Smackdown!
East Rutherford, New Jersey
July 4, 2006
Challenge from the grave
By Brett Hoffman
August 4, 2006
On a fast-paced Friday night, The Great Khali ruined a classic encounter between
a Champion King and a Phenom, Chavo Guerrero and Rey Mysterio dramatically
clashed, Lashley returned to the ring in a big way, and Batista relieved three
weeks of frustration when he took out the obnoxious Mr. Kennedy, all on another
action-filled edition of SmackDown.
Friday’s main event presented a blockbuster of royal proportions. His majesty,
the World Heavyweight Champion King Booker, took on WWE’s resident Deadman
Undertaker in what many fans would call a dream match. King Booker, who achieved
immortality when he captured the Championship at The Great American Bash, has
been thrown right into the fire since taking the gold and Friday was his
toughest test to date. Undertaker, who made a rare SmackDown appearance was
looking to make a statement, and that’s exactly what he did.
Still riding the momentum from his win in the Punjabi Prison Match at the Bash,
the Phenom used his advantage in size and strength to push the King around and
at several times appeared to be on the verge of taking the “royal splendor”
right out of the Champ. The resilient King Booker however was not discouraged as
he fought back, displaying the determination that got him to where he is today
and is required of any reigning Champion. The decorated veterans relied on their
years of experience and 10 World Championships between them to give the
Meadowlands crowd their money’s worth and more.
As the match reached its boiling point, Undertaker seemed poised to put the nail
in the coffin, drilling King Booker with a trademark chokeslam. However, before
Taker could go for the cover, The Great Khali came through the curtain and
interrupted the match. His involvement forced the referee to call for the bell,
in effect putting a halt to what should have been one of the more memorable
matches in recent SmackDown history.
Khali and Undertaker exchanged blows, with the Phenom holding his own and
forcing the Punjabi warrior from the ring. Seconds later, Undertaker took the
microphone and made a grave challenge. (watch the video)
“Great Khali,” said the Phenom. “You…me…SummerSlam…Last Man Standing.”
Khali did not respond to the offer on SmackDown, but with all that has gone down
between these two monsters, a Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam would be
nothing short of an all-out combat.
In other huge SmackDown news, Chavo Guerrero finally went on the record to
address his startling actions at The Great American Bash. There, he interfered
in Rey Mysterio’s World Championship match and nearly took his close friend’s
head off with a chair, allowing King Booker to make the pin and take the gold.
Friday night, an emotional Chavo Guerrero made some stunning accusations.
“Rey Mysterio betrayed me,” said a serious Chavo. “Rey Mysterio is a thief. Let
me tell you what he stole. He tried to steal the spotlight, my spotlight. He did
everything he could to tie himself to Eddie Guerrero because Rey couldn’t stand
on his own two feet. I saved you from losing your title over and over. He used
the Guerrero name… I’m the Guerrero Rey, not you. Rey, you didn’t just steal
Eddie from me, you didn’t just steal him from the Guerrero family, you stole the
memory of Eddie from each and every one of those people out there. You’re
nothing but a leach living off the blood of the Guerrero name.”
By the time Chavo finished his rant, Rey had heard enough and stormed the ring.
The men who were once the closest of friends engaged in fisticuffs which were
only broken up when Vickie Guerrero, the widow of the legendary Eddie Guerrero,
intervened. Vickie bravely stepped between the two former allies and yelled
“enough, enough!” as Rey and Chavo backed off. On Smackdown, what was once an
unbreakable relationship between close friends turned into a bitter family
squabble in a matter of minutes. (watch the video)
Over the last few weeks, Mr. Kennedy has narrowly escaped the unrelenting grasp
of Batista. Using his ring savvy, and a whole lot of luck, Kennedy reeled off
two consecutive victories over The Animal. At the Bash, it was a DQ, and last
week, it was a count-out, but this week on SmackDown, The Animal finally got his
prey.
