John Bradshaw Layfield (w/Jillian Hall) vs. Rey Mysterio
Woah this was a super good match. I didn’t expect this to be as good as it turned out to be. It was given plenty of time for a mid-show match and they told a great cat and mouse story with Rey using his lightning quick speed to evade JBL. Rey attacked JBL’s leg as well to slow JBL even further, which I thought was a brilliant strategy on his part. JBL had to play catch up and capitalise on Rey’s mistakes with the help of Jillian. And the finish was the perfect example of that with Rey missing the west coast pop, allowing JBL the opening to wallop Rey with the Clothesline From Hell. ***3/4
Two On One Handicap Casket Match: Randy Orton & ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton Jr vs The Undertaker
This wasn’t half bad. It’s main crime was that it went far too long but I think they got Bob Orton Jr out of the match at the pivotal points to allow Undertaker and Randy have their important match building spots. In the end the Ortons have the cheat to win, protecting Taker and getting more heat on Randy. Job well done. ***
WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Nunzio (c) vs. Juventud Guerrera
Short match that gets zero reaction from the crowd. But other than that, this was awesome. The length lends into that as well because they have to go at a very quick speed, throwing as many bombs at each other as possible. Fun spotfest. And the crowd actually popped pretty big for Juvy winning the CW title, surprisingly. ***
World Heavyweight Title Match: Batista (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero
I really dig Eddie Guerrero’s gimmick of trying to be reformed but his heelish, cheating habits are still there and almost surface at times. Plus with Eddie and Batista being friends on TV, it adds some underlying, passive aggressive tension between the two. It’s a great hook for a feud. And the match follows that formula. Eddie starts off the match playing it friendly, trying to take Batista to the mat but Batista’s strengths help him in that regard. Eddie tries to find other ways to defeat Batista but he just can’t get the job done, causing him to get frustrated which is where his cheating ways come to surface. Eddie does a super job at selling that struggle. His sly smiles and his constant changes in body language is brilliant attention to detail. Batista in turn sells his frustration at Eddie almost resorting to his cheating ways as well. This is a great character work match with both men pulling their weight in the wrestling side as well. Batista got the win but Eddie was close to winning, even without the cheating. Can Eddie take another loss lightly? There is more room for the feud but unfortunately, we won’t get to see much of it. Great match. ***3/4
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