• The pyrotechnic display hits around the arena. We cut to ringside at the announce table; "Welcome to Friday Night Smackdown, ladies and gentlemen. I am Mick Foley, and, well... there is no Michael Cole, as you can see. But we do have somebody else to take over his place! None other than good ol' Jim Ross!" Ross proceeds to make his way down to the ring to a good ovation, waving to the crowd, but not appearing that satisfied. He reaches ringside, Foley welcoming him. "Alright, Mick, let's get this over with. Obviously I'm not too happy to be here, no offense to anybody on Smackdown, but Raw was my home." Foley pats him on the shoulder in consult, "I know, J.R. But you are truly the best commentator in the history of wrestling, and I'm glad to be here with you."
• "Metalingus" by Alter Bridge hits around the arena as Edge, Vickie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, and Bam Neely make their way down to the ring - none appearing happy one bit. Vickie is the first to speak, "First of all! EXCUSE ME! I am your General Manager and I demand you give me respect!" The arena fills with heat. "First of all; following Mr. McMahon's tragic accident this past Monday on Raw, all of us here on Smackdown would like to give our condolences to the McMahon family. From one family to another, we truly do mean it!" The audience doesn't seem to buy that they are truly sympathetic. Edge takes the microphone away from her slowly, "Alright. Back to a much more severe topic. Mr. McMahon was able to be helped on Raw, but what about me? What about me!? I had the living hell beat out of me by that walking steroid, Batista and then I lost my World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk! Who? Exactly what I thought! That son of a bitch decided to cash in Money In The Bank on me. Me! A two time holder of the damn thing!"
• "The Game" by Motorhead hits around the arena, the crowd jumping to their feet in cheers. WWE Champion Triple H makes his way out and into the ring, microphone in hand. "I got to hand it to ya, Edge. I really do. I didn't like the way a lot of people treated me in the past, but I never - NEVER - made a crowd get so frigin' bored within one session of speaking for five minutes!" The arena roars, "Look, man. I'm not out here to give my sympathy to you for getting your ass whooped. To be honest, I think you deserved it. You marry Vickie Guerr-" Hunter makes a joke by pretending to gag, "-erro. Then you get yourself title shots thanks to her being the General Manager. Hmm... maybe there is something underneath that 'love'." Edge marches forward, Hawkins and Ryder pulling him back. "Hey! Hey! Calm down, Rated G Superstar, I could easily be wrong! But all I'm saying is, Vickie is the General Manager of Smackdown, and you're the ultimate opportunist! Hm, coincidence?" Edge shoves Ryder and Hawkins away and storms right up into Hunter's face, "You think you're funny? Huh? Well guess what, buddy, you're on Smackdown now and La Familia doesn't take that crap lightly." Vickie motions Chavo to pull Edge away, and he does. She looks directly at HHH, "Hunter; I am your boss now. Edge? He's my husband. But does that mean I'm just going to hand over title shots to him? No way! In fact, I know Edge wants your WWE Championship because he's been eyeballing it ever since you came out here. So I've decided upon two matches tonight. First: You, Triple H, will face Bam Neely one-on-one. As for the other? It will be the last appearance here on Smackdown of Batista, and he will take on Edge!" The arena pops loudly for the latter, Edge whining to his wife. "Don't worry about it, honey, because I am going to add a special stipulation to your match. If you can defeat Batista one more time, you get to face Triple H at The Great American Bash for the WWE Championship!"
• Commercial Break •
• United States Champion Matt Hardy vs Shelton Benjamin (Non-Title Match)A pretty good opening contest to kick off Smackdown. Hardy has the early advantage, hitting a series of clotheslines and hard punches. A few near falls after a couple of corner bulldogs and DDTs. Benjamin fights back with hard kicks to the legs and the face as well, rocking the US Champion. He begins his amateur wrestling run, keeping Hardy grounded hard. Once back up, Benjamin is sent into the corner and given a series of jabs. Hardy begins to pick up the pace, but gets his eyes raked. Benjamin takes back momentum for a couple of minutes, scoring a couple near falls. He argues with the ref after a third one, so Hardy goes to take advantage. He kicks the gut and sets up for the Twist of Fate, but is shoved towards the referee, cornering him, but not sending him down. Hardy stumbles back and is low blowed with a hard kick, and is dropped down with a Paydirt. He hooks both legs and scores the pinfall.
