Animal Eats
Animal Eats
On Friday night, The Animal won a Triple Threat Match to become the No. 1 Contender to King Booker’s World Heavyweight Championship. Next week, Batista will get another shot at the King’s gold.
Watch the Animal talk about his win
Much to King Booker’s bewilderment, General Manager Theodore Long ordered a Triple Threat Main Event on SmackDown for the right to face King Booker for the World Heavyweight Championship on next week’s show. The competitors involved were the three men who faced King Booker at No Mercy; Batista, Lashley and Finlay.
Moments before the battle began, SmackDown announcers Michael Cole and JBL were joined by none other than King Booker himself on commentary for the pivotal match. In the opening seconds of the contest, Batista and Lashley took advantage of their friendship to neutralize the angry Irishman. With Finlay out of the equation, the friendship was thrown out the window as Batista and Lashley locked it up in a battle of true powerhouses.
A variety of high impact maneuvers left both Batista and Lashley laid out on the mat, allowing Finlay to follow in the footsteps of King Booker at No Mercy, and pick up the scraps. Unfortunately for the angry fighter, Lashley and Batista weren’t ready to be pinned just yet. After a few unsuccessful attempts at a pin, Lashley turned the tide and scooped up Finlay for a devastating power slam. The former U.S. Champion went for the pin, but as the ref’s hand was inches from the mat, Little Bastard jumped into the ring and disrupted the count.
With the match in flux, Batista seized control, laying out both opponents before leaving the ring to head to the announce table. After staring down the seated World Heavyweight Champion, Batista proceeded to take apart the table, apparently preparing it in hopes of driving one of his opponents through it. Unfortunately for the Animal, the move backfired as Lashley and Finlay teamed up to choke slam Batista to his apparent demise.
With Batista seemingly down and out, Finlay and Lashley resumed their lengthy rivalry in the ring. After a series of blows, Finlay got the upper hand and dropped Lashley on his head with the Celtic Cross. The former U.S. Champion went for the pin, but Batista resurrected himself from the dead and broke up the count.
From there, the match belonged to Batista. With Lashley incapacitated from the Celtic Cross, Batista finished off the Irishman with the Batista Bomb and recorded the pin to be come the No. 1 Contender to King Booker’s crown. As SmackDown went off the air, Michael Cole delivered a blockbuster, informing King Booker that next week during the Championship match, Cyber Sunday main eventers John Cena and Big Show will be seated at ringside to view the proceedings. What will happen next week when Batista gets another opportunity to capture the gold that he so badly craves? (Watch the video)
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