[2005-05-22-WWE-Judgment Day] John Cena vs John Bradshaw Layfield

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWE Champion John Cena vs John Bradshaw Layfield - WWE Judgement Day 2005

 

Classic booking of a white meat babyface proving his mettle in a bloody brawl. I do mean bloody. John Cena was wearing a full Crimson Mask, five alarm blade job here. Two JBL matches in a row at Judgement Day where buckets of blood were spilled. I forgotten how damn good a promo JBL was both in the pre-match package. He is such a good bully. Really puts over the gravity of I Quit really well in how you lose your dignity and manhood by uttering "I Quit". Cena was pretty good in standing up to the bully. Liked the clips of Bradshaw bullying Scotty 2 Hotty into saying I Quit.

 

This match got kinda rep after one really glowing review. Did not hit that mark for me, but still thought this was awesome and was very effective in getting over John Cena's Never Give Up attitude. I think it kinda failed at getting over as an asskicker as they relied on too much crowd brawling and strange weapons. That is where my criticism lays. Really strange start very 1980s gimmick match start. They do a pin attempt just get over there is no pinfalls and lots of headlocks and shouldertackles. Cena even has a good armdrag. It was not bad, just strange. JBL was great at talking a ton of trash. Loved the hope spot with back drop on the table to stop powerbomb. Great cutoff with the chair leading to a ton of blood. JBL delivers on his pre-match promise to split Cena wide open. Cena's selling was great and Bradshaw was a great bully heel. Once they started brawling up the ramp, they lost me. A swinging neckbreaker on the car, suplex on the roof, really? That does not have feel like hate, more like being too cute The TV monitor spot to bust open JBL was good. JBL is bleeding. I don't know if I am putting over just how much Cena is bleeding. I really enjoyed Bradshaw going into the compressed gas cylinder since I work in a lab and that would be a major EHS (Environmental, Health, Safety) Violation. I like choking in these matches so Bradshaw is good at that.

 

Liked the finish with Bradshaw too much of a coward to let Cena hit with a smokestack so he pussies out and says I Quit. So Cena hits him anyways. I think that or the jabbing someone is the best finishes to these. You cant KO your opponent so does reduce some of the typical finish options.

 

I just was not feeling the hate at times. Strange opening. Took a little while to get going. Once it did, I was getting into that and then we up the ramp and it was a real mix bag. In getting over Cena's resilience and Never Give Up Attitude, this was ***** and blood helped a lot. Bradshaw was a great cocky bully and like most bullies turned out to be a coward. I thought it failed in being truly hate-filled and making Cena an asskicker. Great, but not a classic. ****

[Bierschwale]

The ending gets across the hate for me, the idea that Cena would literally rip apart a truck and try to murder Bradshaw with it? Come on, that's HATE.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Interesting that we are flip flopping on how we feel about finishes of the Judgement Day matches. Does not feel like hate to me. Feels like a cartoon/comic movie to me.

[cactus]

This might be one of the most violent matches to ever take place under the WWE banner. Cena bleeds an absolute gusher and seeing JBL's once-white limo stained with the blood of both men made for a harrowing visual. JBL does everything in his power to get Cena over as an ass-kicking babyface by being a despicable bully. The one thing I've always admired about JBL is that he has never tried to be cool and get himself cheered with the heel-loving subsection of fans. You could make an argument that he's one of WWE's last great heels. I wasn't too high on the finish as it was anti-climatic and JBL''s table bump felt like the only stagey moment of this hate-filled brawl. ★★★★½

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a really good match. Almost a mix of an Attitude Era brawl with an old-school territory bout. It was an important bout in terms of making Cena a made man and better than their WrestleMania match in every conceivable way. There may be more blood shed in this match than in any other WWE bout. You may find a voice in your head questioning whether this needed to be so violent, and whether there needed to be so much blood, but the blood and JBL's willingness to take crazy bumps made this match a grade A spectacle. Cena did a few goofy things. His failure to shatter the limo windscreen was awkward. He also didn't get the satisfaction of forcing JBL to utter the words "I Quit" into the microphone, which kind of sucks, but at least he drove him through the sign. If wrestling had its own breakfast sports shows, I can only imagine the hot takes the presenters would have had after this match.