Matches From 2004

[Al]

I watched Eddy/JBL. I don't have the energy or skills to break it down like Loss or Tim Cooke, but I'll post some quick thoughts. I agree that this is a good match. The storytelling is there, and it is solid. However, I can not shake the feeling that something is missing. Some overall "excitement factor" that is absent from the match. I do not have anything to pick apart in the match in particular.

 

Overall, I'd give it ***1/2 stars. Better than SKeith thinks, but I fear the Smart crowd might be overrating this one a tad. We'll see how it holds up over time. I could be wrong.

[goodhelmet]

Damn, you completely no-sold my initial review of the match!

 

You suck.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

Don't you just hate it when that happens.

 

I know I do.

[Al]

Damn, you completely no-sold my initial review of the match!

 

You suck.

My apologies. Perhaps my lack of perspective on the latino crowd kept my interest lower than it should have been.

[goodhelmet]

Don't you just hate it when that happens.

 

I know I do.

Dude, the matches you have reviewed can only be experienced through the written form. Trust me, if Loss, Nik and I ever put together the resource site we have been discussing, your reviews of Worst Matches Ever will have its own shrine!

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

Then you'll love the next match I've got lined up for review.

[Guest Some Guy]

I watched Eddy/JBL.  I don't have the energy or skills to break it down like Loss or Tim Cooke, but I'll post some quick thoughts.  I agree that this is a good match.  The storytelling is there, and it is solid.  However, I can not shake the feeling that something is missing.  Some overall "excitement factor" that is absent from the match.  I do not have anything to pick apart in the match in particular.

 

Overall, I'd give it ***1/2 stars.  Better than SKeith thinks, but I fear the Smart crowd might be overrating this one a tad.  We'll see how it holds up over time.  I could be wrong.

Watch it again. It gets better with a second viewing.

[Loss]

I watched Eddy/JBL.  I don't have the energy or skills to break it down like Loss or Tim Cooke, but I'll post some quick thoughts.  I agree that this is a good match.  The storytelling is there, and it is solid.  However, I can not shake the feeling that something is missing.  Some overall "excitement factor" that is absent from the match.  I do not have anything to pick apart in the match in particular.

 

Overall, I'd give it ***1/2 stars.  Better than SKeith thinks, but I fear the Smart crowd might be overrating this one a tad.  We'll see how it holds up over time.  I could be wrong.

I agree with Some Guy. Watch it again. After catching it three more times, I'm convinced it's my favorite WWE match ever ... by a slim margin, but still my favorite nonetheless. Maybe when that Southern brawls comp comes to fruition, we can make sure you get a copy, because I think maybe it'll click if you see some of the early 80s stuff with Jerry Lawler as a contrast and see how they updated it for modern times. It's pretty amazing.

[Loss]

Just so it's recorded, in case SK's LJ ever disappears, here's a copy/paste of Tim's response to SK's initial review of the match.

 

So this morning I get an e-mail from Tim Cooke, who is a bit of a kook to say the least, declaring that in fact Eddie Guerrero v. Bradshaw from Judgment Day is the WWE MOTY by a longshot. His analysis follows, but my only real comment is that I didn't enjoy the match and a great deal of other people didn't enjoy the match as much as the other ones he says it's better than, and therefore it's not the MOTY, regardless of whether he suddenly declares it so. Apparently over-analyzing matches to death is the way to truly enjoying them, I dunno.

 

The e-mail follows...

 

 

"

I was finally able to see this match and it is easily the WWE MOTY. It's better than Brock/Eddy by a pretty long shot and blows away the fustercluck that was the WMXX Main Event.

 

"- Smackdown World title: Eddie Guerrero v. John Bradshaw Layfield. I'll just go with the accepted JBL for short, since it's easier than Bradshaw. Slugfest to start, which Eddie wins, and they fight outside. Back in, JBL bails again, and gets rammed into the post as a result, and Eddie keeps hammering him. Back in, Eddie slugs him down, and JBL again bails. Eddie sends him back in again as they struggle to find the body of the match, and Eddie slugs him down again and gives him the old boot rakes. Back to the floor AGAIN, but this time Eddie hits the stairs and Bradshaw pounds on him."

