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Post by cordless2016 on Nov 16, 2013 13:36:22 GMT -5
The classic matches between Angle and Benoit have been talked to death, and their match at the 2003 RR is still considered one of the greatest WWE Title matches off all time. However a match that is forgotten is the match they put on a few weeks later on SD. This was leading up to the NWO PPV and its amazing that Angle put on so many classics with his neck in such bad shape. Thought I'd share the match.
Skip to 26:00
My only complaint is that I think Benoit should have won. I get they wanted Angle to look strong going into WM but they could have easily had Benoit get a quick roll up win in a non-title fight. Anyway this is a forgotten classic I thought I'd share.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2013 13:47:25 GMT -5
that is a great match and I had forgotten all about it......cheers for posting!!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2013 13:58:16 GMT -5
Having the champ go over in a non-title match is always lame.
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Post by Escape The Rules on Nov 16, 2013 14:42:37 GMT -5
Shall check this out later, thanks for posting.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Nov 16, 2013 20:40:39 GMT -5
They should have had WM 19 be Lesnar vs. Benoit vs. Angle for the WWE Title. It could have helped Angle out and take a lot of stress off his neck in that match.
Plus, it would have made for a fecking awesome WWE Title match for the main event that year!!
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Post by Punk on Nov 16, 2013 20:49:50 GMT -5
They should have had WM 19 be Lesnar vs. Benoit vs. Angle for the WWE Title. It could have helped Angle out and take a lot of stress off his neck in that match. Plus, it would have made for a fecking awesome WWE Title match for the main event that year!! A Triple threat main event for WrestleMania? Who woulda thought?  |
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Post by cordless2016 on Nov 16, 2013 22:52:33 GMT -5
I've always been disappointed at how Benoit was basically in stall mode for most of 2003. He started 2003 as the #1 contender for the WWE Title but was basically a supporting player in the Angle/Lesnar feud. Following WM19 he didn't do much in the following months. He wasn't booked at all on Backlash and was then featured in a throw-away 6-man tag at Judgment Day. It was a testament to how deep the SD roster was to have a PPV and not book Benoit or Taker on the card (Backlash) but it still seemed like a waste. He played another another supporting player in the US Title picture that was mainly used to get Eddie's lovable-heel character over. I loved Eddie's work and wouldn't change anything with him so I didn't mind that feud much. However that fall Benoit did nothing but toy with A-Train for a month before finally becoming a main player on SD against Lesnar and Heyman.
The Lesnar/Cena feud was big in making Cena a legit name so I wouldn't have changed that feud. The following month we got Lesnar/Big Show in a stretcher match that didn't mean much in the overall title picture so I would have made Lesnar/Benoit for the title at Judgement Day. Show in the meantime continues to take stars out left and right and that's his excuse to enter the title fight with Lesnar and Angle the following month. Benoit and Eddie do their thing over the US Title for the summer. Going into the fall instead of feuding him with A-Train I'd have thrown Benoit into the Angle/Cena feud. This way he is in a prominent feud on SD and Cena could also go over in a triple threat match with Angle and Benoit both still looking strong. I never liked how heel Cena never went over on PPV in 2003 until he turned face at Survivor Series. Winning in a triple threat over Angle and Benoit makes all three men look good. Then everything continues as planned for the rest of the year.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2013 4:29:28 GMT -5
yeah it always struck me as odd too.as you say man Benoit was basically on the shelf for 2003.....and Angle was sidelined for a while too and he still wasn't used.
also slightly OT but LORD how I LOATHED the Zack Gowan Shiite.....and Stephanie Mcmahon wrestling too......UGH.
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Post by cordless2016 on Nov 17, 2013 11:27:54 GMT -5
yeah it always struck me as odd too.as you say man Benoit was basically on the shelf for 2003.....and Angle was sidelined for a while too and he still wasn't used. also slightly OT but LORD how I LOATHED the Zack Gowan Shiite.....and Stephanie Mcmahon wrestling too......UGH. Agreed. I loved SD in 2003 but there was a bit of crap to go along with the great stuff we got. Its a shame that Zack Gowan had a more prominent role on the show than guys like Benoit, Guerrero, Cena, and Show at the time. We also had to sit through more McMahon crap. I didn't mind Vince in 2003 but Steph wrestling was torture. Matt Hardy's "V.1" gimmick was going great too in the early months of the year but he did nothing for the rest of the year. I'd have kept him involved in the CW Title picture for the rest of the year instead of having him lose to Zack Gowan. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Nov 17, 2013 12:14:29 GMT -5
Benoit didn't even get a proper feud with Rhyno after he turned on him either.
I know at SummerSlam that year, we got Benoit vs. Guerrero vs. Rhyno vs. Tajiri, but I would have rather seen Benoit vs. Rhyno and Tajiri vs. Eddie in two single matches. Or keep the 4 way at SummerSlam, and have Benoit vs. Rhyno at No Mercy instead of A-Train being in the match with Benoit.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2013 12:27:52 GMT -5
Benoit didn't even get a proper feud with Rhyno after he turned on him either. I know at SummerSlam that year, we got Benoit vs. Guerrero vs. Rhyno vs. Tajiri, but I would have rather seen Benoit vs. Rhyno and Tajiri vs. Eddie in two single matches. Or keep the 4 way at SummerSlam, and have Benoit vs. Rhyno at No Mercy instead of A-Train being in the match with Benoit. agreed-good suggestions there chief!! |
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Post by Next Man’s Knowing Rock on Nov 18, 2013 4:49:25 GMT -5
The guy in the random tag match at WrestleMania should've beaten the WWE champ a few weeks before the show? Nah.
