Chris Benoit is still the man

[Guest wildpegasus]

Yeah, I know I've been copy and pasting this around the boards but the Benoit love has to be spread, eh?

 

 

I don't know how many people are noticing so I thought I'd start a topic here and get some discussion going.

 

Of course the discussion will be about my favourite topic. Chris Benoit who I feel has really been on lately.

 

3 matches of late where I feel he's really shone are his bouts against Bradshaw, Regal and the last match against Booker T in the best of 7 series.

 

First off I want to talk abou the Bradshaw Smackdown bout which was very good and featured a great preformance by Benoit.

 

I probably should talk about these matches right after I see them instead of waiting but here I go anyway.

 

The Brashaw match featured some smart work and counters which definitely put it a step above their previous bout which was really just a bare bones minimum match that didn't give anything anyway. ONe of the first transistions I remember from this was Benoit taking over on Bradhsaw via a series of elbows to Bradshaw's head followed by a double kick to Bradshaw's face concentrating on the same area. Right there I was in for a nice little bout.

 

THe Booker T intereference and the commercial break hurt the flow of the bout but once they got back on track it was very good. The one problem the match did have for me was that Bradshaw's beatdown segment on Benoit just wasn't long enough. Benoit's counters were very good and appealing but they needed to be spaced out more and for that you needed a longer control segment. I actually liked the bear hugs as they played in nicely with the bout but I thought there were just too many of them in a short time span that took the pace of the match down. Again, I think a longer control segment by Bradshaw would've been better here for me.

One other thing here that bothered me was the point where Benoit small packaged Bradshaw. Now if I could be super arrogant here and guess what was supposed to happen in the ring I would say Benoit was hitting the ropes only to come back and get caught by Bradshaw. However, Bradshaw had a different idea and wanted Benoit to small package him. Benoit than did so on the spur of the moment. Maybe if Bradshaw had hit Benoit there Benoit would've looked he was in more trouble during his beatdown segment and his comebacks would've been spaced out a little bit better.

 

The ending segment was pretty good. Benoit repeatably going for the sharpshooter only for Bradshaw to counter only for Benoit to finally snag an oppurtunity out of mid air by capatalising on a hurt Bradshaw's arm was pretty ace. Once again though I think a longer heel control segment would've helped this part of the bout too. Basically the ending was all Benoit who I feel was the star of the bout. When the face does an all out ending like this where he mostly hits just his offence I find it's much more satisfactory when preceded by a long beatdown by a heel. That's what Stampede wrestling has taught me.

 

In conclusion, The match in a way reminded me of Williams vs Kobashi from 9/94 in that they hit some big bombs at the beginning and as a result have to sell them accordingly (Bradshaw doing the forearm to Benoit's back) When you do that you risk the match having too much selling at the beginning which can force a good match at the end not to be as climatic. However, I don't think they fell into this "trap" too bad and the match came out well. (What's really bad is when people hit weak offence and they sell too much offence in the beginning)

 

I think a PPV match here with a little bit more time with both wresters emptying out their arsenals (Bradshaw didn't let out some of his offence here) would equal a terrific match.

 

 

Next up we have Benoit vs Booker T. They've already had a bunch with each one being different in terms of quality. The US title loss, Survivor Series and match #2 of the best of 7 being the best of the bunch so far.

 

I liked Survivor Series. It didn't come together majically like the Match #2 of the best of 7 but it did feature Benoit making a nice multistage gradual comeback after being on the defensive for awhile. Right there it showed me that Benoit was taking the series as serious as he could. This match was more of an eyeopener on what could happen if everything clicked.

 

Which brings me to the latest Smackdown bout between the two. I just watched it and there was just so many things I loved about it that I probably should watch it again so I can take note of them all but right now I'm in a rush and I want to get this typed so we'll just go with one viewing for now.

 

I loved this and once again I thought Benoit really shined here. He brought out some of his old offence and was just feeling it. At first I wasn't feeling this match. I was a little down over some stuff and wasn't feeling it myself. And than I noticed while Benoit was still ace in his offence he wasn't as crisp as he was in the past like when he was attempting a hip toss early on. But than Benoit gives an all out intense belly to back suplex to a bigger man and that was it. I was in. If Benoit cares that much about this bout than you better believe that I'm going to care about it that much too. That's the Benoit I know, love, adore and cherish more than life itself.

