Smackdown

Card Information:
 Held in: TARGET CENTER
Location: MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
          on September 2005 at 8:00pm

Interview:
A video message from Shane McMahon...
Click here to see highlights.

Shane O Mac signs a major rematch from last Monday's Raw, with the number 1
contendership guaranteed to be decided.


No-Countout-No-DQ-Cage Match:
The Big Show pinned Vader with the Showstopper in 0:12:46.
Rating: ** 3/4

After a bloody and brutal cage match, it was once again the Big Show that came
out with the win.  It seems as if there's no big man that can stop the Big Show
on his current run of form.


Kane pinned Hurricane Helms with the Choke Slam in 0:01:16.
Rating: **

A total squash, as Kane make short work of the superhero.  The bells of the
Undertaker soon tolled, however, as the dead man emerged on the staging area.
Rather than come to the ring, though, the Taker just stared a hole through his
brother from where he stood, before allowing an evil smile to come across his
face.  Just what does the phenom have planned?


Interview:
Go time...
Click here to see highlights.

The intended 8-man tag team rematch gets a slight re-shuffle, thanks to the
actions of Evolution.


Handicap-Match:
Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton, Ric Flair and Triple H) defeated Roddy Piper
 when Orton pinned Piper with the RKO in 0:14:30.
Rating: ** 1/4

Piper was on the receiving end of a shocking beating, which now means that
Triple H is the number 1 contender, despite the fact that he never legally
tagged himself into the ring during the match.  The 4 on 1 beatdown continued
after the match, until Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and The Rock ran down to
ringside to make the save, obviously now that they had made it out of the 
locker room.


Interview:
The champion is not happy...
Click here to see highlights.

Chris Benoit's challenge leads to a new six man main event being signed, as 3
members of Evolution will pull double duty.


Ken Shamrock defeated John Bradshaw Layfield when John Bradshaw Layfield
 passed out in an armbar submission in 0:05:24.
Rating: ** 1/4

Another big win for Ken Shamrock, as he added JBL to the list of men he has 
made pass out in recent weeks.  Shamrock looks like he could have a very bright
future in the WWE if his run of form continues.


Interview:
The former Cruiserweight Champion...
Click here to see highlights.

Rey Mysterio gets into a confrontation with the Rattlesnake.


Rey Mysterio pinned Steve Austin with the West Coast Pop in 0:11:37.
Rating: ***

Mysterio stunned Stone Cold by defeating him.  A shocked Stone Cold took out
his frustrations by giving the referee a Stunner afterwards.


Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton and Ric Flair) defeated
Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and The Rock when Orton pinned Y2J after
a flying forearm in 0:22:05.
Rating: *** 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

It was Evolution's night, as they picked up their second victory, with Randy
Orton once again getting the pinfall victory.  Post match, Triple H reminded
Benoit of what had happened on Raw by once again taking the WWE title belt, but
instead of walking off with it this time, he merely got up on the apron and 
nailed the champion in the head with it.  Evolution once again posed on the 
ramp, as the show went off the air.



Card rating: ** 3/4


Match observations: 

Tonight truly was Evolution's night, as they picked up a couple of major wins
against some of the WWE's biggest names.  First there was the set up, which led
to them facing Roddy Piper in a four on one handicap match.  The win saw Triple
H officially become the number 1 contender to the title at Unforgiven, but that
was not to be the end of Evolution's domination, as Randy Orton, Batista and 
Ric Flair all came back to defeat Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and The Rock in
the final match of the evening.  After Jericho had gotten the winning fall on
Monday, it was now his turn to be on the losing end of a match.  And of course,
we all saw Triple H clock Benoit with his own belt at the end of the show,
leaving the champ out cold.

Stone Cold Steve Austin's WWE career is lying in tatters after another shock
loss here tonight.  What can possibly revive the career of the Rattlesnake?  Is
there anything left that could?

The Undertaker is clearly playing mind games with his brother Kane.  What was
the significance of the Dead Man's evil smile otherwise?  It'll be interesting
to see how this one plays out.

Who will be next on Ken Shamrock's list?  Rumour has it that WWE officials are
attempting to set up a dream match between Shamrock and Masahiro Chono, but a
number of other WWE superstars would be happy to get a crack at the World's
Most Dangerous Man, including Brock Lesnar and even Evolution's Batista.  The
next few weeks should prove very interesting for Shamrock.

Next Show: Raw