Chris Benoit v Jeff Hardy

[Loss]

Chris Benoit v Jeff Hardy - WWF Smackdown 06/11/00

 

This is too short to really be all that good, but it's delightfully fun, as Benoit takes great pleasure in destroying Jeff Hardy in as many ways as he can possibly find. Jeff teases comebacks at times, and his highspots are more crisp than perhaps I've ever seen them, even if he does them too often -- his 450, even if it was missed, look great, as did his somersault plancha and senton bomb. Benoit is just a great catcher for Jeff, but Jeff has a tendency to not be capable of doing much *except* climbing the ropes and taking the match to the air. Benoit does his best to keep him grounded and kicks him down in the corner, and finally counters every move Jeff tries and locks in a crossface. The post-match angle with Benoit offering a handshake and hitting Jeff in the face with the belt seals it, but this match would have been worse, not better, had it gone longer, as Jeff didn't really have anything going except for the highspots. His selling of Benoit's full-fledged attack is merely average, and he'd be lost if Benoit didn't set up all of his highspots so well.