Benoit vs. Triple H on Raw tommorow night

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Beh, Batista will open WM winning the World Title from HHH. HHH will then bully Christian into giving up his spot in the ladder match . . . HHH'll win that and challenge Batista for later in the night (the last match) so he can get his win and title back.

 

Then at Backlash, HHH will defend against a mystery opponent . . . Alex Wright since he owes him a job from Starrcade 1994.

 

What can I say, it's just one of those HHHatin days.

[dubq 0]

Just fucking swell. HHH will finally get his one on one win back. Yippity-do. This kinda puts a damper on my geek for Mania.

Oh, really, man. Is anyone ever going to get over this sort of shit? I swear the IWC is worse than Montreal wrestling fans for letting things go..

[Guest Loss]

Can't let it go when WWE is doing a DVD about it and they mention it constantly. If they want fans to forget about Montreal, they should shut up about it.

[Guest Trivia247]

Is this going to consititute the one and only Raw thread?

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

I love how everyone has like 5 titles changing hands every year at Mania.

 

Brand Split -

 

19: 2 titles

20: 2 titles

 

This year, I predict: 3

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I have two. The CW and the World Heavyweight.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

It wasn't clean. That's all I wanted.

[Guest LooneyTune]

(hands everyone $50 of I.O.U.'s)

[JoeDirt 0]

That was a really good match. Well worked and well booked.

[Slickster 0]

Meh, it was a Pyrrhic victory.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Just fucking swell. HHH will finally get his one on one win back. Yippity-do. This kinda puts a damper on my geek for Mania.

Oh, really, man. Is anyone ever going to get over this sort of shit? I swear the IWC is worse than Montreal wrestling fans for letting things go..

But am I right? RAW tonight confirms I am.

[JoeDirt 0]

It's the right booking. HHH needs to be strong going into Mania, so why not beat the guy who beat him last year at Mania? Otherwise Batista wins, and it's "oh well, you did what Benoit did a year ago, who cares." But now HHH got his win back on Benoit, it means more when Batista beats him. That's how I see it.

[Downhome 0]

I had no problem with the match.

 

1) It was a fantastic match, no matter who won.

 

2) Benoit basicly destroyed HHH all through the match. He looked stronger tonight than he has in a very long time. Wow.

 

3) As said before, HHH needs to be booked strong, thus his winning tonight, because I still believe he's going down at WM.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

And he got his win back, and Benoit is going to be sent down the card, and it was a reminder that Benoit is back to being a midcarder, and it was proof that Benoit was never, ever "put over" by HHH at any time during his WWE career.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

For a guy who was just "destroyed", HHH looks alright outside of the ring here.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

And he got his win back, and Benoit is going to be sent down the card, and it was a reminder that Benoit is back to being a midcarder, and it was proof that Benoit was never, ever "put over" by HHH at any time during his WWE career.

Waaaa waaaa waaa waaaa, you whine more then my 8 year old brother. Every time I see you post you always got somthing negative to say. If you don't like the product, don't watch it then.

 

But onto the match, it was very good match. Benoit suplex the shit out of HHH.

[Sass 0]

The thing I found the most offensive about the match was when JR mentioned how HHH has never beaten Benoit in a one on one match. That was just downright insulting, unless I missed something else he said.

 

RRR just didn't like the match and brought it up just like how the folks who did like the match are voicing their thoughts about the match. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

Me?

 

I thought Benoit losing to the Cockshot like the Big Show did in his rematch with HHH for the title in '00 was weeeeeeeaaakkkk. HHH also held out a weee bit long while he was in the Crossface. The WWE should stop using submissions to dangle a win in front of fans. It's insulting after all the times a submission has made someone, in like, let's say, the UFC, tap out almost immediately for fear of getting seriously injured. He also rolled out of the CF like he had gotten a 2nd wind and that just looked too hokey to me. The match just did Benoit no favors.

 

The Rolling Germans Benoit dropped HHH with looked *real* nice though. I was hoping to see HHH take a Northern Lights Suplex or even eat a Dragon Suplex like he's done before but no dice. Too bad, these two could have a great match if HHH wasn't such a fuckin system worker. I'm sure if he thought hard about it, he could probably come up with some neat (i.e. new) spots to pull off in a match. I mean, this guy watches 100's of hours of tapes supposedly so I'm sure he could probably rip off or come up with *something* fantastic to bust out with.

 

The stuff with Flair was too cookie cutter though. This was a match HHH should have been able to look strong in. Instead, he needed help from the 56 year-old Flair to pick up the win against Benoit. It would have made HHH look stronger going into his title match with Batista at Mania if he went it alone and managed to pull out the (cheap) win against Benoit. Lame finish but HHH should have told Flair to stay in the back so he could show he's still got some game left to show against Batista.

[Fökai 0]

The thing I found the most offensive about the match was when JR mentioned how HHH has never beaten Benoit in a one on one match.  That was just downright insulting, unless I missed something else he said.

He finished that with "since Benoit jumped ship...just over a year ago, to RAW". I think the announcing team just realized their own mistake, since Trips beat him only TWO DAYS after he jumped from WCW.

 

As for the match itself, to agree with Sass, the ending would've benefitted without the booking crutch of Flair being out there. The low-blow -> pedigree transition works in this situation, or maybe even a sledgehammer appearance, considering that they built the gimmick up last week. The latter idea works soooo well with the idea that HHH has to revert to the one thing that he can trust, especially when Flair and Batista have a student-teacher storyline going back to the fall of 2002 - which is coincidentally the last time that Hunter used the sledgehammer for a significant amount of time.

