Smackdown!

Huntsville, Alabama
January 8, 2004

WHY CHAVO, WHY?
His heart was broken, a loved one lost. Eddie Guerrero was left lying in his own blood in the middle of the ring, heartbroken, lost and hurt. Los Guerreros are no more. It is now Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero – two individuals with the same last name and blood-line, but the bond ends there. La Raza is broken. The dream is over.

While there were signs for several weeks of dissention within Los Guerreros, nothing could have prepared Eddie or the wrestling world for what happened on SmackDown! After all, Kurt Angle, acting as an intermediary for Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, persuaded the two to shake hands and put their differences aside to open SmackDown!. Angle even convinced General Manager Paul Heyman to put Los Guerreros in a match against the Basham Brothers for the WWE Tag Team Championship after the Bashams attacked Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty – rendering them unable to compete.

For a while, all seemed well for Los Guerreros as they worked well together and even had the upper hand for much of the match. However, the tide quickly turned, and after the Bashams earned the pinfall victory, they proceeded to assault Eddie. Chavo was outside the ring and looked as if he was going to get a chair to help fend off the Bashams, but instead he sat on the chair and observed the attack on Eddie from a distance. After the Bashams finally left the ring, Chavo entered to help Eddie to his feet – only to knock him back down and attack him until he bled. And when the attack was finally over, Chavo added perhaps the greatest insult of all – he left the arena in Eddie’s low rider!

In the locker room, Angle tried to console Eddie and apologize for getting involved, but by the look on Eddie’s face, it was clear that there is no consolation. What that means for Eddie Guerrero remains to be seen.

Also on SmackDown!, a week after suffering perhaps the toughest night in his tenure as SmackDown! GM, Paul Heyman tried to get his plans to protect Brock Lesnar from Hardcore Holly and to destroy Chris Benoit back on track. However, the harder he tries to put forth his plan, the more it seems to backfire. First, he put Benoit in a Royal Rumble style match against all three members of the FBI. However, despite the odds, Benoit survived the challenge and found a way to throw all three members of FBI over the top rope to win the match.

Later, Hardcore Holly and the Big Show had a rematch, this time in a Street Fight in front of Holly's Alabama faithful. In a grueling match for both Superstars, Hardcore Holly lived up to his nickname and won the match. Afterwards, he taunted Brock Lesnar – who sat at the announcer’s table to offer his commentary on the match. SmackDown! ended with the two participants in the match at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship ready to go after each other … but there are still more than two weeks to go until the Rumble! Will Lesnar and Holly be able to last that long without getting their hands on each other? Tune in to find out!

SmackDown! also saw Jamie Noble fail to arrive in time for his No. 1 Contender’s Match against Tajiri. In his effort to find a “suitable replacement,” Heyman forced Nidia to participate in Noble’s place. The blinded Nidia was forced to compete without her cane and Tajiri quickly won. When Tajiri went to cause further injury, Rey Mysterio – who had earlier defeated Akio – ran to the ring to help Nidia. Noble would appear later and shoved Mysterio out of the way as he helped Nidia to the back, but a confused Nidia failed to understand what happened.

Has the relationship between Noble and Nidia opened a new chapter? How will Eddie Guerrero react to the attack from Chavo? What will Paul Heyman have up his sleeve as the Royal Rumble quickly approaches? Only one way to find out … watch SmackDown! next week at 8/7 CT on UPN!

Match Results:
Chris Benoit defeated the FBI in a Royal Rumble Elimination Match
The Basham Brothers vs. Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty was ruled a No Contest
The Basham Brothers defeated Los Guerreros
John Cena defeated A-Train
Rey Mysterio defeated Akio
Tajiri defeated Nidia
Hardcore Holly defeated the Big Show in a non-title Street Fight