No theme music tonight, as we open in the backstage area at Earl's Court, where Mr. Kennedy and Batista are fighting. The action spills toward the tunnel leading to the ring, where Finlay joins the fray and knocks a cameraman out. To the stage we go, and the battle rages on. The gong sounds, and Undertaker suddenly appears in center ring. The heels flee, but just as quickly as he appeared, the champion disappears, leaving Batista a little puzzled.

William Regal & Dave Taylor vs. Kane & Boogeyman. This marks the first time that Smackdown's other creatures of the night have teamed up, and Kane appears to be warming up to Boogey like he was his new best friend. Regal & Taylor may be on their home turf, but they don't have the fan support. Kane was in almost the entire match until a hot tag to Boogeyman, who literally cleans house. Regal sets up Boogey, however, with a double underhook as if to suplex him, but Kane cuts that off with a boot to the head, and Boogey hits the choke bomb to win the match. Winners: Kane & Boogeyman.

Deuce (w/Domino & Cherry) vs. Brian Kendrick (w/Paul London). Best match on the card, in my opinion. Because of his gimmick, there's no way you could tell that Deuce is really the son of Superfly Jimmy Snuka. Typical big man vs. cruiserweight match. Kendrick hits & runs, but the side headlock used at the start of the match seemed to go on forever. Finish sees Domino take a shot at London on the floor. Kendrick swings in with a kick, knocking Domino to the floor. Deuce, who had eaten Sliced Bread #2, recovers and hits a jumping side kick, the same move he used last week to win the tag titles, to put this one to bed. Winner: Deuce. A post-match interview with Kristal Marshall goes nowhere, as it takes the champs forever to actually say anything, and Domino decides it's time for them to make like bananas & split.

Montel V. Porter vs. "Hamlet MacBeth". Total squash. Porter claimed he was going to have two "warm-up matches" before Backlash, and this was to be the first. "MacBeth" (real name Seamus O'Shaughnessy) was billed as the Scottish champ. You know how this goes. Winner: MVP. Porter then calls for the 2nd rent-a-jobber, but gets US champ Chris Benoit instead. The Wolverine has had enough of Porter's antics, and decides to cut in.

MVP vs. Chris Benoit (non-title). Not quite as good as the match they had two weeks ago on Smackdown, but it serves as a sneak peek of what to expect from these two at Backlash on Sunday. Benoit hit 5 German suplexes in a row. He went for the Air Canada, but then Porter decided it was time to call it a night and save his energy for Sunday, allowing himself to be counted out. Winner: Chris Benoit via countout.

Kristal is now sharing kisses with Teddy Long. Teddy's talking about hiring a co-GM to ease his workload so he can spend more time with Kristal. Uh-oh.

Jillian Hall vs. Michelle McCool. Jillian tries to sing pre-match, and mentions Prince William's recent split with Kate Middleton. Enter Michelle, and the fight is on. Jillian pulls out the X-Factor facejam out of nowhere (used as the Nose Job by Torrie Wilson as much as a year ago) for the sudden win. She tries to start singing again after, but Michelle leaves her lying. Kinda weird, considering Jillian's the heel in this feud. Winner: Jillian Hall.

Undertaker & Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy & Finlay (no-DQ). Earlier, Teddy Long made the match after meeting with the heels, who'd wanted to see the champ and challenger battle tonight for the title, perhaps so Kennedy can take the main event slot at Backlash. JBL complained about the way the match was made, but droned on and on about how it's not possible that either Batista or Undertaker will remain down for a 10 count. Nice way to create the 3rd option (a draw) in the viewers' minds. About what you'd expect with this group, given the stipulation. The briefcase & shillelagh came into play vs. Batista, whose thigh was taped to sell last week's mugging. The finish was a mess. Undertaker took the hot tag, and cleaned house. Chokeslams to Finlay & Kennedy. Batista, however, sneaks in with a spinebuster to Finlay just before the chokeslam, and that is all she wrote. Winners: Undertaker & Batista. Batista cut a promo on the champion after, saying he won't stay down for 10, but Undertaker said he'd take Batista's soul. Rest in peace, and all that. Clips from "The Condemned" close the show.