Everything You Should Watch: The Best of SmackDown 2004

First of all, thank you everyone for the overwhelming positive response in Disqus and Twitter to the first edition of “Everything You Should Watch” Raw 2004 Part 1 & Part 2. I had a number of requests as to which year/show to do next. SmackDown 2004 had recently been complete on WWE Network when I finished Raw 2004, so that seemed like a natural progression. SmackDown 2004 is one that has a lot of intrigue to me, as teenager Chad hated the JBL character so much. However, as an adult I have really grown to love a lot of things about him. Coming into the this project I have my doubts though, maybe I am just romanticizing the past?

There is one small change I am making to my match selection going forward. For Raw 2004 I watched EVERY title match (World, IC, Tag Team & Women’s). This became a little strenuous in the case of the later 2 belts, and when I was making the list of matches to watch for SD 2004 it became evident the same would be true here. The CW division and Tag were both pretty messy for SmackDown in 2004. Going forward I will continue to review every WWE and World title matches, along with every title change for the rest of the belts. The other title matches will need to catch my interest on the same merit as everything else.

January
WWE Cruiserweight Title: Tajiri (c) vs Rey Mysterio (1/1) [****] What a great way to start out the first WWE broadcast of 2004! Based off this match getting around 11 minutes, one would think that WWE was finally ready to take the CW division seriously. However, wait till we get to May. This was probably the best match Tajiri ever had in WWE and possibly the best match in the division’s WWE history. Tajiri was working his Yakuza leader gimmick here with Akio and Sakoda trying to run interference when they could. A great way to start 2004 indeed and it only makes me more sad to see how the divison was treated for much of the rest of the year. MOTM
WWE Tag Team Titles: Basham Brothers (c) vs Los Guerreros (1/8) [**1/2] Originally The Basham’s were set to defend the belts against Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty. When The Basham’s eliminated that team before the match, Kurt Anlge announced that he and GM Paul Heyman had a suitable replacement. By this point Chavo was beginning to show his jealousy for Uncle Eddie and this would be the last time they teamed together on television. The match was a longer version of a standard Basham Brothers tag. Doug & Danny worked over Eddie for the most of the match. Chavo would end up eating the fall and then stand by idly as The Basham’s destroyed Eddie after the match. Chavo beat up Eddie after The Basham’s, this would lead to one of the biggest disappointments of the year with their match at Royal Rumble.
ECW Rules Loser Gets His Mouth Washed With Soap Match: John Cena vs Rhyno (1/15) [**] That is one MOUTHFUL of a match title! This match was not chosen because I thought it would be good, but more morbid curiosity as I saw that the match went over 10 minutes. Rhyno is representing Paul Heyman in the match, before the match Heyman let’s everyone know that Cena has zero tolerance, while Rhyno gets the ECW rules stipulation. I was automatically disappointed by not getting a Cena rap before the match. This was pretty boring as Rhyno controlled a lot of the offense for the 13 minute match. Yep, 13 minutes of TV time (plus 2 commercial breaks) was given to this for some reason. Don’t let your curiousty get the best of you, just move along on this one.
WWE Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio (c) vs Jamie Noble (1/29) [**3/4] A return match from the Royal Rumble. Noble lost that match when “blind” girlfriend Nidia accidentally tripped Noble. These two got around 8 minutes and put on a good match, with another Nidia interference costing Noble the victory.
SmackDown Rumble (1/29) [***3/4] Since Chris Benoit took his talents to Raw after winning the Royal Rumble, GM Paul Heyman decided to have a Royal Rumble of his own to determine the new WWE Championship #1 Contender. Entrants were: A-Train, Big Show, Billy Gunn, Bradshaw, Charlie Haas, Eddie Guerrero, Ernest Miller, Hardcore Holly, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Nunzio, Rhyno, Rikishi, Shelton Benjamin and Tajiri. Everyone but Eddie and Holly were in the actual Rumble match the previous Sunday. Guerrero was in question before the match began as he was attacked backstage earlier in the night. Ninety-second entrance format with Angle and Rhyno as our two starters. Ernest Miller’s entire entrance and elimination happened during a break, sadly they still felt the need to show us The Cat. The final four in the match were Guerrero, Angle, Gunn & Rikishi. Everyone knew coming into the match that the only two possible candidates were Guerrero or Angle, but that didn’t make the ride any less fun. Guerrero and Angle spent a lot of time as the final two, and that helped the match even more. While this match was not on the quality level of the actual Rumble, it was a very fun match.

