What was the one angle the WWE screwed up?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Am I the only one who feels like Benoits Big Title Win was akin to getting a bunch of sweaters for Christmas? Fucking sweaters.

 

Fuck it, I'll just throw out some more bitching...

 

- The Royal Rumble win. Who cares? Shit, it's been done TWICE before. He went longer, so what? Going end to end was accomplished already, so it's like being the second one to land on the moon.

 

- The Celebration. Fuck it. He had to _share_ his moment with Eddie. Fuck that. I'm selfish, I wanted Benoit, after his big win, to stand there alone in the ring, his own man. Maybe the whole locker room coming out would have been cool too, I mark for the "everyone surrounds the ring to watch" shit which would have been a nice touch. I didn't feel a single thing when he came out there besides "that's still a nice shirt". And it didn't symbolize a single fucking thing - it was totally hollow gesture and it only meant that the WWE still didn't fucking get it (and apparently, neither do some of their dumber fans). Benoit is not a confetti guy, save that for pussyshits like Shawn Michaels and Rip Taylor.

[AndrewTS 0]

"I also must have missed this nuclear heat that Benoit was getting during his run. He didn't even come CLOSE to the cheers a main event superstar would have gotten (and why would he have, they didn't treat him like a Superstar, he wasn't important to the show). "

 

He was speaking about the heat when Benoit won the title, actually, though that could even be argued that it was mainly because HHH *lost* the title.

 

Benoit as champ would get consistently outpopped by Eugene, though.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

"Well, I didn't mean just for that night, Benoit had amazing, standing ovation level heat for a couple of months after he won the belt."

[AndrewTS 0]

"Well, I didn't mean just for that night, Benoit had amazing, standing ovation level heat for a couple of months after he won the belt."

Oh, I skimmed and missed that. Completely wrong.

[Precious Roy 0]

I don't remember anyone saying that was the aim of doing the split, the way it was done. It did, in effect, result in two vastly different products because of who was actually running SD, but even then Vince's stooges had a large say in it.

 

I don't know if the E stated that that was to be SD's motif, but everything they did pointed in that direction. The show was headlined by two former amateur wrestlers, it had the cruisers, it had Benoit and Guerrero and rookie amateurs Haas and Benjamin, and the tone of the show and announcing, especially by Tazz, was very much about putting the sports over the entertainment. Whether intentional or not, that's what they had, and it WORKED and was popular. Now the show is like a tame version of RAW.

 

to RRR, you're dealing with a lot of opinion and personal perception when you make some of the statements you make. The fact is most people saw that match as *****, and nobody I know thinks of Benoit as "that other guy." I respect your opinions, but I don't necessarily think they're very accurate here. You may think of Benoit as "that other guy" but most fans don't. And yes, he did have nuclear heat. Watch any RAW where he walked out on the stage with the belt.

 

I do completely agree with you on one thing, that his reign, after Backlash, didn't get the respect it deserved. Involving Eugene, as much as I personally dislike the character, served to further endear Benoit to the fans, to show his human side, and it worked, but the degree to which they went to serve that end was absurd. Involving Eugene in the ending of a PPV main event and the TV Ironman match was absurd. Eugene effecting the outcome of world title matches was absurd. Booking HHH/HBK over Benoit was expected, but it was done in a very, very poor manner with a throw away title match to counter it. They easily could have booked a strong title match, Benoit v. Jericho, and done the HIAC on a double bill. We all know why they didn't, but even so.....

 

I just have a hard time believing Benoit would have gotten any better treatment on SD!, if anything he would have been the one to drop the belt to JBL. You're asking for the sun, the moon and the stars here. Benoit was never going to be the guy to carry the company, we all knew (or should have known) going in that this was simply a nice title reign to reward him for his career, nothing more nothing less, and if you couldn't see even as far back as the first hints towards Lesnar that that would be the case you were delusional and in severe denial of what company you were watching.

 

Would I like him to be the guy to carry the entire company? Sure, but why even waste time thinking about things that will never happen? Some things just aren't realistic given that we're discussing the WWE, and that is one of them....

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I am a big fan of Benoit, but he rarely got what could accurately be called 'nuclear heat'. He got some great reactions, no doubt about that, but with the exception of WM and Backlash, I didn't see him get anything that raised the roof. If you can think of one, then point it out.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Instead, Raw's roster was boosted even more, we had crap like Nidia being moved for no damn reason, HHH's ego getting stroked again when he gets traded back for multiple guys.

