-Smackdown Opener.
-Batista’s music hit immediately. Oh, it’s a match.
1- BATISTA VS. DEUCE
Michael Cole tied things together by saying it was Batista who tossed both Deuce and Domino in the championship battle royal a week ago. Batista seems bemused by the greasers. After powering Dueuce down, Batista flirted with Cherry, who was at ringside. Deuce then blind-sided Batista and sent him to the outside, where Domino got in a cheap-shot. Deuce got a kick and punch in before Batista went back to work. The Animal missed a shoulder charge in the corner. Deuce grabbed the arm but couldn’t decide what to do, which made for an ugly sequence. He finally got in a kick to the gut followed by a snap-mare. Deuce went off the ropes to hit Crack’em in the Mouth, but Batista got up and speared Deuce, further injuring his shoulder. Deuce got in a couple punches and kept getting pushed away, then Batista finally hit a clothesline. Deuce booted Batista in the corner, but got caught coming out with a sort-of Rock Bottom. Domino got up on the apron, but Batista threw Deuce into him, then hit the Batista Bomb for the win.
WINNER: Batista at 4:40.
Bordered on bowling-shoe ugly at times. Cherry continued to eye Batista after the match.
-Highlights of the Cruiserweight Open from Great American Bash aired.
-Max, the backstage interviewer talked to Jamie Noble about getting pinned by Hornswaggle at GAB. Noble said he’s been teased all week about getting pinned by a leprechaun. Funny, he never got any mic time BEFORE he became an agent.
-Hornswaggle’s first title defense is next.
[Break]
-Michelle McCool is still lovin’ life, in case you were wondering.
2- JAMIE NOBLE VS. HORNSWAGGLE, WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
I wish Kid Kash were still around. That was one awesome tag team. Hornswaggle didn’t come out when his music hit, so Tony Chimel had to announce him again. Noble finally realized he was probably under the ring. Noble couldn’t find him, but Hornswaggle finally showed up in the ring. Hornswaggle went after the shin and feet of Noble, including biting him. Hornswaggle got Noble to chase him out of the ring, then hid under the ring and showed up back inside. When both got back in the ring, Hornswaggle ran and hid again. Hornswaggle used the apron as his friend and the two exchanged punches (Noble on his knees) in the middle of the ring. Flying kick by Hornswaggle got a one-count. Running boot by Noble put the champ down. Noble yelled at him, then picked him up and slid him out of the ring. Noble chased Hornswaggle on the outside, then grabbed his foot as the champ went to get in. Hornswaggle’s shoe came off as Noble was pulling, sending him into the barricade and out for the count of ten.
WINNER: Hornswaggle at 3:06.
-Still to come, Ric Flair and Matt Hardy vs. M.V.P and Chris Masters. Plus, Khali’s championship celebration.
[Break]
-Rey Mysterio is returning. Clips of his last match, an I Quit match with Chavo Guerrero on October 20, 2006 from Smackdown were shown.
3- CHAVO GUERRERO VS. EUGENE
J.B.L suggested that Rey wants to return anywhere but on Smackdown. Chavo slapped Eugene, then punched away at him in the corner. Eugene fought back until Chavo took him down with a drop-toe hold. Chavo went to work on the left knee, slamming it against the ring post. Half-Crab was applied by Guerrero. Eugene got to the ropes to break the hold. He tried an airplane spin but his knee couldn’t support the weight, and Chavo hit a suplex, then went back to work on the knee. After a few minutes, Chavo got a near-fall. Chavo tried to bounce his head off the turnbuckle, but Eugene hulked up. He then spun Chavo on his shoulders and hit a clothesline for a near fall. Stunner was blocked and Chavo hit a dropkick. Suplex by Chavo, followed by the Frogsplash for the pin.
WINNER: Chavo Guerrero at 6:22.
Eugene’s style certainly limits how good a match he can have, as evidenced here. Not much crowd reaction until the end.
-Matt Hardy was walking backstage when he ran into Ric Flair. They exchanged WOOOs and headed to the ring.
[Break]
-Jesse and Festus talked about America. This makes Festus’ Fake Kane gimmick seem like genius by comparison.
4- M.V.P & CHRIS MASTERS VS. MATT HARDY & RIC FLAIR
Masters and Hardy started the match off. Masters tried a cheap shot in the corner, but Hardy avoided it. Masters shouldered Hardy down as he was coming off the ropes. Irish whip by Masters but Hardy caught him with an elbow. Hardy wasted too much time and Masters hit him with a clothesline. He tagged M.V.P in, who went for a quick cover, to no avail. Masters and Porter double-teamed Hardy in the corner as Flair was trying to get in the ring and had the ref’s attention. Hardy countered M.V.P with a side-Russian leg sweep and tagged in Flair. Flair went for some chops, then strutted. High back-body drop for M.V.P. Then he blind-sided M.V.P with a chop-block. Figure-four was blocked by Porter, who high-tailed it to the outside.
