Rolling toward the Rumble
With Edge vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship now set for Royal Rumble, Friday Night SmackDown rolls into Wilkes-Barre, Pa., this week for the next stop on the road to Madison Square Garden. Last week, Rey Mysterio beat the odds by beating the clock and, perhaps most importantly, the champion himself to earn that World Heavyweight Title Match against Edge on Jan. 27. Along the way, however, he had a little help from Batista and Undertaker, whose appearances threw Edge off his game and allowed the Master of the 619 to capitalize. Will more fireworks explode between Edge and Mysterio as their showdown looms?
As announced on WWE.com, Ric Flair has accepted the challenge of the United States Champion MVP to a Career Threatening Match at Royal Rumble. MVP has vowed to retire Flair, while the Nature Boy has time and time again refused to go out on anything but his own terms. This Friday, however, Flairs friend Batista will step into non-title action against the cocky Franchise Playa, hoping to send the message that MVPs quest to end Flairs career will be met with resistance from The Animal.
Undertaker all but Beat the Clock last week on SmackDown, but special guest referee Matt Striker made certain that The Phenom did not earn the title match at Royal Rumble. Friday on SmackDown, The Deadman will look for retribution when he faces Striker & Mark Henry in a Handicap Match. Will Undertaker lay to rest the devious duo of Striker & the Worlds Strongest Man?
Also, Hornswoggle will square off in an Arm Wrestling Contest against Ranjin Singh this Friday night. Will Hornswoggle continue to embarrass Singh as he has in the past, or will the translator for The Great Khali have the last laugh?
Finally, qualifying has officially begun for the 30-man Royal Rumble Match itself. Undertaker and Batista have both qualified, but who else among the SmackDown Superstars will punch their ticket into the Rumble this week?
Find out the answers to all these questions and more on SmackDown, Friday night at 8/7 CT on The CW Network.
