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[2001-01-21-WWF-Royal Rumble] Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (Ladder)


Superstar Sleeze

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WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho - Royal Rumble 2001 Ladder Match

 

I have never seen this match before, but is always one that has intrigued me. They have greatly improved from Fall Brawl 1996. The beginning of the match was well-executed with Benoit constantly one step ahead of Jericho and always throwing him shoulder first into objects. I liked Jericho's pluckiness and Benoit' sterness in the early going. After a bit, it turned into a great violent carwreck of a match. Comparing this match to Harper/Ziggler shows why I think Harper/Ziggler should be rewarded because of the great story they told based on face/heel dynamics. This match was totally bereft of face/heel dynamics. If you watched this match on mute (mostly due to commentary, there was only one Y2J chant), I think you would be hard pressed to tell which one was the face and heel.

 

I liked that Jericho needed to use the ladder as an equalizer because he was in rough shape and that Benoit is such a force of nature. They both took some really nasty bumps. The chair shot to Benoit on his tope is really disturbing to watch. I appreciate them saving the slow climbs until the very end. They escalated nicely to the finish run. In the the finish run, they messed up the order of things. At first they did a good job with the different ways they tried to eliminate each other. Then they went to the Walls of Jericho on the ladder, which was a really cool spot and got the biggest pop, but they did not use that as a finish. I thought Jericho got up way too quickly from the Crossface. I hate when they do ladder spots not in the center of the ring, but the missed diving headbutt was a Holy Shit spot. The actual finish spot was pretty tame compared to the other ones even if it was more dangerous and barely got a reaction.

 

I think you go Crossface, but Benoit wants to really finish Jericho so he misses diving headbutt. They both milk it. Jericho climbs first then Benoit, Walls spot, huge pop. Benoit is thrown off and Jericho wins.

 

It was an entertaining violent spotfest, but lacks substance. It will be hard to remember any spots except the Walls on the ladder and the chair shot on the tope. It is an entertaining 20 minutes or so, but nothing classic. ***

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Oh that chair shot...gave me the creeps 14 years ago and continues to do the same now. It is still one of the sicker bumps I have ever seen.

 

I absolutely loved this match from the first time I saw it. The uses of the ladder were actually extremely innovative, like riding the ladder down on the outside, etc. As you said, ending was pretty pedestrian overall but was still rather satisfying as it was basically clean.

 

Plus I loved Benoit attacking Jericho in the back during Jericho's post match interview.

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  • 1 month later...

I remember it from a recent-enough viewing to be a really, really cold match. The lack of face/heel distinction is really important in why it doesn't work. Kind of too obvious of a spotfest, even if the spots were brutal, because there wasn't much that glued them together or a real atmosphere of hate. Certainly not bad but in a five year stretch ('99-03) so saturated with ladder matches, I can think of several that I like more.

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  • 1 year later...

I like this match a lot. There's two really memorably spots (chair shot counter to the dive and the ladder Walls of Jericho/tarantula/whatever the fuck that was) and there's enough brutality to make up for, as the poster above me said, this being kind of a cold match. I don't think it's a MOTYC or an all time classic, but it's a very fun match. It's amazing to think these guys were paired as a tag team four months later. ***3/4

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  • 4 weeks later...

They knew they couldn't out do the Hardy's so, this was more back to basics with raised stakes. Superplex off the ladder, diving headbutt attempt, backbreaker across the ladder etc. This was good shit..I mean Benoit backdrop suplexed Jericho over the top rope!!

 

I highly recommend this match. True there may have been a glut of ladder matches at the time but, this is a fun one with the Canadian boys going at it. Second BigVan's take on it.

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  • 1 month later...

From my PTBN GWWE match thread:

 

2. Ladder Match - Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho

 

I'm not ranking Benoit but this match makes a strong case for Jericho. He does great on both offense and defense in this match, bumping like a madman for Benoit. He does a decent job selling his bad arm throughout the match and even pulls out some great creative spots like the Walls on top of the ladder. Well paced and organic unlike some of the ridiculous ladder matches we get these days. Really great stuff.

 

****1/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [2001-01-21-WWF-Royal Rumble] Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho (Ladder)
  • 6 months later...

One thing I realized while watching the 2000 footage is that these guys were a better match-up than I gave them credit for, not necessarily in terms of the matches they put on but the way they worked together in the ring. Here they are again in one of my most hated gimmicks, the ladder match. They honestly had nothing to lose in this match since I hate the gimmick so much. Matches like these are always overshadowed by Shawn vs. Razor, and while this wasn't anywhere near as iconic or great as those matches, I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The rivalry had kind of outstayed its welcome but it wasn't the two Chrises fault that the WWF kept plugging them into the same feud. Their work was good as usual and they did some creative stuff with the ladder. It wasn't an epic encounter but it was well-paced and the selling was good. Jericho was worlds better than I would have given him credit for prior to revisiting this stuff, and for my money every bit Benoit's equal. Not a great match, as I said, but these bouts were such abject disappointments to me when I first saw them that even a "very good match" like this is a huge tick in both worker's favor. 

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  • 1 year later...

We have seen a plethora of great matches so far in 2001, but I do think this is the best so far. It has everything that I enjoy in a ladder match, struggle, innovation and brutality. The most memorable spots are the Walls on the ladder and the nasty chairshot on Benoit’s tope that is one of those moments that is tough to watch knowing the ending point for Benoit’s life. I appreciated the arm selling by Jericho as even in victory he was clutching the shoulder. I also liked that this didn’t devolve into stunt show spots for the sake of it. The only weapons used were the one ladder and one chair. The ending is a bit anticlimactic but was a payoff from the spot that held before it and it is a great moment for Jericho. We have other heralded stipulation matched upcoming like TLC 2, but for right now, I think this is the 2nd best ladder match is WWE history. ****1/2 (8.8)

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