Original Airdate: Friday, February 9th, 2007
Qwest Center
Omaha, Nebraska
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We get a lengthy Undertaker Royal Rumble decision video package before Taker comes out to the live crowd.
Undertaker vs. Miz
They show a little recap of Miz bragging about not losing to Undertaker about a month ago. Taker quickly hits Old School. Miz tries to bring it to Taker in the corner, but Taker isn't having it and dishes it right back. Taker hits Snake Eyes and a chokeslam, as it's pretty apparent this is going to be a glorified squash if you had any doubt. Taker hits the Tombstone and that's all. This was just to continue the build to WrestleMania for Taker and took advantage of a minor plot point they set up awhile ago. After the match, Taker clears off the announce table and gives Miz a Last Ride through the table.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We get a vignette saying that in 2 weeks, Rey Mysterio returns to the 619 on SmackDown to update us on his condition.
Deuce 'N Domino vs. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
This is once again a non-title match. They announce that we will have a rematch of the ladder match from Armageddon at No Way Out. I do not remember them announcing that. The newcomers dominate the early going and Deuce hits a big kick on Kendrick for a 2 count. London comes in and is able to shift the momentum. Deuce is able to push London off the top rope and hit a double team move for the victory. They've now beaten the champs twice in a row. This wasn't as good of a match as the last one, but that was mostly because it was more one sided.
Match Rating: *
We get a Kane/King Booker recap and then go to King Booker and Queen Sharmell with Teddy Long. Booker wants an apology and Kane to be suspended. Teddy announces that they will square off at No Way Out.
Matt Hardy vs. Joey Mercury
I don't mind these two wrestling still, but they really haven't given much for Mercury to do on his end of the story. Hardy dumps Mercury out of the ring and hits him with a slingshot dive into a commercial break. I wonder what percentage of in match commercial breaks have a dive as the move right before the break? When we come back, Mercury drops Hardy on his knee from the second rope and then goes to work on it. After a lengthy heat segment, Hardy does make a minor comeback. He goes for the Side Effect, but Mercury counters it into a pin attempt and picks up the victory. Well, they had to have him get a clean win eventually if they are going to keep fighting.
Match Rating: **
51 days until WrestleMania.
Mr. Kennedy is out because he has an issue with everyone saying that the main event of WrestleMania is going to be Batista against Undertaker. He's here to tell us that he's going to be the buzzkill because he's tired of being overlooked. He knows that he deserves to be the World Heavyweight Champion and he will prove it tonight. Out comes Batista to interrupt and they start brawling. Multiple officials are out to try and break it up. Batista charges at Kennedy and he ducks, causing Batista to run into the ring post. Kennedy retreats through the crowd.
Boogeyman vs. Finlay
It's matches like this where it's very apparent how good of a professional wrestler Finlay is. Just this little opening segment with Boogey is better than what most would be able to get out of this guy and I love Finlay for it. I also think that it's worth noting that there is over 90 years of life experience between the two performers. Finlay actually gets to do some offense and when it's time for Boogeyman to get in his stuff, the crowd is pretty quiet for it. Out comes Hornswoggle and Boogeyman grabs him and throws him in the ring. Boogeyman grabs some worms and that distraction allows Finlay to club him in the knee with the shillelagh and pick up the victory. After the match, he lets Hornswoggle out from under the ring and lets him run to the back. Boogeyman seems to not be phased by the loss, as he just sucks down some worms. I'm not sure why they keep putting Boogeyman in the ring, but you know what the result is going to be.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Daivari vs. Gregory Helms
Apparently Daivari is returning to SmackDown to compete in the cruiserweight division. So naturally they just have him wrestle the champ here in a cold match between two heels. This is the type of booking I just don't understand, as I'm not sure how this is going to help either guy. JBL criticizes him for leaving the walking ATM machine that is Great Khali. Helms goes up top, but Daivari is able to hit the top rope to knock him off. Daivari misses with a top rope leg drop and JBL notes that you can hear a pin drop because people don't like Helms and fans aren't used to watching Daivari in a SmackDown ring. Something like that. Helms hits a spinning backbreaker, but Daivari kicks out at 2. Helms rolls up Daivari, but it gets reversed and he grabs the middle rope to steal the victory. I didn't realize that Daivari was only 23 years old here.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Maryse says more SmackDown is coming.
Teddy Long tells Jillian and Kristal that at No Way Out there's going to be a Divas Talent Invitational. They then run down the card for No Way Out, which now includes Finlay vs. Boogeyman. \
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Mr. Kennedy vs. Batista
So now that they just ran down the card of No Way Out and it includes Undertaker and Batista on a tag team, would it be Mr. Kennedy and Undertaker if he wins? JBL names a bunch of wrestlers who never got to main event a WrestleMania and for some reason includes Greg Valentine and Haku in the list. We get a pretty standard pre-commercial start that eventually leads to Kennedy throwing Batista into the steps. Kennedy makes the mistake of going up top and Batista meets him there. Kennedy is able to knock him off and hits the Kenton Bomb for a 2 count. The underrated part of Kennedy is that his offense is less boring than a lot of the current heels. He gets a nice nearfall after a belt shot and a boot to the face. Kennedy, now frustrated, hits a running boot to a seated Batista in the corner. Batista battles back and hits a spinebuster, but Batista is too hurt to really follow up on it. Batista continues to regain his strength and hits a powerslam and two more spinebusters. The Batista Bomb is next and he retains his championship in a hard fought match. These two had much better chemistry than you would ever think and it usually made for compelling television.
Match Rating: ***
As Batista is celebrating, Undertaker's music hits and he rises up on the stage. Batista is selling it for some reason, but then raises up his title belt.
We got some decent action here tonight and they did build towards No Way Out, even if it's looking like kind of a dud overall. I didn't recall the ladder match being announced and am curious why they pivot away from that, but I would hardly call that me having interest in the show. SmackDown continues to be the more consistent show over Raw and ECW and I'm not sure it's particularly close at this point in time.
Overall Rating: 61%
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