No Way Out ratings, opinions, and other stuff.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Guerrero / Lesnar was everything I could have asked for.

[Nighthawk 0]

I liked Chavo/Rey better than Eddie/Lesnar, mainly cause I prefer the cruiser style. Both were excellent though, and this was a cool show. I would have been happy with it had it only had one of those two matches.

[Guest ArchoanJB]

Opening Match I came home right at the end of, no interest in seeing it

 

Noble/Nidia - Blah, nothing match DUD

 

WGTT vs. APA - Somewhat interesting match with some nice constant work on Farooqs arm *3/4

 

The Lesnar/Goldberg thing was actually more interesting then I thought it would be, so good for it.

 

Rhyno/Holly - Spaced out during it, seemed like almost exactly like the SD match, they should've went "hardcore" even the WWE style hardcore, which would be almost new due to it not being used in a while. *

 

Rey Jr. vs. Chavo - Loved this match, reminded me a lot of the WCW classic CW matches. Other then the outside junk which wasn't all that much as after the first 3 minutes Chavo Sr. disppears till the ending, this was really great ***3/4

 

Triple Threat - The ending 6 or 7 minutes was fun, but the begaining kinda blew. Decent match **1/2

 

Main Event: Other then the ref bump/run-in, almost perfect, every move meant something in the context of the match. Just a great example of wrestling at it's finest ****1/2

 

Overall a good show even though only 2 matches really delivered, I order the webcast so it was well worth my 17.95.

[Guest TheHulkster]

I'm with IDrinkRatsmilk in the fact that I thought Chavo/Rey was better than the main event. I was pretty fucked up during Chavo/Rey, but I was utterly ripped for the main event, so that might be a reason. I'm going to have to watch them again tomorrow sober, but in hindsight Chavo/Rey seemed to have a better flow. I still thought the main was a great match though.

[Austin3164life 0]

I'm rating the only matches that mattered. I was at a local Hooter's, and I was expecting a pretty crappy card with one good match, but I got an overall solid card with a great cruiserweight match, an entertaining three-way, and an outstanding Main Event.

 

Brock vs. Eddy (****1/2)

Triple Threat (**3/4)

Rey vs. Chavo (***3/4)

[Kardo 0]

How did Chavo/Rey compare to the match they had at Superbrawl Revenge 2001?

[clean rob 0]

The cruiserweight match and the main event were brilliant. Quick ratings -

 

2 Cool vs. Bashams: ** Fun opener, nice teasing of the Bansai Drop on Shaniqua.

 

Noble vs. Nidia: DUD. Both worse, and longer, than I was expecting.

 

APA vs. TWGTT: *1/2 Fairly tedious, although there was at least a vague story to this one and some good work (as always) from TWGTT.

 

Holly vs. Rhyno: 1/2* I thought their little match on Smackdown was watchable, but this was b-o-r-i-n-g. Seemed to suck a lot of life out the crowd. Worst booked match all night as well.

 

Rey vs. Chavo: **** I absolutely loved this and it completely woke me up after the last 3 matches. Great work by both guys, Chavo's focusing on Rey's chest was very nice and Rey did his comebacks beautifully. The ending was the way it should have been, letting Chavo win with just a little interference from dad and setting up the inevitable rematch.

 

Angle vs. Cena vs. Show: **3/4 Pretty typical 3-way, enjoyable but nothing special. Well booked though and nice work on Cena's knee.

 

Eddie vs. Brock: ****1/2 Absolute stunner of a match, even better than I was expecting. Goldberg's interference had to happen really, and wasn't too detrimental to the match in the end due to Brock kicking out of the spear. Also, Eddie's counter to the F5 and Brock's running high knees (and subsequent tumble over the top) were awesome. Great use of submissions, loved the story, good selling by both guys - and Eddie is champ!

[Guest TheHulkster]

How did Chavo/Rey compare to the match they had at Superbrawl Revenge 2001?

