2004 Discussion

Big Show vs. Eddie Guerrero - Smackdown 4/15/2004
When babyfaces work hard to make Big Show look like a monster, he's actually a heck of a performer. That's what Eddie does here. Show looks pretty dominant during his offensive stretches, doing some nasty work on Eddie's arm. But it's really Eddie's show, and he's wildly entertaining throughout. Pulling on Show's chest hair, planting a wrench to distract the referee, hitting a low blow to set up a frog splash: all funny, and all smart. And in making Show look like a GIANT DESTROYER, he also earns a lot of sympathy for himself. Also, I really dug the spot where Show charged Eddie in the corner, and Eddie dropkicked the knee, causing Show to hit his head on the turnbuckle, setting up a jumping tornado DDT.

Awesome, awesome match. Tons of fun, and brilliant stuff for Eddie.

Not sure if I'll end up voting for it; not even really sure what I'd rate it, probably something like ***3/4, maybe ****.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle - 2/3 Falls - Smackdown 9/2/2004
Really fun first fall. Starts with more awesome mat work, and then they have a cheating contest. Eddie is hilarious throughout, and referee Brian Hebnar is also really funny when Eddie kicks Angle in the dick, like, right in front of the ref. Pretty perfect way to start the match. Kinda cool to see Angle forcing Eddie to lose his temper.

Rest of the match was fine and good, but nothing really spectacular. Angle went back to the mid-section and did some solid work, but nothing that stood out. Eddie having a zillion counters for the Angle Slam and for Angle's Germans was pretty cool. Angle popping up right after a big DDT to do his top rope throw spot wasn't very cool. Pretty obnoxious, actually.

Finish of the match was, again, hilarious. Went back to the cheating stuff, with Eddie hitting Angle with the chair and then planting the chair, and then laughing while the ref yelled at Angle. But Reigns caught him in the back of the leg with a chair, which went right into the Ankle Lock, which I liked.

Probably ***1/2. Really fun first 10 minutes, and a great finish. Middle section dragged a tiny bit, I thought.

Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle - 2 Out Of 3 Falls - Smackdown 02.09.2004
The 1st fall is just brilliant from an entertainment point of view. Angle tries to out cheat Eddie and get under his skin but this only leads to Eddie showing Kurt how it's done and making him look silly. It's Eddie at his very best and watching him cheating all fall and making Kurt look like a dumbass was brilliant. Kurt gets a low blow in during the cheating exchange that goes unnoticed but then Eddie loses his temped at it (which was built up beforehand) and just kicks Kurt straight in the nuts right in front of the ref causing him to DQ him. Awesome little story for the 1st fall with Kurt getting under Eddie's skin and the cheating exchange was awesome stuff to watch. The 2nd fall is the shortest and just features some nice wrestling. The roll up pin after Eddie countered the angle slam was perfect for a 2/3 falls match. Like the 1st fall, the 3rd fall is awesome again. Some really good counter wrestling and the cheating in the 1st fall comes back around full circle. Always love Eddie's possum chair shot stunt that he does and Eddie waving at Kurt behind the refs back whilst he's playing dead is awesome. Loved the twist at the end with Reigns hitting Eddie in the ankle with the chair that he used while the ref was berating Kurt which was ironically down to Eddie. Sets up the ankle locks perfectly for the finish too.

****

Dudley Boyz vs. Paul London & Billy Kidman - 07/08/04
Very hot tag-titles match. London and Kidman actually win the title here. They got their shots because of a screwy finish on Velocity. The idea of the Dudleyz being demoted to Velocity hurts my mind. This encounter isn't that long, around 8 minutes or so. So rather than slow things down with a lengthy FIP or work an STF formula, they just go all out and it actually works out for the better. London is a believable bully victim, especially with his injured knee that Bubba attacks just because he can. Speaking of Bubba, that man can draw heat like no other. I was actually a little alarmed at how much heat he drew just by posing. He's actually pretty agile here too, hitting a leg drop from the apron to the floor. Kidman's never been anyone's favourite but he's kept to a minimum here, the SSP for the win is pretty much the only thing of significance that he does. London/Kidman's title win is a particularly fond moment for me, I was a big cruiserweight mark back in these days, so to see them tagging and winning titles left me marking out. But yeah, really hot, really fast-paced, really enjoyable tag-match here. I could watch these all day. ***1/2

Rey Mysterio v Tajiri (c), Cruiserweight Championship, Smackdown 01/04/2004
Going to be tough to decide whether this or the 9/25 match will make my final list (most likely won't vote for both by the end), but for now I'll say I just ever so slightly preferred this. Crowd are super hyped and Tajiri has henchmen which immediately gives us a Rey vs The World formula match, a match which usually delivers. Tajiri's workover of Rey's leg is superb, just continuous strikes and submissions including an awesome boston crab counter off of a Rey springboard. Finishing run is incredible with Mysterio pulling out everything he can but still selling the leg, loved him audibly having to change the setup to some of his signature offence to reflect the injury, the favourite of which was probably the wheelbarrow-bulldog spot. Actual finish with Tajiri taking out one of his henchmen and Mysterio taking care of the other before catching Tajiri with another similar finish dating back to their first match back in September 03 was also really satisfying and well worked. Also loved the spot where one of Tajiri's henchmen caught Mysterio mid 619 and interrupted the spot. Excellent match.