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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Feb 21, 2022 14:08:16 GMT -5
We all loved it when Eddie won the big one in 04 and it sucked to see him lose it so quickly. I always loved JBLs run as Champion in 04/05 and it was cool to see him beat Eddie, Taker, Booker T etc... but what if Eddie stayed Champ for the rest of 2004? And what if Eddie even stayed Champ til WM21 in 05?
I personally would have loved it looking back and I think Eddie vs Cena at WM21 with Cena finally ending Eddie’s reign would have been a big moment. You could have had Eddie go heel earlier or just have this bout be a big face vs face match.
We could have gotten Eddie beating JBL in 2004, feuding with Taker, Booker T, RVD, Mysterio, Angle again and maybe Big Show. We then then could have gotten Eddie vs Cena at WM21.
Thoughts?
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Post by cordless2016 on Feb 21, 2022 14:25:28 GMT -5
Eddie and Benoit were always going to be placeholders until the WWE could find there next stars to build the company around after Brock decided to leave. The goal for WM21 was always to build Cena and Orton to the top (Orton flopped as a face, so Batista filled that role), and as much as I loved Eddie, JBL fit the role much better in helping get Cena over. Eddie was a great face or heel, but even got some cheers during his 2005 feud with Rey. He was a “cool” heel that fans wanted to cheer no matter what. JBL had legit heel heat and fans were desperate to see him get his comeuppance. Had Eddie faced Cena at WM21, I see the crowd being split, and maybe pro Eddie. But with JBL, the crowd was 100% behind Cena.
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Feb 21, 2022 14:33:38 GMT -5
Eddie and Benoit were always going to be placeholders until the WWE could find there next stars to build the company around after Brock decided to leave. The goal for WM21 was always to build Cena and Orton to the top (Orton flopped as a face, so Batista filled that role), and as much as I loved Eddie, JBL fit the role much better in helping get Cena over. Eddie was a great face or heel, but even got some cheers during his 2005 feud with Rey. He was a “cool” heel that fans wanted to cheer no matter what. JBL had legit heel heat and fans were desperate to see him get his comeuppance. Had Eddie faced Cena at WM21, I see the crowd being split, and maybe pro Eddie. But with JBL, the crowd was 100% behind Cena. True say, you made some real good points. I think Eddie even asked to lose the Title as the workload was too much at the time. |
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Post by cordless2016 on Feb 21, 2022 14:40:27 GMT -5
Eddie and Benoit were always going to be placeholders until the WWE could find there next stars to build the company around after Brock decided to leave. The goal for WM21 was always to build Cena and Orton to the top (Orton flopped as a face, so Batista filled that role), and as much as I loved Eddie, JBL fit the role much better in helping get Cena over. Eddie was a great face or heel, but even got some cheers during his 2005 feud with Rey. He was a “cool” heel that fans wanted to cheer no matter what. JBL had legit heel heat and fans were desperate to see him get his comeuppance. Had Eddie faced Cena at WM21, I see the crowd being split, and maybe pro Eddie. But with JBL, the crowd was 100% behind Cena. True say, you made some real good points. I think Eddie even asked to lose the Title as the workload was too much at the time. He did. Eddie was like Benoit in a lot of ways in that he put alot of pressure on himself to succeed. While fans have always pointed to HHH still being the focal point of Raw while Benoit was champ, Eddie was the main guy on SD and blamed himself for the ratings drop (despite it mainly having to do with a SD roster that was ravaged by injuries and having just lost Brock). Eddie asked for the title to be taken off of him, which is one reason why JBL’s rise was so sudden. |
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Feb 21, 2022 15:04:43 GMT -5
True say, you made some real good points. I think Eddie even asked to lose the Title as the workload was too much at the time. He did. Eddie was like Benoit in a lot of ways in that he put alot of pressure on himself to succeed. While fans have always pointed to HHH still being the focal point of Raw while Benoit was champ, Eddie was the main guy on SD and blamed himself for the ratings drop (despite it mainly having to do with a SD roster that was ravaged by injuries and having just lost Brock). Eddie asked for the title to be taken off of him, which is one reason why JBL’s rise was so sudden. Yeah the SD roster took a hit after WM with Brock gone, Angle & Big Show taking time off, Benoit & Edge moved to RAW etc. We still could have gotten some good feuds for Eddie, have em face off with RVD, Booker and Rey until Angle & Big Show returned and then that could have been 2 more feuds right there. Eddie vs Taker could have been epic too. SD in 2004 could have been a real great one for WWE... too much potential feuds and good matches should have happened. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Feb 21, 2022 15:06:46 GMT -5
First of all, I may be in the minority here, but I didn't care that Eddie won the WWE Title or that he lost it to JBL when he did. I was never an Eddie fan. I mean, he was okay. I didn't hate him, but I wouldn't say I loved him either. He was just kind of there.
