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It was only a matter of time
before these two General Managers would end up facing each other in
a match. In fact, its a wonder these two havent formally clashed
sooner. Although their rivalry began to intensify around WWE
Homecoming, this was a natural rivalry ever since Theodore Long
took over as General Manager of SmackDown in 2004. It only makes
sense that Bischoff wants the superior brand and vice versa.
But the fuel was really added to the fire when it was announced
that RAW would be going home to the USA Network. To kick off the
move back to USA, RAW planned to put on a three-hour extravaganza
the likes of which had never been seen. While this seemed perfect
for Bischoff, Long wanted in on some of the action as well. After
all, with all the hype behind WWE Homecoming, there would be a ton
of national exposure.
So, Long visited Eric Bischoff on RAW and asked if SmackDown could
be a part of WWE Homecoming. Bischoff wanted no part of what he
felt was the inferior brand, but it just so happened that Mr.
McMahon was also around that night. The Chairman felt that having
SmackDown at Homecoming was a great idea, and he allowed Long to
make one match to showcase his SmackDown talent. Long and his
SmackDown Superstars arrived at Homecoming ready to show the RAW
audience their extraordinary talents. But there was one problem.
Mr. McMahon had already left for the night after being embarrassed
by Stone Cold Steve Austin, so Bischoff took it upon himself to
leave SmackDown in the dark literally. He turned off the lights
just as the SmackDown six-man tag match was about to begin.
SmackDown got the last laugh, though, as they stormed the ring
after the main event as an all-out RAW vs. SmackDown battle
ensued.
Over the next couple of weeks, members from RAW and SmackDown began
invading each others turf. Something had to be done. So, in an
effort to settle the score, a RAW vs. SmackDown tag team match was
set up for Taboo Tuesday. RAWs team ended up consisting of Snitsky
and The Masterpiece Chris Masters, and the fans voted in Matt
Hardy and Rey Mysterio to represent SmackDown. Mysterio and Hardy
proved to be the better team and scored the huge victory on a RAW
pay-per-view.
Just days later, Bischoff showed up on SmackDown and told Long that
enough was enough. In an effort to totally settle the score once
and for all, they agreed to have a 5-on-5 elimination match at
Survivor Series. Bischoff seemed content with that plan, but Long
had another idea for the RAW GM. In addition to the elimination
match, Long challenged the karate black belt to a RAW GM vs.
SmackDown GM Match as well. An enraged Bischoff accepted the match,
while Long seemed very happy with himself thuggin and buggin in
the ring.
Bischoff showed up on SmackDown again the following week, this time
uninvited. Long went to the back and asked Bischoff to leave. While
Long had his attention turned towards Bischoff, "The Masterpiece"
Chris Masters appeared from out of nowhere and blindsided the
SmackDown GM and put him in the Master Lock. JBL, Rey Mysterio,
Matt Hardy and Lashley came to the rescue but the damage had been
done.
Will Bischoffs karate background give him the edge, or will it be
Long making Bischoff holla, holla, holla when its all said and
done?
(Extracted from http://www.wwe.com 
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