[2000-05-29-WWF-Raw] Chris Benoit vs Hardcore Holly

[soup23]

I think it was smart to give Holly the shot here as they knew Benoit would be cheered so having Holly heel it up before hand just amps up that narrative. Good match while it lasts as Holly’s stiffness plays well against Benoit. Finish has Jericho coming down and whacking Holly with a chair again. Way too much of that happening lately between these guys. *3/4

[GSR]

Intercontinental title match after Holly won the three way number one contender’s match on Smackdown last week. ‘Hardcore’ takes the ring mic off Lillian Garcia and says how it would have been a lot easier if Chris Benoit just gave him a title shot, but he did things the hard way; he gave one to Kurt Angle, gave one to Val Venis and gave who knows how many to Chris Jericho. He understands why he didn’t give him one though, because he’s scared, and while there’s no shame in being scared of Hardcore Holly, it shows that he’s a typical Canadian coward and it’ll be his pleasure to kick his ass in this worthless country of his and finally get what belongs to him. ‘The Crippler’ responds with some words of his own and as soon as he enter the ring, Holly and he are swinging for the fences. A forearm smash staggers ‘Hardcore’ and a ‘Cactus clothesline’ sees both men go over the top rope and to the outside. Benoit throws Holly shoulder first into the ring post before tossing him back inside. He whips him chest first into the corner and takes him down with the crossface, but Holly is close enough to the ropes to force a break. A spear by ‘Hardcore’ levels Benoit and a nice snap suplex for a two. He heads up top, but ‘the Crippler’ cuts him off and hits a superplex for a near fall of his own. The two of them exchange chops and Holly’s are even more vicious sounding than Benoit’s are. Scoop powerslam for another two, followed by a powerbomb. A lovely belly to back suplex and it’s still not enough to put Benoit away. Holly collects a steel chair from ringside, and as the referee tries to snatch it away from him he’s nailed from behind by Chris Jericho. Y2J then picks up the chair and drills Holly flush over the head with it for the DQ.

 

I liked what we saw here and it was a strong five minutes or so of action. Holly’s work is good enough where he doesn’t look out of place in there opposing the likes of Benoit, it’s just unfortunate that he’s been typecast as a jobber for the best part of the previous four years. There’s nothing overtly flashy, but everything he does has a purpose and looks meaningful, while he’s probably the one person on the roster who puts Benoit to shame with the physicality of the chops and slaps he dishes out. I’m really not digging all the full force unprotected chair shots that these guys are taking though, and here it was Holly’s turn to be on the receiving end of an especially nasty one.