Feburary
WWE Tag Team Titles: The Basham Brothers (c) vs Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty (2/5) [**] Rikishi & Scotty finally get the shot they were supposed to have nearly a month ago when the Basham’s jumped them prior to the match. Have you ever seen a Basham Brothers, Rikishi or Scotty 2 Hotty match? If you answered “yes” then you have no reason to watch this except for the title change.
Basham Brothers vs John Cena & Kurt Angle (2/19) [**1/2] This is the third Basham Brothers match in 7 matches so far, thankfully it is also the last. I always wanted to like the guys but they never clicked for me. Before the match began Angle & Cena cut great promos on each other, showing off their natural chemistry. Cena & Angle worked the “I can do it better” type of match against both the Basham Brothers. Another standard tag from the Basham’s, highlighted by Cena & Angle.
WWE Title: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Chavo Guerrero (2/19) [***1/4] This is four days after Guerrero defeated Lesnar for the belt at No Way Out and is his first title defense. Chavo is currently the Cruiserweight champion after beating Rey Mysterio at the same show to win the belt. Kurt Angle serves as the special guest referee and will face the winner at WrestleMania XX. This is the match I had hoped the two would have had the previous month at Royal Rumble. The match was competitive, with both guys getting time to get their stuff in. Both Rey Mysterio & Chavo Sr. got involved at one point, but were both ejected. Though this was a good match, it was the post match angle that really took the spotlight. After Eddie had hit the frog splash, Angle got down for the pin, but instead attacked Eddie. Angle had been working on a slow burn heel turn for around a month at this point and the crowd was not pleased when he executed it. MOTM
WWE Cruiserweight #1 Contender Fatal 4 Way Match: Billy Kidman vs Jamie Noble vs Nunzio vs Rey Mysterio (2/26) [***1/4] This match was so important that about a minute in we cut to the back with Eddie Guerrero busting into Paul Heyman’s office. Once their chat was done we had 2 minutes of great action, before taking a commercial break. The match was a lot of fun and was filled with great action. However, the ending came out of no where when Mysterio was about to win the match. Heyman came out with Tajiri, Akio & Sakoda (who were also in Heyman’s office when Eddie came in) and declared the match a no contest. Which meant instead of getting a great singles CW match at Mania, we had the poorly executed Cruiserweight Open, this is the start of the fall I mentioned earlier for the CW’s.

March
Eddie Guerrero vs Shelton Benjamin (3/11) [***] This is Guerrero’s last tune-up match before facing Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX. Eddie cut a phenomenal go home promo about his match with Kurt before this match began. This was a solid match that was highlighted by Guerrero’s signature spot of hitting Benjamin with the belt while the referee was distracted, and then playing dead. Even watching this match I would not have guessed what Benjamin would be doing in a few weeks on Raw against Triple H.
WWE United States Title: John Cena (c) vs Rhyno (3/18) [NR] A 2 minute match that is historically significant for being the first ever John Cena title defense. To make this moment even better for Cena, he is making the defense in Boston. However, I don’t give match ratings to anything under 3 minutes.
WWE Title: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Rey Mysterio (3/18) [****] Mysterio earned this match by winning a gauntlet match that also involved Big Show, Billy Gunn, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin. A fantastic technical contest between two men that always had amazing chemistry. This is certainly a forgotten classic when most speak of their matches with each other. What makes the performance by Mysterio even more impressive is the fact that he had spent 10 minutes in the ring with Shelton Benjamin & Big Show before this match. After three months Mysterio has now been involved in the two best matches on SmackDown thus far in 2004. MOTM
WWE Title: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Booker T (3/25) [***1/4] This is the main event from the first edition of SmackDown after the draft. Booker is coming to SmackDown after just dropping the World Tag Team Titles that he held with fellow SmackDown draft pick, Rob Van Dam. Booker turned heel in the opening segment of the show when Booker told new GM Kurt Angle that Booker T was better than the entire roster. This match was better than I was expecting for sure. By this time I feel like Booker was a pretty stationary guy and seemed unmotivated most of the time. Booker put on a good effort with Eddie here, but the story was about JBL. Layfield “debuted” before the main event by cutting a promo explaining why he was no longer a member of the APA. JBL attacked Guerrero as Eddie was going up for the frog splash, and we would have our main program for the next few months.

