[2004-10-19-WWE-Taboo Tuesday] Randy Orton vs Ric Flair (Cage Match)

[ohtani's jacket]

Orton was screwed out of a world title shot at Taboo Tuesday, but his consolation prize was to main event the show.  I guess that's better than being shunted down the card. This was never going to be a great match, but they tried their damnedest to make it a memorable one by gigging. In one of the bloodiest years in WWE history that I can remember, the pair of them cut deep and had fairly sick looking crimson masks. That was about the only thing that made the bout memorable except for the embrace at the end which I suppose signaled that Evolution was coming to an end. JR tried to shill Taboo Tuesday as one of the most memorable nights of his career. King had a better take by saying he doubted the concept in the beginning but was won over by the end. The trouble is the WWE hasn't had a great match on PPV in a while and their TV matches aren't being pimped either, so something isn't clicking. 

[EnviousStupid]

Criminally underrecognized. Very straightforward cage match to tell the story of Orton earning Flair's respect through blood and brutality, kept relatively short as a PPV main event from 2004. Flair's offensive is full of dirty tricks and work everyone has likely seen from the man's overwhelming experience in cage matches; a point made early on by commentary. It's exactly the kind of cheap shots mixed with hard chops and rapid punches to the open wound that he should rely on in the twilight of his wrestling career. Orton endures and gets arguably just as brutal going after the cut, while still coming across as the face of the match. He's not a natural in working face or being over like Cena and Batista are and further become, but the idea of Orton just "not working as a good guy" around the time can't help feeling disconnected from what I watch of him around the time. They were cheering off the big kickout and finish here, as well as the show of respect after the match. Great match from the Raw brand in a year jampacked with them