[2000-07-10-WWF-Raw] The Rock vs Chris Benoit

[soup23]

Shane and Benoit start Raw with a promo. I like this pairing and I thought Benoit more than held his own when asked to speak. Rock gives a rebuttal but they have put over the crossface well. Chyna and Eddy come out to chase Benoit and Shane out of the ring. Match between Rock and Benoit is only five minutes but they show good chemistry. Hebner gets taken out and Shane has a referee shirt on. Benoit locks in the crossface and when Rock grabs for the ropes, Shane rings the bell. Benoit keeps the crossface in again making the move feel like a threat. A cool visual is Shane and Benoit walking up the aisle and getting pelted with trash. The crowd is invested into this feud and so am I. WWF has done a great job of trying new stuff after KOTR. Hebner recovers and awards the match to Rock. Rock is groggy and gets up and hits a Rock Bottom on Hebner as he is not at full capacity as Benoit/Shane escape. **1/4

[GSR]

Shane McMahon says that everyone seems to be wondering what the relationship between himself, the man leading the WWF into the next millennium, and Chris Benoit, the next World Wrestling Federation champion, is; they’re just friends. He’s always respected Chris Benoit but just recently has grown to admire everything that he stands for; he’s a man who is goal orientated, who is deadly focussed, cold hearted and who is absolutely ruthless. Shane recaps what happened on last week’s Raw and Smackdown calling Benoit an ‘equal opportunist’, as he was only too happy to put the crossface on Chyna, and then claims that the Rock is now ducking ‘the Crippler’. Benoit calls the Rock a coward, someone who hides behind a woman’s skirt and asks to prove him wrong. He’s not asking him to put the belt on the line tonight, but when he beats him, he wants him one on one in a title match at Fully Loaded where he will then become the WWF World champion. The Rock is out, says he has no problem in proving him wrong and accepts the challenge. Eddy Guerrero and Chyna try to ambush Benoit and Shane, and while Chyna gets a chair shot in on Shane O’Mac, ‘the Crippler’ ducks out of there in time.

 

Match time and Shane and Benoit are outside of the ring on opposites sides, with Shane trying to catch the Rock’s eye so ‘the Crippler’ can get the early upper hand on him. That doesn’t work as Rock blocks Benoit’s right hand and tees off with some punches of his own. Scoop powerslam for two. Rock whips ‘the Crippler’ into the turnbuckles, but then runs into a back elbow and gets taken down with a belly to back suplex. Benoit goes to town on ‘the Great One’ and lands a Northern Lights suplex for a two count of his own. Jeez, he’s holding nothing back on those knife edge chops here! Rock blocks the third rolling German and counters with a belly to belly. After a spinebuster, Shane pulls Earl Hebner out of the ring, throws him into the ring post and tears off his own shirt to reveal a referee’s top underneath. Oh dear, looks like Shane has appointed himself the match ref. Rock looks at Shane like he wants to layeth the smack down on him, but Shane is pointing to his top and saying how he can’t put his hands on an official. He doesn’t care about that and chases off after him, however when Shane runs back into the ring he’s met by a ‘Crippler’ clothesline. Crossface, Rock fights the hold slowly inching his way ever closer to the ropes, he goes to grab them, but isn’t quite close enough and his hand comes straight down on the mat. Shane calls for the bell, citing that as a ‘tap’ and declares Benoit the winner. Job done, title match in the bag for Fully Loaded, the two head off back up the aisle when Earl Hebner awakes from his nap and disqualifies ‘the Crippler’ for outside interference, reversing the decision. That doesn’t sit too well and they return to the ring where Benoit gets a shot in on Hebner before Rock is back to his feet and he high tails it out of there. In the confusion Rock ‘Rock Bottoms’ one of the officials who had came out to try and restore some order.

 

I’m sure this will lead to Rock wanting to put the World title on the line so he can get his hands on Benoit and Shane, but my main gripe in this, even if we hadn’t had Hebner reversing the decision, is how on earth was Shane expecting that Commissioner Foley would let the initial result stand? There’s not a hope in hell he’d have let him get away with attacking Hebner, installing himself as replacement referee and then view Rock’s ‘tap’ as a tap.

[ohtani's jacket]

Yay, Rock vs. Benoit. This has to be the most unheralded feud of 2000. These segments were less about the match and more about the angle that set up Fully Loaded but it was all go and JR was hoarse by the end of it. Great stuff.