WWE SmackDown! Rebound: The Show's Not Over

In one night, we thought that the obvious would happen. We thought that No Mercy would be the beginning of the end. We all thought...then two men changed the rules.

Here's your SmackDown! Rebound.

The Truth Hurts The Gold Stock

Shelton Benjamin calls himself The Gold Standard. This was true until he crossed paths with newcomer R-Truth. Last night on SmackDown, R-Truth raised his stock while dropping the GS Stock significantly by picking up another upset win over the United States Champion. Now it's clear that the next challenger to Benjamin's Golden Reign will be R-Truth.

But with the lights on bright and the gold on the line, can The Truth show us What's Up and secure the upset of a lifetime? Or will Benjamin prove himself worthy of being The Gold Standard?

Biscuits, Gravy & Apples

Jesse, Festus and The Colons won another shocking victory over Hawkins, Ryder, Kenny Dykstra & Ryan Braddock as well. Since winning the gold, The Colons have brought coolness back to the Tag Team Titles. But to make it even better, Festus may have found something worth enjoying more than a victory.

Following their match, Festus picked up where he left off before the bell as he began to smile and wink at guest ring announcer Maria. And it was clear that she didn't mind the attention from the slack-jawed yokel as she smiled and waved as Festus was led away from the ring by his handler/friend Jesse. Living proof that love isn't blind; it's drunk, cross-eyed, and shocking.

Big Debt To Pay The Deadman

Before we throw down the highlights from the WWE Championship Match, Big Show decided that he wanted to gloat about his knockout victory over the Undertaker at No Mercy. He boasted that he had finally rid SmackDown! of the Phenom. He, Chavo and a wheelchair bound Vickie celebrated the supposed demise of the Deadman.

But unfortunately, he didn't get that memo about his demise.

During the final stretch of the main event, Big Show was going for the big knockout, but all of a sudden, the lights went out, and The Undertaker appeared in physical fashion by punching and jabbing the world's largest athlete. Show started running away, but the lights went out again, and The Undertaker appeared behind him to continue the assault. The lights went out a third time, and Taker popped up to finish off the punishment. Despite what Show said earlier, his debt to The Undertaker is far from paid off.

Two Challengers To Play The Game

At the beginning of the night, Vladimir Kozlov made it clear that he would challenge the winner for the gold. But that didn't stop him from unleashing more fury on anyone who looked to be a threat in his quest to become champion. In the course of the night, he thought he had decimated Jeff Hardy following Hardy's victory over MVP. But later in the night, it only fueled his fire.

After Undertaker took out Big Show, Kozlov went to the ring to drop Triple H. After he dropped the WWE Champion, he then turned his attention to a sprinting Jeff Hardy. Just when it looked as if the Moscow mauler would end the night on top, both Hardy and The Game joined forces to send the Mauler out of the ring. But that allegiance didn't last long as Hardy dropped The Game with a Twist of Fate. With Cyber Sunday fast approaching, and two contenders to his throne, how will the king of kings handle this newfound threat to his reign atop the SmackDown! Kingdom?

Tune in next week, as Kozlov will battle Hardy in a much-anticipated battle! And will The Undertaker continue his Revenge Tour next week? Plus what will Triple H have to say about his top two contenders?