(Shane McMahon makes his way down to ringside to kick off Smackdown.)

Shane McMahon:
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Shane McMahon's Smackdown.  It's not the nWo's
Smackdown any more, it mine, and more importantly, it all yours too.  And I'm
pretty sure you guys are sick of the sight of Hollywood Hogan every Smackdown
show, so I did you all a favour, and gave Hogan the night off.  Just to make
sure he took it, I also had him barred from the building.

But Hogan, rest assured, you'll be more than welcome at No Way Out, when I kick
your ass like I should have done at Survivor Series.  You see, I've set myself
a little goal, I want the nWo out of WWE by the time Wrestlemania is over, and
I have every intention of achieving that goal.  At No Way Out, Hogan, I start
by defeating you, and then I put the final plans into motion to ensure that
your sorry excuse for a gang is dead and buried once and for all.  So I'm going
to put the entire nWo on notice right now, your group, it's a sinking ship.  I
suggest you abandon it right now, or face drowning with everybody else.  It
your choice, so make it wisely.

Now, to my disappointment, the nWo is still in possession of the WWE title,
mainly thanks to a little punk-ass named X-Pac, who I've had nothing but big
trouble with during my whole career.  I'll get to X-Pac later, but first I need
to address Brock Lesnar.  Sure, you won the match on Monday Brock, but I doubt
that you can feel particularly proud of yourself, because just like the Rumble,
you didn't get the job done by yourself.  So what I'm gonna do is give you one
more chance to prove that, at No Way Out, when you square off against Benoit
one last time for the WWE title.

The trouble is Brock, I just don't know what kind of match to put this in.  A
steel cage match, or a ladder match.  Now, I'm pretty sure Chris Benoit would
prefer a ladder match, while you would prefer the cage match.  So what I'm 
going to do is let you fight it out for yourselves to decide.  Right here
tonight, in this very ring, you find yourself 2 partners, Benoit can find a
couple of partners for himself too, and we'll have a 6-man tag team match.  If
your team wins Brock, it's a cage match.  If Benoit's team wins, it's a ladder
match.  You can't get much more simple than that.

Now then, let's finish off by getting back to X-Pac.  In fact, let's invite
X-Pac to make his way down to the ring right now, because I want to say what
I have to say to his face.

(The nWo music hits, and X-Pac makes his way down to the ring.)

Shane McMahon:
You know something X-Pac, you make me sick.  Sick to my damn stomach, with the
way you ruin my matches, and don't give a damn about the consequences.  Well,
you know what, I think it's about time that you got what was coming to you.  

Last Monday, after you helped Big Show attack Brian Kendrick and Ultimo Dragon,
and you helped Brock Lesnar defeat Chris Benoit, I did two things.  Number 1,
I removed you from the Cruiserweight Title Battle Royal that I had planned for
tonight, and number 2, I signed a special match for you.  I think you may
know your opponent, his name is the Undertaker, and your match, is right now!

(The lights go out, and the bell tolls.)




Click here to return to Smackdown.


Rich, 12-11-2005