April
WWE Tag Team Title: Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty (c) vs Charlie Haas & Rico (4/22) [**] Almost a month has passed since the last notable match. By comparison, I don’t think Raw went more than one week when I did 2004. In the mean time I have not been completely skipping these editions, I have sat and enjoyed every JBL promo from the month that has passed. When I first watched this I was 15 and thought the Rico/Haas combo was one of the funniest combinations I had ever seen. I am now 27 and still have to snicker at least a little. Rico really made the gimmick his own and that played in a funny fashion with all of Rikishi’s ass moves. Rico saved Charlie Haas from the stink face, only to put himself in the spot and apply some chappstick. The comedy went a little long at over 7 minutes but it was mostly entertaining. Haas had pure joy on his face when they won the belts, until he turned around and was reminded who his partner was.
El Gran Luchadore vs John Bradshaw Layfield (4/22) [*1/2] The first match of the JBL gimmick! Luchadore is billed as the Mexican Heavyweight Champion. The story goes that El Gran got in JBL’s face when the two men got off the airplane earlier in the day. Luchadore is played by Paul London. JBL could have won the match at 3 minutes but pulled Luchadore’s shoulder off the mat at 2.5. JBL did that one more time, and even had Luchadore cover JBL. JBL finally put him away in one of the most entertaining squash matches in SmackDown history. MOTM
Bubba Ray Dudley vs Eddie Guerrero (4/29) [**1/2] As I looked at the month I thought this would be MOTM by deafult. Bubba was always the Dudley I preferred, and this match was chosen just to see how I felt about 2004 heel Bubba Ray. Bully Ray was a huge favorite of mine in TNA, so one would think this match would have some quality. The promo from the previous week that saw The Dudley Boyz join Paul Heyman was one of pure greatness. Heyman (who was guest GM last week) booked “The Dudley” vs Guerrero last week, because as Heyman said “they all look the same”. Last week “The Dudley” was represented by D-Von who became the first man to pin Eddie since Guerrero won the belt, this week we get Bubba. The match wasn’t bad, but in reality it was what I did expect. Bubba beat Eddie down for a lot of the match and had help from D-Von & Heyman. While this was technically a higher rated match than the last one, it wasn’t great. Because of that I went with JBL vs Luchadore as the MOTM, check that one out!