 

Benoit dominates for the first bit and than Booker takes control for a brief with with a stun gun on the top rope and an elbow to Benoit's face (loved how Booker concentrated on Benoit's upper body area). I thought that might've been the transistion to offence for Booker but NOOO! Benoit comes back and they do an all out cool sequence where Benoit backdrops Booker to the outside and attempts his suicide dive of doom. Once again he misses and takes a really bad bump which ends up being the true transistion to Booker's offence. Who can not feel sympthany for Benoit after that bump? If memory serves correct I believe this may have been the point where he's indicating he already has head damage on the outside.

 

From there we go to commercial break and it's Booker who's back on offence. I really like the control segment here by Booker even though it was a little too short for my liking. It flowed well but what I really liked was Benoit's comebacks during it. Particuary the chops which he let out in abundance here. It's the nice philosophy of working a bodypart but in a different sense in what we normally we think of in a wrestling match in that Benoit continually beat on his chest to help him comeback.

 

Benoit gets back on offence (I'm forgetting exactly how he did it but I remember really liking it, loved the belly to bellys) but not for too long as Booker gets a bookend for a good near fall which worked well since it wasn't too long ago that Booker had Benoit in some trouble.

 

They even worked a Sharmell interference tease in here which was smartly worked. Sharmell has been very successful in causing Benoit trouble in his matches most noticeably with his flying headbutt but here it backfires after a real nice tease which leads to Benoit finally getting his headbutt in for a near fall.

 

The ending was absolutely stellar too. Benoit goes for the german on the apron of the ring only to lose his grip and hit a nestea plunge on himself injuring the head area in an incredible bump. The same area that he hurt on the suicide dive and the same spot that had taken several shots during the bout. The bump and the "selling"? was so believable that nobody even knows if Benoit was legit hurt on the move or not.

 

And here comes the best part of the bout. Benoit is just so smart in there. Benoit's down, he's out of it on his feet and Booker's feeling a little confident as surely nobody could still go on after what Benoit's been through. However, Benoit is the Canadian crippler with the fighting spirit of a million ordinary men and in one desperate last emotional attempt german suplexes Booker out of his boots.

 

Still the weight of everything that has happened finally gets to Benoit and in the best set up for the ake kick I've ever seen succumbs to said axe kick for the 1/2/3.

 

What a match and yet another great preformance by Benoit. This felt like a complete match where they both let everything out of their tank in a attempt to see who truly is the king. If this was the last match of the best of 7 I would be perfectly happy witht it.

This is one of those matches where like Benoit vs Lesnar the flow (though almost nothing comes close to that) is just purely magical. Other matches can sound as good on paper but when watched in the ring they are not. This is one of those times where paper doesn't do the match justice. It has to be seen. Loved this.

 

Now we proceed to the latest chaptor of the Benoit vs Regal series. I didn't see their second velocity match because I'm paranoid of that program WWE wants you to download but I did watch this one.

 

The best part of this bout was it was more believably than 99% of your wrestling matches coupled with the fact that it was fresh because of the match structure. Basically it's all one long Regal control segment where you feel extra sympthany for Benoit with his fantastic knocked out loopy selling which was still affecting his from his match with Booker. Cool of Benoit not to forget that.

 

 

Well, my rant is almost over now. I guess I just want to say that I've been enjoying Benoit's work a lot lately and he's really been showing enthusiam in all aspects of his game

[Guest Real F'n Show]

The bump and the "selling"? was so believable that nobody even knows if Benoit was legit hurt on the move or not.

Very well put, and extremely true. I remember thinking Benoit had a broken arm in the Wrestlemania 21 ladder match because his selling was just so damn good.

 

I also dug the belly to belly suplexes Benoit pulled out in the match with Booker, as well as the knees to the head he's been using lately.

 

Missed the Regal match sadly...

[Guest Duncan Eternia]

The bump and the "selling"? was so believable that nobody even knows if Benoit was legit hurt on the move or not.

Very well put, and extremely true. I remember thinking Benoit had a broken arm in the Wrestlemania 21 ladder match because his selling was just so damn good.

 

 

Watch Benoit sell Batista's spinebuster in this year's rumble match. He acts like he's having convulsions; really put the move over in my opinion. Can't forget mania either though.