And don't forget when Benoit first showed up on RAW the reason he gave was that the wanted to face the best and the best was HHH.

[Promoter 0]

I think they have shifted so much times on the philosophies of each brand that they just came up with the latest incarnation that smackdown is the breeding ground for raw. That smackdown would have the newer faces and raw would have the established stars. I mean you don't think guys like JBL and Eddie winning the title isn't a bit strange? Then you got people like Billy Gunn and Holly getting title shots. UT and Angle are kept pretty much strong with everyone else just there. They have the WWE title there to help get the wrestler over instead of vice versa. It worked with Lesnar somewhat because the way he reached the title was somewhat old school. Again, this thinking all started with Benoit's jump imo where HHH took potshots at the wwe champion on raw either in January or February.

They stacked raw after they got their UPN deal through in hopes of getting raw stronger ratings for when that brand is in renegotiations. Smackdown WAS the more athletically inclined show until earlier this year, while raw was more storyline driven.

[Scroby 0]

I also wanna throw in something that screwed up the draft. The ending of the Eddy vs HHH match was screwed to all holy hell. Of all people who come down, Christian comes down to the ring and pushes Eddy off the turnbuckle to save HHH. That had me really confused until later on that night when I found that out on Raw. But to me Christian was the last person I expected to be the first one to come down to the ring in that match since HHH was "leaving" to go to Smackdown.

[Promoter 0]

I actually thought the wwe had a great storyline of Trips on smackdown as well. Orton could have taken over Evolution on raw slowly and it could have led to Orton/HHH at Mania 21 if that was the plan all along. Although, I think it just came into thought around SummerSlam. HHH could have still been the boss or think he was the boss with SummerSlam and Survivor Series being major pivotal points in creating tension in the group. Hell, it could have been well told stories having Flair and Batista show up on smackdown for HHH against the law and so on. They could have twisted and turned this Orton/HHH saga much better imo.

[Precious Roy 0]

I thought of something else, the Dead Man return.....

 

The match itself, I would have handled it differently, but whatever. I like the dark gunslinger look, nice evolution, but after Mania they fumbled him SO BAD, not having him on TV for weeks at a time, running retarded programs like Booker using voodoo and Paul Bearer getting killed, and just generally ruining whatever buzz the character had. They had a chance to really ride Undertaker and keep SD! hot w/o Lesnar/Angle/Show, and they blew it. With what they used him for I say they would have been much better off just switching him to RAW in the lottery and giving SD some guys they could actually use, Hurricane and Maven for the cruiser division, Val Venis, Steven Richards just to name a few.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Another thing I would to add about the return of the Phenom:

 

He got all this hype, he destroyed Kane and Booker T, but he has yet to get a 5th title reign and is now stuck in a lame feud with Heidenreich so it makes me wonder what the hell was the point of bringing back the Dead Man.

[The Mandarin 0]

- The Celebration.  Fuck it.  He had to _share_ his moment with Eddie.  Fuck that.  I'm selfish, I wanted Benoit, after his big win, to stand there alone in the ring, his own man.  Maybe the whole locker room coming out would have been cool too, I mark for the "everyone surrounds the ring to watch" shit which would have been a nice touch.  I didn't feel a single thing when he came out there besides "that's still a nice shirt".  And it didn't symbolize a single fucking thing - it was totally hollow gesture and it only meant that the WWE still didn't fucking get it (and apparently, neither do some of their dumber fans). Benoit is not a confetti guy, save that for pussyshits like Shawn Michaels and Rip Taylor.

Wow, that's totally different from what LOTC has said.

 

You two are like night and day!

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

That said, I think Benoit ended up fine in the end, because they made him look like a million bucks on RAW for about 8 weeks.

 

Could you, uh, splain this?

uhhhh yeah I could:

 

Benoit got a bunch of wins on TV and PPVs and headlined most RAWs. He didn't lose during that time period, and they didn't have him do stupid crap like hang out with Eugene.

 

Afterwards they pushed him down the card and he was treated like an after thought. But as I said, for a short period of time, I thought they were booking him really well.

 

Its not that hard to comprehend.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

Am I the only one who feels like Benoits Big Title Win was akin to getting a bunch of sweaters for Christmas? Fucking sweaters.

