The show begins a brief video recap of last week’s “Beat the Clock†challenge specifically Batista’s match, Rey Mysterio’s interference and Vickie Guerrero’s proclamation of Dave versus Rey tonight. After the package, Batista eventually makes his way to the ring (after complaining about the lighting) to call out Teddy Long about getting screwed last week. But it is not Smackdown’s GM that answers; instead Mysterio comes out and taunts Batista into just accepting the match.
Dolph Ziggler def Kane: Last week these two fought to a draw during the “BTC†challenge and Ziggler attacked Kane afterwards which seemed to have upset the Big Red Machine. Dolph tries to stick and move early but eventually Kane catches him by the hair and floors him with an uppercut. After beating on Ziggler for a bit, Kane hits him with his low dropkick off the ropes and covers him for a brief two count. Kane sets Ziggles on the top rope but he gets slugged off before he can capitalize and Dolph hits a dropkick from the second rope for a two count. Dolph looks for a hiptoss, gets shoved away but he quickly rebounds by going for the sleeper hold that was effective last week. But this time Kane escapes easily and begins his violence anew. Ziggler escapes a slam attempt only to walk into a big boot and a nearfall. Kane picks up some steam and follows with a sideslam for another long two count. Kane hit his flying clothesline and signals for the chokeslam but Dolph escapes and hits the Zig-Zag for a 2.9 count. Ziggler then locks on the sleeper hold again and both men tumble outside of the ring with the hold still in place. As the ref counts, Dolph does not let go until he is at 8 then he drops Kane and slides back into the ring before 10 to win the match by count out.
Backstage we see Michelle and Layla trying to suck up to Beth Phoenix while they make fun of Mickie James. Beth is less than thrilled with their clowning and warns Layla she should be getting ready for their match tonight. Meanwhile in the Canadian locker room, Jericho and the HD discuss how awesome they believe themselves to be. Jericho of course thinks he was wronged on Raw this week. However the Dynasty while not happy about what happened to Bret on Raw, aren’t very supportive of the Hitman either. Hmmm…
Chris Jericho & The Hart Dynasty def R-Truth & Cryme Tyme: Tyson Kidd and R-Truth start the match and they trade hammerlock attempts before picking up the pace with some rope work. Truth ends up winning that battle with a dropkick then tagging in JTG and they combine for some tandem offense. Shad is then tagged in and he slugs away on Kidd to keep the advantage for his squad before tagging Truth back in. Tyson use that brief delay in the action to make it to his corner and Jericho enters the match. However R-Truth seems more than ready for his arrival and runs roughshod over Chris with his acrobatic offense until kicking him (literally) out of the ring and the show to commercial break.
When we return, Jericho is still in jeopardy as Shad pounds on him in the corner before nailing him with a clothesline and a press slam. Shad tries to hit a rebound move off the ropes, but Smith pulls the top rope down sending him tumbling out of the ring. Natalya then goes over to give him a kick to the ribs before Jericho collects him and tosses him back into the ring. Kidd returns to the action and keeps the advantage for his team before Jericho returns to action (after hitting a cheap shot) and he includes some trash talking to his offense. Kidd returns to the action and misses a high flying maneuver allowing Shad the opportunity to tag in his partner. JTG hits a flurry of offense on Jericho culminating in the Shout-Out but the subsequent pin attempt is broken up by Kidd. Truth enters to dispatch him but eliminates himself instead. Shad returns to action to kick Kidd off the apron and he is then removed from the ring by Jericho. JTG rolls up Chris for a nearfall before falling victim to the Walls of Jericho and he taps out. Kind of odd the Smith had basically no involvement in the match.
