[2001-03-12-WWF-Raw] Chris Benoit vs Eddy Guerrero

[GSR]

We get recaps from throughout the show, Benoit taking out both Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko at different intervals so he will get Eddy one on one with no chance of any outside interference.  JR confirms that ‘the Crippler’ is officially no longer part of the Radicalz.

The two square up to one another and as Eddy tries to cheap shot him, Benoit grabs the leg on his kick and rips the knee with a Dragon screw.  First move of the match a Dragon screw!  Lovely stuff.  Great tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.  ‘The Crippler’ runs into a back elbow, however as Eddy looks for a tornado DDT he just shoots him off.  High German suplex.  Benoit holds on looking to repeat but Eddy grabs the ropes to prevent him from doing so.  Hard knife edge chops by Eddy.  Paul Heyman talks about the intensity between these two, he ain’t wrong!  The Irish whip is reversed and Benoit propels Eddy skywards, Guerrero coming down chest first to the mat.  They try that spot where Eddy gets launched overhead into the turnbuckles though surprisingly make a bit of a hash of it.  Disgusting chops by ‘the Crippler.  These pale next to the ones Eddy gave him moments ago and you can see the discolouration and the red welts almost immediately.  Benoit floats over on the attempted suplex, disposing his opponent backwards over the top rope to the floor.  Eddy sidesteps the suicide dive, Benoit crashing and burning on the ringside mats.  There was no give whatsoever on that bump.  Great Saito suplex with Benoit coming down on his head.  Snapmare followed by a reverse neck snap.  Eddy looks for a sleeper, ‘the Crippler’ picking him up and dumping him across the top rope.  They start going toe to toe, Benoit getting the better of things.  A trio of German suplexes.  The diving headbutt looks to have taken plenty out of him too, by the time he eventually makes the cover, the delay in doing so allowing Eddy to get a shoulder up.  Eddy fights his way out of the waistlock and lands a pair of brainbusters.  He misses the frog splash and although he counters Benoit’s rolling cradle, ‘the Crippler’ rolls through and locks in the crossface for the tap.

Cracking TV match and these two are on another level to nigh on everyone else when it comes to working.  Top tier the pair.  Kinda surprised that Eddy lost clean and so decisively here, but I guess that shows where, at least for the short term, the career paths are heading.