Smackdown Preview 07.17.09

The main event of last week's WWE SmackDown saw an Intercontinental Title rematch between champion Rey Mysterio and challenger Chris Jericho. Once again, Mysterio was able to defeat the cocky and brash Jericho to retain his Intercontinental Title. However, Mysterio's victory celebration was shortlived as Jericho's partner in crime, Edge, rushed to the ring to attack. Mysterio thought he had escaped the ring and both men, but soon an opportunistic Dolph Ziggler rushed down the ramp to attack Rey from behind, tossing him into the ring. Edge speared Rey down and then helped Jericho complete a Codebreaker to leave the champ down on the mat. Now tonight, Jericho will team up with Ziggler as they face Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio. Jericho has said he will name a Unified Tag Team partner who is better than Edge. Will tonight's audition by Ziggler land him the spot?

Last week also saw CM Punk and Jeff Hardy each in action, facing two men involved in a feud themselves. Early in the night, Jeff went up against the Big Red Machine, Kane and seemed to be gaining some momentum as he prepared for a Swanton Bomb. However, CM Punk arrived on the ramp to provide a distraction, and Kane capitalized as he stood up to grab Jeff around the neck and Chokeslam him. Later in the night, CM Punk faced Kane's latest adversary, The Great Khali. Kane arrived to the ring to attack Khali allowing Punk to escape virtually unscathed. With Jeff and Punk heading towards Night of Champions in a battle over the World Heavyweight Title, what will happen next? Also, when will the forces of Kane and the Great Khali finally collide in the ring?

There was plenty of tag team action last week as the Smackdown WWE Divas and two of the younger tag teams collided. In divas tag action, Melina teamed up with Eve to face Women's Champion Michelle McCool and her partner Layla. Melina won it for her team, but Michelle McCool was not happy, as she attacked Melina after the bell. It turned into a brawl outside the ring with Melina fighting Michelle into the crowd, eventually causing the champ to retreat. Will these two cross paths again tonight? Also, the newest addition to the Smackdown roster is the tag team the Hart Dynasty. They currently are part of a feud with Cryme Tyme. In consecutive weeks, each team has scored a victory. Last week saw the Harts win due to some distraction and illegal doubleteaming. Will the teams meet again this week to see who wins the Best of 3 matches?

Catch WWE Smackdown tonight at 8PM EST on MyNetworkTV!