The Smackdown Summary - 18th December 2009
18/12/2009
Hello and welcome the this edition of the Smackdown Summary.
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On with the show!
Quick Links
Opening Segment: Teddy Talks Titles
Match 1: Morrison, Hardy & Truth Vs. McIntyre, Punk & Gallows
Match 2: Eric Escobar Vs. Kane
Match 3: Chris Jericho Vs. The Great Khali
Match 4: The Hart Dynasty Vs. JWY & SMJ
Match 5: Beth Phoenix Vs. Maria
Main Event: Batista Vs. Rey Mysterio
The Smackdown Summary
Opening Segment
Teddy Talks Titles
Smackdown G.M Teddy Long kicks off the show tonight and immediately drops the bombshell that tonight we will decide upon a new #1 Contender for The Undertaker’s World Heavyweight Championship.
Batista cuts Long off and says that he doesn’t need to look for someone because he has to ‘make it right’ and give The Animal another title shot, because there isn’t anyone backstage who would want to fight him for the #1 contendership anyway.
Cue Rey Mysterio.
Mysterio says he wants to challenge for the right to go for the title, explaining that you don’t have to be a big muscle-bound guy to go for Heavyweight gold.
Rey says the best way for him to get back at The Animal is to make sure he never holds the World Championship again, so he wants to take him on right here tonight.
Teddy makes the match but warns Batista that it will be a straight up bout and the winner will get their match against Taker on Christmas Day.
There’s a show on Christmas Day? No promises on that one guys.
Match 1
6 Man Tag Team Match
John Morrison, Matt Hardy & R-Truth
Vs.
Drew McIntyre, C.M Punk & Luke Gallows
As a rule I don’t really like 6-Man Tag Team matches, and this one really demonstrated why.
For a start they are ridiculously overused these days, and nearly always to bring 2-3 rivalries together into one bout rather than two stables of 3 men etc.
Secondly, the people involved don’t get to show off their talents as much as they normally would.
I’m unsure on Gallows and I don’t care for Truth too much, but any combination of Punk/Hardy/Morrison/McIntyre fighting one on one would more than likely result in a fantastic match, which these 6 man confrontations rarely are.
Finally, you can bet your bottom dollar that 9 out of 10 6-Man Tag matches will run and inevitably end the same way this one did; heels isolating one member of the good guys for the majority of the match, a hot tag, a mass brawl and a victory while everyone else is down or fighting their own battles.
Punk drove his Slammy Award into the ribs of Matt Hardy, which was thrown into the ring by Gallows while the referee’s back was turned.
C.M Punk, Luke Gallows and Drew McIntyre win by Pinfall.
Match 2
Singles Match
Eric Escobar
Vs.
Kane
Before the match Escobar addressed Vickie once more.
He kind of half heartedly apologised for calling the National Geographic after thinking she was the Chupacabra when seeing her in her negligée.
He said that no matter what match she puts him in, it can’t be as bad as being in a relationship with her.
Vickie comes out and complains about how he is treating her, then says that as it is his birthday she’s got him a present.
Enter Kane.
This is a strange one, because both guys have been on face turns recently, so this match initially made Kane look like a heel again, doing Vickie’s bidding.
However, moments into the match Vickie attempted to cheer Kane along and got chastised by him for doing so.
The Big Red Machine picked up the win moments later with a Chokeslam.
After the bell Vickie jumped into the ring and began laughing maniacally at Escobar as he struggled back to his feet.
She said he should choose his words more wisely when addressing her, prompting him to snatch the microphone off her.
He said he had been talking himself into some beatings as of late, so in future he’s going to watch what he says.
He takes a moment then says in the morning he’ll wake up sore and in pain, but he’ll live to fight another day, whereas she’ll wake up in the morning still looking like ‘THAT’.
Kane wins by Pinfall.
Match 3
Singles Match
Chris Jericho
Vs.
The Great Khali (w/Runjin Singh)
It hasn’t been the best week for Jericho and this seems like something he is keen to address before this match begins.
He talks about how he was unfairly ejected from Raw and that he and The Big Show never lost their title re-match against DX.