I thought it was much better. Rey blew some big spots at the 2001 Superbrawl, and he had kind of let himself go physically. Last night's match was much better than I thought it was going to be.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Too Cool/Bashams - *

Noble/Nidia - DUD

APA/WGTT - *3/4

Holly/Rhyno - *1/2

Rey/Chavo - ***1/2

Triple Threat - ***

Lesnar/Eddy - ****1/4

[Guest Jimbo]

I loved the Eddie/Brock match and the Chavo/Rey match........the triple threat was alright. The rest sucked.

But what a major fucking mark out moment when Eddie won the title.

My thoughts...exactly

 

2 Cool vs. Bashams: boring, unentertaining opener I was thankful I missed most of. DUD.

 

APA vs. TWGTT: eh, it was TWGTT so it kept my attention. Unfotunately, my attention was devoted to crap. *

 

Holly vs. Rhyno: Hardly paid attention to the suckfest to be honest (I needed ice cream)...btw, when did Holly get new tights?

 

Rey vs. Chavo: Positive side of me: This match f'n ruled. 18 minutes of terrific cruiser action, with a decent story and cool spots. It wasn't the best cruiser match of all time, but it was definetly the best I can remember from teh WWE in a long time. ***1/2

 

Negative side: Excuse me, but aren't we supposed to see this at EVERY ppv? Wasn't that the whole point of the brand extension and separate ppv's too give mroe time to more people, thus allowing cruiser matches and others to go longer, get more developed, and build up more people on ppv's? I know this is a bit cynical, but thankfully, this was FINALLY carried out.

 

Angle vs. Cena vs. Show: decent. didn't really engross me, but it was OK. **1/2

 

Eddie vs. Brock: HU-FREAKING-ZZAH~! I think I would enjoy this match even if Eddie hadn't won for the simple fact that I got to see Brock and Eddie do new, good moves and make the match a helluva lot more interesting than they do with most other people. Damn good match. ****

 

Props to the Heyman/Brock/Goldturd segment...Heyman was godly.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Eddie Guerrero... WWE Champion... that may take some time to get used to. Congrats Eddie.

 

Also last night proved that Brock is and will for a damn long time be a major player. That match with Guerrero was awesome. He can adapt to almost any style. Props to both men on a hell of a match.

[Guest THE MIGHTY THOR]

I'm going to rate the only 3 matches worth watching:

Rey v. Chavo jr. ***1/2

Triple threat **3/4 Show being there slows down everything.

Eddie v. Lesnar ****3/4 Best match of the night, MOTY candidate, about time someone who truly deserved to win and paid his dues, won the only true title that's worth something in this business.Now let's have some star power from RAW come to SD because with Benoit and Edge leaving, we need RVD and either Jericho or Book to be traded ASAP.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Yang/Sakoda/Tajiri vs London/Kidman/Dragon- *

Fun little spot match, but it was as usual for Heat Matches, short. London kip-up-canrana and dropkick to the back thing were neat, the triple team dropkick to Kidman's head was cool...I enjoyed it. Just too short.

 

What was the fucking point of Sable/Torrie? OMG THEY HOLD HANDS! THEY'RE LEZBOS! Why couldn't that have been on Heat?

 

Too Cool vs Bashams/Shaniqua- *

Well, it could have been worse. Probably.

 

Noble 'vs' Nidia- DUD

I guess DUD would be the right rating, but it wasn't really offenseive considering what it was- a tool to get heel Noble over.

 

APA vs WGTT- No rating

Didn't watch it, because I fully expected the APA to win.

 

Holly vs Rhyno- 3/4*

Was it me, or did this go REALLY long?

 

Rey vs Chavo- ****

Well, hopefully that proved all the 'grounded cruiserweights will suck' people wrong. Awesome match, the finish and the usual boxer has to pull the punch weakness let it down though. Chavo as Champ should be fun.

 

Angle vs Cena vs Show- **1/4

Decent enough...but sure as hell nothing special.

