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SEPTEMBER 3, 2004 - SMACKDOWN!
It's the season premiere of SmackDown! Just 23 days away from Unforgiven, and tonight's main event pits the top four contenders for Matt Hardy Version 2.0's WWE Title against each other in a fatal fourway to determine a challenger. Plus, Jeff Hardy defends the Intercontinental Title against the man who won a 20-man battle royal last week, Chavo Guerrero.
We kick things off with an ECW-style threeway dance pitting ECW alumni Spike Dudley, Nova, and Christian York against each other for a future shot at Tajiri's Cruiserweight Title. Of course it's a damn dud show, so we're getting the bare-bones write up. Spike is eliminated first, as he takes a Hart Attack from both opponents, then a kick to the face from Nova. Nova then winds up hitting the Spin Doctor on York to win the match and get the title shot.
Vito Thomaselli makes his WWE debut as Nunzio's tag partner in a match against the Dudley Boyz. Good match that the crowd gets into, but the game hates for some reason. Bubba nails Nunzio with a spear to set up the 3-D for the win.
Last week, Aaron Stevens and Chris Kanyon tied for the most eliminations in the IC Title contender battle royal. Tonight, they go one-on-one. Stevens looks like he's got the match under control until Billy Gunn makes his return and plants him with the Fame-Ass-Er! Kanyon picks up the cheap win, then the Metro Connection pummel him afterwards.
Tag team action is next as Dave Batista and John Layfield take on cruiserweight stars Brian Kendrick and Jamie Noble. Eventually, Layfield hits Kendrick with the Clothesline From Hell for the win.
Christian is backstage, and he cuts a promo on Rico, preparing for tonight's tag match. Eventually, this feud has to end, right?
It leads into a tag match with Christian teaming with the Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri against Rico and Rey Mysterio. The two sets of rivalries mesh into a great match. Eventually, Rey gets a measure of revenge on Tajiri for taking the title, pinning him with the West Coast Pop.
Paul London and Billy Kidman have been on the cusp of greatness for months, and the matches they've had against each other have been tremendous. Today is no exception. In fact, they're so evenly-matched that the fifteen-minute time limit expires before a winner can be declared.
Matt Hardy Version 2.0 is backstage with the WWE World Title. He cuts a promo about how it doesn't matter who walks out of the fatal fourway the number-one contender. He's been champion for over 100 days, and he's not about to drop the belt in 23 at Unforgiven. So whether it's Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, or The Rock, they're just going to become another footnote in the Chronicles of Mattitude. Just another Matt Fact among thousands of others.
Matt's brother Jeff is out next to defend the Intercontinental Title against Chavo Guerrero, who outlasted 19 other opponents in a battle royal last week to earn this shot. They have a great match that Jeff winds up winning with the Whisper In The Wind.
And now for our main event! Lots of back-and-forth between all four men, and the crowd is way into it. Eventually, The Rock hits Lesnar with the Rock Bottom to pick up the win.
After the match, Rock cuts a brief promo to officially hype the title match at Unforgiven. It ends with a staredown as we fade to black.
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