Edited December 4, 2005 by Duncan Eternia

[SuperJerk 0]

[razazteca 0]

Is that pic 4 real? Workrate transcends language barriers.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

No, you can write anything you want on that picture.

[Enigma 0]

It's like that one night on Nitro in mid-99, Lex Luger hit Bret Hart in the face with a gimmicked baseball bat. Hart sold it like death to the point where the Internet was going crazy.

[hyperchord24 0]

Look how Benoit sells his diving headbutt as opposed to Bam Bam's. Benoit looks like he really is risking his health doing that move.

[10 Pounds 0]

I just watched the 2004 Rumble and wanted to start a topic about his Rumble victory. No point to start another thread so i'll just use this one.

 

What if Chris Benoit hadn't made the jump from Smackdown to Raw in the beginning of 2004 ? He made Brock tap out at Survivor Series and lost to him in a title shot a few weeks later. He was right in the middle of a feud with Paul Heyman because after his lost to Lesnar, Heyman said that Benoit would never get another title shot and put him #1 entry in the Rumble. Logic would say that, after his Rumble victory, Benoit would go against Lesnar and Heyman and win the tile at Wrestlemania XX, instead we got the triple threat with Triple H and Michaels.

 

So what if Chris Benoit hadn't made the jump to Raw ? Would Smackdown be in a better shape that it was in Spring 2004 ? Would Guerrero and JBL have been main-eventers ? On the Raw side, would the main-event at Wrestlemania still have been HHH-Michaels part 33 ?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Don't tease me like that.

 

Lesnar/Benoit should have happened at the Royal Rumble with a Benoit win. Everyone knows that. (EVERYONE)

[World's Worst Man 0]

With how good Brock vs. Eddy was, Benoit vs. Brock could have been WWE's first great match in quite a while. But who knows, maybe we'll get to see it afterall, and in a less restrictive enviroment at that..

[Hawk 34 0]

Don't tease me like that.

 

Lesnar/Benoit should have happened at the Royal Rumble with a Benoit win. Everyone knows that. (EVERYONE)

 

Still to this day, I don't understand why Triple H couldn't steal Eddie over to make him look better. Eddie wasn't really doing anything at time except starting that horrid program with Angle. Benoit going over Brock @ Rumble and taking the WWE Title was neccesary. Brock and Goldberg was penciled in months before they even started the Brock and Benoit deal.

 

So of course, Benoit looks like an uber idiot for changing his mind after spending a month chasing Lesnar and Heyman for the WWE title only to go "hmm, you know what, I'll go for the World title instead". The whole purpose of that move was to make Triple H look good.

 

Benoit got a gold watch run with the title while it was still all about the game. We should have at least gotten Benoit and Lesnar @ the Rumble.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Don't tease me like that.

 

Lesnar/Benoit should have happened at the Royal Rumble with a Benoit win. Everyone knows that. (EVERYONE)

 

Still to this day, I don't understand why Triple H couldn't steal Eddie over to make him look better.

Eddie was set to get a push as the face of Smackdown.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Looking back... it would have made more sense for Eddie to have won the Rumble and move over to RAW.

[Jebus 0]

Smackdown had the large Latino viewership though...Eddie wasn't going anywhere.

[SuperJerk 0]

What if Chris Benoit hadn't made the jump from Smackdown to Raw in the beginning of 2004 ?

I'd have stopped watching Raw altogether, since I was officially fed up with the Orton super-push and the HBK/HHH feud that wouldn't die.

 

Benoit's title chase kept me interested in Raw at a time when Smackdown was better. I quit watching Smackdown altogether (or, at least, until the 2005 Royal Rumble) when it became "the JBL Show", but Benoit as champ kept me interested in Raw.

[Guest thetrendsetter]

Don't tease me like that.

 

Lesnar/Benoit should have happened at the Royal Rumble with a Benoit win. Everyone knows that. (EVERYONE)

 

Still to this day, I don't understand why Triple H couldn't steal Eddie over to make him look better. Eddie wasn't really doing anything at time except starting that horrid program with Angle. Benoit going over Brock @ Rumble and taking the WWE Title was neccesary. Brock and Goldberg was penciled in months before they even started the Brock and Benoit deal.

 

So of course, Benoit looks like an uber idiot for changing his mind after spending a month chasing Lesnar and Heyman for the WWE title only to go "hmm, you know what, I'll go for the World title instead". The whole purpose of that move was to make Triple H look good.

