Smackdown!

Sacramento, California
June 30, 2005

SHOWDOWN LOOMING
July 7, 2005




It didn’t take too long for World Heavyweight Champion Batista to notch his first SmackDown! victory and make his first mortal enemy.

Batista defeated fellow draft lottery pick Christian in the main event in Sacramento, California, Thursday. Batista then dispatched of JBL and Orlando Jordan, who both made an unsuccessful attempt to send a message to the World Heavyweight Champion before The Great American Bash. WATCH

JBL will face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at the July 24 pay-per-view.

Batista has given JBL plenty of trouble in his short period of time on SmackDown!
Last week, Batista cost JBL his chance of holding the SmackDown! Championship when he was introduced as the final pick in the WWE Draft Lottery, then, to further humiliate JBL, Batista stormed the ring this week and actually helped The Blue Meanie defeat JBL in a No Disqualification Match early in the night. WATCH

Meanie and the entire Blue World Order of ECW fame interrupted JBL’s opening monologue before spray-painting his precious limo with the letters bWo. Of course, it was JBL’s controversial beating of the Blue Meanie at One Night Stand that had wrestling fans buzzing for weeks. Click here for real story on JBL and Meanie

JBL actually dominated the match but was done in by a chair shot from Stevie Richards and a Batista Bomb.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Hassan found out he would face Undertaker at The Great American Bash with the winner becoming the automatic No. 1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Hassan then watched calmly as Daivari quickly lost a match with Undertaker, who tombstoned Hassan’s manager.

But Hassan had a plan as five masked men, a few of them with clubs, attacked Undertaker, choked him out with a wire and then left him gasping for breath as Hassan jumped in and placed The Deadman in a Camel Clutch. WATCH

Chris Benoit defeated Booker T to become the No. 1 Contender for the United States Championship. The Crippler will now face United States Champion Orlando Jordan at The Great American Bash.

Also, Eddie Guerrero isn’t done torturing Rey Mysterio. After forcing Mysterio to be his partner in a WWE Tag Team Championship match against MNM, Latino Heat basically sabotaged any chance they had to win by sitting out large segments of the match and then attacking Mysterio from behind when it appeared Rey might win the match by himself.

Guerrero then had the nerve to make Mysterio open the ropes for him as he left, threatening to reveal their secret if Mysterio didn’t oblige. WATCH