 

Brock vs Eddie- ****1/4

Another great match...they looked a little awkward at first, with the size difference...and when Brock f'd up the powerbomb, I thought he'd done another Holly. Goldberg's run-in, the Cheat To Win and stuff takes it down a bit. Eddie's celebration made up for it though. Let's hope the buyrate was good.

 

 

The bad part of the show was Goldberg and the announcers. I had no problem with Berg being there, it was already announced. But Cole and Tazz came off as idiots. Goldberg assaulted Lesnar? And here was me thinking Lesnar lured Goldberg into the ring and attacked Goldberg first. All that segment and after I was thinking 'I know you're a SD! guy Cole, but for fuck's sake, you're supposed to be the face commentator.'

 

Heyman was gold though.

[Styles 0]

Scott Keith's rant, si vous plais...

 

The SmarK Rant for No Way Out 2004

 

- Live from San Francisco, CA.

 

- Your hosts are Cole & Tazz.

 

- I’m going to ignore the pointless opening with Sable & Torrie.

 

- Smackdown tag titles: Scotty 2 Hotty & Rikishi v. The Basham Brothers & Shaniqua. Scotty starts with Danny and grabs a headlock, but gets tossed and pulls himself back in. A bad headscissors brings Danny into the face corner, where Rikishi comes in and slugs away. Doug comes in and gets the same, but evades a buttdrop. Hiptoss from Rikishi and a clothesline for both Bashams, and Rikishi pulls Shaniqua in before the Bashams save her. Doug tries a headbutt, and obviously he hasn’t studied the book on Samoans. Scotty comes in and they collide, but Scotty recovers and tries a Worm. Shaniqua breaks it up with a clothesline, however. Shucky darns. The Bashams get a double slingshot suplex for two. Shaniqua comes in with a slam, which I guess is supposed to be devastating. It’s a CHICK. Danny comes in for two. They cut off the ring but Scotty escapes a sleeper with a jawbreaker. Shaniqua tries a powerbomb, but Scotty escapes and makes the hot tag to Rikishi. DDT for Danny and he tries to bring Shaniqua to the corner, but the Bashams slam him off the middle rope and Shaniqua gets two. Scotty gets rid of the Bashams and Rikishi finishes Shaniqua with a samoan drop and Banzai drop at 8:16. So long, Linda. Basic tag team formula opener. *1/2

 

- Jamie Noble v. Nidia. Yes, three months of build for THIS. Noble is “blindfolded”. Maybe they should hand them out to the fans, which would probably make it a better match for them. Noble tries taking the hood off early, which would not only get him DQ’d, but would prevent him from being able to wrestle in Mexico ever again. Nidia runs out of the ring, but comes back in with a dropkick. Then we get the kind of deep psychology lacking in the sport today, as Nidia jumps around to make noise and then kicks him in the BUTT when he charges. Thankfully Cole explains this for any total idiots watching. Then we get the tense spot where Noble almost gropes her, but gets his jeans pulled down, which sets up a bulldog for two. You just don’t see someone getting pantsed as a transition move these days. Noble bails and heads back in while Nidia taunts him, and it’s another kick in the BUTT. Cole thinks this is the funniest thing ever. Nidia tries beating him down, but Noble takes her down. He rips out some extensions, but Nidia goes up, allowing Noble to peek under the hood and slam her off the top and choke her out at 4:25. Well thank god they put this on PPV. DUD

 

- Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin v. The APA. I sense that soon one of these TEAMs will be involved in a big ANGLE that gives them their former name back. And the tag titles. Bradshaw has a bandaged arm, so I guess he slipped in the shower. Faarooq starts with Benjamin and gets taken down for two. Faarooq knees him down and gets an elbow for two. The APA double-team him with a shoulderblock and Bradshaw gets a neckbreaker for two. Haas comes in, so Bradshaw hits him with a back elbow (using the “bad” arm) and Faarooq elbows him in the back for two. He misses a charge and hurts the arm, so TWGTT goes to work on it. Haas hammerlocks it and Benjamin stomps it, into another hammerlock. Tazz calls it a “hammer-like hammerlock”, which seems to be a bit redundant. More double-teams on the arm and Benjamin gets two. Benjamin takes him down with an armbar takedown for two. More double-teaming and Haas armbars him. Faarooq comes back with a MAIN EVENT SPINEBUSTER and makes the hot tag to Bradshaw. He dumps Haas and powerbombs Benjamin for two. It’s BONZO GONZO as Haas sends Faarooq into the post and Benjamin goes up, but Bradshaw slams him off. Clothesline from Heck for Haas, but Benjamin superkicks him for the pin at 7:19. What’s the point of doing a worked arm injury if you’re not even gonna sell it? The five seconds or so that comprised the finish were pretty decent, the rest not so much. *1/4

 

- Goldberg takes his seat at ringside (and they even have a video package to hype up THAT) but Heyman and Lesnar joins us and goad him into running into the ring and jackhammering Brock. And yes, Goldberg is “arrested”.

 

- Rhyno v. Hardcore Holly. This was added a few minutes before the PPV. Lucky us. Holly grabs a rugged, smashmouth headlock to start, but Rhyno fights out, so Holly goes back to the headlock in rugged, smashmouth fashion. That gets a rugged, smashmouth two. Holly gets some rugged, smashmouth chops and dumps Rhyno, possibly smashing his mouth on the way down in rugged manner. Rhyno drags Holly out and works on the back, and back in he gets a rugged, smashmouth shoulderblock in the corner. Rhyno knees him down for two. He goes to the rugged, smashmouth bodyscissors and gives him a rugged, smashmouth suplex on the ropes for two. Rhyno pounds away, but Holly comes back in a rugged kind of way with a backdrop suplex. Rhyno, however, smashes his mouth with a kick for two. He whips Holly into the corner ruggedly and adds some smashmouth stomps, but Holly comes out of the corner with a smashmouth clothesline and both guys are out. Ruggedly out. They smash each other in the mouth as slug it out, but Holly comes back with a rugged dropkick for two. He goes up and gets caught by Rhyno, who gets a rugged and smashmouth superplex for two. Holly gets an inverted smashmouth DDT for two. Rhyno gets the SMASHMOUTH MAIN EVENT SPINEBUSTER OF RUGGED DOOM to set up the GOAR GOAR GOAR, and Holly bails. Ruggedly. Back in, Alabama Slam gets the rugged, smashmouth pin at 9:54, for a rugged and smashmouth *3/4 rating due to the very slow pace and dull offense. I really would have been fine had they not blown off the feud on PPV.

 

- Cruiserweight title: Rey Mysterio v. Chavo Guerrero. Rey starts with a wristlock on Chavo, but Chavo gets a headlock. Snapmare into some mask-ripping, but Rey dumps him. Back in, Rey slugs away and takes him down with a headscissors, into a rollup for two. Chavo faceplants him to come back, however, and dropkicks him for two. Slam gets two. Chavo goes to a wristlock and Rey reverses to a sunset flip, then takes Chavo down for the 619. Chavo Sr. breaks up the West Coast Pop, but Paez knocks him out and gets tossed by the ref as a result. Chavo goes to deal with his dad, allowing Rey to hit him with a dive and Drop the Dime back in for two. Rey dodges a charge and rolls him up for two. Chavo goes up and Rey tries to do something to bring him in, but Chavo gets an exploding gutbuster off the top. That was pretty contrived. Chavo goes to work on the ribs, and gets an abdominal stretch. Rey counters out for two. Chavo goes to a weird half-crab next, and gets two. They do a knucklelock-bridge spot and Rey goes into a sunset flip for two, but walks into a tilt-a-whirl gutbuster for two. Chavo gets another abdominal stretch on the mat, but Rey escapes with the Rube Goldberg Bulldog for two. Chavo knees him down for two. Rey comes back with a leg lariat and sends Chavo into the post with a headscissors, and they exchange kicks to the leg until Rey gets the Stroke for two. Rey boots Chavo down and DDTs Chavo on the apron for two. He whiffs on a cross-body and Chavo gets a front suplex for two. They go up and Rey fights him off and a moonsault press gets two. Somebody’s timing was off on that one. They slug it out and Chavo gets the Gory Special Bomb for two. Rey snaps off a rana into another 619 out of nowhere, but Chavo rolls through the buttdrop into another half-crab. Rey makes the ropes. Rey goes up, but Chavo Sr. reappears and shoves him off, and Chavo gets the rollup and pin at 17:21 to win the title. Good match, hated the finish. They never really seemed to get into a groove, though, as there were a lot of awkward pauses between sequences. ***1/4