 

Tim: To have the body of the match, you must first have a beginning. Really simple here. JBL is against Mexicans. To add to that, he causes Guerrero's mother to have a heart attack (albeit, done in a pretty corny matter). Eddy goes right after him and brawls. And unlike most WWE brawls, Eddy gets a control segment out of it, with Bradshaw bumping well and selling decently. The whip into the stair is the transition. In a brawl, it is a logical transition because Bradshaw couldn't beat Eddy outside the ring first, then he couldn't inside, so he finally get a small break with the ring steps.

 

"Back in, Eddie keeps slugging, but walks into a big boot as it's apparently time for the heel heat segment and we finally get something going."

 

Tim: There was plenty going prior. The boot isn't as much a transition as it is the first offense Bradshaw was able to get on his "subordinate, smaller" opponent. So we are now Bradshaw's control segment.

 

"Elbowdrop gets two for JBL. He whips Eddie into the corner and goes to a headlock, already breathing heavily."

 

Tim: If you would watch the match instead of making things up, you would see Bradshaw is far from blown up. He is certainly no where near as blown up as Kurt Angle was at WrestleMania 17 against Benoit. He is using the headlock to ground Guerrero. Since he couldn't outbrawl him at all early on, he finally has some momentum so he needs to wear the smaller and quicker Guerrero down. Instead of slapping on a random submission or a WWE special in the form of the random chinlock, he uses the side headlock takeover. Simple, yet effective, and it gives the match something to work around in terms of not just being a spot fest.

 

"He knocks Eddie down and goes back to the headlock. Criss-cross and Eddie starts with armdrags, and Bradshaw bails again, so Eddie follows with a pescado, which is blocked and countered into a blockbuster slam on the floor."

 

Tim: Blockbuster slam? Are you sure you don't mean release fall away slam? Regardless, this segment gives Eddy a small comeback before being put back into peril. And it leads us to Bradshaw's second control segment, working Eddy's back.

 

"More brawling outside to negate any point of working the headlock in the ring, and Eddie gets backdropped onto the Spanish table."

 

Tim: With statements like this, it is obvious why people who read your work and believe it haven't a clue about wrestling. The fall away slam hurts Eddy's back. The suplex on the table (a revenge spot for Bradshaw flying into the table earlier, hurts the back some more. The side headlock was a way for Bradshaw to control Guerrero without going the route of using meaningless punches and kicks, which they both tried to make mean more in this match.

 

"Back in, JBL with a neckbreaker for two. He looks really tired at the 10:00 mark. Eddie fights back and takes a silly bump off a backdrop, which gives Bradshaw two."

 

Tim: The spot was blown but Eddy covers up nicely and it works in the segments theme of working on the back since Bradshaw couldn't get an advantage without Eddy being in some kind of physical problem.

 

"Eddie is doing everything possible to wrestle for two people here."

 

Tim: That is not true if you would actually watch the match.

 

"Speaking of which, it's bearhug time, as Bradshaw has nothing in the way of effective heel offense, so Eddie makes another comeback to keep things going."

 

Tim: Bearhug - works the back = good. Eddy's escapes are really good out of the bearhug as well. So again, not correct.

 

"Dropkick into the rolling verticals, but it's broken up with a knee."

 

Tim: I know you aren't one for analysis, but Eddy's selling here is pretty awesome for the WWE or any promotion. His locomotion suplexes are a lot slower than usual because he can't roll as fast due to the work on his back.

 

"JBL goes for a powerbomb, but Eddie escapes, and bumps the ref off a weak collision."

 

Tim: WWE ref bumps are generally very weak. It seems that Eddy puts a lot of thought into ref bumps during his matches though as this one wasn't as silly or contrived as the standard Trips ref bump booking spots are.

 

"Bradshaw takes his first bump of the match, going over the top to the floor, and takes a much-needed breather before they start brawling again."

 

Tim: Amazing. Did you watch Bradshaw take that bump early on on the outside for a punch? What about being rammed into the spanish announce table early on?

 

*snip un-important stuff*

"JBL grabs the title and takes a swing, but Eddie goes low and hammers him with it to draw a DQ at 23:13. Second time through, it loses most of the drama, and is just reduced to a ?* match with a good bloodbath tacked on and horrible ending, so I can't go any higher than **1/2."