In their two previous encounters, built-up frustration caused Batista to be
overaggressive, and he suffered the consequences. On this night, The Animal’s
aggression led to a definitive and dominating win over his cocky and annoying
opponent. Batista put Kennedy away in convincing fashion, dropping the Green Bay
native with the spinebuster and then the signature Batista Bomb. After the
match, Michael Cole caught up with Batista to congratulate him on his hard
fought victory. Batista shook off the accolades and sent a message to
SmackDown’s top stars: “The only congratulations I want is when I get my
Championship back.” (watch the video)
This week’s show was full of WWE debuts, but it also featured the return of one
of SmackDown’s hardest hitting Superstars. The return of Lashley overshadowed
the third installment of the brutal and now personal battle of former colleagues
Finlay and William Regal. The United States Champion, Finlay, was disqualified
after he hit Regal with the shillelagh, but the big news was in the events that
immediately followed.
Lashley, who was briefly sidelined with an injury rushed the ring and headed for
the Champ. He was temporarily slowed when Finlay hit him with the shillelagh,
but seconds later, he was able to take out his aggression on Regal. The result
was a devastating powerslam that left Regal grounded, and shook the foundation
of SmackDown as it’s hardest hitting newcomer is officially back. (watch the
video)
As previously mentioned, this week’s show was full of SmackDown debuts. Last
week, the new talent initiative brought in Sylvester Terkay, who bullied his way
to victory over Matt Hardy. This week, Terkay’s associate Elijah Burke got in
the ring at Sylvester’s urging and dismantled Scott Wright. The overmatched
Wright was menaced both during the match and after. After Burke took recorded
the pinfall, Terkay stepped through the ropes to get a piece for himself. The
experienced brawler took an already injured Wright apart, rebelling against the
theory that you should never kick a man while he’s down. (watch the video)
SmackDown also hosted the debut of Michelle McCool’s new tag team, whom she
referred to as her “Teacher’s Pets”. The pets, K.C. James & Idol Stevens, had
nothing short of an impressive debut as they displayed what looked to be years
of tag-team experience in their triumph over Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki. (watch the
video)
General Manager Theodore Long was greeted in his office by another newcomer when
Montel Vontavious Porter, also known as M.V.P. dropped by. The dapper young
athlete recommended that Long should sign him up for the SmackDown roster and
referred him to his agent before departing. With the additions of Terkay, Burke,
James & Idol and M.V.P, it certainly seems as though the new talent initiative
is in full effect on SmackDown. (meet M.V.P.)
While newcomers were plentiful this week, a familiar old face also graced the
ring when Brooklyn Brawler showed up on SmackDown. Fresh off his appearance at
ECW on Sci Fi, in which he proved that he wasn’t quite as extreme as he once
was, Brawler faced off with fellow New Yorker Vito in one-on-one action. The
toughest man in a dress kept the hot streak going by taking out the WWE legend.
Since donning the dress, Vito is undefeated.
This week, we also got to see exclusive footage of Vito working out at a local
gym in his native Brooklyn. (watch the video)
SmackDown wouldn’t be complete without a visit from the sexiest women on TV.
Diva Search Alumni Ashley and Kristal added another chapter to their blossoming
rivalry this week. Kristal, who appears to be overly jealous Ashley for winning
the 2005 Diva Search, took the low road by grabbing the tights in her victory
over the punk-rock Diva.
And speaking of Divas, the 2006 edition of $250,000 Diva Search continued this
week on SmackDown. Each of the aspiring Divas was met with adversity this week
when they were pied in their face during confessionals. For a full report on
this week’s Diva Search happenings… click here.
Besides Batista, another SmackDown Superstar got a taste of revenge on this
week’s show. Tatanka, who last week was cheated in his match against Quebec’s
ambassador-at-large Sylvan, was able to turn the tables this time around. The
snooty resident of Montreal recorded a questionable victory over Tatanka last
week, and then added insult to injury when he threw the Native American
warrior’s tribal headdress to the ground. This week, he was given a receipt when
Tatanka put him away with the Wykea.
Matches
Batista def. Mr. Kennedy
Elijah Burke def. Scott Wright
K.C. James & Idol Stevens def. Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki
Kristal def. Ashley
Tatanka def. Sylvan
Vito def. Brooklyn Brawler
William Regal def U.S. Champion Finlay (DQ)
Undertaker def. World Champion King Booker (DQ)