May
WWE Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Jacqueline (5/6) [NR] Ugh. Remember when I said that the first Cruiserweight title match of the year was not an indication of how things would go, here is what I was referencing. Jacqueline won the strap here and started one of the worst angles of 2004, poor Chavo.
Dudley Boyz vs Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam (5/6) [***1/2] The match was originally booked at the end of last week’s SmackDown as Eddie Guerrero & RVD vs The Dudley Boyz. However the angle of Guerrero’s mother having a heart attack was being run at this time. Right before the match started Paul Heyman explained to Kurt Angle that having an emotionally disturbed Eddie Guerrero in this match would be a bad idea for Kurt Angle. Angle came around to Heyman’s side and replaced him with Rey Mysterio. These two teams had a rematch at Judgment Day 2 weeks later that I recall being my co-MOTN with Eddie vs JBL on last watch. This was a great, high energy tag team match that was nearly on par with the one I just mentioned. The Dudleyz were definitely feeling rejuvenated once they were drafted to SmackDown and given the chance to be heels again. The Dudleyz attacked Mysterio & RVD after the match but Guerrero made the save. Eddie went absolutely crazy on EVERYONE around the ring as his rage filled eyes told a remarkable story. Eddie was so on point around this time.
John Bradshaw Layfield vs Rey Mysterio (5/13) [**3/4] Just days before JBL met Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Title at Judgment Day, he faced Guerrero’s best friend Rey Mysterio. I enjoyed the chemistry these two had in the future, but have also seen them have some stinkers. This was a good match that made JBL look very strong. In some ways this became an extended squash for JBL. After the match JBL cut a promo about how Eddie Guerrero’s mother was going to have another heart attack thanks to JBL. JBL guaranteed victory at Judgment Day. I remember a lot of people giving this promo and story line some nuclear heat back in the day, but we have certainly seen more tasteless story lines than this.
WWE Cruiserweight Title Triple Threat Match: Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Chavo Classic vs Spike Dudley (5/20) [*3/4] Guerrero won the belt back from Jacqueline at Judgment Day four days prior. Chavo then lost the belt to his father here. The Guerrero family worked some handicap tactics against Spike in a decent match, but still a terrible result. The finish made ZERO sense as Spike bumped Classic onto a fallen Chavo Jr. and then disappeared as the ref counted three.
Dudley Boyz & John Bradshaw Layfield vs Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam (5/20) [***] This was scheduled to be a combination of the two top and best matches from Judgment Day. However, Guerrero was attacked by JBL before the match was to begin. Angle stated that Guerrero was faking and that when Guerrero “woke up”, he could join Mysterio & RVD, but until then the match would be wrestled as a handicap match. Ten minutes into the match Guerrero’s music hit and the odds were evened. Before this Mysterio & RVD combated the brutal trio with their fast paced offense. The match looked to be over around 7 minutes in when Mysterio had JBL pinned but JBL kicked out as the match went to commercial. Guerrero waited for the hot tag for about two minutes, once Eddie got the tag he exploded with offense until he passed out. JBL would take advantage of the fallen Eddie and get the quick three count. This was a standard TV main event that had some extra drama with Guerrero’s situation.
Dudley Boyz vs Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam (5/27) [***1/2] This month has basically been all about these two teams, the third straight week they have faced in some way on SmackDown, along with a PPV match in there. I can not explain the chemistry these four men have but it is certainly there. Bubba & D-Von worked over Rey for a good portion of the match, but when it was time to go Rey unleashed a fury of offense. Paul Heyman joined the crowd about halfway through the match. Heyman ran interference at the end to set up The Dudleyz for a win. A segment following the commercial further established Heyman’s alliance with The Dudleyz and it was brilliant. It was a tossup between this and their first tag encounter for MOTM, ultimately I felt like The Dudleyz showed a lot more character here; therefore this gets the edge. MOTM
WWE United States Title Lumberjack Match: John Cena (c) vs Rene Dupree (5/27) [**] These two have been feuding since Dupree was drafted to SmackDown at the end of March. I can’t say I know why I kept this match on my list as it doesn’t sound particularly interesting. However I am hoping to have a pleasant surprise. A an ignorant teenager I enjoyed Dupree and felt he was highly underrated, as a somewhat wiser adult I always find his work quite bland. Luther Reigns threw Cena into Kurt Angle’s metal stand when he was tossed to the outside, Rico kissed Dupree when Rene was tossed outside; I’m not sure who had it worse. The lumberjacks around the ring were much more into this than I was. This was a long time of watching some pretty boring Rene Dupree offense, followed by the same John Cena comeback we have seen many times.

June
Chavo Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio (6/10) [***1/4] Chavo Classic did commentary on the match, stating that he was tired and Chavo Jr. hasn’t wrestled in a few weeks. Chavo Classic is also still the Cruiserweight champ. Both guys took turns controlling the offense in a competitive match. Mysterio hit a beautiful moonsault on a standing Guerrero at one point, in which Classic started shouting about inventing the move. This was on pace to be just as good as their two PPV matches but needed a little more time to tell their story. Classic on commentary was hilarious.
WWE Tag Team Title: Charlie Haas & Rico (c) vs Dudley Boyz (6/17) [*1/2] The Dudleyz are currently deep into what I would consider the worst feud of 2004. The feud I speak of is Paul Heyman (w/The Dudley Boyz) vs The Undertaker. The Dudleyz & Heyman abducted Paul Bearer and have forced The Undertaker to join them. In other news, Charlie Haas is still not able to bring himself to walk the runway with Rico & Miss Jackie. It’s a shame that The Dudleyz looked so good last month in their feud with Mysterio & RVD to now be regulated to this feud. In addition to being stuck in a dead end feud that would eventually make them look like chumps, they won the belts in a boring affair. I love Paul Heyman, but I even skipped his post match promo as I hate this feud so much. If you want something to watch from this episode, do check out the JBL promo halfway through; goosebumps.
John Cena vs Undertaker (6/24) [***3/4] While not the first ever match between the two, it is the first match for Cena vs Deadman Undertaker. This was from the last SmackDown before The Great American Bash, which would end the terrible feud I have mentioned above. Taker and Cena never having a Mania encounter is still a damn shame as the two show great chemistry here, even with Taker’s character in a weird place. It was hard to tell if Taker was a heel or face at the time. Taker cut his forearm on the ring steps early in the match, which is something different. Cena was placed in the match as a punishment from Kurt Angle who Cena was having an authority feud with. Taker controlled most of the heat but when it came time for it, Cena was able to throw blows to keep the match competitive. Taker finally used Cena’s steel chain to put Cena away, keeping both men looking strong heading into The Bash. I can only think of these two having a handful of matches, and I would call this their best effort. MOTM

