[2000-04-20-WWF-Smackdown] Chris Jericho vs The Rock (Lumberjack)

[soup23]

We get moments of HHH recruiting his lumberjacks. Then we get to the match proper and like the other SmackDown matches tonight, it is fun without offering too much in the future. I think you can see glimpses of the chemistry these two will have a week later. Benoit hits Jericho with a diving headbutt that gets a nearfall. X-Pac responds with an X-Factor to the Rock. Biig brawl breaks out with Rock and HHH going at it. Rock comes back inside and gets a Rock Bottom but Road Dogg is distracting the ref. HHH slides in and hits Rock with a belt and Jericho wins. This is HHH’s retributions which is a nice contrast to his bad night on Raw. **1/2

[Loss]

I just didn't enjoy this at all. Seemed booked to show HHH was the smartest guy in the room. I think we've now crossed the line into full self preservation mode. It may not be as grating for a while because he still clearly deserves his spot. But we are there. The one positive I can say about this is that it did keep Jericho in the mix as someone who bugs HHH as much as The Rock does. But everything continues to center around HHH and his reactions when it should center around Rock and his reactions. The match was just a lot of interference spots. It's going to be a long decade.

[Robert S]

The psychology / story behind this was a bit strange. What were the heels trying to achieve here? The finish was "let's help guy A win the match" - guy A kicks out / pinfall is interrupted by the heels - "let's help guy B win the match" - guy B kicks out / pinfall is interrupted by the heels - repeat.

I noticed here that Jericho has some cool offense that I don't think anyone is doing anymore. Especially the Tito Santana style flying foreman is a move that some today's babyface should really kick up. Maybe Kofi Kingston as it's a real cool move to lead to a hot tag.