[2002-07-01-WWE-Raw] Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit vs Bubba Ray Dudley & Spike Dudley

[ohtani's jacket]

This was Benoit's first match back from his neck injury. It's impossible to overstate the impact that Benoit and Kobashi's injuries had on the wrestling landscape during the time that they were sidelined. They were two of the most important clogs in wrestling before before getting hurt. You don't get a feel for that here because they slot Benoit into a midcard program, but he shows plenty of intensity, particularly in the way he dismantles the Dudleys after the bell. He'd go on to do more important stuff before the year was out. Eddie still looked awkward here. It's amazing how long it took for him to be a confident WWE performer. it's easy to blame that sort of thing on the environment, the politics, and the backstage manipulators, but there are also times when a guy's confidence is shot, and Eddie had that look about him to me.