Smackdown

Card Information:
 Held in: SCHOTTENSTEIN CENTER
Location: OHIO, UNITED STATES
          on December 2004 at 8:00pm

Interview:
The truth from Orton...
Click here to see highlights.

Randy Orton and Goldberg brag about their ruse on Raw, only for RVD and Chris
Benoit to interrupt them.


AJ Styles pinned Scott Steiner after a rana in 0:12:05.
Rating: *** 1/4

Styles got a shocking win over Steiner, which led to Chris Jericho coming out
onto the ramp and laughing at Big Poppa Pump.  This enraged Steiner, and led 
to him beating down Styles with a steel chair, leaving him battered and covered
in blood.


Triangle Match:
Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore defeated Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio and
Tajiri and Steven Richards:
         x M. Hardy beat Stevie via the Splash Mountain in 0:05:07
         x M. Hardy beat Michaels via the Twist of Fate in 0:11:05
Rating: *** 3/4
Click here to see highlights.

Tonight was Hardy's night, as he completely brutalised HBK, putting him through
several tables outside the ring.  Although Shawn was able to get his foot on
the ropes at first, a Twist of Fate was enough to give Hardy the victory.


Interview:
Punishment for the Basham Brothers...
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The Bashams are forced to fight one another by the nWo.


Doug Basham pinned Danny Basham after a leaping swinging DDT in 0:01:03.
Rating: **

Doug defeated Danny in a matter of minutes thanks to a DDT, although some might
suggest that Danny lay down for his brother.  However, neither man had time to
celebrate or complain after the match, as the Dudley Boys, Bubba and D-Von ran
through the crowd and nailed both Bashams with the 3D, signalling the Dudley's
return to WWE.


nWo (Marty Jannetty, Ted DiBiase, The Big Show and X-Pac) defeated
Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Al Snow and Funaki when DiBiase defeated Snow by
countout in 0:07:18.
Rating: ** 1/4

Not much of a match really, as the nWo got a count-out victory.


Interview:
The Hulkster is hungry...
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Hollywood Hogan makes tonights main event a six man tag match.


Brock Lesnar pinned Triple H with the F-5 in 0:11:11.
Rating: *** 1/2

After being busted open by his own Sledgehammer, it was only a matter of time
before Brock Lesnar put down The Game.  After the match, Jeff Jarrett came
back down to the ring, and ended up putting Helmsley through a table with the
Stroke.


Chris Benoit, Rob Van Dam and Booker T defeated
nWo (Goldberg, Hollywood Hogan and Randy Orton) when Benoit pinned Hollywood
 after a backslide in 0:22:23.
Rating: *** 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

The nWo suffered a major defeat as their leader was pinned by the number 1
contender to the WWE title.  As Smackdown went off the air, Benoit, RVD and
Booker T stood victorious in the middle of the ring.



Card rating: ***


Match observations: 

An interesting night of action here, as we edge ever closer to the Armageddon
Pay Per View.  Chris Benoit, who we now know will face Goldberg in a 2 out of
3 falls match at the PPV, managed to pin the leader of the nWo, Hollywood Hogan
in a gruelling tag match tonight.  Based upon that result, we will now see a
one on one contest between Benoit and Hogan this Monday night on Raw, in what
should be a fantastic main event.

Also signed for Raw are three other matches based on the happenings of right
here tonight.  First of all, we're going to see Shawn Michaels take on Matt
Hardy, after Hardy absolutely brutalised and then pinned HBK in the triangle
tag match tonight.  Whether Hardy was working under instruction from Steven
Richards, it's unknown, but one thing is for certain, the match on Monday has
all the trappings of a sleeper hit.

Raw will also see the in-ring return to action of the Dudley Boys, who will
face the Basham Brothers in tag team action.  Bubba and D-Von gave Doug and
Danny a pair of 3D's here tonight, but who knows whether they'll do it again
come Monday?

And based upon a couple of results here tonight, there will be a six man tag
team match on Raw, which will feature Triple H, Chris Jericho and AJ Styles,
who we saw for the first time in a while here tonight, taking on Scott Steiner,
Jeff Jarrett and Brock Lesnar.

It should be a great Raw, with so many rivalries brewing up and boiling over
following tonight.

Next Show: Raw