 

Tim: The ending actually worked in a WWE match though in totally went over your head. Luckily, it didn't go over the people in the crowd who understand it. The finishing sequence is Bradshaw grabbing a chair and the belt. He throws the chair in first to distract the ref and goes to hit Eddy with the belt, Eddy gets the belt, ref turns around, Eddy nails Bradshaw, Eddy is DQ'ed. Eddy didn't use the belt to "survive" or to get himself DQ'ed, he used it as a revenge spot (two fold- the storyline going into the match and then the blood loss beating). If you are going to over book a finish, they at least did it correctly. Eddy remains strong (his post match beatdown of Bradshaw is ALL Eddy), Bradshaw looks strong because he did take Guerrero to the limit, even if he had to drain him of blood first. And Bradshaw is still the heel, so he has to have some vulnerability, like his opponent.

 

"I would have liked to see them do the blood stoppage ending here, because it's actually justified and wouldn't have changed the title. Eddie gets the comeback afterwards to send the crowd home happy. Dave is happy because of the sick amount of blood, so no refund."

 

Tim: Logic? A blood stoppage would make Eddy look weaker (it could have worked if they structured the match a tad differently) but his post match beat down would have had some major selling issues. The post match beat down had little selling issues due the way they were done.

 

I hope you take the time to respond to this as I do feel these are all valid criticisms. As a published author, I would hope you take more pride in your work rather than ignoring some obvious flaws.

 

Tim"

[Marty]

Just to add to the fun, here's a copy-n-paste of Tim's original review of the match from DeathValleyDriver.com. (Hope Tim doesn't mind!)

 

Eddy Guerrero vs. Bradshaw (5/04 - Judgement Day WWE)

 

Has no one seen this because Bradshaw is in the match? I can't think of a WWE match this good in a long time. This really isn't a typical WWE match, minus the ref bumps. The first great thing is the video package. Regardless of his wrestling ability (more on that below), the JBL character is pretty decent. Hunting for illegal immigrants on the Mexican border is pretty great, right up there with Dusty in the locker room after the 3/13 ROH show "I smell somethin.....I smell somethin....they shit in our bags." The heart attack angle is goofy but heart attack angles in wrestling generally aren't the most thought out stories.

 

Eddy starts out on fire, with an all out brawl on Bradshaw for what he stands for and more importantly, what he did to his mom. This segment was almost squash like, with Eddy just pounding on Bradshaw and Bradshaw bumping and selling pretty well. Most WWE brawls I see are usually very back and forth but Eddy gets a lot of time to just brawl. Eddy's punches look good as well and I have never really been a fan since his european uppercuts and forearms are generally top notch.

 

All Bradshaw can do early on to slow down Guerrero is a side headlock takeover twice. The first small turning point is when Bradshaw is thrown out of the ring. Eddy follows up with a plancha but Bradshaw catches him and uses a fall a way slam on the floor to gain some advantage. He follows this up with a suplex on the spanish announcers table and then gives Eddy a back body drop in the ring. Eddy's back is a big target with Bradshaw then putting on a bearhug, only for Eddy to make a comeback and it really looks as if Bradshaw has nothing to stop the determined Guerrero, champion and defender of the people who JBL has ridiculed endless times.

 

So then we have the standard WWE ref bump, though Eddy matches seem to have innovative ways to knock the ref out (his first Smackdown match this year against Rey had a decent ref bump). Bradshaw takes Eddy to the outside and waffles him with a chairshot and Eddy is bleeding a huge gusher, maybe the worst I have ever seen.

 

So now Eddy is fucked. The blood is squirting out, leaving huge puddles all over the floor. Eddy could take Bradshaw's physical pain in the ring but now with a major blood loss, he is in deep trouble. The match turns much more WWE here with the nearfall section, though the blood helps a lot, as does the crowd really rallying Eddy.

 

As I watched this with my brother, we both instantly saw how what was happening in the match got the crowd involved, unlike the WMXX three way, which had a crowd that was anti-establishment and sick of Trips/Shawn and new Benoit would at least make a huge bid for the title, so let's root for him. Here, it is the story in the match that is engaging the crowd.