[Precious Roy 0]

HHH also held out a weee bit long while he was in the Crossface. The WWE should stop using submissions to dangle a win in front of fans. It's insulting after all the times a submission has made someone, in like, let's say, the UFC, tap out almost immediately for fear of getting seriously injured. He also rolled out of the CF like he had gotten a 2nd wind and that just looked too hokey to me. The match just did Benoit no favors.

 

That's standard for HHH, he works like a face whenever he feels like it. C'mon, you all knew that roll-over was coming a mile away, right? He's already done the same spot with Benoit a bunch of times.

 

And I completely agree on Benoit being sent back to the midcard, it happened while he still had the fucking belt. I honestly didn't even pay attention to the match because you could see the result a mile away.

[iggymcfly 0]

I like how the putting over new talent thing's only supposed to apply to HHH.

 

It's obvious that they're trying to make Batista the new #1 guy in the company. They need to make him as strong as possible at Wrestlemania, so it's only natural that they try to show that his WM opponent is strong as well.

 

Since Benoit basically bitch-slapped HHH through their entire feud last year, they have to do something to show that it's special when Batista does it. Basically, Benoit doing the job to HHH tonight puts over Batista more in the long run than anything else he could do.

 

The idea that this match happened because HHH "wanted his job back" is so naive and stupid that I don't even know how to respond to it.

[Guest Andrew J.]

And he got his win back, and Benoit is going to be sent down the card, and it was a reminder that Benoit is back to being a midcarder, and it was proof that Benoit was never, ever "put over" by HHH at any time during his WWE career.

I think Benoit was put over just fine in this match, much less in anything from 2004. Really good matches are capable of making BOTH guys look good, something I think you have really failed to grasp.

[Aero 0]

I thought the match was great, particuarly the last few minutes. I was actually starting to believe Benoit would win with the Crossface and then Sharpshooter. I don't have a problem with HHH winning since he is the World Champ, but I do hate the fact that I literally called the predictable finish as soon as the referee turned around to throw Flair out: "Low blow... Pedigree".

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I thought Benoit losing to the Cockshot like the Big Show did in his rematch with HHH for the title in '00 was weeeeeeeaaakkkk.

Especially when you consider that Benoit is a 20-year ring veteran, in the ring w/ the "Cerebral Assassin", and he decides to turn his back on HHH to watch Flair spazzing out outside the ring. You would've thought he'd learned his lesson last year when he turned his back on HBK, only to eat the SCM for a loss. I thought that was the case the 1st time Benoit had HHH in the Crossface, where he kept it locked on when Flair jumped on the apron, but then he goes and releases it when Flair is getting escorted out by the ref.

 

Pretty good match, otherwise. I can see the logic in HHH winning, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

[Guest wildpegasus]

For anyone interested, apparantly Benoit got yet ANOTHER standing ovation. Well not quite, but pretty close. He even acknowledged it by pumping his fist on his chest.

[Guest SoZe]

H showed more as in that match than in any match in recent memory, and cheated like a heel's supposed to in order to win. I expected him to win clean, and wasn't really going to have TOO much of a problem with it, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

[alfdogg 0]

Only problem I had with the match was the usual "laying around for ten seconds before the pinfall" deal. Other than that, good match which I don't believe hurt Benoit in the slightest.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I actually enjoyed the match for the most part, until about the finish. It was rather random and there wasn't much form to it, but in terms of performance, both guys worked really hard - HHH sold well for the most part and they had some fun spots.

 

I think Benoit was put over just fine in this match, much less in anything from 2004. Really good matches are capable of making BOTH guys look good, something I think you have really failed to grasp.

 

Benoit has already established his ability to perform well, and the fans have already established that they appreciate his hard work. He still hasn't established being a Superstar, and the fans don't see him as one. He doesn't get a superstar pop, he gets a respectful/we like you pop. He doesn't look like a superstar when he's being used as a pawn in HHH and Batistas game. And he certainly doesn't look effective when HHH is PERFECTLY FINE 20 minutes later.

[Guest Eric the Eagle]

First of all, I haven't seen the match in question yet (and probably never will), so I'll refrain from commenting on the match itself.

 

However, storyline wise, pretty much the only guy to consistently beat HHH throughout this year has been Benoit. Despite lots of chances, HHH hasn't beaten him in one whole year. He would be the ideal guy to wear HH down, maybe put a chink in his psyhcological armor.

 

And he's not a "pawn". Batista got to choose any man on RAW to have a shot on HHH, and he picked Benoit. In fact, sold correctly (which I will venture to say it proably wasn't), that means Batista thinks Benoit is the best man for the job - i.e. beating HHH. Doesn't scream 'midcard' to me.

 

And just by the way, HHH did in no way, shape or form destroy Benoit at SurSer. Benoit pretty much beat down HHH's whole team by himself, before falling to numbers and what may be the only sure-fire finisher left in the federation (next to the Tombstone). In fact, HHH didn't even pin him.

[Tawren 0]

That match was the shittiest piece of shit that ever shit, ever. What a bunch of fucking bullshit. I can't believe I am still so infuriated, but damn. Come on. Benoit hit what? 10 german suplexes, the sharpshooter, the crossface, the diving headbutt, and dominated most of the match. Then BAM low blow pedigree it's over. Bullshit.

 

Benoit beating on HHH was fine. Rest of the match? Shit. Infuriating shit.

 

On a side note, why would "that diabolical" HHH use a move like a low blow when Christy was LOL GOOD GUY YAY earlier for doing it to Regal? Makes no sense.

[CanadianChick 0]

How doesn't it makes sense? Whenever a face chick kicks a guy in the balls, it's funny. It's been like that forever.