New York knockout

New York knockout

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Undertaker and Batista promised to have each other's backs against the combo of Mark Henry & The Great Khali on Friday night; unfortunately, thanks to a little interference, it was their fronts that got exploited.

As SmackDown began, Batista recounted his Cyber Sunday victory over The Phenom -- one which tied the rivalry that The Animal called "a war" at one win apiece -- as something he never thought he would accomplish. He then called on The Phenom for their later tag team match:

"Undertaker, we haven't settled our differences," Batista said, "but tonight, I will have your back. But will you have mine?"

When Undertaker appeared in the ring, Batista wasn't fazed, at least until The Deadman spoke.

"Rest assured, I will have your back … because you still have the one thing I want," Undertaker quipped.

Immediately Batista asked if he was looking for a rematch, and before The Phenom could answer, The Animal accepted the challenge. Considering he was the victor at Cyber Sunday, Batista did not have to make that offer; however, the World Heavyweight Champion never backs down from a challenge, even the one Undertaker punctuated the acceptance with:

"Batista … Hell in a Cell!"

With that looming over their heads, Batista & Undertaker headed into battle against Henry & Khali, who believed they would conquer the already divided duo. That wasn't the case early in the bout, however, as The Animal & The Phenom showed amazing cohesiveness in dominating the self-proclaimed Silverback.

That quickly ended though, as The World's Strongest Man and his 7-foot-3 Punjabi partner isolated Undertaker, then did the same to Batista once The Phenom was able to escape their clutches. In the end, the bout degenerated into a four-man slugfest. It looked like Batista & Undertaker were on the path to victory after The Animal dropped Henry with a spinebuster, but that's when disaster struck.

As Batista set The World's Strongest Man up for a Batista Bomb, JBL left his ringside commentary position and clobbered the World Heavyweight Champion. The bell rang immediately, with the referee disqualifying Henry & Khali, but that didn't stop the disgruntled color commentator. Both Batista & Undertaker felt the wrath of JBL's Clothesline from Hell, and as both were locked in their opponents' signature moves -- Undertaker in the Khali Vise Grip and Batista in Henry's bear hug -- our fans at home got to hear JBL's vitriolic diatribe against them.

"Those two want to mess with me?" JBL spewed hatefully to Michael Cole. "They want to put their hands on me? Well look at them, Michael! Look what's happening to them now! Undertaker and Batista are getting destroyed!"

Apparently, the combination of being assaulted by both Batista and Undertaker over the last few weeks -- along with only garnering 10 percent of your vote at Cyber Sunday -- has driven JBL to his boiling point. But with Henry & Khali intent on destroying both men already, and their upcoming Hell in a Cell battle against each other looming, will The Animal or The Phenom even be able to do anything about it?

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