July
WWE United States #1 Contender Triple Threat Match: Booker T vs Rene Dupree vs Rob Van Dam (7/1) [***1/2] These three men were involved in a four way elimination match the previous night at Great American Bash. Dupree had been feuding with Cena for a few months, Booker would win the match and embark on a long feud with Cena. Fast action with Booker bringing a chair into the match early, RVD responded by hitting the Van Damniator; followed by jumping off the top rope and down to the floor onto Dupree. RVD appeared to have the match won with the five star on Dupree, however RVD’s former tag team partner Booker T pulled RVD from the ring and stole the pin. This was better than I expected and a large step up from their four way at GAB.
WWE Title: John Bradshaw Layfield (c) vs Spike Dudley (7/1) [**1/2] JBL was allowed to pick any opponent he wanted for his first title defense, JBL chose Spike Dudley. JBL beat down Spike in a big way here, as one would expect. However, Dudley was able to get in flurries of offense. Dudley even hit the Dudley Dog and was able to get a near three count that popped the crowd in a big way. After the near fall JBL hit a spinebuster, followed by 2 clothesline from Hell’s and a powerbomb to finish it. The match went 7.5 minutes, which does seem too long but the match was oddly entertaining.
WWE Tag Team Title: Dudley Boyz (c) vs Billy Kidman & Paul London (7/8) [***1/4] This is a rematch from the previous weekend’s Veolcity. Kidman & London had D-Von beat in that non-title match, Bubba pulled the referee from the ring causing a DQ. London & Kidman had been teaming for months on Velocity and this was a rare appearance for them on SmackDown. London & Kendrick rushed the match at the bell, only to be beat down for a few minutes by The Dudleyz. The fans were wildly into the match whenever London & Kendrick were on offense. Once The Dudleyz regained control the crowd would keep cheering London & Kendrick. Kendrick knocked D-Von off the top, which allowed London to hit the Wassup Headbutt on Bubba Ray. Kidman finished off Bubba with a shooting star press to pull a huge upset. The Dudleyz were made to look like chumps in their feud with Undertaker so it made sense to transition the belts for a bit. London & Kidman made a fine tag team in their time.
El Gran Luchadore vs John Bradshaw Layfield (7/8) [**] This is of course a “rematch” of their match a few months ago. JBL hyped the match earlier in the night by stating it would be champion vs champion. JBL also told Luchador that JBL would personally pay for all of Luchador’s medical bills. JBL had a much more serious face during the match as JBL tried to send a message to JBL. A second Luchadore came from under the ring and tossed JBL to the outside while the ref was distracted and then dropped a banana peel on the mat. The two Luchadore’s pulled a switch as #2 pulled #1 under the ring. The second Luchadore hit a few of Eddie Guerrero’s signature spots and went to town on JBL. JBL rolled out of the ring and couldn’t get away fast enough once he realized who was under the mask
WWE United States Title: John Cena (c) vs Booker T (7/8) [***] Cena was struggling with an injured neck after being attacked by Kurt Angle’s bodyguard, Luther Reigns earlier in the night. Angle & Reigns came to ringside before the match began which allows Booker to get a jump as Cena was distracted. I don’t recall every really liking Cena vs Booker matches but this was a good contest. Nothing that I would say anyone should go out of their way to see, but a match that stayed entertaining throughout. Cena won the match by DQ when Luther Reigns attacked him for the second time of the night. Angle stripped Cena of the US title post match after Cena had accidentally ran into Angle on the outside near the end of the match. This led to a three month program with Booker T that had Cena trying to regain the belt.
WWE Title Steel Cage Match: John Bradshaw Layfield (c) vs Eddie Guerrero (7/15) [****] The final blow-off to their feud is settled inside a steel cage. The feud was received with some pretty mixed and negative reviews at the time. Mostly because so many fans did not feel JBL earned his spot, while Eddie was shorted on his title reign. The feud has been excellent from my eyes when it comes to promo work and their Judgment Day match was strong with the blood making it memorable to this day. Plenty of brutality in this match. JBL made it clear right way that he did not want to be locked in a cage with Guerrero as he was looking to the door right away. Guerrero could have easily walked out of the door a couple times, but Guerrero hated JBL and wanted to get his redemption for all the harm JBL had caused Guerrero and his family. Guerrero had the chance to climb out and win the match, instead Guerrero opted to hit a picture perfect frog splash off the top of the cage. JBL’s arch nemesis El Gran Luchadore ran down and into the cage as Guerrero & Layfield fought on top of the cage. Luchadore would pull Guerrero back in, allowing JBL to drop to the floor. Luchadore’s mask was ripped off by Guerrero after and exposed as suddenly non-crippled GM Kurt Angle. This is up there in the top 3 matches of Bradshaw’s career. MOTM
WWE Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio (c) vs Spike Dudley (7/29) [**1/2] Dudley won the right to the match in a #1 contender’s match last week. Mysterio became champion about a month ago by beating Chavo Jr. at Great American Bash. Not a particularly interesting match but nothing terrible. Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley interfered to help Spike win. While Spike was not happy at the time, Spike will soon change his attitude and embark on the most interesting run of his career.
WWE Tag Team Title: Billy Kidman & Paul London (c) vs Dudley Boyz (7/29) [***] Rematch from a few weeks ago. Tazz played up on commentary that London & Kidman were still the underdogs in this match and made it very believable that The Dudleyz could win the belts back here. Great heel work from Bubba during the match when they started to chant “we want tables”; Bubba’s response was “shut up, you ain’t getting nothing”. The best part of the match was Rey Mysterio coming through the crowd, leaping off the barrier, and kicking a chair into the face of Bubba Ray who was preparing to smack Kidman with it. Good match from both teams but lacked the feeling their last encounter had.
WWE United States Title Elimination Match: Billy Gunn vs Booker T vs Charlie Haas vs John Cena vs Kenzo Suzuki vs Luther Reigns vs Rene Dupree vs Rob Van Dam (7/29) [***3/4] This match was set-up in the opening segment of the show by new SmackDown GM Teddy Long. Angle was fired last week by Vince McMahon after his actions in the steel cage match. All eight of these men felt they had a right to the US title (really Billy, Haas and Kenzo?) and began a huge brawl until Mr. McMahon came out to announce Long as the new GM. A match that had a lot of talent (plus Kenzo & Luther) and it held up to it’s potential. Everyone played their roll in the match well and honestly the match far exceeded what my expectations were. Kenzo was eliminated by DQ, to keep himself looking strong. The final three were RVD, Booker and Cena. Booker would steal the pinfall on Cena after RVD hit the 5 Star, followed by finishing off RVD with the scissors kick. The action never slowed down here, great main event to kick of the Teddy Long era of SmackDown.