Jericho says they were part of the biggest screwjob in history and that although he was embarrassed and humiliated in front of millions of parasites around the world, this isn’t over and he won’t leave Raw until he’s ready to leave Raw.
Finally he talks about how Show isn’t able to appear on Smackdown either and that this is probably the worst moment of his career but he will continue to dominate Friday nights as the ‘Face of Smackdown’.
As you’d expect the match was nothing to shout about and ended prematurely when Jericho decided he’d had enough and walked to the back, losing by count out.
The Great Khali wins by Count Out.
Match 4
Tag Team Match
The Hart Dynasty (w/Natalya)
Vs.
Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J
What’s the closest you can get to a Hart Dynasty Vs. Cryme Tyme match you can get without it actually being one?
Yup, that’s right; a guy that wanted to be in Cryme Tyme for months, paired up randomly with an Asian Redneck, in a re-match from Superstars last week.
As with the match on Superstars Natalya got involved once more, this time attacking Slam Master J, which eventually led to The Hart Dynasty picking up their second victory over this thrown together duo in as many weeks.
After the match Natalya grabbed a microphone and explained that ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’ and after a decade they finally get their opportunity to hit back at DX (I assume they mean HBK in particular) next week on Smackdown.
DH Smith says that unlike their parents, they won’t be intimidated and won’t back down, and instead will end DX’s tag title reign.
Kidd then wrapped things up by saying that this is a new era for the Hart Family, they are better than the best and they’ll do what their seniors wouldn’t, or more likely couldn’t do.
This was a difficult one to interpret, especially when you consider The Informant’s recent claims of a Bret Hart managerial return.
Initially it sounded like they planned to avenge the wrong-doings dealt to their parents/mentors, but as the little promo went on it sounded more and more derogatory.
Certainly open to interpretation at the moment.
The Hart Dynasty win by Pinfall.
Segment 2
Phoenix Face Turn?
Backstage Beth Phoenix is heading to the ring when Michelle and Layla stop her.
Michelle tells the Glamazon she hopes they didn’t rub her the wrong way when she initially came over to Smackdown.
Beth says they didn’t and Michelle explains that they all want the same thing; to be rid of Piggie James and ‘The Underfed Redhead’ Maria.
McCool and Layla then talk about how big Mickie is and how she is built like a man, seemingly angering Beth.
Beth says it’d be a shame to see a BIG girl shut their BIG mouths in a BIG way, before heading off for the next match.
Match 5
Singles Match
Beth Phoenix
Vs.
Maria
I doubt this’ll last long.
As much as Maria has improved since she began wrestling in the WWE, it’s still hard to consider her a viable contender when she’s put up against people like Beth.
She put up a good fight but Beth ended it quickly with a Glam Slam, looking kind of repentant after she grabbed the 1..2..3.
Beth Pheonix wins by Pinfall.
Main Event Match
World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contendership Match
Rey Mysterio
Vs.
Batista
The creative team must be thinking about their Christmas break already judging on some of the booking decisions this week.
The Hart Dynasty have a re-match from last week’s Superstars, of which the main event was then replicated this week, and now we have the same thing on Smackdown, albeit with a slightly different stipulation.
Apparently tonight’s show is about as close as you can get to the Mexican border without crossing over it, so as you’d expect the crowd were pretty much 100% pro-Mysterio.
This match actually left me wondering just who would pick up the win, as I didn’t really expect Rey to be considered as a #1 contender for the World Title, but at the same time I didn’t expect him to be booked to lose against a crowd that shows so much admiration for him.
Unlike most of his matches Mysterio had an awful lot of successful offence in this one, controlling Batista from around the half way point to almost the final bell, despite taking a beating in the opening half.
After becoming frustrated at not being able to put Rey away, Batista grabbed a steel chair, but then thought better of using it as the referee warned him of the consequences.
The Animal hit a Spear which grabbed a long two count, then looked to close in on the win, but Mysterio reversed into a roll-up and snatched a victory as he so often does.
Mysterio will get a shot at the gold on Christmas Day against The Undertaker!
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Rey Mysterio wins by Pinfall and becomes the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.