 

The ending was a surprise too. I knew it was a DQ, but didn't know that Bradshaw brought the chair and belt in, distracted the ref with the chair, and tried to use the belt, only for Eddy to get the belt and whack him right in front of the ref, to get DQ'ed. Made sense as Bradshaw couldn't lose since they knew they wanted to keep pushing him but also didn't make Eddy look weak at all. He wasn't using the belt because he was desperate, he used it for revenge from the out of the match story and the blood story. And post-match, Eddy continues beating on Bradshaw to the point where Bradshaw finally cowards away and escapes.

 

Eddy was spot on in this match. His selling early on for the short back work was great. I usually don't like his locomotion suplex spot at all (reminds me of Shane Douglas doing that spot in 2000 WCW and taking 2 minutes to execute three simple back to back suplexes). But here he did them much slower as he couldn't spin around fast on this back to get into position for the next suplex. The bladejob was sick. No wonder he went to the hospital right away. But the bladejob added a lot to the match. A normal amount of blood would have worked too but the sickening amount here brought it up another level.

 

Bradshaw was capable in this match. He bumped and stooged well (and often), didn't go to rest holds when he was done with his offense (which is a major WWE beef of mine), and was generally actually fun to watch. If he wants to be Stan Hanson very very lite, he needs to add the knee drops, but for Stan Hanson very x 5 lite, he was good. Just the opening section was something guys like Trips or Undertaker would have never done or if they did, they wouldn't have bumped as well on the floor for punches and let Eddy control that entire segment.

 

In terms of performances, the Halloween Havoc match vs. Rey Jr, the 6/11-12/96 BOSJ Semis and Finals vs. Benoit & Liger are better than this. But after that? I'm not sure. That's how good this is. I didn't believe it even with people whose opinions I trust telling me about it. So so glad I got this.

 

WWE MOTY.

[Marty]

*bump*

 

(Just because it happened one year ago today!)

 

(Hey, celebrating its anniversary sure beats hearing a bunch of ECW mutants celebrate 5/16/99 as "The Day Shane Douglas left ECW")

[Slasher]

The problem I have with this match, being in Los Angeles for the show, is that while the DQ ending "made" sense in term to the match build and such, what reviewers fail to realize is the show it was on. Judgment Day 2004 was just horrible horrible horrible. So for us fans to sit there and take that crap, only for them to end the show on an unsatisfatory note such as this DQ finish, it served only as a "Well fuck you guys. We'll run the real finish elsewhere." By this virtue, in context to the show, its a **** at best. By itself, if you just happened to pop the match in, without watching the previous matches from the show, it suddenly looks a lot better. That's just my opinion.

[Tim Cooke]

When has the name of a show meant anything in the WWF/E in the past 10 years in terms of a finish of a match?

 

Tim

[Slasher]

I'm referring to the card, not the name itself.

[Guest Some Guy]

I haven't seen the rest of the card. I've only seen the match. It would seem though, that if the rest of the show was terrible that this match would look even better in comparison. I think several of HBK's 1996 PPV matches benifited from having such a horrible undercard. If you give someone 5 shitty matches and then hand them a good match, it suddenly seems great.

 

As far as the DQ finish: I didn't like it and said as much in my little write up. I too understand it, but I think it would have hurt Bradshaw less to be pinned, rather than having the ever living shit kicked out of him and running away after the DQ.

[Slasher]

That's true, but as a person who was there, my point is the finish didn't exactly send the fans home happy, like Tim Cooke apparently claims. After the show I heard a lot of grumbling about the DQ finish. They all wanted to be sent home on a positive note. A postmatch beatdown doesn't change the fact their hero LOST, albeit by DQ. Not to mention it was very unsatisfatory for the people in Los Angeles, who invested themselves in the storyline, seeing JBL crap on their heritage and et al, and we all felt Eddie didn't get the sufficient revenge. Though I do admit the match was great in its own way, it just wasn't what the fans needed.

[Guest Some Guy]

I think the match was exactly what they needed, the finish wasn't. Although the finish was done really well.

[Tim Cooke]

"That's true, but as a person who was there, my point is the finish didn't exactly send the fans home happy, like Tim Cooke apparently claims."

 

Watching this on DVD, the crowd pops for the post match beatdown. If they were booing it non stop and completely shitting on it, I would agree.

