Last night's episode of SmackDown started off with a congratulatory announcement to Undertaker's 7th World Title Reign by GM Theodore Long. The announcement was halted by the man who lost his title at Hell in a Cell, CM Punk, demanding his rematch for the World Heavyweight Title. Then that was broken up by The Chairmen of World Wrestling Entertainment, Mr. McMahon.McMahon proclaimed that the World Heavyweight Title would be defended at Bragging Rights in a Fatal Four-Way, with CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, and "The Animal" Dave Batista. Of course the stipulation is being passed off as Teddy's idea - giving him more heat towards the Undertaker.
There was a segment of Vickie questioning Long's judgment of not only reinstating Hell's Gate but making Taker's first title defense a Fatal Four-Way. Additionally, she also badgered him for not placing Eric Escobar in a match on his first official night on SmackDown.
SmackDown featured five matches: Rey Mysterio vs. One-Half of the Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho. The match was an encore for those that loved the Jericho-Mysterio feud, which took on the earlier part of the summer - battling for the Intercontinental Title and The Mask. We even saw an instance of Jericho trying to remove Rey's Mask, but even after a spine-contorting Walls of Jericho - Mysterio won in his second attempt with the 619. Jericho may have successfully defended his title last Sunday, but the rest of the week proved less than desirable, as he lost a match to DX on Monday and now to The Master of the 619. Mysterio has done nicely for himself since coming back from his suspension - a title shot for the Unified Tag Team Titles, and now being named a contender for Taker's World Title... unbelievable.
Next was a non-title match up between Women's Champion, Michelle McCool vs. Eve Torres. This was actually an enjoyable match, probably won of the better women matches in a while. These are two women that have been given the push from WWE and are doing the most of what they are given. Eve is still a bit new to the fierce competition that goes inside the squared circle, but she is improving vastly. Her drop kicks are still impeccable and her new maneuver, a standing Senton is a great new addition. Now, McCool actually countered a maneuver with a cart-wheel, and it wasn't won of those peppy cheerleader chart wheels, it was more fluid - like the sack people from Little Big Planet game? What was also impressive was the finish - a boot to the face by Michelle McCool for the 1-2-3 victory. Usually WWE overdoes the finish of the match needing to be the Finisher - in her case it's the Faith Breaker, but a boot to the face was a nice change of pace. I applaud both women for putting on such a great match.The third match was for the Intercontinental Championship: John Morrison defending against Dolph Ziggler. Sunday's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view saw both the IC and the United States Titles both successfully defended, but Kofi lost the title to Miz on RAW, would Dolph follow suit with a win on SmackDown? The two put on a spectacular match on Sunday, that it's incredible that they could replicate another high caliber match just five days removed from the ppv. John Morrison is a fighting champion with a background of ECW Champion, Multi-time Tag Team Champion, and now a 3-time Intercontinental Champion. Dolph Ziggler has still not gotten his taste of gold, and after some miscommunication with Maria, his time to shine is still a long ways off. Dolph had left a chair by the ring apron, so when the time was right he would strike Morrison for the quick win - but Maria, innocently, took back the chair so she could sit and watch the match. Of course, when looking for the illegal item, Ziggler was distracted by Maria sabotaging his plan and lost focus; thus, losing the match. Shortly after the match, the following segment was Dolph breaking up with Maria, because he wants to focus on his professional life. Maria just has a tendency to go for the bad boys: Carlito, Santino Marella, and now Dolph Ziggler. When Dolph speaks to Maria during segments, it's actually genuine, but when he tries to cut promos or talk in the ring - it's just really bad. Ziggler has a future in the WWE, but John Morrison is a fighting champion that will not relinquish easily.
The fourth match was a tag team match: R-Truth and Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre and Kane. It was the team of the North Carolinians against two dominating forces. Kane has dominated The Great Khali, and is now trying to find more victims; while McIntyre just wants to reach the point of his career where he's a World Champion. But everyone has to start somewhere and last night, McIntyre hits it big by pinning Matt with the Double Underhook DDT - but it was thanks to Kane's uppercut that Drew was able to lock in the devastating move. Kane and Drew actually worked well together as a team, possible tag team? Singles careers are the best way to go, if one wants to be taken seriously.The final match was between CM Punk vs. Batista. These two men, along with Mysterio, will meet at Bragging Rights as competitors fighting for the same prize, The World Heavyweight Championship. Some may not recall, but CM Punk and Batista feuded back in 2008, during Punk's 1st WHT reign as a Face. Punk would always get away with his title intact, and tonight was shades of that feud, as Punk was able to deliberately run the ref's 10 count long enough to keep Batista out of the ring. CM Punk was declared the winner via count out, but it was Batista that looked like a winner when he Batista Bombed him. Could this be a sign of things to come, when in 2 weeks Undertaker will defend his "holy grail" in a Fatal Four-Way?
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