SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 - SMACKDOWN!
With unforgiven just two days away, SmackDown! is headlined by an eight-man tag main event featuring several of the PPV competitors. Plus, we'll hear from several top SD stars about their upcoming grudge matches, and we can expect more fallout from Vince McMahon's shocking announcement on RAW that he is retiring at the end of this month!
We kick things off with what basically amounts to a squash match with John Layfield crushing Funaki. Funaki only manages a little bit of offense before being put away by the Clothesline From Hell.
Layfield's frequent tag partner "Nature Boy" Dave Batista is out next for a match with Aaron Stevens. Stevens puts up more of a fight than did Funaki, but he still falls victim to the Batista Bomb. After the match, Bats continues the punishment with a series of brutal punches before walking off.
Backstage, Shane McMahon pulls his father aside. Shane asks Vince where his head's at. Vince reiterates what he said on RAW, that in order for the company to remain the dominant brand in the industry, it needs a fresh face at the top. WWE has been run by two generations of Vince McMahons, and now it's time for someone else to take the helm. Besides, Shane doesn't need to worry, the company is going to be in good hands. He smiles and pats his son's shoulder before walking off.
Up next is a tremendous cruiserweight match between Brian Kendrick and Christian York. Lots of back-and-forth action and a handful of good nearfalls eventually ends with Kendrick landing The Big Spank for the win.
The cruiserweight exhibition continues with a six-man tag match pitting Chavo Guerrero, Jamie Noble, and Nova against Akio, Carlito, and Nunzio. It's another very exciting match that sees quick tags and quicker moves. Eventually, Nova takes out Akio with the Spin Doctor for the win.
John Cena cuts a promo backstage. He talks about the main event tonight where he'll be joining forces with The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio to take on Brock Lesnar, the Hardy Boyz, and his Unforgiven opponent Tajiri. Tajiri has - for some reason - decided to be a thorn in Cena's side lately, and that's fine. He wants to make his name by taking me out? Good for him. Good for him for getting the big PPV payday. But the good times are going to end at Unforgiven. Word life!
Two of the most dominant tag teams in WWE over the last year have been the Dudley Boyz and the Metro Connection. Tonight, they both try to work their way back to the title picture by picking up a win against the other. Gunn is setting up D-Von for a double team move, but D-Von ducks and Kanyon winds up clotheslining Gunn. D-Von winds up hitting his lifting reverse DDT for the win. After the match, the Metros get in each others' faces before walking off separately.
Backstage, Vince McMahon is on his cell phone talking to someone. We don't really know who it is. He mentions that after Unforgiven Sunday night, RAW is going to be the beginning of a brand new era in World Wrestling Entertainment, and you're just the man for the job. "See you Monday, son."
This Sunday night, Paul London and Rico face a huge tag-team challenge against Undertaker and Damien. They have their last tune up against BJ Whitmer and Trent Acid from the New Generation. In a night of exciting cruiserweight matches, this one was easily the best as the new stars put up a tremendous fight against the fast-rising London and Rico. London picks up the win and keeps momentum by hitting London Calling on Whitmer.
The Rock cuts a brief promo on his Unforgiven match with the WWE Champion Matt Hardy Version 2.0. It's pretty much your basic Rock promo, but a basic Rock promo's still pretty damn good.
In the eight-man main event, we got quick payoffs of each man's PPV match except for Cena/Jeff. Eddie and Jeff do most of the bumping in the match, and it winds up coming down to Mysterio and Lesnar. Lesnar and Tajiri hit a double suplex, which Lesnar follows up with an exploder. Rey fights back and puts Lesnar in the corner, but while he's playing to the crowd, Lesnar removes a turnbuckle cover and winds up sending Rey face-first into it allowing Brock to roll him up for the cheap win.
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