 

- #1 Contender match: Kurt Angle v. John Cena v. Big Show. Show tosses Angle around while Cena stands around and mocks them. So Cena tries with Show and gets nowhere, as Angle mocks them. Then Angle and Cena go, and Angle gets the overhead suplex for two. Show pounds on Angle and tosses Cena, then goes back to work on Angle. Sideslam gets two. Cena comes back in, and Show slams him and gets a headbutt. Legdrop, but Angle grabs him from outside and tries to suplex him off the apron. Yeah, right. He opts for a low blow instead and then brings Cena outside for a brawl. Back in, Angle gets two on Cena. Cena comes back with a back elbow and Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Angle fires off the rolling germans for two. Show tosses him to break that up, and then hiptosses Cena and steps on the bad knee. About time – the guy’s wearing a giant brace, for pete’s sake. Suplex gets two. Cena dodges a charge and dropkicks the knee to come back. Reebok Elbow sets up Angle’s missile dropkick for two. Cena tosses Angle again and FU’s Show, but Angle breaks up the pin, so Cena DDTs him. Cena gets two on Show. Angle dumps Cena and goes after Show with an Angle Slam, which gets two. Cena goes for the FU on Angle, but he reverses to the anklelock, so Show breaks it up with a chokeslam on Angle. Cena rolls up Show for two. Show chokeslams him for two. Angle breaks that up with an anklelock, but Show shoves him off. Cena hits Angle with a spinebuster and Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Show clips him to break up the FU. Show slams him into the corner to hurt the knee, but Angle dumps Show and finishes Cena with the anklelock at 12:17. Last few minutes were pretty fun, but it was just a bunch of finishers strung together. **3/4

 

- Smackdown World title: Brock Lesnar v. Eddie Guerrero. Brock overpowers him to start and hammers on him in the corner, into a monster backdrop. Snap suplex, but Eddie slugs back and elbows him out of the corner. Brock knees him down and blocks a rana with a spinning powerbomb. That was pretty dangerous. Overhead suplexes and Brock gets a high knee in the corner and another overhead suplex that puts Eddie on the floor. Eddie trips him up and posts the leg, however. Brock powers him back into the post, however, and gets the fisherman’s suplex to retake control. He grabs a sleeper, but Eddie escapes, only to get pressed. He escapes that too and clips Brock, but Brock gets the lariat. He follows with a slightly botched german suplex. Brock pounds away in the corner, but misses a charge and rams his knee into the corner. Nice callback to the high knee earlier. Eddie works on the knee and gets a backdrop suplex. Brock chokes him out, however, but Eddie sneaks in with a heel hook, which he turns into an STF to a big pop. Nice spot. Brock powers out, so Eddie rams the knee into the mat and goes back to work on it while Brock tries to fight him off. Eddie goes for what looks like a Nagatalock, but Brock fights him off again. And again. Eddie keeps coming, and it costs him, as he walks into a belly-to-belly. He tries a suplex, but Eddie counters with a headscissors and dropkicks the knee again. This time it’s a figure-four, and that crowd is all about that. Brock makes the ropes, however. Eddie goes right back to the knee and goes into a half-crab now, and another STF. Brock powers out again. There’s some really swank psychology going on here. Brock comes back with another german suplex, as the power v. technical battle continues, and Eddie walks into a MAIN EVENT SPINEBUSTER. That gets two for Lesnar. Brock goes to the chickenwing on the mat, into a sleeper, but Eddie powers him into the corner to break, but misses the missile dropkick. Brock sells the leg as he gets a vertical suplex, bless his heart. He’s even got a bloody nose going. That’s my boy. Bodylock on the mat, which he turns into a gut-wrench suplex for two. Nice mat-wrestling as Brock rides him on the mat with bridges, into the bodylock again. Eddie fights up and headbutts out, then smartly dropkicks the knee again and takes Brock down with a headscissors. Brock misses a charge and Eddie comes back with the rolling verticals and goes up, but misses the frog splash. F5, but the ref gets bumped in the process. Brock grabs the title, but Goldberg runs in with a spear (apparently having broken the handcuffs) and Eddie gets two. And since the belt is still there and it’s Eddie, he tries to hit Brock, but it misses and Brock goes for the F5. Eddie counters to a DDT in mid-move, however, hitting the belt on the way down, and the frog splash does the impossible and wins him the World title at 30:06. Two PPVs, two Match of the Year candidates. Not bad. ****1/2 Thank god they finally put someone new over.

