As the dust settled over the shadows of this past Sunday's pay-per-view event, No Mercy, King Booker still sat on the throne after defeating Batista, Finlay and Lashley to escapte with the World Heavyweight Championship.
Looking to go into the WWE's next event, Cyber Sunday, as one of the competitors in the Champions of Champions match; The King demanded that SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long rescind the World Heavyweight Title match next week on SmackDown.
Long reminded the King that all three men held victories over the World Champion and that the Triple Threat Match was on for tonight.
Mr. Kennedy, who was victorious at No Mercy desipte the beating he received by The Undertaker, entered the ring looking once more for General Manager Theodore Long to trade the United States Champion to Raw. Declaring that there is no one left to beat on the SmackDown roster, the cocky champion said that it was time for him to move to Monday nights.
However, Long had a deal for the champion. If Kennedy could beat the one man he had yet to face, he could go to SmackDown. Kennedy, never backing down from a challenge, accepted. Then challenger...Chris Benoit.
Coming off his victories over Sir William on Sunday and Shelton Benjamin on Raw, The Rabid Wolverine looked to prove to the fans and to the SmackDown locker room that he had returned. Benoit wasted no time going after the champion. With his trademark chops and high intensity, Benoit refused to allow the champion to mount any offense. Securing sever near submission attempts, Benoit looked to do what four former World Champions couldn't, secure a victory over the self proclaimed "Future of SmackDown".
However, Mr. Kennedy proved that he was not a paper champion. After causing Benoit to hit the steel post, the Green Bay Wisconsin native attacked Benoit's shoulder with the surgical precision that brought Kennedy gold. Continously working on the shoulder, Kennedy looked to be heading over to Raw...that is, until The Undertaker made his way to the entranceway.
Taken off guard by the sudden appearance of The Deadman, Kennedy, visibly shaken, seemed to lose focus on his match. Trying to combat Benoit's constant attack while looking out for The Phenom, the champion lost focus long enough for the challenger to lock in the Crippler Crossface for the win.
A stunned Kennedy rolled from the ring trying to get away from the advancing Undertaker, but The Deadman vanished as quickly as he appeared. Was the conflict between Kennedy and Undertaker put to rest at No Mercy, or, like the Phenom himself, rise once more to even greater heights.
Debuting at New Mercy, a smug Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) declared that he wanted an opponent that he could sink his teeth into; that would make him sweat. Little did he know that hell was knocking on his front door as the Big Red Machine made his way to the ring.
After coming up short in the Loser Leaves Raw match on Monday, an enraged Kane made his way to SmackDown to unleash his fury and with MVP, he wasted no time. Enraged by Porter's stall tactics, Kane stalked the young upstart; punishing MVP with a viciousness that made Kane the superstar he is.
While the contest never got underway, Porter retreated to the back, as a furious Kane looked on. Is the Monster the lastest addition to the SmackDown roster?
While Kane brought the heat to MVP, Rey Mysterio was on fire as he took on Jamie Noble in singles competition. Before the match started, Chavo and Vickie Guerrero made an appearance as they looked to distract Mysterio. Noble, a former tag champion, looked to make a name for himself as a singles competitor after the WWE released his parter, Kid Kash.
Noble countered Mysterio's areial assault with a power-based attack; however, Mysterio would not be denied as he battled back, showing signs of the athlete that captured the World Heavyweight Championship. After hitting his trademark 619, Mysterio wrapped up Noble for the win.
As the former champion celebrated in the ring, Chavo played the spoiler as he had done countless times.
"This thing between me and you," Chavo said, "...will not end until one of us quits. That is why next week, I am challenging you to an I Quit Match."
The crowd was shocked as Guerrero layed out the rules. If Mysterio quits, he has to leave SmackDown. Alternatively, if Guerrero loses, he will find himself once again leaving a SmackDown arena.
With two wins over Guerrero, Mysterio accepted the challenge. "Im going to prove to both of you what Rey Mysterio is all about," the former World Heavyweight Champion said. "You want an I Quit Match? ...the words I Quit are going to come out of your mouth Chavo."
Sir William, after his defeat in a bloody match with Benoit at New Mercy, looked to change his fortunes as he faced what he believed was the source of his troubles; the toughest man in a dress, Vito.
While Vito managed to get into Regal's head in previous matches, the Brit would have none of it tonight. Showing the same intensity he did in his match with Benoit, Regal went after Vito with a viciousness betraying his normal gentlemanly demeanor.
Vito may wear a dress, but he is still regarded as one of the toughest competitors in the SmackDown locker room. Showing the grit that has catapulted him as a favorite among the fans, Vito battled back, managing to counter Regal's sunset flip for the win.
The WWE Tag Team Champions, London and Kendrick, coming off their hard-fought victory at No Mercy, found themselves partnered with Jimmy Wang Yang as they took on the team of Idol Stevens, K.C. James and Sylvan. Yang looked for some measure of revenge against Sylvan after earning two questionable loses against the Ambassador of Quebec.
The match was fast paced as the champions worked to neutralize James and Stevens. This allowed Yang to pick up the victory for his team pinning Sylvan after a crowd-pleaseing moonsault.
An agitated King Booker watched from ringside as three contenders to his SmackDown throne battled to determine who would face the World Heavyweight Champion next week at SmackDown. Lashley, Finlay and Batista, all looking to be the number one contender, hold victories over the champion and tonight, one of them would earn the right to fight for championship gold.
Lashley and Batista made quick work of Finlay early, sending the Belfast Brawler to the outside. From there, it was a battle of titans as Batista and Lashley blew the roof off the building. Matching power for power both The Animal and the 3-time Armed Forces Champion sent one aother to the mat with double boot to the face.
Finlay, taking a page from the King's royal book, tried to steal a cover, but was un successful. As Finlay and Lashley battled, the Little Bastard would make an appearance to break up Lashley's pin attempt. None of the participants could gain a clear advantage; breaking allianaces as quickly as they were made...or so it seemed.
Realizing that fighting one powerhouse was better than fighting two, Finlay was able to convince Lashley to help him send The Animal through the announce table. With Batista out of the way, Finlay and Lashley battled on. Finlay never backed down from the bigger Lashley as he hit the Celtic Cross for the near fall.
Down, but not out, Batista broke up the count and took the fight to Finlay. With Laskley laid out after being it with the Celtic Cross and a shilleghla shot, Batista was able to hit the Batista Bomb on Finlay for the win.
As King Booker looked on in disbelief, the shocks continued as Michael Cole leanred that next week, Raw champion John Cena and ECW champion Big Show will be in attendance at next week's SmackDown. With such a heated rivalry building between the champions, how will this all play out next week?
Contents copyright © 2006 by Trinae Angelique Ross. This document is written for www.rajah.com. No part of this report may be used without expressed written permission by the author or webmaster. Inquiries about using this material on other websites should be made to the author or to the webmaster at webmaster@rajah.com.