August
WWE United States #1 Contender: John Cena v Rob Van Dam (8/5) [***1/2] Teddy kicked off the show by announcing this match, the winner would get his shot at SummerSlam. I hate saying that I was surprised by the quality of this one, but that is the truth. Cena & RVD wrestled through a commercial break and had about 10 minutes of TV time to tell a fun story. Both men were very over as babyfaces in front of the crowd.
Charlie Haas vs Kurt Angle (8/5) [***] This is Angle’s first televised match since his loss to Guerrero at WrestleMania XX, and a great choice of tune up for their SummerSlam rematch. Benjamin was flourishing in the upper mid-card on Raw since he was drafted away from Haas, while Charlie had become “just another guy” on the SmackDown roster. They kept things simple here, mostly a match to help Angle work out some ring rust.
Summer Games Relay Match: Booker T, Luther Reigns & Rene Dupree vs Charlie Haas, John Cena & Rob Van Dam (8/12) [*1/4] Wowzers this is one contrived gimmick to go along with the 2004 Summer Olympics taking place at the time. Here is a basic explanation of the rules. Two men started (Booker vs RVD), if neither of them achieved a pinfall in five minutes then Team Booker would relay to their next member. If no one won in those five minutes then Team Cena relays to their next member, and that continues until there is a winner. The lack of interesting talent on Team Booker made the mid portion part of this match a struggle to sit through. I remember not liking this at the time, but thought I would give it a shot based off other recent matches. I regret that, this was a 20 minute snoozefest. The whole match just made us wait for Cena to get the pin on Booker.
Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle & Luther Reigns (8/19) []
Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio (8/26) []
WWE Title: Orlando Jordan (c) vs Undertaker (8/26) []

September
Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle (9/2) []
WWE Tag Team Title: Billy Kidman & Paul London (c) vs Kenzo Suzuki & Rene Dupree (9/9) []
Lumberjack Match: Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle (9/9) []
WWE Cruiserweight Title: Spike Dudley (c) vs Rey Mysterio (9/23) []

October
November
December

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