 

Fuck it, I'll just throw out some more bitching...

 

- The Royal Rumble win. Who cares? Shit, it's been done TWICE before. He went longer, so what? Going end to end was accomplished already, so it's like being the second one to land on the moon.

 

- The Celebration. Fuck it. He had to _share_ his moment with Eddie. Fuck that. I'm selfish, I wanted Benoit, after his big win, to stand there alone in the ring, his own man. Maybe the whole locker room coming out would have been cool too, I mark for the "everyone surrounds the ring to watch" shit which would have been a nice touch. I didn't feel a single thing when he came out there besides "that's still a nice shirt". And it didn't symbolize a single fucking thing - it was totally hollow gesture and it only meant that the WWE still didn't fucking get it (and apparently, neither do some of their dumber fans). Benoit is not a confetti guy, save that for pussyshits like Shawn Michaels and Rip Taylor.

RE Benoit's celebration:

 

You should have been at Mania, it was all about Benoit. Yeah Eddie was there, but the whole end of the show was about Benoit finally reaching his goal.

 

You seem overly negative about Benoit's title win for some reason.

 

They had him go through everyone in the Rumble and he made the top guy (according to the WWE) in the company tap out in the final match on the "biggest show of all time". Its hard to do better than that.

[Scroby 0]

QUOTE (RavishingRickRudo @ Dec 23 2004, 01:09 AM)

That said, I think Benoit ended up fine in the end, because they made him look like a million bucks on RAW for about 8 weeks.

 

Could you, uh, splain this? 

 

uhhhh yeah I could:

 

Benoit got a bunch of wins on TV and PPVs and headlined most RAWs. He didn't lose during that time period, and they didn't have him do stupid crap like hang out with Eugene.

 

Afterwards they pushed him down the card and he was treated like an after thought. But as I said, for a short period of time, I thought they were booking him really well.

 

Its not that hard to comprehend.

 

 

Oh you mean the two Raw's after he won the title? Most of the time during Beniot's title regin he was mainly stuck in tag matches and other times he was either the opener or was in the 10 spot on Raw. Otherwise the spotlight was on anything HHH was doing. If Beniot was made to look like a million bucks, we wouldn't have seen him most of the time in the backround of something that was going on and if your wondering what I mean, coming down to ringside all the time in someone else's match, winning the tag title with another person, or having to do with something that HHH and another person was doing.

[Guest Ransome]

- The Royal Rumble win. Who cares? Shit, it's been done TWICE before. He went longer, so what? Going end to end was accomplished already, so it's like being the second one to land on the moon.

 

So what, would it have been better if he came in #28 and won it?

 

Shawn Michaels may have won from #1, but that Rumble was only 30 mins. And technically Vince won from the start (well, #2), but for how long was he actually in the ring? Benoit wrestled from the beginning and won by eliminating the guy that 6 wrestlers working together couldn't get rid of. Until they get the #1 entrant to eliminate all 29 wrestlers, ain't nobody gonna be put over more strongly.

 

- The Celebration. Fuck it. He had to _share_ his moment with Eddie. Fuck that. I'm selfish, I wanted Benoit, after his big win, to stand there alone in the ring, his own man.

 

Man, I wouldn't have traded that moment for anything.

 

When all's said and done, people are gonna remember WM XX more than any of those meaningless Raws. His reign could have been so much more, but at least it happened at all. At the very least, I'd consider Benoit credible enough as a top tier guy to main event pay per views down the line when they need him.

[Precious Roy 0]

Not trying to be a dick, but I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to speak up who thinks Rick Rudo is off his rocker....

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

to RRR, you're dealing with a lot of opinion and personal perception when you make some of the statements you make. The fact is most people saw that match as *****, and nobody I know thinks of Benoit as "that other guy."

 

Most people are dolts and don't know their ass from their elbow. That match wasn't close to *****, there have been better _this year_, and there have been MUCH better matches than that in the past as well. People who would give that match ***** are people who (i)Don't get what "*****" means, and (ii)Can't explain why they have the match "*****". Benoit _was_ the other guy. HHH and HBK faced each other at the Royal Rumble, Benoit got involved and complicated matters, HHH and HBK faced each other at Bad Blood (main eventing, btw). If Benoit _wasn't_ "the other guy", why didn't their feud end at Backlash, or Mania? Ask your friends that.

