[loopydate]

DECEMBER 17, 2004 - SMACKDOWN!

In just nine days at Starrcade, the finals of the month-long Intercontinental Title tournament will be held. John Cena and "Nature Boy" Dave Batista have already qualified for next week's semifinals, and the last two spots will be filled tonight. Plus, Cena and Batista each will select a partner for a tag-team preview match tonight! Plus, both Starrcade main events will be previewed tonight as WWE Champion The Rock takes on the #1 contender for the World Title Brock Lesnar and World Champion Rhyno takes on the #1 contender for the WWE Title Tajiri!

We open things up with cruiserweight action as one-half of the World Tag Team Champion Chavo Guerrero takes on Carlito! It's a good match that lets both men get in their trademark spots. Chavo picks up the win with his brainbuster.

Backstage, Rico Constantino is with Billy Gunn, the man who surprisingly saved him from an attack by Gunn's Metro Connection partner Chris Kanyon last week. Rico said that there was something deeper than what Kanyon was claiming. These sexual harassment claims were a cover up. Kanyon was trying to destroy Rico, to drive him out of WWE because he didn't want to admit the truth. Rico and Billy have history, a long history, and over the last couple of months, they've come to a realization. Their feelings run deeper than friendship. And Kanyon couldn't handle that, and tried to drive a wedge between them. It didn't work when he got Avery Thompson involved, and it's not going to work now that they're out and proud. Billy's seen the light, and maybe it's time for Chris to do the same.

The quarterfinals of the Intercontinental Title tournament roll on next as The Hurricane takes on John Layfield. Layfield starts off as the aggressor with a pair of big clotheslines for two. Hurricane manages to fight back with some high-flying offense, and it proves to be enough as he puts Layfield away with the Eye of the Hurricane to advance! After the match, Layfield blasts him with the Clothesline From Hell to regain some heat.

But who will join Hurricane, Cena, and Batista in the semifinals? We're about to find out as Nova takes on Christian! Fantastic back-and-forth match between two of the most technically-sound cruiserweights in WWE. Nova once again proves that he's on the cusp of greatness, but Christian's experience is just too much as he hits the Unprettier to win. After the match, Christian's rival John Cena hits the ring and lands a brutal F-U to leave Christian laying.

Paul London is backstage. He's got a big tag match next, but first he cuts a short-but-sweet promo on Matt Hardy Version 2.0. Matt's done everything he can to get under London's skin lately, but London worked his ass off to become Cruiserweight Champion, and he's not going to let himself get intimidated by Matt just because he's "Elite" now. Much as London would love to be hopping between shows, he doesn't need Eric Bischoff to justify him as one of WWE's elite. He knows he is, the WWE fans know he is, and at Starrcade, Matt Hardy's going to know he is, too! It's a Starrcade preview tag match next as London teams with Rey Mysterio to take on Hardy and the United States Champion Chris Benoit!

Four of WWE's most exciting superstars put on a hell of a match that previews both the U.S. and Cruiserweight Title matches at Starrcade. Rey looks to be about to win the match when he rolls Benoit up, but Benoit rolls through and grabs a handful of tights for the cheap win! After the match, the four men continue to brawl up the ramp and out of sight. The bad blood continues!

John Cena and "Nature Boy" Dave Batista will go one-on-one next week in the semifinals of the IC Title tournament, but tonight they go toe-to-toe in a tag match where each man gets to pick a partner. Cena goes with a tag specialist, co-holder of the World Tag Team Titles Eddie Guerrero! Batista goes for Eddie's arch-rival Chris Jericho! Weird mix of styles doesn't lead to the best technical match, but the fans are way into it. Eventually, Jericho picks up a rare clean win by getting Eddie to tap out to the Walls of Jericho. After the match, one of the other semifinalists Christian hits the ring and blasts Cena with an Unprettier for a measure of revenge after Cena's earlier attack!

Rhyno is backstage and he cuts a brief promo about Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman sprained his ankle earlier this week, so Rhyno's on his own for this one, but his intensity covers up his minor charisma deficiency. Rhyno definitely sells the Starrcade World Title match.

Rhyno's opponent tonight is his former ECW "Network" stablemate Tajiri, and they put on a four-star classic. As Rhyno prepares to Gore Tajiri, Brock Lesnar hops the railing and blasts him with an F5! The ref calls for the bell, and the former Dangerous Alliance stablemates go to work on the champion. WWE Champion The Rock sprints down the aisle and slides into the ring to drive off the heels.

The Rock gives a 100% quality promo about his Starrcade match against Tajiri as the refs maintain order. The People's Champion never ceases to amaze when he can turn a seemingly off-the-cuff promo into pure gold. Can you imagine what he's going to do for Tajiri's career at Starrcade?

And now for our main event, and once again The Rock and Brock Lesnar put on a hell of a match. In a near mirror-image of its predecessor, Rock prepares to hit the Rock Bottom until Tajiri hits the ring resulting in a DQ. Rhyno returns with a chair to drive off the heels, and the champions once again end the show standing tall!