It was a night of champions and a night for carnage as the final SmackDown before the Royal Rumble rolled into Mobile, Alabama. Tonight, six competitors participated in a six-man over the top rope battle royal, a preview of what fans could expect at the January Pay-Per-View extravaganza in a little over 48 hours.
Chris Benoit, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Finlay, King Booker, MVP and Kane all participated in the main event; but first, each competitor had to face off against another battle royal participant in singles action.
Leading up the the main event, World Heavyweight Champion Dave Batista took on Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms (the longest-reigning champion in WWE history). Coincidentally, Helms became Cruiserweight Champion last year at the Rumble.
Not wanting to waste a second, The Animal blasted the smaller Helms into the corner; following up with a vicious-looking boot to the face.
However, Helms displayed the heart of a champion by fighting his way back, and gaining several near falls. Helms' good fortune would not last as The Animal connected with his trademark spear followed by The Batista Bomb,giving him the victory.
Three years ago, Chris Benoit did what many thought was impossible, to win the Royal Rumble and to move on to become World Heavyweight Champion. Hoping to reach that pinnacle of success once more, the Rabid Wolverine faced The Miz in singles action.
Though Miz remained on defense through most of the match, the young upstart showed that he deserved to be in this year's Rumble by taking advantage of a miscue by Benoit and scoring a near fall.
Benoit answered back by hitting three German suplexes and nailing the headbutt from the top rope. Luckily, Miz had the presence of mind to get his foot on the rope, prolonging the inevitable. At this point, it was all Benoit, cinching in the Cripple Crossface for the win.
SmackDown's newest tag team, Deuce and Domino had another impressive display of smash-mouth wrestling as the took on the team of Adam Evans and Wes Adams.
Neither Evans nor Adams could mount any offense as Deuce and Domino steamrolled their way through the match, sending a message to the other SmackDown tag teams.
In 2006, King Booker and Finlay formed an alliance to keep the World Heavyweight Championship in his majesty's SmackDown Kingdom. Tonight, former allies continued their escalating rivalry as for another pre battle royal match.
The pace rocked back and forth as both men fought for control of the match. Nevertheless, the action spilled to the outside as The Little Bastard tried to abduct Queen Sharmell pulling her under the ring.
What began as a wrestling match became a brawl as the action caused the referee to be knocked to the floor. Brawling in the isle, the referee called the match as a result of a disqualification on both competitors.
Before the six-man over the top battle royal, Mobile fans were treated to a six-person tag match as MNM took on World Tag Team Champions London and Kendrick, along with their partner Ashley.
Since reuniting, MNM has seen success across WWE's three brands. Tonight, they looked to send a message to their opponents at Sunday's PPV, The Hardys.
Maybe Mercury and Nitro were looking past the champions and onto the Rumble as they started the match slowly. London and Kendrick, however, wasted no time capitalizing on MNM's slow start; wowing the Alabama crowd with their quick tags and high-flying maneuvers.
London and Kendrick weren't the only ones working as a team; Melina proved instrumental for her team on several occasions; most notably, allowing Mercury and Nitro to pick up the win and gain some momentum going into the Royal Rumble.
With the match behind them, MNM now sets their sites on Team Extreme. Can Mercury and Nitro take a snapshot of The Hardys going down in defeat? Or, will the Matt and Jeff prove MNM to be a one-hit wonder?
With over six former world champions on his resume, Ken Kennedy has beaten them all; including current champion Batista. The self-proclaimed “wrestling's fastest rising star” assured the crowd that he would emerge from the Royal Rumble as champion.
The Animal, notwithstanding, had a different opinion. Still fuming over being slapped by the challenger, Batista stormed the ring and dared Kennedy slap him again.
Without warning, darkness engulfed the arena. When the lights returned, The Undertaker stood in the ring glowering at Kennedy. Looking to decapitate The Enigmatic One, Taker fired off a boot to the face.
Being as quick as he is cocky, Kennedy escaped the boot; though Batista would not be as fortunate. Taker laid out the champion as Kennedy rushed away from the scene of the crime. Batista stood silently in the ring seething with contempt not for both men standing on the outside.
Another superstar burning with revenge last night was Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). After being set ablaze in his inferno match with Kane at Armageddon, SmackDown's highest paid superstar cautiously approached the ring as The Monster Kane waited patiently.
Earlier yesterday evening, Porter tried to get out of his match with Kane, only to be told by SmackDown General Manager Theodore long that is MVP didn't compete in the singles match, not only would he not be in the battle royal, but he would lose his spot this Sunday at the Royal Rumble.
Kane immediately went for Porter's charred back and refused to let up. At one point, The Monster stripped MVP down and continued beating on him until MVP's scars began bleeding through the bandages.
However, whether motivated at the chance to become champion or for just the money, MVP mounted some offense and the began going after Kane.
MVP's offense had little effect on The Monster as he continued dominating the smaller man, at one point almost putting MVP through the announce table with a chokeslam.
In an act of sheer desperation, MVP grabbed a chair and smashed Kane in the gut, causing the disqualification. Already committed to the assault, Porter continued, wanting to inflict more damage before the rumble.
As Kane lay motionless, MVP pulled out a can of gasoline from under the ring in hopes of exacting a measure of revenge against Kane. MVP would have to wait another day for revenge as Kane popped up to a sitting position, kicked MVP in the face and chased him from the ring.
Neither Kane nor MVP would be out of the ring long as it was time for the main event. From the opening bell, the action was intense and nonstop as the six participants went toe-to-toe with each other.
In a match where alliances were made as fast as they were broken, the competitors struggled to keep themselves from being eliminated. Surprisingly, Kane was eliminated first, followed my Miz. Both competitors were the victims of Finlay.
As the remaining participants waged their war, the arena darkened. Similar to earlier in the evening, The Undertaker stood in the center of the ring. Immediately he went after the remaining competitors: chokeslamming Finlay, Miz, MVP and King Booker and giving snake eyes to Benoit. Taker carved a path of destruction that sent a clear message to not only the locker rooms of SmackDown, Raw and ECW; but to the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista as well.
Contents copyright © 2007 by Trinae Angelique Ross. No part of this report may be used without the expressed written permission of the author or the web master. Inquiries regarding reprints should be made to the author at trinae(dot)ross(at)ulmail(dot)net.
