Smackdown!

San Diego, California
December 11, 2003

BROCK WINS THE BATTLE, HOLLY WINS THE WAR?
 

One week after surviving perhaps the challenge of his career from Chris Benoit, Brock Lesnar began SmackDown! alongside General Manager Paul Heyman, where it was revealed that Benoit will never get another shot at the WWE Championship, as long as Heyman is General Manager. Heyman explained that his long-term plans for SmackDown! are to build the show on Lesnar’s back, a la Vince McMahon, Sr. building WWE on the back of Bruno Sammartino and Mr. McMahon building WWE on the backs of Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Benoit, Heyman explained, came too close to ruining that plan, and therefore he will never get another shot at the WWE Championship.

The elimination of Benoit as a contender did not eliminate all viable contenders for the Championship, as Lesnar later learned. After several derogatory remarks about San Diego, Rey Mysterio – a San Diego native – entered the ring and challenged Lesnar to a match despite an incredible size disparity between the two. In the final match of SmackDown!, Mysterio faced Lesnar in a non-title match, with the stipulation being that a Mysterio win would lead to a rematch for the WWE Championship next week. For the second straight week, Lesnar was pushed to the limit, only to force Mysterio to tap out via the Brock Lock.

However, Lesnar’s evening did not end there. While Lesnar began to celebrate his victory, one of Mysterio’s mask-clad “relatives” attempted to enter the ring to defend Mysterio. That relative turned out to be none other than Hardcore Holly who, despite his indefinite suspension, is still determined to break Lesnar’s neck as he promised. An attack from Holly sent Lesnar reeling and proved that despite his current standing, there are many out there waiting in line to take a shot at the WWE Champion.

Also on SmackDown!, Shannon Moore finally passed one of Paul Heyman’s tests and, in the process, may have caused some dissention from within the ranks of Team Lesnar. After being scolded by Heyman for his bet against Lesnar last week, Heyman gave A-Train a shot at redemption with a match against Moore – a match for which Matt Morgan placed a substantial bet on A-Train. After a shocking win by Moore, both Morgan and the Big Show attacked A-Train and left him lying in the ring.

Speaking of Big Show, while the big man had the night off from in-ring action, he certainly enjoyed his fair share of activity, including a Battle Rap with John Cena. While the Big Show held his own considering it was his first rap, judging by the crowd’s reaction, Cena appeared to win. And if Cena did not win the rap, he most certainly won the battle as he hit the Big Show with a low blow at the conclusion of the contest that left Show on his knees in the ring. 

SmackDown! also featured a tag team slugfest between Los Guerreros and The Self-Proclaimed World’s Greatest Tag Team. Los Guerreros stole the win, literally, but their strife appeared to continue as the match featured several arguments between the two. However, the win puts Los Guerreros in a better position to challenge for the World Tag Team Championship – a Championship that may not belong to the Basham Brothers much longer as they announced that they will defend the World Tag Team Championship against Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty next week on SmackDown!

How will Brock Lesnar react to Hardcore Holly – the one challenger that Paul Heyman can not control? Are Shannon Moore’s test over now that he scored an upset win? Does the Big Show have revenge in mind for John Cena? Who will be the World Tag Team Champions? Answers to all of these questions and more can only be answered one way … by watching SmackDown! next week at 8/7 CT on UPN!

Match results:

Rhyno defeated Bradshaw

Shannon Moore defeated A-Train

Los Guerreros defeated the Self-Proclaimed World’s Greatest Tag Team

Brock Lesnar defeated Rey Mysterio