• Benjamin scrambles himself out of the ring, the referee following to raise his hand in victory. The ECW star with a Smackdown belt stirs onto his hands and knees, looking very unhappy with Benjamin's tactic to defeat him and possibly gain some contention towards the US Title.
• Cutting backstage, Todd Grisham welcomes Jesse and Festus. "Guys, you've been looking to get yourself higher and higher on the scale of the tag division. You appear to be getting closer to a shot from Miz and Morrison; what do you think about that possibility?" Jesse looks to Festus with a smile, only getting a wide open mouth in return. "Todd, Miz and Morrison think they are all that! But me and Festus? We're practically brothers! If we ever get that shot at them, we guarantee we'll become the new WWE Tag Team Champs. Ain't that right, Festus?" The camera fades with Festus' glazed-over look still in tact.
• Commercial Break •
• Jesse and Festus vs Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder (Tag Team Match)A decent match-up here between these two young teams. Jesse hast the early control over Ryder to kick things off, working the head with hard shots and DDTs. He makes the tag to Festus, who overpowers Ryder massively. However, Ryder ducks a clothesline and hits a leg lariat to bring him down. He makes the tag to Hawkins and he keeps Festus on his knees, hitting a couple of DDTs and kicks to the upper body. Festus, though, manages to fight back and tosses Hawkins around like a rag doll before tagging Jesse back in - whom unloads with a series of clotheslines. After a near fall, Hawkins plays possum and manages to unload with hard strikes to Jesse, but misses a superkick and falls face first to the mat. Suddenly, The Miz and John Morrison come running down to the ring and hop onto the apron, distracting Jesse. Festus rushes after them as Jesse is quickly rolled up for the three count.
• Hawkins and Ryder celebrate their victory with each other, taunting to the crowd as Festus is back in his trance well the WWE Tag Team Champions laugh hard on the ramp at Jesse and Festus, mimicking them as Jesse goes over to his buddy in an attempt to comfort him.
• Commercial Break •
• WWE Champion Triple H vs Bam Neely (Non-Title Match)No surprise really to a lot of people. Neely tries to get an early advantage with some corner work, only to be shoved away and met with a knee to the jaw. He rises back up to a spinebuster and then a knee drop. He staggers up to a kick to the gut and a pedigree, the pinfall pinning on the exclamation point.
• Hunter rises, being given his title. He taunts on every corner with the WWE Championship as he has made a statement in his debut on Smackdown.
• A video plays that shows Umaga's run through the WWE over on Monday Night Raw.
• Commercial Break •
• Mr. Kennedy vs Carlito (Singles Match)A pretty good match up here. Things start off with a standard lock up, and then trades of shots. Carlito hits a series of armdrags and dropkicks, getting some quick pinfall attempts here and there. After a few minutes of complete control, Carlito misses a clothesline and takes the referee out. He goes right back to Kennedy and kicks him in the gut, following it up with a huge spinning DDT. He can't get a pin in, though, as the ref is still down. He shakes him a bit and goes back to Kennedy, being hit with a belly to belly suplex and a powerslam, gaining a near fall after the slam. He stomps down on Carlito, dragging him back up only to have his eyes raked. Kennedy then misses a clothesline and is hit with the Backstabber! Kennedy just barely manages to get his foot on the bottom rope though. Carlito begins to argue with the referee, claiming his foot went on after the three. Once finished, he drags Kennedy up and lifts him for a suplex, only for Kennedy to pull himself back down onto his feet and reverse the hold to deliver the Mic Check! He hooks a leg up and receives the three.
• Kennedy slowly staggers up to his feet, reaching his hand up in the spotlight, his microphone slowly descending. "Ladies and gentlemen... your winner of the match... Mmmisssttterrrr Kennnnedddyyy!" The crowd pop as he storms over to a corner, climbing up and stalling a bit. "Kenn-e-dy!" He lets the mic go.