[Break]
Flair worked on the (surprise) left leg of M.V.P out of break. Hardy tagged in and kept Porter from tagging his partner. Back in came Flair, who chopped Porter, then punched him down. Porter got a thumb to the eye, then hammered Flair in the corner. He finally made the tag to Masters, who was met by some chops. Masters, though, wore down Naitch with right-hands in the corner. After a whip into the corner, Porter hit the running boot, but Flair kicked out of a pin attempt. M.V.P hammerlocked Flair on the ground, then brought him to his feet and made the tag to Masters. Masters slugged Flair down in the middle of the ring. Bodyslam off the ropes by Masters, but Flair kicked out at two. Masters made the mistake of putting his head down and Flair capitalized with a boot, then made a tag to Hardy. Hardy hit the clothesline in the corner, followed by a bulldog. He knocked M.V.P off the apron, then came down with the shoulder onto Masters. After a Side-Effect, a cover was broken up by Porter. Masters blocked a powerslam attempt and hit the Twist of Fate for three. You could see Porter hopping off the apron and walking away after Hardy went for the pin. He thought about breaking it up, then threw his hands up in frustration.
WINNERS: Flair and Hardy at 13:39.
-After the match, M.V.P grabbed a mic and said they didn’t prove anything- they beat his partner, not him. Porter said he beat both of them already. Hardy got a microphone from ringside to reply. Hardy demanded a re-match for the U.S Title but M.V.P denied him. He said there is nothing Hardy can beat him in. Hardy said he’ll name his game, then beat M.V.P at it.
-The Great Khali championship celebration is coming up.
[Break]
-Chuck Palumbo really loves bikes.
5- MARK HENRY VS. JOEY BLAYLOCK
Blaylock looks like a ‘70s porn star with the hair, goatee and chest hair. Blaylock ran right into a clothesline to start. Henry threw a right hand that sent Blaylock to the mat. Blaylock then ran right into a big boot. Powerslam by Henry and a big splash almost ended it, but Henry picked up his opponent at the count of two. He picked Blaylock up into a bear-hug for the finish.
WINNER: Henry at 1:44.
-Henry said there is no man or beast in the back that can beat him. He picked Blaylock back up, over his head, and tossed him out of the ring.
-The Raw Rebound focused on the #1 contendership.
[Break]
-Our first backstage segment of the evening was in Teddy Long’s office, as he and Kristal were talking wedding. Their special guest finally arrived….and it was Ron Simmons. Teddy asked him to be his best man. Simmons was shocked and hugged him. Teddy took Ron to celebrate with some Cuban cigars, leaving the ladies behind.
-A Great American Bash recap aired.
-Great Khali’s celebration is tonight.
[Break]
-Edge stays in character as we took a look at his surgery.
6- KANE VS. DAVE TAYLOR
Taylor’s punch had no effect on Kane, but a few European uppercuts did. Taylor though, got caught with a boot coming off the ropes. Kane put his head down and Taylor went to work, including a headbutt to the gut and an arm-bar. After Kane tossed Taylor aside, the Brit went back to work. Kane though, drove the shoulder into Taylor’s gut in the corner, and caught him with a running clothesline. Sidewalk slam by Kane. Kane with a flying clothesline off the top. Chokeslam followed that up and ended it.
WINNER: Kane at 3:17.
-Jimmy Wang Yang was listening to some music on his MP3 player backstage, when his partner for the match tonight, Torrie Wilson, asked him about her wardrobe. Apparently, he shorts WEREN’T too short.
[Break]
7- JIMMY WANG YANG & TORRIE WILSON VS. KENNY DYKSTRA & VICTORIA
The men started things off, and Dykstra hit a pair of short-arm clotheslines. Dykstra tripped up Yang, then went for another cover. Yang tried to use his quickness to avoid Dykstra, but it didn’t work. He finally hit a hard dropkick with a nice camera angle, as you could see Dykstra’s head snap back after getting hit. Tag to the women, and Torrie hit a snap suplex for a one-count. Victoria hit her spinning side-slam for a near-fall. Torrie came back to hit a spinning neck-breaker. As the girls were looking to tag, Dykstra snuck over and took Yang off the apron. Dykstra tagged in, but instead of letting her out of the ring, Dykstra was going to get Torrie until she kicked him. Yang came off the top to hit a cross-body. Victoria broke up a pin attempt and Torrie went after her, leaving the men in the ring. Yang hit his moonsault for the win.
WINNERS: Yang and Torrie at 4:16.
-Khali’s championship celebration is next.
[Break]
-Chimel announced the beginning of Khali’s celebration. A bunch of Indians came out dancing. Then Khali was introduced. As usual, Runjin Singh, his translator, did most of the talking. Sing talked about Khali being in the upper echelon of famous Indians, listing off a couple people I’ve never heard of, then M. Night Shyamalan and Mother Theresa. He also said Khali was the best champion of all time and invited us to celebrate Punjabi style. Seeing Khali smile and dance is almost worth sitting through this. In the midst of the celebration, Batista’s music hit and he came out. Singh chastised Batista for interfering in the celebration. Batista challenged Khali for the title. After a reply from Khali, Batista went after him, hitting a spear, which led to Khali fleeing.