Smackdown Preview 12.04.09

Last week on Smackdown two things were learned about the World Heavyweight Title match for the TLC Pay-Per-View. In a match for the #1 Contender spot against Undertaker, Kane and Batista fought to determine who would head to the PPV. Batista ultimately won it by countout, moving himself closer towards his goal of regaining the title he is in hot pursuit of. Later in the night, Undertaker had a non-title match against Chris Jericho with Batista arriving to the ring to help provide commentary. During the match, The Animal decided to get up and move towards Undertaker once, with the Deadman staring him down until he returned to his seat. However, Batista struck later as he interfered in the match, clipping Taker's leg. After a Jericho Codebreaker layed out Taker, Batista grabbed a steel chair and began to repeatedly bash the Undertaker. With Batista standing tall with a chair in hand, we learned that "chairs will be legal" during their TLC match, which in fact will be a Chairs match for the title. Now, after last week's vicious attack, Undertaker has called out Batista to come meet him face to face. Will the Animal follow suit, and if so what will go down in this volatile confrontation?

Last week also saw the re-introduction of Luke Gallows, formerly Festus, who CM Punk brought to the ring to prove to the naysayers that his straightedge lifestyle can help others. Punk claimed he has been working with Gallows after the superstar developed an addiction to pain pills and prescription meds. However, during Punk's match against Matt Hardy, Luke Gallows decided to lend a helping hand of his own to CM Punk. The large superstar grabbed Matt Hardy from the apron area, then later assaulted him in the ring, allowing Punk to get in his own shots at Hardy. Matt won by a disqualification decision, but the damage had been done, after Punk criticized Jeff Hardy and then attacked Matt. What will Punk and Gallows have in store next for the Smackdown roster? Will Matt Hardy retaliate?

The Unified Tag team champions consist of one Smackdown member, although Big Show has been known to help out the program. Chris Jericho and Big Show will have their hands full in less than 2 weeks when they put their titles on the line in a TLC match against D-Generation X. On Raw this past week, Jericho fought Triple H one-on-one with the loser being forced to compete in a 2-on-1 handicap match against the winner's tag team next week. Jericho lost the battle even after Big Show tried to use his power to win the match for his partner. Now Jericho will head to Raw to face both Triple H and Shawn Michaels. What will Jericho have to say on Smackdown regarding his upcoming Raw and TLC opponents, DX?