 

"After the show I heard a lot of grumbling about the DQ finish. They all wanted to be sent home on a positive note."

 

Again, the next positive thing after a clean finish is a nice beat down of the heel post match, which the fans popped for.

 

"A postmatch beatdown doesn't change the fact their hero LOST, albeit by DQ. Not to mention it was very unsatisfatory for the people in Los Angeles, who invested themselves in the storyline, seeing JBL crap on their heritage and et al, and we all felt Eddie didn't get the sufficient revenge."

 

WWE booking is screwy. In a perfect world, Eddy should have been able to pin JBL relativly cleanly and JBL still should have been strong enough to challenge the next month. But WWE booking generally sucks. Eddy made the decision to get himself DQ'ed.

 

"Though I do admit the match was great in its own way, it just wasn't what the fans needed."

 

I understand the sentiment but the WWE really doesn't care about the fans anymore. Look back at 2000 and portions of 2001-they would end the PPV's with the match that the face woul win to generally send the fans home happy. HHH coming back in 2002 stopped that trend quickly.

 

If they had any idea of how to build up heels, JBL woul dhave been strong enough to survive a clean pinfall loss. They just don't understand how to do that.

 

Tim

[sek69]

It's just easier to come to terms with the fact that people like SK set the IWC opinon of matches and workers, and anyone who refutes them is a "kook".

 

The man has an almost personal beef with JBL as a main eventer and as such will never give him a fair shake in any match review. His devoted fanbase will eat it up with a spoon, and people will brand JBL a poor worker despite him having 2 or 3 *** to arguably **** afffairs.

[Slasher]

Tim, I agree with you for the most part. However, while we popped for the beatdown, it was because we wanted A GOOD ENDING. When we got that in the form of the beatdown, we did go nuts, but after the show ended we realized, "Wait, JBL did win... This sucks." Though you're right about everything else. And I value your opinion over Scott Keith's anyways.

[Tim Cooke]

I subbed for a month to the Torch VIP area.

 

Here are some "interesting" clips:

 

From Bruce Mitchell:

"A boring, imminently skippable show turned into something else in the swipe of a razor blade, as Eddie Guerrero offered up the worst, most memorable blood bath in the thirty year history of the company. Suddenly the crowd forgot they were watching a blown up John Layfield Bradshaw get carried and bought into the real/fake struggle Guerrero, losing pint after pint, was engaged in to finish the match. My fear going into this show wasn?t that it would flop, but that Guerrero?s still fragile status as a top wrestler would be damaged. Instead, it was one of the more memorable moments of a great career. This match and feud has been booked in the old territorial formulas more than anything I?ve seen since Vince Jr. took control twenty years ago."

 

Pat McNeil:

"The main event match was a good one and that had a lot to do with Eddie Guerrero. Both from the work he had to do to get over John Layfield and the vicious blade job he did near the end of the match. Everything was laid out well and the initial ref bump was innovative. Still, it was frightening how little the crowd cared about JBL before he opened up with the cheap heat pre-match promo. Another concern is that for the second straight PPV in Los Angeles, WWE booked the main event with an inconclusive finish."

 

Wade Keller:

"Blading grotesquely doesn't save this show from being a sub-par WWE production. Bradshaw promised to deliver the match of his life, and he did, but that isn't saying much. That's like Extreme Makeover promising to make Sen. Ted Kennedy look better. It's hard not to. And it's hard to have a bad match with Eddie Guerrero. Bradshaw, though in better shape than usual for him, didn't blow me away with his athleticism or even believability as a main event thug heel. He put in a nice performance, about what WWE was hoping he'd do a couple years ago when they gave him his first singles push.

 

That is too much blood. Blading is unpredictable, but Guerrero bled as if he had taken a bottle of aspirin to thin out his blood, too. I was concerned that they would have to go to the finish much earlier once his blood flow continues without clotting.

 

The intensity of the match was really good, though. Both wrestlers had the right tone to how they approached the match, including Guerrero's aggressive, emotional attack at the start and at the finish. I'm not dreading the thought of these two in another singles match, although it's hardly something to count down the days to, either."

