June Week 4 | Uniondale, NY
A match was announced in which Triple H tagging with Batista would face Undertaker and a partner of his choice. HHH and his Evolution buddies were shocked when Kane's pyro came bursting from the stage and the Devils' Favourite Demon came out to tag team with his brother. It seemed like this would be too much for HHH and Batista to overcome, but they had an ace in the hole, Ric Flair. While Taker and Kane were in control for most of the match, Flair was continually distracting the ref while Taker tried to cover up Batista and HHH for pins on several occasions. Eventually, Kane got fed up of this and ran all the way around the ring to chokeslam Flair at ringside. Taker took his eyes off Batista for a second in the commotion, and the Animal was able to spin him around and slam him with a Batista Bomb to get the win. Being pinned by one of HHH's lackeys pissed off Undertaker and as Evolution walked happily up the ramp Taker had this to say, "No more games, no more distractions and no more interference from your buddies. At King of the Ring, Hunter, it's going to be you versus me one on one for the WWE championship... inside a cell. Your friends will not be able to save you and you WILL rest in peace."
Winners: Triple H & Batista by Pinfall
Match #2: One on One Normal | Lita vs. Beth Phoenix
Backstage after the first match, Trish was having a discussion with Lita. She told Lita she could have a title match under one condition, she had to beat the superstar of her choice tonight... right now. Lita accepted and headed out to the ring and shortly after in came the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix, arguably the strongest woman in the company. Lita used her speed and wit to her advantage though, taking Beth out at the legs several times to ground her, and avoiding most of her power moves. A twist of fate and a very impressive moonsault would be enough to put her down for a three count. Afterwards, Trish with her belt in hand and stood face to face with her challenger. The women's championship match is ON for King of the Ring, Lita vs. Trish Stratus.
Winner: Lita by Pinfall.
Match #3: KOTR Quarter-Final | The Rock (#2) vs. Randy Orton (#10)
A matchup of one of the greatest superstars in WWE history, The Rock, vs. one of the biggest up and coming talents in the wrestling industry, Randall Keith Orton. Orton is a member of Evolution, but he specifically made a request to HHH for none of them to interfere in this match, he wanted to prove he could defeat The Rock all by himself. Rock and Orton got into things right away, they locked up and both traded fists and slams and things look very even to start out. Then, the people started to get behind The Rock more vocally and he responded. Clothesline, clothesline, spinebuster, and Orton was down. The Rock went for the People's Elbow after that but just as he got to the final phase of it, Orton stuck two fingers up and jabbed The Rock in the eyes unseen by the referee. Orton sprung up, dragged a stunned and blind Rock to the ropes and did his signature hanging DDT. The crowd urged The Rock to respond, but a hungry Orton also slammed his fists into the ground begging the Rock to get up at the same time. Once The Rock did get to his feet, Orton hit him with the RKO and pinned him to knock him out of the tournament. The Rock is still the #1 contender for the WWE title, but he will not be King of the Ring this year. Randy Orton advances to the KOTR PPV and becomes the third confirmed semi-finalist.
Winner: Randy Orton by Pinfall.
Match #4: KOTR Quarter-Final | Rey Mysterio (#14) vs. Brock Lesnar (#6)
David vs. Goliath. Not many gave Rey Mysterio much of a chance in this contest despite having beaten Shawn Michaels previously to get here. To make matters worse, Brock wasn't really interested in playing fair as he attacked Mysterio on the ramp before the match even started. Rey was able to escape and make it to the ring to start things off and even get in a little bit of offense and a 6-1-9, but it seemed to only temporarily slow down The Beast. However, like with Michaels first Sweet Chin Music, Rey was able to kick out of the F-5 miraculously. There would be no further acts of God though, as an enraged Lesnar got right back to work with a series of power moves, Suplex City and another F-5 before pinning Rey's lifeless corpse to advance to the semi-final. No Cinderella story for Mysterio.
Winner: Brock Lesnar by Pinfall.
Match #5: Hardy Boyz vs. British Bulldog & Steve Austin
In a bit of a weird matchup before the PPV, Austin looked totally disinterested. He was still annoyed at having lost last week and refused to even tag in for Bulldog. With it essentially being two on one, the Hardyz were able to make short work of Bulldog and get the victory and some momentum heading into Sunday. Afterwards, the Dudley Boyz came out to have one final staredown with the champions before the PPV. Bubba grabbed a microphone and said that he thinks it's time to end this feud once and for all, in a match both teams specialize in, a tables match. First team to put any member of the other team through a table wins the match, wins the feud and wins the WWE World Tag Team Championships.
Winners: Hardy Boyz by Pinfall.
Show Closer Promo: Shelton Benjamin
The United States Champion, Shelton Benjamin, came out to the ring to give a message to the entire WWE. He stated his frustration at having rarely featured on Smackdown! these last few weeks despite being a reigning champion, and declared that he would take on anyone who had the balls to challenge him for the title at KOTR, all they had to do was come down to the ring to accept his challenge. After a few seconds, Big Show's music came blaring from the speakers. He grabbed the mic from Shelton and told him that nobody else is getting a shot at that title until he gets his rematch, and he wants it at King of the Ring. Benjamin was happy to oblige and told Big Show that he'd be happy to school him again on Sunday before moving on to take on new challengers.