WWE Championship #1 Contender Tournament (SmackDown) – 2005

April 5-26, 2005

– Opening Round

4/5/05; San Diego, CA; Sports Arena
– John Bradshaw Layfield (w/ WWE US Champion Orlando Jordan) defeated WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. via disqualification at 17:16 when Eddie Guerrero interfered, pulling Mysterio off of JBL as he had him down in a cover, and assaulting Bradshaw moments after Bradshaw kicked him in the back of the head; Mysterio’s family was shown sitting at ringside during the contest; moments prior to the finish, Guerrero came ringside to counter the illegal interference of Jordan; after the bout, Guerrero and Mysterio were attacked by JBL, Orlando, and the Bashams until John Cena made the save and cleared the ring 4/12/05; Chicago, IL; AllState Arena
– Kurt Angle pinned WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champion Eddie Guerrero at 25:43 when Angle sent Rey Mysterio Jr., who came ringside moments earlier to steal away a steel chair from Angle, into Guerrero – with the chair hitting Guerrero in the head 4/18/05; New York City, NY; Madison Square Garden
– The Big Show fought Booker T to a double disqualification at 5:19 when Kurt Angle and John Bradshaw Layfield, who were both doing guest commentary, attacked Show and Booker on the outside to make sure neither man advanced in the tournament; Booker’s wife Sharmel was at ringside for the match; after the bout, Show and Booker cleared the ring of the opposition; moments later, Teddy Long came out and ordered that a four-way match take place the following week in England between Angle, JBL, Booker, and Show to determine Cena’s top contender and that Booker & Show would face Angle & JBL later in the show

– Finals

4/26/05; Birmingham, England, NEC
– John Bradshaw Layfield defeated Kurt Angle, the Big Show, and Booker T in an elimination match; Big Show was counted-out; Angle pinned Booker after a chair shot; JBL pinned Angle after Booker interfered and hit Angle with a chair; stipulations stated the winner would become the #1 contender to the WWE World Title