CM Punk and Luke Gallows come out to the ring, and as you might remember from last week, Punk intends to follow thru with his promise to “save†a member of the audience. And as someone who always keeps his promises, Punk eventually selects a guy from the audience by the name of James. Like the savior that he is Punk reaches out to this young man and leads him in a pledge of straight edgedness, including telling him that he “needs to stop trying and start doingâ€. But before he will indict him into his straight edged society, he partially shaves his head. James does not seem too happy during his haircut, but is all smiles once Punk and Luke raise his arms and welcome him to the fold afterwards. Unlike that heathen Todd Grisham, Matt Striker and I are both very moved by this event.
Luke Gallows def Matt Hardy: Before the match, Punk awesomely taunts Matt with the Slammy that he won at the expense of his brother Jeff. Luke is quickly in control of the action with a couple of knockdowns but Hardy rebounds and tries to attack the leg of Gallows. Matt tries for a suplex, but it is reversed and he gets draped over the top rope and then struck for the apron. Luke is quickly outside of the ring to continue his attack and returns Matt to the ring after a few shots. In true hoss like fashion Luke continues his assault on Hardy but he misses a charge into the corner and Matt takes advantage by hitting a moonsault and getting a nearfall from it. Gallows misses another charge into the corner and this time Hardy answers with a tornado DDT. Matt tries to get another does of airborne offense, but after a distraction by Punk he is leveled with a big boot by Gallows. Luke then follows up by hitting his finisher that Striker and Grisham can’t agree on the name for and that is enough to earn him the victory. I will now await all of the internet rumors and speculation of how Matt is being punished for his brother’s jump to TNA.
Meanwhile in the Hall of Justice, Maria is on hand to promote her appearance in Celebrity Apprentice. While Teddy is proud to have her representing Smackdown, once Vickie interrupts to talk about herself and the new WWE toys from Mattel, everyone including the Great Khali turns things into a make fun of Vickie segment.
Beth Phoenix def Layla (with Michelle McCool): As Beth makes her entrance we get a recap of the various divas involved in this match from last week. Layla acts scared and gets tossed around by Beth to start the match before taking refuge outside of the ring. Michelle then declines an invite from Phoenix to join the fun and tosses her buddy back into the ring instead. Layla eventually decides to try to make it a contest and fires back with some strikes. But her burst of offense is brief as Beth soon hits the Glam Slam and covers her for the win. After the bell, McCool and Layla combine to attack Phoenix but Mickie James makes a save that allows the Glamazon to toss them both out of the ring. Mickie then lays out Beth with kick to get payback for last week.
Following the expected video recap of Raw, Josh Matthews joins the show to interview Drew McIntyre. After showing video of his latest victories over John Morrison, Drew talks some trash about John until Morrison shows up to make fun of him. Line of the night comes from John; “Alright Drew, this is starting to get boring, one of the two of us has got to lose their temper and if it isn’t going to be you it might as well be meâ€. He then pimp slaps the IC champ and the two of them brawl their way into a commercial break.
Batista vs. Rey Mysterio: The winner of this match is supposed to get the title shot against the Undertaker at the Royal Rumble. Rey starts the match by running and is able to get a few shots in before getting caught in mid-flight and then slammed into the corner. Batista starts to both badmouth and beatdown Mysterio until his overconfidence leaves him set-up for the 619. However he slips off the ropes and out of the ring before it can connect. Rey tries to go airborne to continue his attack but is easily caught and slammed into the ringpost and the show takes a final commercial break.
As we return to live taped action, Dave seems to still have the upper hand as he places Rey on the top rope. But Mysterio fights him off and after Batista drops to the mat he follows him down with a body splash. However the move seems to take more out of Rey and Batista is quicker to his feet and leveling Mysterio with a spinebuster. Dave then follows that up with a spear and signals for the Batista Bomb. However before he can complete the move, a familiar bell tolls and the lights go out. Once the darkness clears, Dave has been laid out and Rey is climbing to his feet. Mysterio takes full advantage of the opportunity to hit a flurry of offense and hits the 619 on Batista. But the lights go out again and this time both men are down as the lights come back on. The Undertaker’s music and entrance video play but he does not actually make an appearance but it seems the match is over just like this recap.
