[2000-05-21-WWF-Judgment Day] Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (Submission)

[soup23]

Benoit tests out that bad leg right away. Look at the snugness Benoit applies the chinlock submission with the arm isolated. This is a complete throwaway spot but it looks extra brutal because of how Benoit has it applied adding emphasis to the match overall. Benoit continues working on the shoulder when the action spills outside as Jericho gets sent shoulder first into it. Jericho seizes an opening to go after the injured leg of Benoit by throwing it across the steps. I would have liked to have seen Jericho pounce on that more. Benoit continues his attack mixing in unique ways to go after the arm including a Fujiwara armbar. Benoit again gets his leg hurt and this time Jericho goes after it more. I liked him utilizing his kicks more in this attack due to his injured left arm. Jericho gets the walls of Jericho on the ropes that has Benoit screaming in pain. Jericho had great torque on that hold. Back inside, Jericho goes after the Walls again but Benoit runs through his Germans and then uses the knee brace to blast Jericho in the face and go after the crossface. Benoit really wrenches in the crossface and Jericho passes out from the pain giving Benoit the win. Jericho was fine and good here but Benoit was excellent and really cements himself as one of the finest workers in the world in year 2000. ****

[AstroBoy]

I really really liked this. These guys were really lacing into each with some brutal sequences especially the chop sequence in the corner. Both were extra snug in applying holds and they really worked this much more aggressively than I might have thought. You think submission match and Jericho's generally floaty kind of offense and you don't expect to see these guys just dogging each other and looking for openings to hurt each other.

 

The work around the knee brace is really smart and well-woven into the match which leads directly into the finish. The wrenching of the Crossface was nasty and this was supremely satisfying. Benoit was great and Jericho stepped up. A notch in both men's belts.

 

***3/4

[TravJ1979]

I believe this is the best match between them during this loooong feud.

[ohtani's jacket]

I hated this feud at the time and thought all of their matches were subpar but this was actually pretty good. The match wasn't hugely dramatic but the work was focused and exhibited good narrative economy. The result felt inconsequential but Jericho impressed me with how physical he was. I tend to think of him as a loose worker but he was quite snug here. Good match.

[GSR]

We get a video package of what led up to this ‘submission match’, complete with Bob Holly’s attack on Benoit from Smackdown. As a result of that ‘the Crippler’ is forced to wear a brace on his knee which is visible as he makes his way down the aisle. Benoit backs Y2J against the ropes and immediately starts laying in those chops to his chest. Irish whip by ‘the Crippler’, Jericho slides between his legs and then drops him with a facebuster. He dishes up some chops of his own before slapping on a Fujiwara armbar that Benoit rolls out of. The tombstone piledriver is reversed, reversed again and Benoit with a shoulderbreaker, but in doing so he’s aggravated that injured knee as he’s now shaking it out. Diving headbutt to the shoulder. Jericho battles his way out of the shoulderlock submission and looks for an early ‘Walls’, however Benoit spins out. Back elbow to the face, and with Benoit on the apron, a springboard dropkick sends him tumbling to the floor. At this point Val Venis is shown watching on a monitor backstage as it turns out that he’s challenged the winner of this match. Y2J heads out after ‘the Crippler’, but Benoit whips him into the ring steps. He positions the steps ready for a further attack, however Jericho gets in their first with a shot to the mid-section and then drops him injured knee first onto those steps. Double underhook into a backbreaker across his own knee and Tim White reminds him that there are no pins as he instinctively makes the cover. They trade more chops before Jericho crashes shoulder first into the ring post after Benoit avoids his charge. ‘The Crippler’ exposes the steel beneath the top turnbuckle pad and rams Y2J’s shoulder into it. Short clothesline, a cross armbar (that JR erroneously calls a Fujiwara armbar) and Jericho is able to get his feet to the ropes for the break. Val Venis is not the only one watching backstage as the cameras cut to show Bob Holly watching on a separate monitor too. Y2J is in the corner trying to catch a breather when Benoit rushes at him with a flying knee, only for Jericho to move out the way and that knee smash into the already exposed turnbuckle. Dragon screw leg whip and Jericho removes Benoit’s knee brace and uses it as a weapon to whip ‘the Crippler’ with. Spinning toe hold and Benoit repeatedly kicks Y2J in the head in order to break the hold. Inverted tarantula as Jericho stretches his opponent over the ropes. ‘The Crippler’ manages to free an arm and eventually fight his way out. An enziguiri grazes Y2J and Benoit hits the rolling Germans. As Jericho tries a second time for ‘the Walls’, Benoit is scrambling around on the mat and grabs the knee brace which he waffles Y2J with. ‘Crippler crossface’ and when it looks like Jericho just might make the ropes, Benoit drags him to the centre of the ring. He’s really pulling back and torqueing on the hold here. Jericho eventually verbally submits, mouthing something to the referee who calls for the bell, although JR didn’t see a tap and thinks he passed out from the pain so who knows?

 

Good, physical match with the story of Benoit targeting Y2J’s shoulder, while Jericho focuses his efforts on ‘the Crippler’s’ already injured knee. The pair of them continue to not hold anything back when working opposite one another, really laying those chops in and wrenching on the submissions (check out the inverted tarantula and more specifically the crossface that is the finish). I also liked the way how the knee brace that Jericho had removed from Benoit came back to bite him and was what ultimately cost him the match.