[2005-06-23-WWE-Smackdown] Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 6/23/05

So I had some time between my tour of Schobrunn Palace in Vienna & dinner at that palace so I figured I watch me some pro wrasslin. But they closed halfway through this match so i had to relocate to this fancy ass restaraunt. I felt like kinda asshole with my headphones in watching this match, but I'm by myself & it is too early to eat. It was just a weird setting to watch this match and felt the need to give some context to this match review. I got a Mozart concert at the palace after dinner and am really hoping they play his hit single, Amadeus. :p

Onto the match proper, everyone knows this is a badass bout and one I watched lived and again about 5-6 years back. Let's get this out of the way, I prefer the Havoc match. Based on memory, I thought this would give the Havoc match a run for its money but the Havoc match has every bit the hate this match has. Eddie was cold & souless here. In '97, he has that heel sneer. What puts the 97 match over is the flawless execution, high velocity of the impact, and the efficiency. Now this match is still tremendous. Again before the match, a lot of adieu before the match, let's give a shoutout to this hot, traditional crowd. They were rooting hard for Rey. Hell they popped for an armdrag two minutes in. They were chanting 619 when REY was doing the ab stretch. When do you ever hear that. Eddie sucks was ringing throughout the match. The wrestlers & the story was over. People need to stop with this bullshit that today's crowd is how it has to be in a post-kayfabe world. It is 2005 and this crowd is every bit as good as a 1985 crowd. It can be done but we need better writing and wrestlers who are invested in the writing. 

Ok now onto the match proper, the story is simple Eddie turned heel in a violent fashion because he couldn't beat Rey in a clean, straight match. It drove him to insanity. This match is a representation of this turn as Eddie wrestles the first portion straight but is consistently bested by the quickness of Rey Rey. Rey hits a big springboard plancha to really kickstart his control. Eddie has a wicked bruise on his hip from a steel chair attack from a vengeful Mysterio from a previous episode of Smackdown. Rey uses abdominal stretch to work it over. The match kicks into the next gear when Eddie shoves Rey off the ropes and he takes a gnarly tumble off the top to the floor. 

Eddie has that mid-match metamorphosis becoming that sadistic sociopath Hell-bent on brutally destroying Mysterio. Again, he was bested by Mysterio in a straight wrestling match and this fueled his mid-match psychotic break. It was quite the heat segment and should go down as one of the all time greats. Focused on the back, Eddie expertly combines grizzly holds, sudden cutoffs and humiliation tactics all focused on the back and breaking Rey's spirit. To me the two bavkbreakers and the powerbomb were standouts. Rey sold well and timed his hope spots well. The first 619 tease got a huge pop. He really did a great job dragging out his comeback. Gradually having longer runs but Eddie would suddenly cut him off. Eddie sold his frustration of not being able to pin Mysterio well. Eddie misses the Frogsplash and that was Rey's big opportunity. 619->Drop The Dime!

It was not quite as violent as I remembered. To me this was a really high end execution of a fundamental pro wrestling match. The mid-match heel turn by Eddie and Rey resislently resisting to lose and eventually winning to keep  storyline going. Probably the 2005 WWE match of the year but I'll have to take a look back. ****1/2

[ohtani's jacket]

This is a MOTYC, but more importantly it marks the return of Eddie to the heights of the Lesnar and JBL matches. The fact that he had great runs as a babyface and a heel in 2004-05 is special. The only thing that didn't work for me about this match was Eddie snapping midway through after working relatively cleanly to start. The commentators weren't able to explain why he snapped and there wasn't a clear reason for laid out in the ring. Later on, the commentators tried to explain that Eddie saw an opportunity to cheat to win, but that doesn't really cut it. Eddie was acting unhinged at the time, so perhaps he was trying to have a moment where he snapped, but if that's the case they didn't build to it very well. The work after Eddie snapping was excellent, and if anyone says they hate the 619, I defy them to shit on the finish to this bout. I also kind of love how biased the commentators are. Cole had a tendency to go OTT in Rey Mysterio matches, but I enjoyed the melodrama here, especially when he implored Eddie to "just end the damn thing."  Of course, they wouldn't end the damn thing, but that's another story.