 

I respect your opinions, but I don't necessarily think they're very accurate here. You may think of Benoit as "that other guy" but most fans don't. And yes, he did have nuclear heat. Watch any RAW where he walked out on the stage with the belt.

 

Did he get the same pops as The Rock would have? Hogan? Hell, he didn't get the same reaction as HHH fer christ sake. I don't respect your opinion and THIS is why. The WMXX match was *****? Benoit was getting nuclear heat everytime he walked out after he wont the title? Why should I take anything you say seriously when you exaggerate things that you can't back up. Is there anything hotter than "nuclear heat"? Is there anything better than *****? Yet I can name a dozen matches better than the three way, and I can name dozen guys who have gotten a better crowd reception than Benoit. There have only been a few times Benoit ever got what would be considered "nuclear heat" and you know what? I'd say all of those times were before his run with the belt.

 

I do completely agree with you on one thing, that his reign, after Backlash, didn't get the respect it deserved.

 

Well that's good. Benoit had that month to have a good reign... which is still fucking ridiculous because he still had to feud with HHH and HBK and couldn't headline a PPV in his hometown on his own. How the fuck is that giving Benoit "respect"? The match was sold on being "The Rematch to their WMXX match", rather than "Benoits first defense" or "Benoits homecoming" or anything, you know, Benoit-centric. Really respectful.

 

Involving Eugene, as much as I personally dislike the character, served to further endear Benoit to the fans, to show his human side, and it worked, but the degree to which they went to serve that end was absurd.

 

How did it *work*? Do women now swoon at Benoit for being such a compassionate soul? Did he get "hotter than nuclear" heat after it?

 

I just have a hard time believing Benoit would have gotten any better treatment on SD!, if anything he would have been the one to drop the belt to JBL.

 

The crowd was hotter for Benoit in the match with Brock. The match with Brock was better than the WMXX match. The feud with Brock made sense. The title was the right one to go after. The history was there. The crowd was reacting to it. Benoit had Angle and Eddie as possible challengers to his title (for those saying Benoit/Angle was overdone, the only problem with Benoit/Angle was that they often were fighting with no reason, this was perfect because of Kurts RR03 win and tap out of Benoit, and Benoit was the champ this time) and a JBL match(es) would have been better than Kane matches. Besides, if Benoit didn't leave Smackdown, they wouldn't have had an empty spot that they felt needed to be filled, which is why they bumped up Bradshaw.

 

You're asking for the sun, the moon and the stars here.

 

I am/was asking for Benoit vs. Brock for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble. Benoit wins. They push Benoit as the top guy on the show and treat him like a superstar, like they should with every champion. I am asking for something good here, where I don't have to make giant compromises -like forgetting logic, or worse, lowering my expectations- to enjoy it. You don't know what the sun, the moon, and the stars are, if you think *that* is what it is. So now we add that to you not knowing what a ***** match is, and you not knowing what nuclear heat is.

 

Benoit was never going to be the guy to carry the company, we all knew (or should have known) going in that this was simply a nice title reign to reward him for his career, nothing more nothing less, and if you couldn't see even as far back as the first hints towards Lesnar that that would be the case you were delusional and in severe denial of what company you were watching.

 

How is making Benoit a lameduck champion a reward? The whole *point* of wanting a guy to be the champ is to see him BE the one they turn to to carry the company. In this fictional world of wrestling, THAT, is something that is "real" and is why being "the champ" has value to the guys in the back. When you carry the company, it means the company believes you are good enough, that the fans like you enough, that you are capable of being the main focus of every show. So it was an INSULT when the company gave Benoit the title and still made HHH the focus of the show. Because that was them saying "You can't carry the show. The fans don't like you enough. We don't think you are good enough". That's a nice reward?

 

Would I like him to be the guy to carry the entire company? Sure, but why even waste time thinking about things that will never happen? Some things just aren't realistic given that we're discussing the WWE, and that is one of them....

 

How many times do you have to do "this"?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

That said, I think Benoit ended up fine in the end, because they made him look like a million bucks on RAW for about 8 weeks.

 

Could you, uh, splain this?

uhhhh yeah I could:

 

Benoit got a bunch of wins on TV and PPVs and headlined most RAWs. He didn't lose during that time period, and they didn't have him do stupid crap like hang out with Eugene.