 

Wade Keller "Live Analysis":

"8 -- EDDIE GUERRERO vs. JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD

 

They went into the prematch vignette for this match at just 10:03 ET, giving this match basically the entire final hour to fill. Bradshaw claiming he's worthy of being in a main event slot because he's worked so hard this past month to get into shape would be like an unworldly, naive, recently-elected president saying he was worthy to be president because he started reading and learning about the world the month before he was sworn into office. Talk about cramming! Before the match, Bradshaw said he was going to make Eddie Guerrero's mother his maid so she can live out the final years of her life in his home in New York City. He guaranteed, "absolutely guaranteed," he would be victorious in the ring. Guerrero rode out in a bouncy car. When Eddie entered the ring, Bradshaw asked how his mom was. Cole was upset. I think it was considerate of Bradshaw to care. Eddie worked over Bradshaw at the start with a fervor. Cole said Bradshaw would have to survive the early flurry of emotions from Guerrero. At 2:00 Eddie threw Bradshaw into the ring and yapped at him about his mother. Then he threw him out of the ring again. Tazz said he didn't expect Guerrero to dominate so decisively so early. Guerrero whipped Bradshaw into the stairs, but Bradshaw reversed it, sending Guerrero shoulder-first into the steel. Back in the ring at 4:00 Guerrero fought back, but Bradshaw quickly KO'd Guerrero with a punch. He followed with an elbow for a two count. Bradshaw threw some forearms at Guerrero in the corner, then went into a side headlock. Eddie escaped briefly, but then Bradshaw put Guerrero back on the mat with a headlock. At 7:00 Bradshaw caught Guerrero flying at him and then gave him an overhead fallaway slam onto the mat on the floor. Bradshaw then backdropped a charging Guerrero into the Spanish announers' table. Both wrestlers rolled into the ring to break the countout. Bradshaw then went to a bearhug. More 1974 AWA house show action. Guerrero poked Bradshaw's eyes to escape, then whipped Bradhaw into the corner and followed up with punches and playing to the crowd. He hit a dropkick followed by his series of three unreleased vertical suplexes. At 13:00 Bradshaw came back quickly and fought out of a powerbomb set-up, then slapped his chest and ran toward the ropes, but the ref went down. When Bradshaw charged, Guerrero backdropped him to the floor. Guerrero threw Bradshaw into the American announcers's table area. Bradshaw then surprised Guerrero with a chair. Guerrero bladed and hit a real gusher. Blood was flowing about as fast as you'll ever see it that quickly after gigging. Cole said Guerrero was bleeding like a sieve. Guerrero's blood splattered all over the mat as Bradshaw punched away at his forehead. Then he hit his Clothesline from Hell, but the ref was still KO'd from being knocked down several minutes earlier by Guerrero. Bradshaw got so frustrated, he pounded on the back of the ref. Who does he think he is, Brad Miller? He went for a pin when a second ref arrived, but Guerrero managed to kick out. When Bradshaw charged at Guerrero, Guerrero dropped down and the second ref went down. Bradshaw then powerbombed Guerrero and the original ref came to enough to count a near fall. Guerrero kicked out again. The crowd popped and chanted "Eddie, Eddie." Bradshaw looked on in disbelief. He went for another pin. Guerrero kicked out again. Bradshaw applied a sleeper. Tazz and Cole said that Guerrero would probably easily pass out quickly given his loss of blood. Bradshaw back suplexed out of it. The blood didn't clot at all as it flowed out of Guerrero's forehead like a faucet. It was beyond entertaining. Guerrero began to dance and pound his chest. He began the Hulk Hogan-style superman comeback with a punches to Bradshaw. Guerrero flew into Bradshaw's arms. Bradshaw went for an overhead suplex, but Guerrero countered into a DDT. Guerrero struggled to make it to the corner. Guerrero went for a frog splash, but Bradshaw moved. The ref counted both men down. Bradshaw rolled out of the ring. He grabbed Guerrero's title belt and a chair. He threw the chair into the ring. The ref grabbed the chair and threw it out of the ring. Bradshaw entered the ring with the belt. Guerrero hit Bradshaw with a low blow. Guerrero hit Bradshaw with the belt and the ref DQ'd him. Guerrero continued to punch away at Bradshaw. Three referees pulled Guerrero off of him. Guerrero broke free and hit Bradshaw with the belt. Bradshaw ended up bleeding himself from the forehead. Guerrero then hit a Frog Splash. When Bradshaw began to retreat up the aisle, Guerrero charged at him and tackled him.

