On Friday, December 14, 2007 at 10:31 PM EST Swinging for the fences
By Louie Dee
December 14, 2007
Results courtesy of WWE.com
BOSTON – The city of Boston’s “Beantown” moniker accurately describes what happened to Rey Mysterio on Friday Night SmackDown.
With his Armageddon opponent, United States Champion MVP, looking on as a guest commentator, Mysterio took on Kenny Dykstra. SmackDown’s self-proclaimed “future Hall of Famer” put up a valiant fight against Mysterio, but the Master of the 619 was able to Drop the Dime on Dykstra for the victory.
After the bout, MVP entered the ring, congratulating Rey on his impressive win. While he had called Mysterio “half a man” on commentary only minutes earlier, the Ballin’ Superstar told Rey that he is an “amazing” competitor and requested a handshake; Mysterio was understandably leery, but the champion brushed it off, as if he understood.
Moments later, however, Mysterio understood just how heavy the U.S. Championship truly is. Mid-sentence, MVP reacted to Dykstra staggering to his feet behind Rey, and when the Master of the 619 turned to see what spooked MVP, the Ballin’ Superstar took the opportunity to clobber him in the back of the head with the gold. The champion then cockily walked away, smirking as Mysterio lay prone in the ring.
Has MVP gained the psychological advantage heading into his showdown with Mysterio at Armageddon, or will this attack further fuel Rey’s quest to teach SmackDown’s Franchise Playa some respect, and become United States Champion?
Punjabi tea party
Boston has a high population of Irish-Americans, but Friday was a bad night in Beantown for pure-bred Irishman, Finlay. As ordered, Assistant General Manager Theodore Long announced a Raw – and Survivor Series – rematch between Hornswoggle and The Great Khali. Once again, however, the match never reached its conclusion.
This time, Finlay made his way out – with shillelagh in hand – to protect his little buddy. His onslaught was effective momentarily, but a quick-thinking Ranjin Singh would be his undoing. Khali’s translator grabbed a hold of Hornswoggle, threatening to hurt the littlest McMahon if Finlay didn’t stop his assault on Khali.
The ornery Irishman quickly took care of that threat – clobbering Singh and tossing him out of the ring – but that gave the Punjabi giant time to recover and crack Finlay with a giant chop to the head. He then nailed Finlay with a Khali Bomb, leaving him decimated for the second straight week.
What will happen when these two finally lock up one-on-one at Armageddon?
More trouble in paradise
Michelle McCool wouldn’t have to come to Kelly Kelly’s aid on SmackDown like she did Tuesday night on ECW; this time, the Divas were side-by-side as they took on Victoria & Layla in tag team action.
Unfortunately, much like last week’s contest between Michelle’s friend, Chuck Palumbo, and Jamie Noble, an accidental distraction cost the beautiful blondes the match. When Kenny Dykstra – who was at ringside with Victoria & Layla – tripped McCool, Palumbo roared out on his motorcycle to chase Dykstra. However, this distracted Michelle momentarily, allowing Victoria to roll her up from behind and score the pinfall.
Moments later, Michelle caught up with an again-furious Palumbo in the locker room; she tried to calm him down, but after lamenting over his recent streak of bad luck, the motorcycle enthusiast punched a hole through the wall before stomping away, still mad.
The revved-up Superstar couldn’t have been any happier after seeing what Noble did for McCool later in the night. As she and Kelly entered their locker room, they happened upon quite an array of roses and gifts left by Noble in preparation for next week’s date. Michelle actually seemed flattered by Noble’s advances; what will happen when they finally have their date?
Last Hoo-rah?
Jesse & Festus finally got the upper hand on WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz & John Morrison this week, as Festus defeated Miz in singles action. Jesse & Festus had lost two straight tag team matches to the Extreme champions in recent weeks, but it was a different story when the self-proclaimed “chick magnet” had to fly solo.
While Festus had Miz up in a fireman’s carry, Morrison tried to help his partner. Instead, the burly “grizzly bear” (as color commentator JBL called him) used Miz to knock the Shaman of Sexy down to the arena floor before dropping to the mat with a flapjack to pick up the victory.
Triple Threat Theatre
Although wheelchair bound and sporting a neck brace as a result of Undertaker’s attack weeks ago, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero returned to her duties this week. In her first act back, she announced that all three participants in the Triple Threat Match at Armageddon – World Heavyweight Champion Batista, Undertaker and the love of her life, Edge – would see singles action just 48 hours before their big night.
Once again, however, the Ultimate Opportunist seemed to be the only one to escape the night relatively unscathed. While Edge made quick work of Funaki, The Animal and The Phenom had a much tougher time with three of WWE’s biggest Superstars – Batista in a Last Man Standing Match with Kane, Undertaker in a Handicap Match against Mark Henry & Big Daddy V – as well as the pesky Rated-R Superstar.
Matches:
* Edge def. Funaki
* Victoria & Layla def. Michelle McCool & Kelly Kelly
* Rey Mysterio def. Kenny Dykstra
* World Heavyweight Champion Batista def. Kane (Last Man Standing Match; non-title)
* Festus def. The Miz
* Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali (No Contest)
* Undertaker def. Mark Henry & Big Daddy V (Handicap Match)