 

Afterwards they pushed him down the card and he was treated like an after thought. But as I said, for a short period of time, I thought they were booking him really well.

 

Its not that hard to comprehend.

Uuuh, you have to do better than that. I'll put the effort in completely shooting whatever you say down, when you put the effort in trying to say it. What wins? What position of the card were they? How many promos did Benoit get to cut? Was Benoit the most important guy -the central guy- on these shows? Was JR going on and on and on about Benoit when other guys were wrestling, like he does with HHH? What period of time are you talking about?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

For a guy to get elevated, he needs to be put in a position above the one he was in before. Benoit was a second tier player before his reign and after his reign, and the only time he was treated like something close to a top player during his reign was in the run up to Backlash, and when he was dropping the Raw title in his home country to Randy Orton. Benoit wasn't buried during his 'big push', but the reality is he was treated just the same as he was before; hovering around the glass ceiling, and allowed into the top sphere whenever a good match was needed out of a guy who can't carry a tune, let alone a slug to a *** match.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

RE Benoit's celebration:

 

You should have been at Mania, it was all about Benoit. Yeah Eddie was there, but the whole end of the show was about Benoit finally reaching his goal.

 

I saw the PPV, as did the majority of fans. What was presented on the show was a shared moment.

 

You seem overly negative about Benoit's title win for some reason.

 

I wanted better. I wanted something with meaning. Not just a pat on the head. Benoit deserved better.

 

They had him go through everyone in the Rumble and he made the top guy (according to the WWE) in the company tap out in the final match on the "biggest show of all time". Its hard to do better than that.

 

It's easy to do better than that. Make the guy the most important wrestler on the show.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

So what, would it have been better if he came in #28 and won it?

 

It really wouldn't have meant any different to anything other than the live crowd in the arena. It's just not impressive when other people have done it. What's the difference between 60 minutes and 65 minutes? After a while it all just becomes "a long time". It's like Armstrong and the Tour De France. After the first 3 wins, him winning it really isn't exceptional or impressive, it becomes *expected*. Benoit going the distance was expected.

 

Shawn Michaels may have won from #1, but that Rumble was only 30 mins. And technically Vince won from the start (well, #2), but for how long was he actually in the ring? Benoit wrestled from the beginning and won by eliminating the guy that 6 wrestlers working together couldn't get rid of. Until they get the #1 entrant to eliminate all 29 wrestlers, ain't nobody gonna be put over more strongly.

 

You guys don't know wrestling if you constantly think these things are the pinnacle of being put over. Benoit eliminating show could have been done as entrant #28 as well, and would have had the same effect.

QUOTE

 

Man, I wouldn't have traded that moment for anything.

 

I would have traded it for a Royal Rumble win over Brock for the WWE title.

 

When all's said and done, people are gonna remember WM XX more than any of those meaningless Raws. His reign could have been so much more, but at least it happened at all. At the very least, I'd consider Benoit credible enough as a top tier guy to main event pay per views down the line when they need him.

 

When all is said and done, Benoit will be an asterix.

[cbacon 0]

Yes, Benoit could have been booked better post-Rumble and post-Mania. A match with Brock would have been nicer, but then we wouldn't have seen the post match celebration with Guerrero with both the titles.

 

Sure, Benoit could have been a bigger focus at Backlash and his entire title run until SummerSlam. But I fail to see how Benoit wasn't rewarded this year. He won the Royal Rumble, lasting the longest in history and won the main event of the 'biggest WrestleMania of all time'. Of course we can look back on it and say Benoit was 'the other guy' but 10 years from now we'll be looking back at the win of Mania as the defining moment of his career and for many (myself included) one of the greatest moments in wrestling history. He joined the ranks of Hogan, Hart, and Austin as men who won the main evented at the biggest show of the year, and that can never be taken away.

 

You can find a lot of fault in the way he was booked, absolutely. It's very rare that things go exactly the way we want them to. If that means having 'low standards', so be it. The WWE set the bar low and this is wrestling we're talking about after all. Benoit could have been regulated to mid-card duty after his match with Brock and been involved in another tag match at Mania. Given the fact that he isn't The Rock or Austin, it's surreal to see him holding the title after Mania, a thought most of us thought would be impossible when he first joined the company in 2000.

