On Saturday, October 13, 2007 at 2:07 AM EST Conflicting interests
By Lennie DiFino
October 12, 2007
Results courtesy of WWE.com
DETROIT – Jamie Noble certainly enjoyed the beginning of his Friday night as he sucked up to SmackDown’s Acting General Manager, Vickie Guerrero. Vickie was in good spirits after a phone call from Kristal had informed her that GM Theodore Long – who suffered a massive heart attack during his wedding ceremony last month – was getting stronger and could even return home by next week. But when Noble mistakenly compared the way she assumed Long’s responsibilities to the trick he played earlier on fellow cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang, Vickie decided to put an end to the self-proclaimed elite opportunist’s fun – by placing him in a match with The Great Khali. Coming off a monumental loss to Batista in the Punjabi Prison Match, the 7-foot-3 Punjabi Goliath showed his much smaller opponent no mercy whatsoever, dominating Noble before applying the vicious Khali Vise Grip for the victory.
Road bump
Chuck Palumbo has managed to remain undefeated since returning to SmackDown, and the revved-up Superstar kept his streak intact Friday with a huge victory over Chris Masters. Never one to be outdone, though, "The Masterpiece" jumped the motorcycle enthusiast before he and Michelle McCool could ride off into the sunset, then trapped Palumbo his signature Master Lock. Try as he could, the powerful Palumbo could not free himself, instead becoming victim to Masters’ unbreakable hold for the second consecutive week.
Faces of change
SmackDown’s newest tag team, Jesse & Festus, took part in more exciting tandem action Friday night after making their wildly successful debut last week. Jesse told our fans in the Joe Louis Arena that whenever Festus hears the bell, he transforms from his “normal, effervescent self” to a fierce tiger. It seemed young Jesse was right, because once the match started, Festus…well, that was a man who was all business, powering the duo to another impressive SmackDown win.
Fruit-ful confrontation
After Jamie Noble told Deuce & Domino that Jimmy Wang Yang allegedly had some not-so-nice things to say about Cherry, the two men from the Other Side of the Tracks became incensed. Cherry’s boyfriend Deuce confronted SmackDown’s resident redneck in the ring, but when Yang picked up the victory, Domino attacked immediately after the match. Unable to fight back, Yang was subjected to a humiliating series of slaps across the face from the usually neutral Cherry. Injury was then added to insult when he felt the brutality of a decapitating Crack 'em in da Mouth from the bomber-clad duo.
Scottish invasion
Friday Night SmackDown introduced our fans to its newest Superstar, Drew McIntyre, who faced Brett Major in his first match on The CW Network. Accompanied to the ring by Dave Taylor, McIntyre declared he is looking for dual citizenship and implored our fans to cheer for him with chants of “U-S-A.” McIntyre’s ring debut was a successful one, as a little outside distraction from Taylor enabled him to pick up a rollup win over Major. Our fans, however, weren’t so quick to comply with the Scotsman’s wishes.
Blood is thicker than bling
WWE Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & MVP shook hands and agreed to get on the same page before they stepped into the ring with the Brothers of Destruction, Undertaker & Kane. But once they faced the fires of hell in their non-title match, both Hardy and MVP had very different ideas about what being on the same page meant.
Hard-fighting, high-flying
Rey Mysterio and Finlay’s bitter rivalry continued on SmackDown last Friday when the two Superstars squared off in a No. 1 Contender’s Match. The prize? An opportunity to challenge Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at Cyber Sunday. The result? Nothing that either Superstar, or The Animal himself, was expecting.
Matches:
* Chuck Palumbo def. Chris Masters
* Jesse & Festus def. Conrad Carnes & Jay Adams
* Drew McIntyre def. Brett Major
* Undertaker & Kane def. WWE Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & United States Champion MVP (Non-title)
* The Great Khali def. Jamie Noble
* Jimmy Wang Yang def. Deuce
* Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay (No Contest)