opening bell. He viciously choked the cruiserweight in the corner until referee Brian Hebner broke it up. Yet, the punishment continued, as Billy continued to pour it on for the first two minutes of the match, until Rey escaped a suplex and dropkicked Billy in the knees. But Billy took control again with a commanding clothesline. A neckbreaker sent Mysterio reeling, but he fought back from his knees, landing punches to Billy's midsection before scoring with a flying headscissors and a springboard dropkick. Rey's 619 maneuver was blocked from the outside by Billy's partner, Chuck, which allowed Billy to take over once again. He pounded Mysterio in the corner, but got a little too cocky, as the Masked One reversed a Billy backdrop into a roll-up for the pin at 5:05.

Following the match, Rico entered the ring to console Billy. He announced that next week would be the single greatest moment of Billy's life, and then invited Chuck into the ring. "Chuck has something he wants to ask you," said Rico. Chuck then reached into his trunks and pulled out a ring, whereupon he shocked the Green Bay crowd by getting down on one knee and asking Billy to be his "partner for life!" Billy responded in the affirmative, leading to a group hug.

Jamie Noble (with Nidia) pinned Shannon Moore to retain the Cruiserweight Championship
Thanks to his recent pinning of Noble in a tag team match, Moore earned his shot at the Cruiserweight Title. Noble looked in no mood to drop his coveted gold, exchanging right hands with Moore from the start. Moore hit a perfect spin kick, then covered Noble early for two. The champ then found himself dropkicked right out of the ring, where Moore pounced on him and hurled him back between the ropes. Another two-count, and Noble started coming back with a clothesline and side suplex, followed by a two-count of his own. Working on his opponent's back, Noble rammed Moore into the corner and executed a backbreaker and modified surfboard. But Moore refused to submit and escaped the hold. That didn't stop Noble, who went right back to work on the back. But a heel-kick finally put Noble on his own back. The momentum turned in Moore's favor, and he came within an eyelash of pinning the champ. A top rope maneuver came closer than ever to putting Noble away. Noble finally made his comeback by landing a desperation powerbomb followed by a tigerbomb to put his challenger down for the three-count at 6:01.

Backstage, Paul Heyman was preparing WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar for his upcoming match with Randy Orton, when Orton himself butted in and got in Brock's face. Since they entered the business together back in Ohio  Valley Wrestling, Orton claimed to know how to deal with Lesnar in the ring.

Also in the backstage area, Edge, Rey Mysterio and Rikishi were enjoying a game of dominoes. Edge asked Rikishi if he was ready for their upcoming six-man tag team match teaming with Undertaker against Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.

WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar pinned Randy Orton in a non-title match
The third-generation World Wrestling Entertainment Superstar charged Lesnar to begin, but the champ just absorbed the blows. He proceeded to toss Orton around the ring like a rag doll. With ease, he tossed Orton over the corner ringpost and on to the floor. Showing no respect to the son of Cowboy Bob Orton, Brock hurled him back in the ring to continue the beatdown. Orton miraculously kicked out of a pin following a clothesline that almost beheaded him. Whipping him from corner to corner, Lesnar drove his shoulder into Orton's gut. Unable to get out of the corner, Orton took more and more punishment from the titleholder. Hoisting him on his shoulder, Lesnar repeatedly drove Orton's back into the turnbuckles. Orton tried to fight back, but a clubbing blow to the back of the head put Orton down on his face. With desperation, Orton lashed out at Brock with dropkicks, and launched himself on to the champ from the top, but Lesnar simply caught him. One dominating F5 later, and Randy Orton was pinned by the rampaging Brock Lesnar at 5:27.

Meanwhile, Mark Henry congratulated Chuck and Billy on their engagement backstage.

In Stephanie McMahon's office, the SmackDown! GM met with her newest acquisition, Crash, and wished him good luck in his upcoming match with The Hurricane. After Crash left, Reverend D-Von barged into the office to express his disapproval of Chuck & Billy's engagement. Stephanie lashed out at D-Von for his closed-minded ways and insisted that he watch the wedding, which would be taking place in the ring next week. She also booked an impromptu match for D-Von against his former associate Batista.

Mark Henry pinned Tajiri
A unique contrast of styles unfolded as the World's Strongest Man clashed with the Japanese Buzzsaw. Tajiri tried to go for Henry's left leg, but was met with a series of knee lifts. Henry then tossed Tajiri into the ropes, and came crashing down on him from behind. Tajiri attempted a flying elbow and a series of chops, to no effect. Henry responded with a shot to the back of Tajiri's head. Tajiri finally succeeded in connecting with Henry's legs using some vicious kicks, putting Henry on the mat. But Henry blocked Tajiri's next kick, and even the tarantula did nothing. Henry came back strong, scoring a powerslam to put Tajiri away at 3:24.

What followed was a face-to-face sit-down meeting between Brock Lesnar and the No. 1 SmackDown! contender, the Undertaker. Stephanie McMahon was the moderator as the two Superstars sat across from each other. The two are slated to meet in the ring on Sept. 22 at Unforgiven. Brock got the first words in, touting his impressive amateur career, as well as his incredibly short run to the WWE World Championship. But Taker seemed unfazed. In fact, he almost laughed at Brock, accusing him of overconfidence and inexperience. He declared that he would test Brock for the first time at Unforgiven. Heyman proceeded to ridicule Taker, pointing out that he might be a little distracted by his wife Sara, who is expecting. Heyman goaded the Undertaker on the subject until the Badass could take no more and put Heyman on his ass. It seemed like Taker and Brock would go at it right then and there, but Heyman held his client back.

