Benoit/Austin is probably the greatest TV match in WWE history. Just too damn good. Impressive that in 4 TV events in a row, Benoit took part in FOUR great matches. 4 out of 4 for the Wolverine!
And one of the suplexes Benoit took on the announce table was just brutal. Looked like he landed rib first on the edge of the table and almost landed on his head on the floor. Yet he still had the guts and will to do the 10 German spot.
I'm of the opinion Austin's performance at Summerslam against Angle may be his greatest during 2001, but the Benoit Edmonton match alongside his performance against Rock at Wrestlemania really aren't far behind. Pretty much a perfect TV match with a ridiculous crowd, a great pacing and a character dynamic the fans were invested in. Summerslam though as I said may be his peak. He just comes off as such a demented, obsessed and paranoid psycho determined to overcome Angle's threat and he manages to revert from cowardly weasel into demented blood thirsty maniac so effortlessly. Reminds me of Eddie against Rey from Smackdown 6/23/05 and how Eddie somehow manages to alternate between an obsessed yet determined individual looking to best Rey at his own game and prove his talent beyond question...and then when things begin to look bleak he has this expression that says he'll rip Rey's bollocks off and forcefeed them to him whilst beating him to a pulp because he can.
I don't understand this at all. To me, it was just a great mat wrestling clinic. There really was no "Eddie is obsessed and going psycho" feeling to the match at all. They just wrestled their ass off and nothing more than that. In regards of storytelling, I take their Judgment Day match as a better example with Eddie badly wanting to beat Rey. One of my favorite parts of that match is when he tosses Rey in the ring then out again to break the count like a little child. Got a chuckle out of that one.
It was a deliberate light hearted exaggeration on my part to joke about how convincing Eddie was in that feud as a pyscho nutjob, but I've always thought of it more as a character documentation on Eddie's part to go alongside the wrestling. He starts out trying to get in Rey's head, offering the hand and trying to outwrestle him. Then his plan falls apart and he grows more violent and unhinged and turns more physical and settles on destroying Rey and trying to win the match that way, only to slowly grow incensed as Mysterio won't be beaten and eventually succumbing to another soul-crushing defeat.
Oh, I understand what you're trying to say. I just meant that I don't see it at all. To me, it felt like a basic wrestling classic between the two without much character work on par with the "Eddie wants to beat Rey" story. I just didn't find Eddie to be that violent. The most I got out of it was that evil grin on Eddie's face after the loss in the end. Still a great match, I just don't look it the same way as you do.
Austin's face when having to eat her cookies on some random RAW or Smackdown was priceless. Oh, and Austin vs Angle gets top billing for me as Austin's best work from 2001. I'm sure the Benoit match follows it only by a hair. Both of which RAPE the match vs Rock at WrestleMania 17 & vs Trips at NWO. (which by some seem to get more praise when I personally feel it should be the opposite)
About to slam through both Superstars from 2013 atm. Cards are:
1/3
Prime Time Players vs Usos
Brodus Clay vs Primo Colon
1/10
Mike Mizanin vs TENSAI
Prime Time Players vs Zack Ryder/Brodus Clay
Not expecting too much. Tensai's match could be fun. Horribly optimistic b/c it's a first time ever meeting so it sparked interest.
When was the last time you saw it? Because I absolutely HATED it live and then again a few years ago when I bought the Anthology set. Changed my mind on quite a few matches over the RR's so far lol.
Vengeance surprisingly held up for me. Not a fan of the interference, but I guess No Mercy technically had some too & Rumble's finish is ULTRA dirty so it comes with the territory.
No Mercy is where it is at for me. Reaction when Jericho wins + JR freaking out. :mark:
Sorry to go back to a topic from a few pages back but I think these last couple of year's worth of WWE PPV matches have been overlooked due to the somewhat low quality of Raw (I still enjoy Raw but it can be bad sometimes). I will say that watching Raw from 1998, there have been a good number of shows that have been much better than most of the stuff from 2011 and 2012. However when it comes to PPVs. Nothing I've seen from 96, 97 or 98 (up until Unforgiven) really touches what we have seen in 2011 and 2012. WM 14 is one of the very few good shows I've seen from those few years.
The show quality isn't my main point though. I'm talking match quality. I think I've only seen about 4 or 5 good matches from that time on PPV, whereas we have had tons in the last two years. Almost every PPV in 2011 and 2012 had a match worthy of ***1/2 or more.
Just felt like saying that because a lot of people here say that the last two years have been really bad. I can understand when talking about Raw because it hasn't been great. But when it comes to PPV matches, WWE have had a great couple of years.
Yeah match quality overall had improved a SHIT TON over the years from the likes of the mid-90's. Back then the main events were usually the only matches worth watching, with terrible undercards. While WCW at the same time usually had good undercards and god awful main events lol.
Attitude Era aka 1998 & 1999 = great entertainment & quality TV.
Modern Era aka 2011 - 2012 = hit or miss entertainment, with blah TV and pretty darn good PPVs.
The switch off with their positives and negatives. Granted even some bad Attitude Era PPVs can be fun only b/c of the nostalgia factor + general entertainment from the characters that were about.
I honestly don't even find the TV shows in 98 and 99 that entertaining or good. Some stuff is. Russo gets a lot of credit for giving EVERYONE a storyline and whatnot, but fuck, most of them were terrible. So the midcard were always doing something, but it was usually wank .
Oh, I understand what you're trying to say. I just meant that I don't see it at all. To me, it felt like a basic wrestling classic between the two without much character work on par with the "Eddie wants to beat Rey" story. I just didn't find Eddie to be that violent. The most I got out of it was that evil grin on Eddie's face after the loss in the end. Still a great match, I just don't look it the same way as you do.
That's surprising. Basic wrestling, really? Eddie pretty much spend everything past the big cheapshot dominating Rey like a scummy sack of ass. The first bits were pretty wrestling-ey, but that was all Eddie breaking clean to everyone's surprise, with Rey working over the giant bruise. All that until Guerrero eventually snaps, shoves Rey off the top rope to the outside and throws him into everything on the outside. Most of the rest of the match is Eddie on top of Rey + Rey's comeback. Rey's comeback was less Mysterio-sih than usual too, with multiple grounded punches of FURY and even a boot to the face.
I don't think the match is necessarily as violent as Judgment Day, but it definitely doesn't have more 'wrestling' (for lack of a better term) to it. It's absolutely FILLED with 'character'. Like, is as filled with that as almost any match I can remember.
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