 

Benoit got a gold watch run with the title while it was still all about the game. We should have at least gotten Benoit and Lesnar @ the Rumble.

 

 

I thought it was pretty smart actually, from a kayfabe standpoint, Benoit had the deck stacked against him on Smackdown, with the GM and his army of monster heels (wasn't this the same time as the Big Show/Matt Morgan/Lesnar/Nathan Jones alliance? not sure how much further that ran past survivor series.

 

BUt yeah, he knew he was going to get screwed around, screwed around, screwed around, so he jumped to RAW, screwing Heyman out of a big title match, and being able to claim he had the rumble winner, at the same time, getting a new start on RAW.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Faces shouldn't run away from having the deck stacked against them. Furthermore, Heyman didn't want Benoit to get a title shot for Heyman's show's title, so Benoit running to Raw made Heyman's job easier.

[Guest Human Highlight Reel]

With how good Brock vs. Eddy was, Benoit vs. Brock could have been WWE's first great match in quite a while. But who knows, maybe we'll get to see it afterall, and in a less restrictive enviroment at that..

 

They wrestled for the title on Smackdown once, right?

[SuperJerk 0]

Don't tease me like that.

 

Lesnar/Benoit should have happened at the Royal Rumble with a Benoit win. Everyone knows that. (EVERYONE)

 

Still to this day, I don't understand why Triple H couldn't steal Eddie over to make him look better. Eddie wasn't really doing anything at time except starting that horrid program with Angle. Benoit going over Brock @ Rumble and taking the WWE Title was neccesary. Brock and Goldberg was penciled in months before they even started the Brock and Benoit deal.

 

So of course, Benoit looks like an uber idiot for changing his mind after spending a month chasing Lesnar and Heyman for the WWE title only to go "hmm, you know what, I'll go for the World title instead". The whole purpose of that move was to make Triple H look good.

 

Benoit got a gold watch run with the title while it was still all about the game. We should have at least gotten Benoit and Lesnar @ the Rumble.

 

 

I thought it was pretty smart actually, from a kayfabe standpoint, Benoit had the deck stacked against him on Smackdown, with the GM and his army of monster heels (wasn't this the same time as the Big Show/Matt Morgan/Lesnar/Nathan Jones alliance? not sure how much further that ran past survivor series.

 

BUt yeah, he knew he was going to get screwed around, screwed around, screwed around, so he jumped to RAW, screwing Heyman out of a big title match, and being able to claim he had the rumble winner, at the same time, getting a new start on RAW.

The jump would've made more sense if it'd been Heyman trading him to Raw so he wouldn't get his WWE title shot, instead of jumping of his own accord.

 

Hell, trading him for Goldberg would've worked perfectly in the storylines.

[World's Worst Man 0]

With how good Brock vs. Eddy was, Benoit vs. Brock could have been WWE's first great match in quite a while. But who knows, maybe we'll get to see it afterall, and in a less restrictive enviroment at that..

 

They wrestled for the title on Smackdown once, right?

 

I don't know. Even if they did, I'd still want to see a PPV main event match from those 2.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Benoit vs. Brock happened 2 years ago around this time. Benoit beat Cena the same night which was far and away Cenas best in-ring performance. It was the closest the WWE got to an awesome storyline. Albert - who had faced Benoit several times before and was alligned with Brock - before the match, bet on Benoit to win (back when the FBI did that sorta thing). It was, like, epic. And this was all built in one night. Brock promised to make Benoit tap. The match ended with Brock hitting the F-5, Benoit kicking out, Brock taking a chair and leveling Benoit, and then debuting the Brocklock, rendering Benoit unconscious. Of course, immediately this brings you back to Benoit vs. Angle RR03, where Benoit in that case _tapped out_ and now he doesn't. Brock got the win, but never made Benoit tap. The whole angle from Benoits side could have been built from that, and Brock had something left to prove in wanting to make Benoit quit. The crowd really, really, REALLY wanted Benoit to win that match. And the injustice at the end could have made for a superhot match at the Royal Rumble.

 

So what do they do?

 

Give the shot to Bob Holly.

