Just like their sister show Raw, Smack Down also decided to go with the Championship Scramble for Unforgiven. This would be the second time in the last year the two major brands have mimicked each other at a pay per view. The last time we saw dual Elimination Chamber matches. They were able to pull that off, but I think they may have gone to the well one to many times with this copy cat move. Unlike the Elimination Chamber, this version of a multiple challenger match will be dull. As I eluded to in my Raw review this type of match will be long and possibly confusing with all the action going on at once. At least Smack Down used this type of match to hype up their show with qualifying matches to get into the Challenge.
The pairings they had left little doubt who would advance to take on Triple H, but for some reason every winner had to do so with outside help. Brian Kendrick won his bid by winning a10 man battle royal that was a who’s who’s of low level competition. Big Show did interfere as he was mistakenly left out of all the qualifiers. He did a great job of throwing everyone out, but Kendrick was caught by his adviser Ezekiel, thus preventing him from toughing the floor. Show then left the ring and the refs gave the win to Kendrick. A big chance for him to make some noise up against the best of Smack Down, but he will be outclassed by his fellow competitors and should spiral to the mid card again. As for Show, look for this over site to give rise for his challenge of Triple H for the belt. There really seems to be no major contender for H right now and logic would have it be Big Show as he has not established himself with anybody.
MVP won by count out in match against Festus. While out of the ring MVP took a cheap shot at Jesse, leading Festus to leave the ring to attend to his partner. This lead to the count out and MVP moved on after taking some more cheap shots at the subdued Festus who returned to his catatonic state after the bell rang to end the match. Shelton Benjamin looked good again against Finlay in a nice long match. With the help of Mike Know harassing Hornswoggle at ring side, Benjamin was able to pin a distracted Finlay. Despite the cheap win, Benjamin was able to match a skilled veteran in Finlay blow for blow. I really like the technical side Benjamen is adding to his game and it should help him establish himself. Jeff Hardy punched his ticket by pinning Khali after Triple H knocked down Ranjin Singh while trying to give him a chair shot. As Khali came to the aid of his interpreter, Hardy struck and used his airborne tactics to gain the win.
Tonight also featured the return of the Undertaker to Smack Down. A new attitude Vickie Guerrero has now turned back to her normal kind self as she is no longer influenced by Edge. Trying to set the situation straight she decided it would be best to apologize to the Undertaker. But the Dead-man was not there for apologies, instead he wanted Vickie’s soul. The Family then rushed in to protect the matriarch but four men were not enough for the Undertaker. They did get some shots in, but in the end Undertaker would demolish each member of the Family. It should be interesting were they take this angle and if Edge will find himself intertwined in this ongoing story.
Divas action saw the continued featuring of Maria as we are short of face Divas on Smack Down with the release of Cherry. tonight it was Natalia taking on the Playboy cover girl. They had Maria winning the match before Maryse stepped in to settle a score with Maria, but it was not convincing. Of all the Divas, Maria still needs some major in ring work to pass her off as a convincing wrestler. She dominating over Natalie was not convincing as it featured simple moves like head locks, kicks and clothes lines. Maria needs to look more agile and comfortably in the ring to convince the fans she belongs, if not, all she brings is a pretty face.
