[2000-05-22-WWF-Raw] Chris Benoit vs Val Venis

[soup23]

A nice comparison and resume builder for Benoit's WOTY case. It is funny seeing a Russo inspired gimmick in Val being a chance to actually perform some wrestling throughout this match. he does well enough and hits a good gutwrench powerbomb but it is clear that Benoit is the better worker here. Benoit led him through an entertaining 6.5 minute match that had a pretty poor finish with Hardcore Holly coming out and hitting two awful unprotected chair shots including one to Benoit that made me flinch. Afterwards, Jericho sneak attacks Holly and pastes him with a chair shot right on the head. Jericho looks like a mega star with his leather pants and the crowd going nuts. **1/2

[AstroBoy]

They cut a good pace here and it was pretty pleasantly surprising to see Venis working a good straight match with Benoit here. I thought this was pretty gritty and there were some nice moments of focus on Benoit's hurt knee and Val's back. It was going nicely here but didn't really have a chance to peak or resolve itself before Holly came out and wrecked both guys. Those chairshots were pretty horrific. Venis looked solid here but Benoit provided a lot of little detail and just the right amount of intensity to stand out again.

 

**3/4