Smackdown!

Buffalo, New York
June 8, 2000

Chris Jericho brought the crowd at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y., to its feet as SmackDown! kicked off Thursday night. Y2J took on Test in a King of the Ring Qualifying Match. Test was accompanied to the ring by Trish Stratus, and Jericho made a point of mocking Test's women trouble, including his relationship with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley last year. As the match began, Test used power moves to take Jericho down, but Y2J stayed in the thick of things. With Trish on the apron distracting the ref, Jericho was able to push Test into his manager, distracting Test long enough to pull off the win with a Lionsault. Jericho will now move on to the King of the Ring Tournament!

As green and black balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling, the McMahon/Helmsley Regime came to the ring for a celebration party. Even though Triple H had regained his title nearly three weeks earlier, this was the first opportunity the group had to actually celebrate. The Game thanked the special people in his life, specifically his wife, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley.

As the group hugged, The Rock's music played, and the People's Champion made his way to the stage. The Rock demanded payback from Triple H - but the Game made a case that The Rock should instead look to the Undertaker for payback. After all, said the Game, it was the Undertaker who cost The Rock the title at Judgment Day and the ensuing title match on RAW. That brought out the Undertaker, who cleaned house on DX for a while. But DX regained the advantage, and just as the Undertaker was being overpowered, The Rock ran to the ring to clean house. In the melee, the Undertaker accidentally hit The Rock with a chair after X-Pac moved out of the way. The Taker then nailed Triple H with the chair.

Backstage, The Rock asked Kane where the Undertaker went. When Kane didn't answer, Rock got mad, and the two wound up duking it out.

Too Cool defended their Tag Team Championship against the Godfather and Dean Malenko next. Although the fun-loving Malenko and Godfather put up a good fight, Grandmaster Sexay was able to pin Malenko after a Hip Hop Drop.

In the McMahon/Helmsley locker room, the Regime discussed what had happened just moments earlier, and then made the main event for the evening - Triple H, Road Dogg and X-Pac vs. Kane, The Rock and the Undertaker.

Chris Benoit again defended his Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown!, this time against Jeff Hardy. Although usually a tag team competitor, Jeff appeared to have the title won after a Swanton Bomb. But Benoit was able to get to the ropes in the nick of time and, moments later, locked on the Crippler Crossface for the win. After the match, Benoit extended his hand to Hardy, who shook it, only to be blindsided with the Intercontinental Title. As Jeff lay on the mat, Benoit flashed a sadistic grin.

The trio of Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian instantly earned the wrath of the Buffalo crowd, ragging on the Bills' Super Bowl history and the Sabres bad luck in the Stanley Cup finals. The pose for the evening was a recreation of Scott Norwood's missed field goal in the Super Bowl. The trio's opponents in a 3-on-2 Handicap Match were the Dudley Boyz, who picked up an upset, defeating Christian after a 3-D.

The Coach then interviewed Stephanie, the World Wrestling Federation Women's Champion, about the battle royal to determine a No. 1 contender. Stephanie said that the battle royal was open invitation - and then barged into the women's locker room to see who would answer the challenge, much to the surprise of the shocked (and half-dressed) ladies.

Backstage, the Undertaker confronted Kane and asked him where he was during the earlier melee with DX. Kane said that he was watching it and enjoying it, and that he would definitely be there for the six-man-tag main event.

Stephanie and Tori made their way to the ring for the battle royal, with Tori dressed in a black-and-white striped shirt. It was announced that she would be the referee for the contest! Five participants took part in the battle royal - The Kat, Terri, Lita, Ivory and Jacqueline. Terri and The Kat fought in one part of the ring as the other three divas battled in the other. After Terri eliminated The Kat, Lita quickly eliminated Terri, and then Jacqueline with a powerful hurricanrana. Finally, after a stunning top-rope moonsault, Lita pinned Ivory to earn a title shot. She pointed at Stephanie, who was doing color commentary - only to be attacked by Tori! Tori abused Lita, and when Stephanie had the timekeeper ring the bell, Lita was easy prey for the Women's Champion, who pinned her 1-2-3 for a successful title defense!

After the match, Kevin Kelly interviewed Lita, who demanded a re-match.

In another King of the Ring Qualifying Match, Matt Hardy took on Eddie Guerrero, accompanied by Chyna. After a hurricanrana, Eddie pinned Matt, meaning that both "Latino Heat" and "Mamacita" are now in the King of the Ring Tournament.

Fresh off a Stink Face on Monday's RAW, Trish Stratus motivated Val Venis to take on Rikishi. He promised he would get revenge for her - provided she helped him attain championship gold. She agreed. Displaying an aggressive streak, Val met the 400-punder straight on. The match would end abruptly, as Trish threw powder in the big man's face as he set Val up for a Stink Face, earning Rikishi a DQ win. After the match, Val demolished Rikishi, but Rikishi wouldn't stay down. Val went back to attack again, which proved to be a huge mistake. The two battled up to the stage, where Rikishi knocked Val off with a reverse crescent kick. Then, the 400-pounder crushed Val with a huge splash from 10 feet in the air! As a concerned Trish looked on, Val was carried out on a stretcher.

Kevin Kelly caught up with Chris Benoit backstage, and asked why the Crippler had attacked Jeff Hardy after their match. Benoit simply responded, "because I wanted to."

The main event was up next, with Triple H, Road Dogg and X-Pac taking on The Rock, Kane and the Undertaker. Although the night started as a DX celebration, it ended with X-Pac getting chokeslammed and pinned by the Undertaker. Another fracas broke out after the match, with Rock accidentally hitting Kane with a chair. The People's Champion then purposely hit the Undertaker with a chair and headed back to the locker room. As the show went off the air, the Undertaker, Kane and The Rock stared each other down.