 

The Bottom Line:

 

Look at it this way – we didn’t know what the undercard would be until Thursday, so really it doesn’t factor in, and the main event more than delivered, and the other two main matches were pretty good, so on that basis it’s a thumbs up show. Plus Eddie winning the title was one of those special moments that can probably justify going out of your way to see.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Just finished watching Eddy/Brock and mmmmmm.......that's some deliciously sexy fuckin wrestling. Definte MOTYC and probably the best singles match the company has done since Angle/Benoit RR 03. While all the credit in the world needs to be given to Eddy Guerrero for playing a fantastic underdog and working the match well, Brock was fucking king-sized in this thing. The belly-to-bellys were spot on, the one legged suplex had me marking out and the jumping knee in the corner was dirrrrrrrrty.

 

The emphasis on the submissions had me torn. I loved Eddy's legwork (particularly the heel hook counter into the stf) but Brock's submission offense is getting tiring. If they're going to play up his gutwrenches and rear naked chokes (and I use that term loosely) as instant death, have somebody tap out to them. I just can't understand the logic behind putting over these submissions when EVERYBODY escapes them and nobody has tapped out to them yet. On a related note, am I the only one who found it odd that we didn't see a Brock Lock in this match?

 

Overall, really really great match. I'm looking forward to Brock vs Goldberg in an odd sort of way and hopefully Angle vs Eddy can do something to elevate our new World Champ.

 

****1/2.

[Guest Brian]

Don't forget Hogan. That made the bearhug. But they should let him run over a couple of people.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

If Tazz and Cole had based their commentary around "Brock's submissions are dangerous", I could deal with that. Instead, we got Tazz proclaiming that the match was over EVERY TIME Brock locked in a bearhug, gutwrench or choke.

 

On a side note, heel Tazz still sucks. I was kinda in disbelief when he said that Eddy wasn't in Brock's league, though I suppose you could credit that with them wanting to build Eddy as the underdog.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Am I the only one who watched Heat? Even SKeith didn't. Then again, it's not like anyone in the arena really saw the Heat match either.

[Guest Ronixis]

Can you belive this?

 

3 years ago Guerrero was in the damn gutter of life...

 

He some how by God's help puts his life back together

 

Heads to New Japan where he was once called "Black Tiger 2" and is well received there...

 

Heads to ROH later that year (2001) and "Gets His Fire Back"

 

Comes Back into the WWE along with Former New Japan Alum Benoit in a failed angle to put them over.

 

The Brand Split happens and both men head to Smackdown. They are a good tag team, but they dont win the tag titles.

 

Benoit and Guerrero have a match for the US Title in which Guerrero wins. All in the while Eddie and Chavo puts up some great matches as Los Guerreros and by the time Guerrero wins the US Title, Nearly 50% of all the Gold you can win in Smackdown belonged in there hands.

