Smackdown

Card Information:
 Held in: ALL - NATION CENTER
Location: CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
          on July 2005 at 8:00pm

Interview:
The People's Champion...
Click here to see highlights.

The Rock addresses the people and discusses the triple threat match at the
upcoming Vengeance PPV.


Chris Benoit pinned Dean Malenko after an inside cradle in 0:23:26.
Rating: *** 3/4

Great win for the number 1 contender.  Malenko more than held his own, and it's
a real mystery why he has been used so sparingly on WWE television.


8-Man Tag Team Battle Royal:
John Cena and Tazz won a 4-team Battle Royal:
         x Tazz threw out Venis (partner: Edge) in 0:01:18
         x Tazz threw out Haas (partner: Shelton Benjamin) after
a fireman's carry in 0:01:27
         x Tazz threw out D-Von (partner: Bubba Ray Dudley) in 0:02:30
Rating: ***

Tazz was on fire here tonight, as he pretty much won the Battle Royal for his
team single-handedly.  Thug Life will now go on to Raw, where they will face
the winners of a second tag team battle royal later tonight for a shot at the
tag team titles.


Interview:
Shane O Mac is moving back...
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Shane O Mac pulls out of the night's main event, but leaves a very important
message for Hollywood Hogan.


Masahiro Chono pinned Lance Storm after a power bomb in 0:03:28.
Rating: ***

Storm gave Chono everything he had, but it was nowhere near enough.  Upon
completion of the match, Vader emerged on the ramp and stared down Chono.  All
the while, Chono was challenging Vader to come to the ring, but Vader refused,
simply repeating the word "Vengeance" over and over again.


8-Man Tag Team Battle Royal:
Rene Dupree and Sylvan Grenier won a 4-team Battle Royal:
         x R. Dupree defeated Angle (partner: John Bradshaw Layfield) after
a flying forearm in 0:01:22
         x R. Dupree threw out Michinoku (partner: Funaki) in 0:04:49
         x R. Dupree threw out Scotty (partner: Grandmaster Sexay) after a punch
 in 0:05:41
Rating: ** 3/4

La Resistance pick up the win, and it'll be them who go after Thug Life on
Monday, with the winners facing HBK and Cactus Jack at Vengeance.


Interview:
Trouble in the back...
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Josh Matthews reports on alleged friction between Val Venis and Edge.


Booker T defeated Mark Jindrak when Mark Jindrak passed out in a sleeperhold in
0:02:47.
Rating: ** 1/2

After waiting quite a while to debut, Mark Jindrak's first appearence was far
from perfect.  Booker T picks up the win in his first match for quite a few
weeks.


Hollywood Hogan and Chris Jericho defeated Randy Orton and Christopher Daniels
 when Y2J defeated Daniels when Daniels passed out in the Walls of Jericho in
           0:20:03.
Rating: **** 1/4
Click here to see highlights.

Hogan's team picked up the win, but as it was not Hogan himself who got the
win, Shane McMahon will now get to pick the Vengeance stipulation.



Card rating: *** 1/4


Match observations: 

Good night of action on Smackdown here tonight.  Although Hogan's team were
victorious, Hogan now faces an anxious wait until Raw, where Shane McMahon wil
reveal what match he and Hogan will have at Vengeance.  After the Texas Death
Match at Survivor Series, and the Street Fight at No Way Out, what possible
type of match could contain these two egomaniacs for what should surely be the
decider?

Chris Jericho was much happier with the result of the main event tonight, as
it showed he was still capable of beating Christopher Daniels.  However, it
will be much tougher at Vengeance, as he'll have to get three wins in a row.
Of course, if he can keeps the Walls of Jericho applied, there might not be
too much trouble in earning three successive tap-outs.

On Monday night, Thug Life will face La Resistance, with the winners earning a
shot at the tag team titles.  However, in a rather strange twist, it has been
determined that the match will be a towel match, with one half of the tag team
champions in the corner of each team.  Essentially, the champions will be 
choosing their own challengers.

And speaking of tag teams, after tonight's rumoured problems between Edge and
Val Venis, it has been announced that Shane McMahon has signed the two of them
to fight at Vengeance.  It'll be very intriguing to see how they react to this,
especially if it emerges that the rumours of their brawl are not true.

After somewhat bad mouthing Stone Cold Steve Austin tonight, The Rock may find
himself in trouble on the next Raw, as he must team with Austin to face Triple
H and Ric Flair, just six days prior to the big triple threat match between the
three icons of attitude at Vengeance.

Next Show: Raw