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Post by cordless2016 on Nov 18, 2013 19:50:11 GMT -5
The guy in the random tag match at WrestleMania should've beaten the WWE champ a few weeks before the show? Nah. Yeah the guy who put on arguably the greatest WWE Title match of all time w/ Angle shouldn't have gone over in a non-title match. He was also in that random tag match because he was in place to take Angle's spot if he couldn't make it to WM...yeah no need to make Angle's potential replacement look good. |
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on Nov 18, 2013 23:44:27 GMT -5
Some of the stuff I read in this post compelled me to get really deep into my memory from this time period. From what I remember back in 2003, Chris Benoit was flopping all over the place. Early in the year, he was challenging for the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle. At the end of the year, he was placed as the number one entrant into the 2004 Royal Rumble. Granted, Benoit had stellar matches against Angle and Eddie Guerrero. Aside from that, Benoit wasn't placed into long term solid feuds. Which really hindered him throughout that year. With a deep roster the WWE had in 2003, they had a lot of guys to create storylines for. In retrospect, I used to look forward to coming home from school Thursday and watch SmackDown to cap off the day.
Aside from the way Benoit was used, The Undertaker just flopped around as well. The Undertaker in 2003 is for another discussion. I can't believe is almost 11 years removed from 2003. Gosh, time really does fly as you get older.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2013 8:13:11 GMT -5
The guy in the random tag match at WrestleMania should've beaten the WWE champ a few weeks before the show? Nah. Yeah the guy who put on arguably the greatest WWE Title match of all time w/ Angle shouldn't have gone over in a non-title match. He was also in that random tag match because he was in place to take Angle's spot if he couldn't make it to WM...yeah no need to make Angle's potential replacement look good. great response Cordless. |
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Post by cordless2016 on Nov 19, 2013 22:52:52 GMT -5
Some of the stuff I read in this post compelled me to get really deep into my memory from this time period. From what I remember back in 2003, Chris Benoit was flopping all over the place. Early in the year, he was challenging for the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle. At the end of the year, he was placed as the number one entrant into the 2004 Royal Rumble. Granted, Benoit had stellar matches against Angle and Eddie Guerrero. Aside from that, Benoit wasn't placed into long term solid feuds. Which really hindered him throughout that year. With a deep roster the WWE had in 2003, they had a lot of guys to create storylines for. In retrospect, I used to look forward to coming home from school Thursday and watch SmackDown to cap off the day. Aside from the way Benoit was used, The Undertaker just flopped around as well. The Undertaker in 2003 is for another discussion. I can't believe is almost 11 years removed from 2003. Gosh, time really does fly as you get older. This. It is a testament to how deep the SD roster was in 2003 but Benoit and Taker really were all over the place that year. Benoit was moved up and down the card like a roller coaster and Taker mainly stayed in the midcard until entering a main feud w/ Lesnar and Taker in the fall. Benoit definatly could have been used more consistently though. I think SD's best year was 2003. Great roster and great stories. Sure it had some stinkers but the good outweighed the bad a lot. Its funny because 2003 was one of the best year for SD yet it was also one of the worst years ever for Raw. Looking back the shows were literally the polar opposite. SD focused on great in-ring work and pushing "new" talent to the top of the card while Raw focused on the "entertainment" side of the business and pushed a lot of older stars. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2013 0:47:00 GMT -5
Epic post
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Nov 20, 2013 0:57:19 GMT -5
I would pick Smackdown in 2003 over Raw in 2003 hands down.
There was a time period in the summer of 2003 where Smackdown had main event show after main event show each week. It started with Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio for the Cruiserweight Title, and the next week that's the opening match for their rematch! That was around the time Lesnar and Show made the ring collapse, Kurt Angle returned, and they were having the weekly tournament for the US Title finals at Vengeance.
Mean while on Raw, we saw the same old stuff. Dudleys vs. La Resistance, Evolution destroying HBK, Nash and Hurricane, Steiner and Test going at it, Jericho and Christian wrestling Storm and Booker. It's sad cause for what talent Raw had at the time, they could have been on par with Smackdown.
Then in 2004, all the talent that made Smackdown great came to Raw. Benoit, Hardy, Edge, Shelton, Rhyno, and Smackdown became a shell of itself. If you don't remember, just go back and read the results of Great American Bash 2004... cause that shows you how bad Smackdown got at that time.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2013 6:43:23 GMT -5
we must also give credit to Heyman for the awesome success of SD! in 2002/2003.until the windowlicking daughter of McMahon decided he wasn't fitting in on Creative(IE:NOT a yes man).
but yeah SD! was awesome for a stretch.
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Post by BrIaNMeRcY on Nov 20, 2013 10:20:19 GMT -5
we must also give credit to Heyman for the awesome success of SD! in 2002/2003.until the windowlicking daughter of McMahon decided he wasn't fitting in on Creative(IE:NOT a yes man). but yeah SD! was awesome for a stretch. Paul Heyman wasn't the head writer of SmackDown for very long. For the most part, David Lagana became the head writer of Smackdown in early-2003. In 2006, Lagana became the head writer of ECW till his departure in 2008. |
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