SmackDown: Hollywood blues
LOS ANGELES -- On a star-studded night in the City of Angels, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero and new World Heavyweight Champion Edge had every intention of celebrating numerous accomplishments: the Rated-R Superstar winning back the gold in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match at One Night Stand, the blockbuster announcement of the couple's July 11 wedding on SmackDown, and the end of Undertaker's WWE tenure.
Batista crashed the party, however, and brought "The Family" back to reality -- issuing a challenge to the new champion. The GM decided that she would grant The Animal his title opportunity, but only if he could walk away victorious from an Eight-Man Tag Team Match later in the night. In typical fashion, Guerrero & Edge named two stipulations of the match: Batista's partners would be hand-picked by the GM and should he lose, The Animal would never be allowed to challenge Edge for the gold again.
Alongside Nunzio, Funaki & Colin Delaney, Batista made sure that his chances at the title would not suffer the same fate as Undertaker's career, much to the disgust of his team's opponents -- Edge, Chavo Guerrero, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. With Vickie at ringside, Batista made sure his victory sent a clear message to the Ultimate Opportunist and his power-wielding bride-to-be: I'm coming for the gold.
But for Batista to have any chance against the new World Champion, the authoritative General Manager and the rest of "The Family," he will have to watch his back -- a task that would be difficult for any Superstar. The Animal has been backed into a corner many times in his career and has managed to come out on top. But after witnessing what transpired with Undertaker, one of the most resilient Superstars in WWE history, even Batista has to be worried about going up against the growing power of "The Family" -- even if he has shown no fear to this point.
When will Batista officially challenge Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship? Will The Animal's plans to regain the gold be thwarted by the upcoming WWE Draft? Can SmackDown's power couple, Edge & Vickie, make Batista suffer the same way they did The Phenom? And now that Chavo Guerrero has been chosen as Edge's best man, will more wedding details be revealed in the coming weeks?
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