• Commercial Break •
• Natalya Neidhart vs Maria Kanellis (Singles Match)A not so good match, to be kind. Maria gets in some early offense in the corner, but is overpowered easily with the outsizing. Natalya gets a little sloppy as she begins to hit a series of suplexes, getting a couple near falls. Maria is pinned in the corner, but she catches hold of the arm on a clothesline attempt and kicks Nattie in the gut. She sends her to the mat and hits a weak splash, getting a two count. Not much more momentum for her, as she drags Natalya up and is shoved off to the ropes and hit with a clothesline. The match is brought to an end as Natalya locks in the sharpshooter, Maria tapping out fairly quick.
• Natalya gets a short celebration as we head backstage. Todd is standing by once again, Jeff Hardy being introduced. "Save the questions, Todd, I know what you'll ask me. What do I think about being a part of Friday Night Smackdown?" Todd nods in agreement of that being what he was going to ask, "Well, I think it's great! I loved it over on Raw, but I think I might love it just a little bit more here on Smackdown. Tonight, I got MVP. Next week, I could have Triple H for the WWE Championship. Smackdown is a land of opportunity, Todd, I've been watching! We'll just have to wait and see what's in store for Jeff Hardy."
• Commercial Break •
• Jeff Hardy vs Montel Vontavious Porter (Singles Match)An alright match action-wise; but the crowd is hot for this one no matter what. Jeff hits a huge dropkick to start things off, unloading with strikes in the corner afterward. He taunts a bit and is met with an elbow to the jaw, MVP hitting some hard shots and sending him down twice. He grabs Jeff by the hair and shirt, throwing him shoulder first into the steel post. He goes for a clothesline once he stumbles out, but Jeff ducks it and rushes to the opposing corner well MVP follows. Whisper in the wind, and a near fall follows. Jeff drags his opponent up, working him a bit on the ropes and gets an Irish whip reversed, and MVP explodes with a big boot. Jeff staggers up in the corner and they battle it out there, MVP getting the upper hand and climbing to the top as Jeff staggers out. He takes too much time, though, and Jeff manages to hop up and hit a super DDT! The crowd pop loudly as both men get up, MVP breaking out a brainbuster DDT and getting a near fall. He gets up and slowly brings Jeff with him, throwing a few shots down to the head. Jeff shoves him away and hits a sudden Twist of Fate on the return! He climbs to the outside and up the turnbuckle, delivering the Swanton Bomb and getting the three count.
• MVP gets out of the ring as Jeff begins his celebration, applauding back to the Smackdown audience. As he finishes up, MVP is back in the ring with a steel chair and he clocks him right over the head with it! The crowd break out in boos as MVP throws the chair down and taunts over Hardy.
• Commercial Break •
• Edge vs Batista (If Edge wins, he gets a WWE Championship match against Triple H at The Great American Bash)A huge main event with a lot on the line for Edge. He immediately comes out of the gates to - well, be hit by a clothesline. Batista begins a beat down on the mat and then in the corner with shoulders to the mid-section. Edge fights back though, elbowing him in the head and delivering a series of rough chops. He goes for a clothesline off the ropes, but is hit with a huge spinebuster from "The Animal". A really, really close pinfall comes out from it. Batista drags him up and whips him off the ropes, only to have his shot ducked and met with a kick to the gut and then one to the jaw. Edge begins his work with strikes and kicks, topping it with an Edgecution. Batista manages to find a way to kick out though, and the Rated R Superstar can't believe it. He pulls Batista up, only to be shoved off to the ropes and hit with an amazing, powerful spear! Batista rises as the referee checks down on Edge, raising both thumbs up. As he brings them down and turns, Chavo Guerrero hops over the barricade with a chair and smacks it across Batista's back, causing him to drop to a knee. Chavo ducks down on the outside as Edge and Batista both stagger up, Edge getting the spear off and capturing the pinfall.
• Chavo quickly hops into the ring and shoves the referee away, beginning to stomp down on Batista. Edge joins in quickly only for "The Game" to hit for the third time tonight. Triple H comes down to the ring with a sledgehammer in hand and charges right at the two, only to have them bail. Hunter helps his former protegé to his feet, Edge and Hunter sending some trash talk back and forth as this edition of Smackdown comes to an end.[/font]