Batista pinned Reverend D-Von
D-Von didn't even wait for Batista to enter the ring, planting kicks into him as he passed though the ropes. But it didn't last long before Batista sent D-Von fleeing from the ring. On the outside, D-Von tried to equalize things by taking down his former protégé with a steel chair. Back in the ring, he went for a cover, but to no avail. Using cheap shots to keep Batista grounded, it was only a matter of time before D-Von lost the advantage. Power moves were the order of the day as the mighty Batista punished the Reverend. A devastating powerbomb from Batista cut the match abruptly short at 2:32.

In the backstage area, Jamie Noble and Nidia were getting ready to leave. Nidia seemed taken by Chuck and Billy's engagement, and asked Jamie if they would ever get married. Although Noble said they would, he seemed to only be patronizing her.

In the locker room, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle were getting ready for the upcoming six-man tag team match. Upset about losing his shot at the WWE title last week due to Rikishi, Guerrero was looking forward to getting some revenge. But Angle seemed upset at Guerrero's partner Benoit for ruining his own chances last week. There seemed to be some dissension between Angle and Guerrero, and as Angle was badmouthing Benoit, none other than the Rabid Wolverine emerged on the scene. Before long, Guerrero had to pull his two tag team partners apart.

Once again backstage, Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore were watching Matt's match last week with Brock Lesnar. Hardy seemed very impressed with himself and his performance, and instructed Shannon to watch him wrestle Hardcore Holly tonight if he wanted to learn to be a great Superstar. That's when Hardcore Holly showed up to make Matt eat some of his words.

Hardcore Holly pinned Matt Hardy
Matt took down Holly immediately for a two-count. Circling each other, the two locked up collar-and-elbow. Holly scored with a backslide, but couldn't hold Matt down. The match degenerated into blows, with Holly coming out on the short end. But a whip into the corner ring post changed all that, and Hardy was sent to the outside. Following him, Holly planted some chops in his opponent's chest before bringing him back inside for a two-count. Lifting Matt to the top turnbuckle, Holly went for a superplex, but was sent crashing down to the mat. Hardy followed up with a moonsault, but Hardcore kicked out of the ensuing pin. Even after hitting the Side Effect, Matt couldn't hold him down for three. Hardcore came back strong with a powerbomb, but Matt turned the momentum back after hitting Holly with a boot to the face in the corner. Hardcore Holly's impressive dropkick put Matt down, and the two struggled mightily on the mat. They exchanged a series of roll-ups before Holly used a handful of tights to hold Hardy down for the three-count at exactly 5:00.

Crash pinned The Hurricane
The cruiserweight division was front and center with this one. Looking to start climbing the ranks in the division after defecting from RAW, Crash was out to prove something. The two Superstars circled each other before exchanging blows in the corner. Hurricane took control, suplexing Crash and landing a high cross-body from the top. Crash fought out of a side headlock and landed his own side suplex. He then put the boots to his masked opponent. Softening up Hurricane's back, Crash planted a series of knees to the spine. Hurricane blocked a suplex, and went back on the offensive. A flying elbow hurt Crash, as did a snap neckbreaker from the second turnbuckle. But even a dropkick to the head wasn't enough. Hurricane seemed to be running out of steam as he took Crash to the top turnbuckle. He scored with a neckbreaker from the top, which took almost as much out of him as it did out of Crash. Referee Mike Sparks laid a count on both men, which reached eight before Hurricane made it to his feet. Hurricane went for his chokeslam finisher, but Crash grabbed a leg and rolled Hurricane up for the surprise pin at 4:40. After the match, Hurricane helped his victorious opponent to his feet in a rare show of sportsmanship.

Next, a promotional video package was aired, chronicling Rikishi's difficult life on the streets, particularly his recovery from being shot and nearly killed.

Undertaker, Edge & Rikishi defeated Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit
The titanic main event was next. Angle and Undertaker started it off, with the Taker wrenching Angle's left arm with authority. He took Angle down with a big boot/legdrop combination, and went for the chokeslam--which Angle promptly escaped, tagging out to Benoit. The Crippler took charge in the corner with kicks and chops, but the Dead Man reversed the situation and tagged in Rikishi. The 'Kish delivered a spinebuster on Benoit, followed by a Samoan drop. Edge came in next for his team, and Benoit brought in Guerrero to oppose him. It was all Edge at this point. When Angle tried to interfere, he was met by the Taker on the outside. With the ref distracted, Guerrero and Benoit double-teamed Edge, giving Latino Heat the advantage. Angle tagged in, continuing the beating on Edge. The tags continued for the controlling team, as Benoit and then Guerrero took turns punishing Edge. They seemed to have successfully cut off the ring, tagging in and out at will against the struggling Canadian. After a sapping reverse chinlock and belly-to-belly suplex from Angle, Edge seemed to have nothing left, but he hit the Edge-ecution on the former Olympian, allowing him to finally make the tag to the Undertaker. The Phenom proceeded to clean house on all three opponents. He was about to chokeslam the legal Benoit when Guerrero hit him with a low blow from behind. Angle and Rikishi came in next, leading to a Stinkface for Kurt courtesy of the Phat Man. Benoit came in for the save, but got a good laugh at Angle's predicament. The two teammates then went at each other, leading to total disarray outside the ring. Guerrero was left all alone in the ring against all three men on the opposing team. They took full advantage of their situation as referee Jimmy Korderas tried in vain to restore order. Eddie was a sitting duck, and the Taker put him out of his misery with the Last Ride at 11:06 to win the match for his team.