 

Gurrerro loses US Title to Big Show. Both Eddie and Chavo loses Tag Gold to the Bashams. At this stage a short one month fued starts which goes no where.

 

Benoit heads to RAW after the "clause" where the winner of the PPV Royal Rumble must face the champ. Leaving the door WIDE open for Gurrerro to take. A Smackdown Royal Rumble starts, where Gurrerro wins over Angle.

 

Lesnar has already had a ****1/4 match against a former NJPW star (Benoit)...he does it again, but this time in a losing effort to Eddie Guerrerro, the REAL Comeback Kid.

 

It would have been almost Awe-Inspiring to have Benoit and Guerrerro for the The Brand Title. But we might never see that happen, or have them both hold Two of The Brand's Titles because McMahan still remebers 20 years ago- How he dissed Inoki. To let them have both titles at WM 20? NO WAY.

 

I am happy that Guerrerro won. 17 years and he did it finally...we only could wish it was Benoit...that may not be ever the case.

[Scroby 0]

I guess I should give out a live review since I was there LIVE!!!! jealous? I think you should be. Anyways I couldn't get in till about half way till the tag title match was over due to traffic being a bitch after you got off the freeway, parking way deep in the back and also I don't think they started letting people in till just about the ppv was about to start. There was a huge line starting from the front door that went to the end of parking lot near where the wrestlers were entering and leaving. I had great seats so I could see everything till people in the front were holding up signs or realizing "hey ma i'm on tv" so they started jumping up and down until I yelled sit down...then they all sat down, go figure. Anywho I didn't get to see the Heat match, I really wanted to see Ultimo that would have kicked ass but glad I missed Sable and Torrie. So this is what I saw

 

Tag title match: crowd got a nice pop from it so *

 

Nidia vs Noble: No one cared, Dud

 

APA vs WGTT: I didn't care so I walked out to go buy a t-shirt, but first decided to go to the bathroom, saw that the match was over, didn't care wanted a t-shirt damnit. I heard something going on behind me and I turned around and I see about 4 Security guards rushing me, I looked up a bit and saw Goldberg walking along with them under a hood, they told me to move and thus I did....I didn't feel like getting pushed or stormed over. It didn't get filmed I don't beleave but if it did, someone tell me. There was a kid in a wheelchair sitting right next to me where Goldberg was walkinging and Goldberg actually stopped and slapped the kid's hand...it was nice then Goldberg walked on into the arena. The kid was really happy, he was so happy that he wanted to be slapped by someone. And I got my t-shirt.

 

So the Goldberg skit happen and woke up the crowd a bit so it was cool

 

Hardcore Holly vs Rhyno: I don't think anyone really realized at the PPV this match was gonna happen so no one really cared, *

 

Taker promo: Crowd got excited then disapointed....I think we all wanted lighting effects.

 

Rey vs Chavo: It woke all of us from the Holly/Rhyno match diffently a 4 * star match, where I was sitting we really couldn't see how Rey fell off the turnbuckle, but otherwise it was one hell of match.

 

Angle vs Show vs Cena: Cena got the biggest pop out of all 3, the guy who I was with really didn't know who Cena was until after he rapped, he enjoyed the rap. Crowd was into it, ***

 

Eddie vs Brock: Everyone was really for Eddie the entire time, we thought Goldberg was going to run through the crowd because security started getting really heavy during this match infact a lot of them were bunching up near the door where he first entered. So a lot of the crowd thought thats where he was going to come back through, so when Goldberg came down the ramp a lot of us were surprised. After the match was over the entire crowd went nuts as Eddie was jumping in and out of the crowd, hugging his mom and brother the crowd was loud the entire time. I would give it a ***** just because being there live made it all more exciting, plus the way it sounds the annoucing was bad to bring it down a bit.

 

After the cameras were turned off: Brock was in the ring for about 5 minutes more and was crying..yes he started balling, he got out of the ring and kept throwing his arms in the air to see if someone would cheer him, no one would. I expected maybe he get a clapping but no one but myself clapped for him...Rey got a standing ovation.

