Finlay def Batista: Dave quickly backs Finlay into a corner and then stops to flex which pisses the Irishman off and he goes on the attack. Finlay hits his Rolling Thunder for a two count and boots Batista outside of the ring. Fit follows Batista out and will soon wish he had not as Dave brutally attacks him, partially destroying the announce table and drawing a disqualification in the process of displaying his rage. Batista eventually returns to the ring and cuts a promo about how he is going to win the Royal Rumble and go on to WrestleMania to face the Undertaker for the title and end his streak.
CM Punk and Luke Gallows join us as we are treated to a replay of their victory last week that earned them the #1 contendership to the tag-titles last week. Punk starts his promo on the ramp this week and continues it all the way to the ring. He lets us know that their title shot will be next week on Smackdown and that they will beat the morally corrupt team of DX. As he walks around the ring to consider whom he might save this week, a young lady leaps from the stands and tries to grab Punk to volunteer until a member of security to intervene and lead her away as she proclaims that she needs Punk. He sees this and reconsiders allowing her into the ring as his choice for the week. She says her name is Serena and is of course the awesome Serena Deeb who has a developmental deal and I think has made a few appearances on ECW and on WWE.com. She happily takes the pledge but before she gets her head shaved we actually break for commercials. But when we return she happily allows her head to be shaved and I hope she got a nice bonus for sacrificing her hair. If they are going to use any of these segments to add a member to Punk’s stable she’d be a fine choice.
John Morrison & R-Truth def Chris Jericho & Drew McIntyre: This was supposed to be a handicapped match with Jericho and McIntyre teaming against Morrison as per Vickie Guerrero’s orders. But Teddy Long stops the match from starting it and brings out Truth to even the odds and allow for another commercial break. Jericho starts again Morrison and John gets an early advantage before tagging in R-Truth. The faces combine for some Rocker-esque tandem offense on Jericho and follow by attacking McIntyre on the apron and then dumping Jericho on top of him at ringside. Chris is able to turn the tide and gets a cheap shot on Truth to knock him off the apron before he and Drew follow with a similar attack on Morrison. The Shaman of Sexy gets caught on the wrong side of town for an extended period and Jericho takes advantage of this segment to head over to the announce table to offer them some tips. Morrison fights back and hits his backbreaker/Russian legsweep combo on Jericho and it leaves both men trying to reach their corners. But it is McIntyre who is able to tag in and he decks Truth to prevent Morrison from reaching him and we hit another commercial break.
As we return to action Morrison is still trying to fight off McIntyre to make a tag but a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker halts his efforts. Jericho returns to the fray and amps up the taunting as he continues to hold the advantage for his team. Chris tries to set-up for a superplex but John fights out of it and tosses Jericho off. Morrison follows with a crossbody and nearly makes a tag after fighting out of a Walls of Jericho attempt but McIntyre tags back in and cuts him off. Drew goes for another tilt-a-whirl but Morrison reverses it into a ddt and both men make tags. Truth explodes with a flurry of offense and nails Jericho with a kick that leads to a pin attempt that McIntyre breaks up. Morrison returns to the ring to dump Drew out and they scuffle outside as Truth rolls up Jericho for a nearfall. McIntyre is tossed back in the ring by Morrison and that distracts the ref from Jericho’s pin attempt on Truth after an enziguri. While Drew is being removed by the ref, John kicks Jericho in the head, Truth follows with an ax kick and then pins him for the win.
Michelle McCool and Layla have an in-ring promo to throw Mickie James a party (complete with a pig cake) for leaving Smackdown. Lots of fat jokes and other stupidity take place until Maria interrupts to denounce their bitchiness. Maria says they are annoying and proclaims that their taunts will be ending as of tonight. So they make fun of her for awhile. Mickie comes out to reiterate that she is not going anywhere and the verbal catfight continues until finally a brawl ensues. Beth Phoenix joins the fun and after pondering the situation for a moment she joins the heel side and assists in beating the good girls down. Eventually the food gets involved and Mickie gets cake and punch dumped all over her. This angle gets dumber and more annoying to watch every week.
Cryme Tyme vs. Charlie Haas & Mike Knox: JTG starts against Mike Knox and is able to quickly hit the Mug Shot on him but instead of following up he dances around and Knox is able to tag in Charlie. But the match does not go much further as Kane comes out to let us know none of the people in the ring are important. He enters the ring and tosses both teams over the top rope before lighting up the turnbuckles and Striker and Grisham try to pretend he might win the Rumble.
Matt Hardy & Great Khali def The Hart Dynasty (with Natalya): Natalya tries to flirt with Khali before the match starts as Grisham gets in a Leno joke. Matt and Tyson start the match and Kidd quickly backs him into his team’s corner. A tag is made, Smith trips Hardy and Kidd follows with a leg drop. DH then enters the ring and hits a delayed vertical suplex on Matt to keep their advantage. Natalya goes over to Khali and tries to lure him away from the ring as Smith and Kidd set Hardy up for a springboard Hart Attack. But Matt shoves Smith into Kidd to halt the attempt and then gets David in a small package for the quick pinfall.
Your main event of the night is Rey Mysterio “calling out†the Undertaker. The dead champ answers this challenge and I think his entrance took longer than two of the matches tonight. Rey says he’ll win the title, Taker says Mysterio will rest in peace and then leaves without incident. As Taker walks back up the ramp, Batista attacks Mysterio from behind and hits a Batista Bomb. Next week is set-up to be a “big” pre-Rumble episode of Smackdown with Drew McIntyre defending the intercontinental championship against John Morrison and DX defending the unified tag titles against CM Punk and Luke Gallows. However, this week’s show was extremely weak with only one legitimate match and only one good promo in a show filled with annoying nonsense.
