We are on the heels of Elimination Chamber an it’s time for Friday Night Smackdown.  We see highlights from the Elimination Chamber match for the Smackdown World Heavyweight Championship.  Shawn Michaels, to get his shot at the Undertaker, screwed the Champ out of his title with a superkick.  Chris Jericho then took over, claiming the prize for the 6^th time, and that’s how this show starts off.

Jericho comes to the ring as we see a recap of his appearance on Raw where Edge made his choice as to who he is going to face at WrestleMania, claiming his Royal Rumble victory.  Chris says he doesn’t deserve the attack on Raw, repeating himself to emphasize his point and is once again interrupted by the Rated R Superstar, Edge.  The crowd is clearly behind Edge here and he lets them chant and cheer for a moment before addressing Jericho.  He’s out there congratulating Jericho for his victory at Elimination Chamber, and Chris, of course reminds us that he’s the best in the world at what he does.  But Edge counters that he’s the best at getting speared by Edge.  So, the Rated R Superstar lists Jericho’s accomplishments, injecting the word “spear” quite a bit, just to drive home the fact that Edge speared him on Raw as well as other occasions.  Edge speculates that the spears are getting to him mentally.  Edge doesn’t believe Jericho can beat him, and he sees doubt in Jericho’s eyes.  He sees Edge everywhere he goes.  If Chris Jericho comes to WrestleMania with the doubt in his eyes, “guess what’s gonna happen.”  The crowd responds with a “spear” chant and Jericho punches Edge with the microphone.  He looks for the Codebreaker, but Edge uses the ropes to counter and comes in with, you guessed it, a spear!

Up next, we see a briefcase hanging above the ring, signifying a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

Money in the Bank Qualifier
John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth (w/David Otunga)

The winner of this match joins Christian in the MitB Ladder Match at WrestleMania.  Christian qualified on Raw.  The bell rings and Ziggler rolls out of the ring, hoping to let Morrison and Truth go at it.  His two opponents, however, roll out of opposite ends of the ring and sandwich Ziggler, attacking him and taking him out of the running for a few moments.  Ziggler would come back into play shortly after, breaking up a pin.  Dolph is using the Strike and Fade offense, but it doesn’t seem to be paying off.  R-Truth is in control early on.  But during a break, Ziggler is able to send John Morrison shoulder first into a ring post, allowing him to isolate Truth.  Ziggler locks in a sleeper hold, a move that has been highly effective against Kane in recent memory, but Morrison comes back in to break things up a bit.  Morrison’s shoulder is a factor again, though and Dolph Ziggler is on the attack hitting an inverted bodyslam, a very cool move.  He’s unable to get a pin on the Shaman of Sexy and R-Truth comes back to the fray.  Morrison comes in and breaks Truth and Ziggler and this begins an exchange of near falls broken up by the odd man out.  Truth hits the Lie Detector but doesn’t come away with the pin on the Friday Night Delight.  Ziggler tosses Truth to the floor and goes back to attacking John Morrison.  All three men end up on the turnbuckle fighting for position and Ziggler gets ejected, hitting his head on the ring on the way to the floor.  Morrison connects with a Sunset Flip Powerbomb and Starship Pain, but Ziggler pulls John off Morrison and out of the ring, rolling in and pinning R-Truth himself.

Rating ***

Winner:  Dolph Ziggler

This was a very entertaining match.  I would’ve put the win on Morrison at the start, but Ziggler’s strategy paid off and he earns a ticket to WrestleMania XVI.  He’ll join Christian in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

Shawn Michaels puts his career on the line against the Undertaker at WrestleMania as we get a brief preview of that match before cameras switch backstage where Vickie Guerrero has on the stripes.  She’ll be the guest ref for the next match.

WWE Women’s Championship
Mickie James (c.) vs. Michelle McCool

The cards are stacked against James in this contest for her Women’s Championship with Layla in McCool’s corner and Vickie Guerrero as the special guest referee.  Mickie is on the offensive early, pouring it on to Michelle McCool, but when she goes for a cover that looks like it would’ve gotten a pin, Vickie is over arguing with Layla, who had come up onto the apron.  The fight goes outside with Guerrero screaming at the two women.  McCool is able to gain the advantage and we see Beth Phoenix backstage watching on.  Michelle looks for a powerbomb on James, but she counters it into a hurricanrana.  But Mickie’s momentum is not going anywhere.  McCool gets Mickie on the mat, but Vickie falls out of the ring.  She gets back in as Mickie James rolls Michelle McCool up, but Guerrero slaps the taste out of Mickie’s mouth and McCool gets the victory and the Women’s Championship.

Rating:  ** ¾

Winner (And New Champion):  Michelle McCool

I’m pleasantly surprised that I get to say Smackdown put on a fairly decent women’s match for once.  There was a lot of solid wrestling between Mickie James and Michelle McCool and it lasted longer than 30 seconds.  Maybe they’ll keep the momentum going for women’s wrestling, but only time will tell.

