[2002-11-07-WWF-Smackdown] Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio & Edge

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWE Tag Tag Champions Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio & Edge - Smackdown 11/7/02 2 out of 3 Falls

I have always thought the Smackdown Six era was a little overrated, but the first fall of this match held up great. 

First Fall: Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle have amazing chemistry. The use of the 619 to evade Angle and send him out the ring to embarrass him was the spot of the match. Benoit had a great reaction to this. The Edge parts were alright. Good transition to the heat segment with Angle pulling the hair from the apron and Benoit blindsiding him. It is the first fall so we dont get a full blown heat segment on Edge. I thought Edge actually hung with Benoit pretty well. He put a little mustard on his typically weak shots. The hot tag to Rey was phenomenal. Rey just rocked it. Benoit & Angle fed & bumped for him so well. Edge vaulting Rey into awesome offense was great. Super fun shine. Rey & Edge up 1-0. 

Second Fall: Angle bulldozes Rey right after the pinfall. He wants a Angle Slam, but Rey armdrags out. I love that it takes an extra move for Angle to take control. Rey gets caught in a bell-to-belly. It is short but Angle & Benoit hit two great high impact moves on Rey before Rey hits a top rope bulldog on Benoit. Edge is actually a great hot tag. Did Edge miss his calling as a babyface? He is a pretty terrible heel so maybe. He misses a spear and eats the tag belt. Instead of going for an Angle Slam and pin, Angle makes Edge submit to Anglelock which just seems like a weird choice. You never want to make a babyface tap unless you really have to. Tapping is a stronger form of losing than pinfall. Also  it would make more sense to follow the tag belt shot up with an Angleslam than an Ankleock. Finally, because Edge is selling being knocked out the tap out is kinda weak and doesnt feel big. Still really good 90s workrate stuff thus far. Tied 1-1

Third Fall: Benoit & Angle are great at heat segments. I think tag matches hide a lot of Angle's psychology deficiencies allow him to focus on his athleticism. Benoit is good about selling the back of his head on superplex attempts, I love that about him. Rey & Angle's chemistry is off the charts you gotta check out the sequence they worked before the restart. Angle got his hand on the rope at the last second and the ref didnt see so they tease the Dusty Finish and restart the match. Another great heat segment on Rey Rey. Rey looked so damn good here. Ever want to understand why Rey is a GOAT contender check out this match. This is no fluke, Edge was legitimately great as an offensive babyface in this match. Great sequence that works in a 619, Spear and a Benoit diving headbutt on Angle before Edge & Mysterio win the tag belts. 

I know it is 2002, but this is some peak 90s workrate. I am going to try to write an essay one day on how 90s workrate is different than today's workrate. I think 90s workrate there is a lot of action but there is psychology and everything is at least snug and earned. Very enjoyable TV wrestling. ****

 

 

[Makai Club #1]

Decent match. I thought it was on par with their No Mercy match which honestly isn't saying a lot. The falls were a little forgettable and the match just seemed to happened. **1/2

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I thought this was okay. There weren't really any outstanding match-ups. and they didn't do anything new or interesting. It was pretty much four guys re-ordering the same spots they've done for the past several weeks. That's the pitfalls of having the same guys wrestle each other on TV and PPV week after week. The match was satisfying in terms of the outcome. They pulled their favorite trick of restarting the bout, but this time it had a happy ending.