I believe this was the second half of a doubleheader taping, as both Matt and Jeff Hardy already took on Edge and The Big Show in the Main Event at the end of the first taping.
That shouldn't matter, the 2nd taping was for a different Smackdown show so Jeff Hardy and Edge should have been on the show in some kind of manner. Instead we get a show built around HHH fighting to get into the rumble. That doesn't make a lot of sense.
Exactly. Double header or not it makes no sense to have no champion on your show. Enigma may have missed something here, because I doubt it's possible they would do an SD without the WWE champion. He might be doing some interviews or some shit.