Tonight’s episode begins with an in-ring promo from the World Heavyweight Champion, the Undertaker. He talks about his debut at the Survivor Series all those years ago when he was released from hell to dominate wrestling or something to that effect. He puts down both the Big Show and Chris Jericho as well as their chances of defeating him at the pay-per-view. Jericho comes out for a response including letting us know that the term “phenom†describes him much better than the Undertaker. Chris reminds Taker that he isn’t the “deadman†instead he is just a man and lets us know that he fears no “manâ€. Eventually this discussion leads to Jericho eating a big boot from the champ to end the segment and take us to a video package for the growing Batista/Mysterio feud.
Dolph Ziggler & The Hart Dynasty vs. Cryme Time & John Morrison: As he enters we get a recap of Ziggler’s win over Morrison last week but sadly not his appearance on Deal Or No Deal. But when Morrison enters we do get video of his visit to Who’s Smarter Than A 5th Grader. Eventually there is a match and it begins with Tyson Kidd and John Morrison locking up and Morrison favoring his ribs during their brief exchanges. Kidd tags in Ziggler and Morrison tags in JTG as the show goes to a commercial break.
When we return to live taped action, Dolph is losing control of JTG who gets thins moving with of his usual quick attacks. Dolph gets stuck in the corner but when JTG goes for the Mugshot, Smith interferes to halt the move. Smith then tags in and both he and Kidd move in and out of the ring to work over JTG for a bit. Ziggler also joins the action and nails his tribute to Mr. Perfect for a two count before locking in a headlock. JTG escapes a back suplex attempt and nails a backbreaker to give himself the opportunity to tag in Morrison as Kidd is also tagged in. John quickly takes control with some of his high flying antics (while still selling the rib injury) on Kidd and follows with more of the same once Smith is tagged in. Morrison tags in Shad and then hits a crossbody over the top ropes onto Kidd on the outside. Shad continues to roll over Smith for his team in the ring, but Dolph attacks the ribs of Morrison on the outside and puts him down before returning to the apron. Ziggler then makes a blind tag and stalks Shad from his blindside before hitting him with the Zig-Zag and getting the pinfall for his team.
WrestleMania 26 tickets go on sale tomorrow! After a commercial break we get a taped backstage interview with Rey Mysterio (and Josh Matthews). Josh tells us that at Survivor Series there will be a match between Rey and Dave. Mysterio says a bunch of stuff in Spanish and English before saying that he will show Batista a side of him he has never seen during their match. Hey, did you know that by checking out WWE Superstars each week (or at least my recaps) you could win tickets to WrestleMania?
Beth Phoenix vs. Brittney Carter: According to Matt Striker, Ms. Carter has an extensive background in dance. Beth is quickly in control of the match even busting out an airplane spin into a backbreaker type maneuver. But the Glamazon does not play with her opponent too long before nailing her with the Glam Slam and picking up the pinfall victory.
Drew McIntyre vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: As Jimmy climbs the top rope during his entrance, McIntyre nails him from behind and sends him crashing down to the ringside floor. Drew grabs a mic to talk about parties and insult his competition. He starts to leave assuming that there will be no match but JWY will not take the easy way out and crawls into the ring to start the match. But the conflict does not last long as McIntyre soon hit his double armed ddt and gets the easy pinfall victory.
In the back Josh Matthews finds Batista walking around and tries to chat with him about his recent attitude shift. Dave says heelish things and this seems to leave Josh either scared or confused or both. Rey Mysterio is also shown walking around in the back but towards the ring and no where in that same area.
Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox: As Mysterio enters Matt and Todd both pimp his new book so make sure you add it to your Christmas lists. Knox is quickly set-up for a 619 attempts but he rolls out of the ring to avoid it. Rey tries to follow him out, but when his attack misses Knox nails him with a big crossbody splash. As Mike returns the action to the ring and looks to keep the advantage, I consider that Knox’s gut might weigh as much as Rey’s entire body. Knox hits a big splash for a two count and then a pump handle backbreaker for another unsuccessful pin attempt. After trying to lock in an abdominal stretch, Mike goes for another pump handled maneuver but Rey reverses it into a ddt. Mysterio hits a dropkick off the ropes and his bulldog off the ropes as he tries to build some momentum. Rey bounces off the ropes again but eats a big clothesline for his efforts. Knox misses a splash into the corner and ends up in 619 position which connects and Rey then hits a big splash for the pin and the win.
R-Truth vs. CM Punk: As Punk enters Matt and Todd remind us of Punk’s activities last week as we are then lead to notice that Scott Armstrong is the ref for this match. Punk is frustrated both with Truth’s offense and his dancing in the early going as Matt takes some time out to try to explain the origins of the term “Straight Edgeâ€. Truth throws Punk with a hip toss and then clotheslines him over the top rope before he can recover. R-Truth then follows him out by hitting him with a slingshot crossbody over the ropes and with both men down on the outside the show exits for a commercial break.
As we rejoin the match the action still seems to be in the favor of R-Truth until Punk is able to hit a slingshot clothesline and gain the advantage. After a suplex, Punk locks in a bow & arrow surfboard but halts it himself in favor of wearing him down further with some strikes. However Punk misses an attack in the corner and Truth uses the opening to start up a flurry of his own. As truth bounces off the ropes Punk is able to nail a kick to end the flourish but it only gets him a two count and he gets in Armstrong’s face to complain. R-Truth uses this distraction to roll-up Punk and Scott fast counts him and R-Truth wins the match. Armstrong makes a quick exit and CM Punk is less than pleased.
In the back, Mickie James runs into Michelle McCool and Layla and they have a brief chat about the Team Mickie versus Team Michelle match at Survivor Series and some bitchiness ensues. After a Raw Rebound, Matt Hardy chats with Josh about how evil Batista is just encase we have viewers just joining the program. Next week’s Smackdown will feature an Intercontinental Championship match with John Morrison defending against his nemesis Dolph Ziggler and a one-on-one match between the Undertaker and Chris Jericho!
Matt Hardy vs. Batista: After a cleanish start, Batista nails Hardy with a big clothesline and then tosses him into the corner to take control of the match. Dave hits a vertical suplex and covers for a two count then complains to a ref not named Scott Armstrong about the slowish count. Batista takes the action into the corner to work Matt over and repeatedly has words with referee Charles Robinson about his plan of attack. One of these diversions allows Matt enough space to halt the attack on his own but he tries to go to the top rope and Batista easy swats him down and we go to commercials.
As we return to action, Batista has Hardy locked in a Camel Clutch as he continues to control this contest. As Dave continues to dominate the action Matt Striker reminds us how Matt Hardy is an accomplished taker of beatings. Hardy fights up from a series of submission holds on the mat and is able to turn a slam attempt into a neckbreaker. Matt is able to follow with a ddt but is unable to capitalize when he misses on a moonsault attempt. But as Batista tries to pick him up following the miss, Matt nails him with a Twist of Fate but Dave is in the ropes. Hardy tries to bring him into the center of the ring to follow up but he gets nailed with a spinebuster. Instead of going for a pin or his finisher Batista unleashes a series of kicks and dumps Hardy outside to continue his attack. After slamming him into the ringside area and the announce table, Batista hits Hardy with a monitor and the ref awards the match via DQ to Matt. Batista continues the beating both outside and then back in the ring for a while but eventually seems to get bored with it and leaves as our time runs out.
