DECEMBER 24, 2004 - SMACKDOWN!
It's Christmas Eve, and WWE has a tremendous gift for all its fans. Just two nights away from Starrcade, the four participants in the world title matches will do battle in a fatal fourway main event to close out the show! Plus, we will determine who will battle it out inside a steel cage for the vacant Intercontinental Title at Starrcade! Plus, Paul London has a challenge for his rival Matt Hardy Version 2.0.
We kick things off with the first semifinal match in the Intercontinental Title tournament as The Hurricane goes one-on-one with Christian! It's an amazing way to kick off the show, as both men pull out all the stops. Counter after counter, aerial move after aerial move, but eventually Christian gets the edge with a stun gun, which he follows up with a brutal Norther Lights bomb to set up the Unprettier and advance to the title match!
Tazz is in the ring to conduct an interview between WWE Champion The Rock and his #1 contender Tajiri. Rock has been cutting some amazing promos on Tajiri, and Tajiri seems to want to do the same, but it degenerates into a brawl, destroying the set and leaving Tazz agape. He hasn't been on TV in months, and his talk show segment gets destroyed!
Christian's Starrcade opponent is decided next as John Cena takes on "Nature Boy" Dave Batista in our second semifinal match. These two put on a very good match (not as good as its predecessor), but the fans don't seem as into it, likely because nobody expects a Christian/Bats title match. Cena picks up the win with a big shoulder tackle setting up the F-U!
WWE Chairman Eric Bischoff appears on the TitanTron and officially announces that John Cena will face Christian inside a steel cage for the vacant Intercontinental Title at Starrcade!
The string of great matches continues as Rey Mysterio takes on Chris Jericho next! During a moment of confusion, Eddie Guerrero manages to take out Jericho with the Frogsplash, allowing Rey to pick up the win. Eddie continues the attack on his Starrcade opponent until United States Champion Chris Benoit slides into the ring with a chair driving off the babyfaces.
Cruiserweight Champion Paul London is in the ring when we come back from break, and he's tired of waiting. He's known for weeks that he'd be taking on Matt Hardy Version 2.0 at Starrcade, but he just can't wait two more days. He wants Matt... tonight!
Matt is more than happy to oblige, and they put on a hell of a preview for this Sunday's PPV. Cornette and Wilson make sure to point out that London's title is not on the line until Sunday, which sort of sets up the finish. Matt grabs a handful of London's tights for the cheap win and a ton of momentum! After the match, they brawl up the ramp and out of sight.
Brock Lesnar is backstage. He knows he has a great opportunity tonight to hurt Rhyno. In two days, he'll win the World Title for the first time in his career (he was WWE Champion before, kids), and he's looking forward to doing more than that. He's going hunting, and his prey is the Manbeast!
Co-holder of the World Tag Team Titles Eddie Guerrero takes on United States Champion Chris Benoit in our next contest, and for the first time in a while, neither man is "sluggish." Neither's all the way up to high morale yet, so it's not as great as it could have been, but at least nobody phoned it in. Rey returns the favor his best friend did for him earlier when he hits the West Coast Pop on benoit, allowing Eddie to get the three count. This time, it's Jericho's turn to show up with a chair and drive off Eddie and Rey.
Rhyno's promo skills are getting better and better as he cuts a 96% quality interview about his match with Lesnar. He knows Brock's gunning for him tonight and on Sunday. Well, he has a parental advisory for everyone. Sunday's pay-per-view is going to be rated R due to violence and Gore! GORE! GOOOOOOORE!
Our main event is everything you expect it to be as Rhyno, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, and Tajiri once again show their incredible chemistry with each other. Rhyno prepares to get Lesnar up for a big suplex, but Lesnar grabs a handful of tights and picks up the cheap win to bring all the momentum in the world into Starrcade!