 

WINNER: Bradshaw via DQ in 23:00.

 

STAR RATING: **3/4 -- Take away the blood and there wasn't a lot to this match. And the blood was so extreme, it actually began to take away from it being even watchable, although that's a matter of taste. Guerrero's intensity in wanting to go after Bradshaw from the opening minute of the match to the post-match brawling was believable and fit the storyline. Not embarrassingly bad, but hardly PPV main event worthy, either. The show ended at 10:40 p.m. ET."

 

Keller Smackdown 4/15 Show vs. Guerrero Notes:

"3 -- BIG SHOW vs. EDDIE GUERRERO

 

Cole confirmed the Judgment Day main event would be Eddie Guerrero vs. Bradshaw. Show dominated early. Guerrero came back by raking Show's chest hair at 4:30. Then he dove onto Show at ringside and shoved him into the ringpost.

 

[Commercial Break]

 

More kicking and stomping by Show for several minutes of action. Guerrero grabbed a wrench from under the ring and tossed it to Show. Show caught it and the ref reprimanded him for it. Guerrero then attacked Show and scored a two count at 14:15 after a tornado DDT. When Show kicked out, he flung Guerrero onto the ref. Show went for a chokeslam, but Guerrero escaped it with a kick between Show's legs, then hit a DDT and a frog splash for the win. Guerrero led the crowd in a "Na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" chant. Just what WWE needs - send fans another message that another top star is gone from the roster. Show did a great job crying at the lack of shared sadness from the fans. His facial expressions are among the best in pro wrestling. "Why are you laughing," a despondent Show cried out.

 

WINNER: Guerrero at 15:45 (estimated time due to commercial break).

 

STAR RATING: *1/2 -- It dragged in spots (okay, a lot of spots), but what there was was done well and in the right places."

[Tim Cooke]

GAB LIve Analysis Keller:

 

3 -- REY MYSTERIO vs. CHAVO GUERRERO -- Cruiserweight Title match

 

They opened with a pretty slow pace, indicating they had some time to work with. They even went to the first mathold at 2:15. Chavo kicked Rey off the top rope at 5:15 and Rey sold it as a knee injury, setting up Chavo stomping away and working over Rey's knee for several minutes. Rey teased a comeback a couple of times, but made a big comeback with a dive over the top rope onto Chavo at ringside at 12:15. Rey, though, came up limping on that knee worse than ever. Back in the ring, Rey gingerly climbed to the top rope. Chavo caught him up there and set up a top rope superplex, but Rey (of course) fought out of it. They ended up both standing on the top rope and leaped off together with Rey ramming Chavo's head into the mat. A few "holy sh--" chants from fans who wanted to believe they were seeing something special, and it was a nice spot, but hardly worthy of that chant. Both men were down for eight counts, then Chavo covered Rey for a two count. Rey reversed into a cradle for a near fall himself at 14:30. Chavo reversed Rey into the ropes, but Rey springboarded off the second rope with a bodyblock and then hit a Russian leg sweep for a near fall at 15:30. Chavo came back with a Gorybomb, so Cole announced, "We are going to have a new Cruiserweight Champion," thus taking away any sense of suspense for the discerning viewers who know the pattern - announcers never accurately announce a finish ahead of time. Rey predictably kicked out, much to Cole's amazement. Rey fought back with an enzuigiri and then nailed the 619 at 17:30. He followed up with a West Coast Pop, but Chavo blocked it and went to a single leg crab for a near submission at 17:45. Rey struggled toward the bottom rope, but Chavo yanked him back to the middle. Rey, though, did make it to the bottom rope at 18:45. Rey countered a Gorybomb attempt and rolled through into a victory roll for a three count.

 

WINNER: Mysterio at 19:45.

 

STAR RATING: *** -- Fundamentally sounds and told a nice story with a couple big spots and the final few minutes solidly above average, but hardly anything memorable overall. Pretty much what you'd expect from these two working "WWE cruiserweight style," but nothing more.