I was a Benoit fan, so I was more into the title run for Benoit that year in 2004 than Smackdown with Eddie's WWE Title run.
As for both Benoit and Eddie, I feel that Vince gave us fans that to kind of say, "here it is, the end of an era for you people who love these types of wrestlers." Because a year later, we had Batista and Cena as the main guys as WWE and World Champions.
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Post by cordless2016 on Feb 21, 2022 16:38:37 GMT -5
First of all, I may be in the minority here, but I didn't care that Eddie won the WWE Title or that he lost it to JBL when he did. I was never an Eddie fan. I mean, he was okay. I didn't hate him, but I wouldn't say I loved him either. He was just kind of there. I was a Benoit fan, so I was more into the title run for Benoit that year in 2004 than Smackdown with Eddie's WWE Title run. As for both Benoit and Eddie, I feel that Vince gave us fans that to kind of say, "here it is, the end of an era for you people who love these types of wrestlers." Because a year later, we had Batista and Cena as the main guys as WWE and World Champions. I agree that Vince was basically throwing a bone to fans when he put the belts on Benoit and Eddie. 2004 was a weird transition year for the WWE. Austin was gone, Rock was basically out the door, Brock left, Taker was beginning to transition to a part-time role, and fans completely rejected HHH as the face of Raw. However, the WWE didn’t have any younger stars ready to make the jump to the main event yet. Both Orton and Cena were just starting to sustain momentum for the first time and needed more time to develope. So putting the belts on both Benoit and Eddie was a way to appease fans while giving Vince time to work on his new projects. This isn’t a shot against Benoit and Eddie as I loved both of them, but a shot against the WWE for not fully getting behind there new champs. Benoit still played third-fiddle to HHH and HBK on Raw (and later HHH and Eugene), while Cena and Taker were often ending Smackdown rather than Eddie. 2004 reminds me alot of 2014. 2014 also seemed to be a transition year as Vince clearly wanted to push Roman as the guy but needed more time to develop him, so Vince gave us D-Bry as another “throwing fans a bone” moment. |
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Post by Scott! on Feb 23, 2022 14:38:31 GMT -5
True say, you made some real good points. I think Eddie even asked to lose the Title as the workload was too much at the time. He did. Eddie was like Benoit in a lot of ways in that he put alot of pressure on himself to succeed. While fans have always pointed to HHH still being the focal point of Raw while Benoit was champ, Eddie was the main guy on SD and blamed himself for the ratings drop (despite it mainly having to do with a SD roster that was ravaged by injuries and having just lost Brock). Eddie asked for the title to be taken off of him, which is one reason why JBL’s rise was so sudden. I always think that after Wrestlemania 20, more effort on pushing RVD & Booker to the main event needed to happen. With Brock gone, and others out injured you really only had Eddie and Undertaker as the big stars on Smackdown that were there every week. JBL was pushed so quick as a panic that there wasn't anybody ready. It worked in the short and long term so no issues there, they got that right. I just think they needed to do more after bringing RVD and Booker over. They went all out with Rene Dupree and it went nowhere fast. |
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Post by cordless2016 on Feb 23, 2022 15:15:56 GMT -5
He did. Eddie was like Benoit in a lot of ways in that he put alot of pressure on himself to succeed. While fans have always pointed to HHH still being the focal point of Raw while Benoit was champ, Eddie was the main guy on SD and blamed himself for the ratings drop (despite it mainly having to do with a SD roster that was ravaged by injuries and having just lost Brock). Eddie asked for the title to be taken off of him, which is one reason why JBL’s rise was so sudden. I always think that after Wrestlemania 20, more effort on pushing RVD & Booker to the main event needed to happen. With Brock gone, and others out injured you really only had Eddie and Undertaker as the big stars on Smackdown that were there every week. JBL was pushed so quick as a panic that there wasn't anybody ready. It worked in the short and long term so no issues there, they got that right. I just think they needed to do more after bringing RVD and Booker over. They went all out with Rene Dupree and it went nowhere fast. I agree 100%. I remember being hyped when both Booker and RVD were moved over to Smackdown and thinking that finally they’d have a chance to shine now that they’re away from HHH. I thought Booker’s heel turn started great by feuding with Taker (until they introduced the weird voodoo stuff), but then he was basically used to put Cena and JBL over for the rest of the year. But even that was more than RVD who seemed to float around and do nothing until teaming with Rey later that year (and still really doing nothing). I think the problem was that Vince was super focused on pushing “new” talent and characters. After Brock left, Vince seemed determined to push his next generation of top guys. Not all succeeded obviously, but it’s why I think we saw guys like Cena, Orton, Rene, Batista, Snitsky, Heidenreich, Shelton, Kenzo, Reigns, Eugene, ect… getting more sustained pushes than guys like Booker, RVD, Rey, Christian, Regal, ect… shame too as Booker could have made a great top heel without needing an over the top king gimmick. |
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