In the wake of their confrontation this Monday night on Raw, Batista and Kane go one on one to determine the number one contender to The Undertaker's World Heavyweight Championship whilst The Dead Man himself squares off in a non-title match with Chris Jericho.
NOTE: This an archived review written live at the time that WWE Smackdown aired on November 27th, 2009.
I'm archiving all my old reviews and including this one on Retro Pro Wrestling for the sake of prosperity.
Teddy Long books Chris Jericho against The Undertaker
Chris Jericho began tonight's show by heading to the ring to speak his mind and, as usual, the Unified Tag Team Champion had a lot to say.
Instead, Long booked him into a non-title match against The Undertaker later on in the show, much to the dismay of Jericho and the delight of the Smackdown crowd.
Jericho was as brilliant as ever here and his interaction with the live audience and reaction to Long's announcement were especially enjoyable.
Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty
Going at it again in yet another rematch, two of the only few full-time tag teams in the company nonetheless turned this rather pointless outing into a fun opening contest.Despite the occasional brief flury of offence from Shad & JTG, it was David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd who dominated the bulk of the bout and eventually walked away with the win after a huge Saito Bomb from Smith to Shad Gaspard.
Your Winners: The Hart Dynasty
Back in Teddy Long's office, Vickie Guerrero and Eric Escobar interrupted a chat between the GM and Intercontinental Champion John Morrison. After first denying Escobar a shot at Morrison's title, Long quickly changed his mind when Vickie threatened to call Vince McMahon.
It feels like months since Escobar first arrived on our screens, and he still comes across as a glorified jobber.
CM Punk plugs Jeff Hardy's DVD
After introducing his new right-hand man Luke Gallows, claiming to have rescued the man formerly known as Festus and setting him off down the path of righteousness, CM Punk produced a copy of the new Jeff Hardy DVD and proceeds to lambast the former Smackdown star.Not surprisingly, this raised the ire of Jeff's brother Matt Hardy, who headed to ringside to confront Punk.
Matt Hardy vs. CM Punk
With their exchange of words out of the way, Hardy and Punk let their fists do the talking as they locked up in a decent contest, trading the advantage until Gallows attacked and gave Hardy the win via DQ.Your Winner via DQ: Matt Hardy
Afterwards, Gallows and Punk teamed up to deliver a brutal, entirely believable beat down to Hardy.
Josh Matthews interviewed Mickie James
Mickie James told Matthews that she would not let Michelle McCool's hurtful comments get to her, vowed to remain right where she is, and insisted that she had worked hard to get to Smackdown.Funny, I could've sworn she simply moved over in the draft a few months back.
World Heavyweight Championship Number One Contender's match: Batista vs. Kane
After their confrontation on Raw earlier in the week, Batista and Kane collided for the opportunity to face Kane's brother, The Undertaker in a surprisingly good match.Beating the hell out of each other, Kane and Batista delivered much more than this writer expected them to. The action spilled to the outside, where Big Dave attacked his foe with a chair then crawled into the ring to pick up the victory via count-out.
Your Winner via count-out: Batista
It's probably worth mentioning at this point that WWE Superstars debuts on Sky One on December 11th. From what I've read, that's a pretty good show, so I'll look forward to that one.
From the Vault: World Heavyweight Champion Edge retained his title against Batista in a 3-1 handicap match also featuring Curt Hawkings and Zack Ryder (Smackdown 2007)
Looking back at Edge and Vickie Guerrero's run as Smackdown's power couple, we get this passable effort as the duo conspire to keep the Big Gold Belt around the waist of the Rated R Superstar. It's hard to believe it's been two years since all this happened.Intercontinental Championship: John Morrison defended against Eric Escobar (with Vickie Guerrero)
Even the flash and panache of the champion could do little do make Escobar stand out as anything remotely special in this forgettable contest which saw Morrison retain thanks to the Starship Pain.Your Winner and still Intercontinental Champion: John Morrison
Angry at her boyfriend's loss, Vickie Guerrero dumped Escobar once the match was over. The two then stormed backstage, where Escobar let it be known that being with Vickie made him sick and that he was no glad their relationship was over.
Non-title match: World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker vs. Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho
With a silent Dave Batista watching on from the commentators table, veteran performers Jericho and Undertaker put on a solid main event with a decidedly old-school feel.Predictably, the end came when Batista got involved, costing Jericho the match on a disqualification.
Your Winner via DQ: The Undertaker
Batista continued his assault after the bell, yet whilst Punk's earlier post-match beat-down was good and believable, Big Dave's attack on The Undertaker was almost laughable, mainly because the chair he used to attack the champion was so flimsy it wafted through the air and struck with all the impact of your average baking tray.
Final Thoughts:Â
Ever since Batista returned to Smackdown, a showdown with The Undertaker over the Big Gold Belt has been inevitable. That they've managed to go this long before booking the match is a blessing that many fans will surely be grateful for, even if we are now faced with what was otherwise looking to be a strong pay per view in TLC being tarnished by what is sure to be a dire outing between the two behemoths.
That aside, this week's Smackdown was mediocre at best, with nothing outstandingly good nor bad.
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