 

After we got outside about a few people were still marking out over Eddie's win..it sorta scared me and my friend so we got to the car quickly. Getting out was so backed up it wasn't funny, remember I told you we had to park way in the back of the parking lot. So my friend decided to drive to the front of the parking lot and as someone was backing out of a spot, there was a huge opening and he took it and cut in front about 200 cars. We got out a lot quicker that way. It was a good night.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

The emphasis on the submissions had me torn. I loved Eddy's legwork (particularly the heel hook counter into the stf) but Brock's submission offense is getting tiring. If they're going to play up his gutwrenches and rear naked chokes (and I use that term loosely) as instant death, have somebody tap out to them. I just can't understand the logic behind putting over these submissions when EVERYBODY escapes them and nobody has tapped out to them yet. On a related note, am I the only one who found it odd that we didn't see a Brock Lock in this match?

Now, I didn't see the match (I'll probably pick up the DVD, though), so I'm only going off SK's review for the "blow-by-blow", and I could be way off base here, but:

 

You could probably chalk up Brock's submission work against Eddy as Brock realizing he underestimated Eddy. Eddy had withstood Brock's opening salvo, and now Eddy had been pouring on the offense, so Brock realized he'd better slow Eddy down by using submissions to regain control of the match. Further, Brock's knee had been worked over, so he also realized he may not be able to rely on his power moves w/ only 1 good leg, so he switched up to submissions to compensate, as well as giving his knee some time to recuperate.

 

But, yeah, they should feed him some people to submit to some of his submissions to build them up.

 

As for the Brock Lock, he's only used a few times, so they're probably saving the reversal of it for a special occasion. If Benoit stayed on SD, we probably would have seen Benoit reverse it/fight out of it at WMXX. While it would have fit the whole "Eddy overcoming all the odds" storyline, ideally he should have fallen victim to it first in order to figure out how to get out of it (like Benoit).

[EL DANDY~! 0]

Being there, the match came off just as well as it did on tape. I was simply amazed that Brock was able to put on as good a match as that, which so THOROUGHLY smoked the Angle match from XIX, and that because Eddie was so damn over, that Brock just did what he was used to, and that's tossing somebody around like a rag doll. These two put together one of the best matches in YEARS for the WWE, and if I have to think back to anything that touched this, it MIGHT be the Austin/Benoit match from Edmonton on SD! in 2001, but even that I have to go back and look at.

 

The rest of the card looked like this to me.

 

Scotty/Rikishi vs. Bashems/Shaniqua-*

Nidia/Noble-DUD

APA vs. TWGTT-*1/2

Holly/Rhyno-3/4*

Rey/Chavo-***1/2

Angle/Cena/Big Show-**1/4

Brock/Eddie-****1/2, with the run-in taking this down from 3/4, but the run-in made sense.

 

In all reality, a good show, nothing too outstanding outside of Rey/Chavo and Eddie/Brock, but it's worth it to see those two matches.

[cabbageboy 0]

I didn't care about most of it but I'll rate the main 3 matches:

 

Rey/Chavo: ***1/2. I actually liked that 2001 match better despite Rey screwing up in it (it was the epitome of Chavo's awesomeness at carrying). This one was good too though.

 

Angle/Show/Cena: ***. Just sorta what these guys would do against each other, no better or worse. How come no one has mentioned the incredibly gay looking spot of Kurt trying to German suplex show off the apron?

 

Eddie/Brock: ****1/2. My brother wasn't too thrilled with this match actually, and found the Brock mat based stuff hugely boring. Still, there was much to rejoice about here. I've never seen an STF get that much pop, and I'm the only one here who thought the run in and ref bump ADDED to this match. I hate it when a run in is pointless and could be avoided, but here the show was basically hyped around a Goldberg run in so no one could object to it. Besides, Eddie won the title and that was just a magic moment.

 

They need to trade RVD or someone to SMDN now though to give him someone to feud with.