 

7 -- EDDIE GUERRERO vs. BRADSHAW -- WWE Hvt. Title match

 

They set up lights in each corner that lit up every time one was touched to help make it clear when someone would be on the verge of touching the fourth post to win. They also announced that if anyone detached themselves from the bullrope, they'd be DQ'd. Bradshaw dominated early, choking Guerrero with the rope and hitting him with the cowbell. Bradshaw hung Guerrero upside down in the corner and then went to ringside and wrapped the rope around his neck and pulled on it. Cole said, "Eddie Guerrero may be in trouble, he may be turning red." I'd get on Cole's case, but I don't think any announcer in history could make this card seem exciting. I'm shocked he's still got any will left to live at this point. You can tell Tazz barely does anymore because unlike Cole, he's a genuine fan of wrestling who has seen great shows before so he has something to compare it to. Bradshaw set up a powerbomb on the announcers' table, but Guerrero tripped Bradshaw and took over control at 6:30. Guerrero yanked Bradshaw into the ringpost, then hit him with a chairshot. Bradshaw began bleeding and the crowd woke up for the first time in over an hour. Back in the ring Guerrero touched three corners, but Bradshaw blocked the fourth touch. The ref then reset the lights once the momentum was stopped. Bradshaw surprised Guerrero with a DDT at 11:30. Guerrero fought back with a couple yanks of the bullrope between his legs. He then hit a top rope Frog Splash. Guerrero easily touched three corners, but Bradshaw rolled to ringside, taking away the slack necessary to hit the fourth turnbuckle. Guerrero rammed Bradshaw's head into the steel stairs at ringside. He then yanked Bradshaw back up to the ring apron, but when he set up a suplex, Bradshaw KO'd him with the belt. Bradshaw then threw Guerrero onto the announce table at ringside. Guerrero bounced and fell to the floor. Bradshaw then powerbombed Guerrero onto the table, and the table finally gave out at 16:30. Bradshaw came within a few inches of touching the fourth corner to win the match, but Guerrero, like a scene out of battle of the network stars, tug-o-wared Bradshaw back to mid-ring and then gave him a low-blow with the bell. He whipped Bradshaw several times with the rope and bell. (He actually more so whipped the mat just past Bradshaw, but we'll look past that.) Bradshaw and Guerrero began each touching each other, and it was 3-3 with Bradshaw working his way to the fourth. Guerrero yanked Bradshaw away from the corner. One slip and we'd have an unplanned title change. Guerrero whipped Bradshaw with the bell and then rammed into Bradshaw. Bradshaw went back-first into the corner, and then Guerrero hit the fourth turnbuckle himself with his hand. Kurt Angle came out and said he wasn't out there due to a personal vendetta, but he wanted to be sure the right decision was made. They replayed the finish, showing that Bradshaw's shoulder and back touched the turnbuckle before his hand. He said as a result, Bradshaw is the new WWE Champion. Guerrero collapsed in the corner, saddened by what just happened. A bloody Bradshaw celebrated with the belt. Cole and Tazz said it was the right call. Guerrero soaked up some cheers and "Eddie, Eddie" chants.

 

WINNER: Bradshaw at 21:11 to capture the WWE Title.

 

STAR RATING: ***1/4 -- Some nice bumps and a solid intensity. Blame that title change on CNBC.

 

Mitchell:

"John Bradshaw Layfield's bullrope title win was the same old bad rope match that went out of style ten years ago. I never liked these matches because they limit what the better workers can do. Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero was good, but that match-up is beginning to fray at the edges."

 

Keller:

"The Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero vs. Bradshaw matches were good. Not very good. Not great. But above-average. Not nearly enough to carry this show."

[Loss]

*rolls eyes*

 

It's unbelievable that what was probably the best WWE PPV of 2004 is largely considered the worst. I want to approach a few more things specifically, but so much of that is so laughable.

[goodhelmet]

Just so you know, Loss, those two matches saved the show because the rest of it is every bit as abad as the critics say it is. I liken the show to Mania 10 however where two good-great matches more than make up for the shit surrounding it.

[Loss]

Bumping this, because I thought it was cool that Bradshaw pointed out on WWE.com that his feud with Eddy sold out the Staples Center in LA and that the feud got so over that he had to have police escorts in many cities. So much for the talk of it not being a good feud, considering that it produced three of the best matches of the year for the company, drew well comparatively and got mad heat.