[cbacon 0]

I saw the PPV, as did the majority of fans.  What was presented on the show was a shared moment.

 

The crowd was hot for Benoit the entire match and after HHH tapped everyone was going ape shit and high fiving each other. Then Guerrero came out, merely as the icing on the cake. The lasting image was Benoit's ascend to glory, it was a shared moment (and rightfully so), but Benoit's victory was definetly the lasting image.

 

It was simlar to Luger coming down to celebrate with Bret after WrestleMania X. But no one thinks of Luger when remembering the end of that show.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The WM X image is the entire (face) locker room coming out and putting Bret on their shoulders as a hero. Go back and read the rest of my posts, I covered everything you said above.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

RRR,

 

did you watch RAW during Benoit first few weeks as champion?

 

All I said originally was that they booked him really well for about 6 to 8 weeks. I agree with you that at some point after Backlash he got shafted, but for a short period, he was booked as strong as you can book someone.

 

Your points about the Rumble are just strange. He won after starting #1, thats about as much as you can do for a guy in that match format. I guess you would have had him eliminate everyone, but to me, I think that was a solid start for Benoit's push to the title. I agree with you that he should have faced Brock, but they had other ideas obviously.

 

I think you are way off on the Benoit celebration at Mania. Like I said, I was there, and I'm guessing you were not. When Benoit won, strangers were high fiving one another, and jumping up and down. That had nothing to do with Eddie, in fact that was before Eddie even came out. Was Eddie being there a nice touch? Yeah, sure. But it didn't take away from that moment being Benoit's moment in the sun. Thats like saying at No Way Out, becuase Eddie went out and hugged his mom and brother that they took away from 'his' night.

 

As for RAW; I dont have all the shows in front of me that I could go back and watch, so I'm just going by memory. Yes, during that time Benoit was in a lot of tag matches, but he usually won! So I dont see how that was a bad way to push him. Again, he won two straight TT matches over HBK and HHH, and he won the tag titles, and he had a heavily promoted match with HBK that is considered among the best of the year. Did HHH ultimately steal the spotlight in that match? Yes, and I think thats when they started to drop the ball with Benoit. I felt like he was just starting to gain momentum, and then after they started to focus on HHH vs HBK heading into Bad Blood, Benoit became an after thought. Which was bad.

 

But you cant ignore the fact that he was featured and booked well for A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

 

So you can go ahead and "shoot down" anything you want, but keep this in mind; when most people disagree with you, it usually means you've misfired. But feel free to try.

[Vyce 0]

Not trying to be a dick, but I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to speak up who thinks Rick Rudo is off his rocker....

I don't know if he's off his rocker so much as he's just arrogant and more than a bit snobbish.

[Guest Dazed]

Not trying to be a dick, but I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to speak up who thinks Rick Rudo is off his rocker....

I don't know if he's off his rocker so much as he's just arrogant and more than a bit snobbish.

 

And he also knows what he's talking about, so knock it off. You and Roy.

 

 

Something relating to Benoit's title win that is often overlooked is when he lost the title. Look how he'd been built up - overcoming challenge after challenge; winning the Rumble, beating HHH etc etc, his 18 year struggle to get to the top, how he's been knocked down but gets back up.

Then less than six months later... He loses to the youngest champion ever, who wins the title on (I think?) his first attempt Benoit struggles through everything, and Orton can do it just like *that*. Well planned out.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

Not trying to be a dick, but I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to speak up who thinks Rick Rudo is off his rocker....

I don't know if he's off his rocker so much as he's just arrogant and more than a bit snobbish.

 

And he also knows what he's talking about, so knock it off. You and Roy.

 

 

Something relating to Benoit's title win that is often overlooked is when he lost the title. Look how he'd been built up - overcoming challenge after challenge; winning the Rumble, beating HHH etc etc, his 18 year struggle to get to the top, how he's been knocked down but gets back up.

Then less than six months later... He loses to the youngest champion ever, who wins the title on (I think?) his first attempt Benoit struggles through everything, and Orton can do it just like *that*. Well planned out.

I dont think anyone could argue that his run after May was handled very poorly, and the title's value actually started to go downhill because they shot him down the card so they could focus on HHH vs HBK and then HHH vs Euegene.

 

But from Mania to May, I still maintain he was booked really really well.