July Week 1 | Sacramento, CA
Match #1: One on One Normal | Kevin Nash w/ Scott Hall vs. King Booker
Booker T strutted down to the ring with his new robes and King of the Ring briefcase in hand. He grabbed the mic and once again reminded the crowd to refer to him only by his new moniker, KING Booker. After that he got down to business and demanded "that peasant" Kevin Nash and his buddy Scott Hall get down to the ring to receive their punishment for attacking him after his KOTR win on Sunday. Before the action could really pop off, Vince McMahon came down and said Nash and Booker will face off one on one with Hall in his nWo partner's corner. Instead of focusing on fighting, whenever Booker gained an advantage in the bout, he would slap Nash in the face, showing him absolutely no respect. This didn't help him and only served to anger Nash, who eventually was able to put together a string of impressive offense and put away Booker fairly easily with a Jackknife Powerbomb. After losing, a frustrated Booker tried to cheap-shot Nash from behind, but he dodged it and tossed him out of the ring. Not a good look for the King of the Ring to be defeated so handily on the first night of his reign.
Winner: Kevin Nash by pinfall.
Match #2: One on One Extreme Rules | British Bulldog vs. Mankind for the Hardcore Championship
As the crowd waited patiently for the next match to start, the lights suddenly went black and they heard a familiar theme blaring from the speakers. Mankind! After a few years away from WWE, Mankind had returned back to the company and he had a few things to say, "Hey everyone, as you can see... I'm baaaack... and I brought something with me". Mankind pointed to the strange looking belt strapped around his waist, "That's right, this is the hardcore title! With Bad Blood just a few weeks a way I figured, why not bring in a new championship which can only be defended in extreme rules style matches? Any time the Hardcore Champion is involved in a match this title can be put on the line, and I expect it to be defended from week to week.... Starting now! If anyone from inside that locker room wants a shot at this, just come on down! Have nice day!"
British Bulldog stormed down the ramp to challenge the champion. He... shouldn't have done that. Mankind immediately went to his dark side and pummelled Bulldog, before hitting him with chair shot after chair shot to the skull to leave him bloodied. Finally, a visit from Mr. Socko and Mankind's patented Mandible Claw would be enough to put British Bulldog to sleep as Mankind retained the Hardcore Title in his first defense.
Winner: Mankind by pinfall.
Match #3: One on One Normal | John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio
John Cena's power was too much for Mysterio early on as the Doctor of Thuganomics took early control of the matchup. After a powerslam and hitting his F-U finisher, Cena looked set for the win but Rey kicked out at 2. This infuriated John and he went to go grab a weapon to bludgeon Mysterio with and get himself DQ'd, but the referee interfered. In the confusion, Rey was able to hit Cena with the 6-1-9, but before he could finish him off with a West Coast Pop from the top rope, Cena sprung to his feet and clipped Mysterio's legs, sending him tumbling to the mat. When Rey recovered, Cena was ready for him with a second F-U to grab the win. After winning, Cena wasn't done. He stomped out Rey Mysterio mercilessly before heading backstage to a smattering of boos from the crowd.
Winner: John Cena by pinfall.
Match #4: Triple Threat Normal | Ivory vs. Jacqueline vs. Beth Phoenix
With Lita winning the WWE Women's Championship at King of the Ring, she needed a new challenger so a number one contender triple threat match was booked between Ivory, Jacqueline and Beth Phoenix. Despite being arguably the strongest of the three, Beth Phoenix played a more strategic game here. Ivory and Jacqueline have a long-standing historical rivalry, and she took advantage of that, letting the two fight each other while she lay in wait on the outside. Ivory and Jacqueline never seemed to take much notice of her and that proved to be very costly when Ivory appeared to gain the upper hand on Jacqueline, but Beth slid into the ring and hit her with a Glam-Slam out of nowhere for the win. Beth Phoenix will be the next woman to challenge for the Women's Championship.
Winner: Beth Phoenix by pinfall.
Match #5: One on One Normal | Randy Orton w/ Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
Randy Orton has been on a tear recently, particularly after picking up a win over The Rock in the KOTR tournament, and while he did get knocked out of the tournament by Brock Lesnar, he has still risen to the near the top of the rankings in the Intercontinental Championship division. However, also standing at near the top of those rankings, simply by virtue of his resume is Shawn Michaels. The two faced off on Smackdown! in what was effectively an unstated #1 contender match for Chris Jericho's Intercontinental Title. The contrast in styles between Orton's athletic, heavy hitting style and Michaels' more flair-based approach made for an exciting match. Orton seemed to have Michaels well scouted though, after almost certainly receiving tips backstage from HBK's former D-X buddy and rival, Triple H. Orton played possum during one of HBK's kip-up comeback moments and slammed him with an RKO but the Heart Break Kid kicked out. Orton then looked to put him out of commission with a Punt Kick to the skull but Michaels dodged that and then started to retake control of the matchup. After getting Orton down, Michaels started to tune up the band for the Sweet Chin Music, but a savvy Orton dodged it and spun Michaels around for a second RKO that HBK simply could not kick out of a second time.
Winner: Randy Orton by pinfall.
Main Event: One on One Normal | Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman
After finishing as the runner up in the King of the Ring tournament, Lesnar was granted an opportunity to prove his worth even further with a one on one, non-title match set for the main event of Smackdown! with Undertaker. The match never even got a chance to start though, as soon as Taker got off his bike during his entrance, The Rock jumped him from the crowd and started assaulting the champion. Taker fought back though, holding his own against The Rock and eventually chokeslamming his attacker to the floor outside the ring. Taker grabbed his title and held it menacingly as Smackdown! came to an end.
No Contest