Money in the Bank Qualifier
Kane vs. Drew McIntyre

Kane comes to the ring first and when the Intercontinental Champion comes out, he has a microphone in hand.  McIntyre reminds us that he is undefeated.  After dropping Kane in the Elimination Chamber, he’s proved that no one in the back can beat him.  Drew will go on to fulfill the “prophecy” by winning Money in the Bank and then claiming the World Heavyweight Championship, remaining undefeated.  Kane knows what’s at stake, though, and goes on the attack the instant the bell rings, risking disqualification by stomping Drew McIntyre in the corner.  Kane pulls back and lets Drew up but doesn’t let up on McIntyre.  The Intercontinental Champion rolls out of the ring to avoid the Big Red Monster and uses the ropes to shift things in his favor.  McIntyre slows the pace down, locking Kane’s head up, but the big man fights his way clear, overpowering the Intercontinental Champion and dropping him with a sidewalk slam.  When that doesn’t get a pinfall, Kane goes to the top rope.  McIntyre hits a “Zig Zag” type move on Kane and the commentators actually call him Ziggler for a second before correcting himself.  Intercontinental Champion fights out of a chokeslam only to get hit with a big boot, but McIntyre kicks out.  He looks for a sunset flip, but Kane kicks the Champion in the temple and that’s enough to give Vince McMahon’s hand picked Champion his first defeat thanks to the Big Red Machine.

Rating:  ***

Winner:  Kane

I’m giving this match a decent rating, also as Kane and McIntyre put on a really solid match.  But more so, Drew McIntyre suffers his first loss and that has some historic significance.  A frustrated McIntyre grabs his title and yells at Matt Striker while the fans tell him how they feel about him.  Kane now joins Christian and Dolph Ziggler in the Money in the Bank match.  Up next, though one half of the Unified Tag Team Champions, The Miz is on his way down to the ring.

Miz, being one of the holders of the Unified Tag Team Championships, has a right to be on any program he chooses whenever he chooses.  But Miz is out complaining about not having a match at WrestleMania.  He tells Teddy Long to find ShoMiz a suitable tag team for Mania.  Really His Awesomeness is just looking for his WrestleMania moment and Theodore Long comes out to take The Miz’s challenge under advisement.  Long goads Miz into a singles match by asking if he needs the Big Show to hide behind.  Tonight, The Miz will face Edge one on one.  Up next, Shelton Benjamin has his first match back on Smackdown following free agency when ECW died.  He’ll look to qualify for Money in the Bank facing off against CM Punk and his Straight Edge Society.

Money in the Bank Qualifier
CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin

The heat is raining down intensely as Punk and the Straight-Edge Society come down to the ring.  Punk is a 2 time winner of the MitB match, but Shelton’s no rookie when it comes to the match, either.  Todd Grisham calls Shelton “Mr. Money in the Bank Moment” having been in four out of the five matches for the contract.  But this match begins with Punk going on the attack quickly.  This is another moment where a superstar risks disqualification attacking in the corner.  When the Gold Standard starts to mount some offence on his own Punk ducks out of the ring to keep the match going at his pace.  It’s interesting to note that R-Truth was accompanied by his NXT Rookie where CM Punk was not.  This furthers the fact that Punk wants nothing to do with NXT and his rookie.  These two are evenly matched, going back and forth, but neither man fully able to capitalize.  Benjamin uses his unique, high-flying offence to leap onto the top rope and springboard off the turnbuckle.  Punk looks for his knee-lift, bulldog combo, but Shelton is able to push Punk off.  Luke Gallows hops on the apron to distract Shelton, and it looks to work, but Rey Mysterio comes down and pulls Gallows down.  The distraction to Punk allows Shelton Benjamin to hit Paydirt and advance to WrestleMania to compete for the Money in the Bank contract.

Rating:  **

Winner:  Shelton Benjamin

This match was decent, but more so, it was used to further the budding rivalry between Rey and the Straight-Edge Society.  Look to see Punk vs. Rey at Mania this year, possibly in a “mask vs. hair” match.  I think that one has the potential to steel the show.  But with Shelton Benjamin involved in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, there are bound to be a few show stealing moments there, as well.

After a promo for John Morrison’s DVD and the “Raw Rebound” where we see highlights of the encounter between Batista and John Cena, we get a preview of some of the forthcoming WrestleMania matches.  But, more importantly, we’re set for tonight’s main event.

Edge vs. The Miz

The Rated R Superstar is out first and we’re shown highlights from Chris Jericho and Edge in the ring together earlier.  The Miz makes his way down to the ring and Smackdown makes another pit stop before Miz and Edge get it on.  While these two exchange lock ups, Striker and Grisham discuss NXT and the Miz seeming to enjoy himself in lecturing the NXT Rookies.  Edge outsmarts The Miz by sliding outside the ring and pulling his opponent back out, sending him back first into the barricade before the action returns to the ring.  This is Edge’s second match in 7 months and he looks to have not lost a step, but he’s driven face first into a ring post as The Miz counters a shot from the Rated R Superstar.  Miz puts Edge in a headlock, slowing the match down to his pace.  Edge tries to fight out, but Miz keeps him grounded.  The United States Champion pours it on, but when he climbs the ropes looking for the double axe handle, Edge blocks and turns the move into a flapjack.  Backstage we see Daniel Bryan watching on the monitor as Edge continues his attack.  He bounds off the ropes and swings around The Miz to hit the electric chair drop on The Miz.  Miz mounts a comeback, rounding the Rated R. Superstar, but he wastes too much time and the ring veteran hits an Impaler DDT and follows it up with his patented spear for the victory.

Rating:  ***

Winner:  Edge

I’d say this was one of the better efforts for Smackdown with several really decent matches.  We got to see several men qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and for the first time Edge faced off with The Miz.  There are several stories going on as we head towards WrestleMania as we are now just under a month away from the Grandest Stage of them All.