[Da Maintenance Man 0]

Benoit vs. Brock happened 2 years ago around this time. Benoit beat Cena the same night which was far and away Cenas best in-ring performance. It was the closest the WWE got to an awesome storyline. Albert - who had faced Benoit several times before and was alligned with Brock - before the match, bet on Benoit to win (back when the FBI did that sorta thing). It was, like, epic. And this was all built in one night. Brock promised to make Benoit tap. The match ended with Brock hitting the F-5, Benoit kicking out, Brock taking a chair and leveling Benoit, and then debuting the Brocklock, rendering Benoit unconscious. Of course, immediately this brings you back to Benoit vs. Angle RR03, where Benoit in that case _tapped out_ and now he doesn't. Brock got the win, but never made Benoit tap. The whole angle from Benoits side could have been built from that, and Brock had something left to prove in wanting to make Benoit quit. The crowd really, really, REALLY wanted Benoit to win that match. And the injustice at the end could have made for a superhot match at the Royal Rumble.

 

So what do they do?

 

Give the shot to Bob Holly.

 

That was fucked up how they handled that whole thing. I was hoping for a Benoit/Lesnar submission match at RR.

[Sass 0]

It's like that one night on Nitro in mid-99, Lex Luger hit Bret Hart in the face with a gimmicked baseball bat. Hart sold it like death to the point where the Internet was going crazy.

 

It was the ankle.

 

Bret hobbled around on it for weeks.

[SuperJerk 0]

They gave Holly the title shot because they wanted Benoit to win the Rumble.

 

Didn't Brock go over Holly clean?

 

On the one hand, it blew one great angle (Benoit/Lesnar), but created 2 good ones (HHH/Benoit/HBK and Eddie/Lesnar) from the ashes.

 

If I remember the rumors correctly, Benoit was originally going to beat Brock at No Way Out until they decided HHH needed a fresh opponent for WM20. I think they worked the original Rumble finish (the one they used on the 15 man SD Royal Rumble before NWO) in because of the way Eddie was getting over HUGE at the time.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The Eddie/Brock storyline went for 3 weeks and HBK/HHH/Benoit sucked.

[SuperJerk 0]

The Eddie/Brock storyline went for 3 weeks and HBK/HHH/Benoit sucked.

Having Benoit go over Triple H one month, then the next month have him go over HBK (in Canada, by submisson) fits a little different definition of "suck" than I'm used to using.

 

And Eddie/Brock probably would have resumed had Brock not quit.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Your definition of suck, sucks.

 

Benoit/HHH/HBK didn't make a lick of sense throughout its entire run and resulted in a lame duck run that only accomplished one thing: It put the belt on Orton, only to be taken by HHH a month later.

 

Benoits title run on Smackdown would have been so much better and more meaningful.

[SuperJerk 0]

Your definition of suck, sucks.

 

Benoit/HHH/HBK didn't make a lick of sense throughout its entire run and resulted in a lame duck run that only accomplished one thing: It put the belt on Orton, only to be taken by HHH a month later.

 

Benoits title run on Smackdown would have been so much better and more meaningful.

Are you nuts? If Benoit had been champion on Smackdown, then we wouldn't have had the aborted Eddie run with JBL becoming cham---

 

Er, hum.

 

 

Yes, you seem to have made a good point.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Benoit vs. Brock happened 2 years ago around this time. Benoit beat Cena the same night which was far and away Cenas best in-ring performance. It was the closest the WWE got to an awesome storyline. Albert - who had faced Benoit several times before and was alligned with Brock - before the match, bet on Benoit to win (back when the FBI did that sorta thing). It was, like, epic. And this was all built in one night. Brock promised to make Benoit tap. The match ended with Brock hitting the F-5, Benoit kicking out, Brock taking a chair and leveling Benoit, and then debuting the Brocklock, rendering Benoit unconscious. Of course, immediately this brings you back to Benoit vs. Angle RR03, where Benoit in that case _tapped out_ and now he doesn't. Brock got the win, but never made Benoit tap. The whole angle from Benoits side could have been built from that, and Brock had something left to prove in wanting to make Benoit quit. The crowd really, really, REALLY wanted Benoit to win that match. And the injustice at the end could have made for a superhot match at the Royal Rumble.

 

So what do they do?

 

Give the shot to Bob Holly.

Ah, but Brock grabbed the passed-out Benoit's hand and "made him tap", adding further insult to injury in a total dick move.