[2000-02-03-WWF-Smackdown] Chris Benoit vs HHH

[soup23]

Really strong tv match. Benoit looks like he honestly could be the best wrestler in the world. I think it is fair to say that Sid and HHH can be limited workers and Benoit has been able to gel with both in the past month and compliment their strengths. HHH for his part is on easily the run of his career and while his 2000 may not be as great as the WWE only fanatics may have you believe, I would be lying if I didn’t say it hasn’t been pretty damn good so far. With the blown tag finish, this didn’t have as large of the stakes but it was important to see Benoit get a visual pin over HHH with the referee down and Michael Cole was really strong on commentary talking about how this was now an issue of pride for Benoit. I don’t have much recollection of their other singles matches throughout the years but this started that rivalry off on a good note. ***1/2

[Loss]

This was pretty great. Benoit looked awesome, but this is one of HHH's finer performances I think. He was every bit as physical as Benoit here and seemed motivated to prove he could go at the same level. For one match anyway, he could. I love the heelish stuff, like the low blow, the drop toehold into the steps and all the build to the false finish after the diving headbutt that had the crowd coming unglued. Benoit got a polite reaction coming out, but the heat really built in this the longer it went, and that's a big credit to both guys. This was put together on the fly after Eddy's injury, but to their credit, they work hard to make the main takeaway Benoit's visual tapout after the crossface and the plan seems to be to get him over at the top level. I'm curious if there will be a better WWF TV match in 2000. ***3/4

[Robert S]

So did they change the finish of this match after Eddie's injury? It's hard to believe that putting the WWF champion relatively cleanly over the WCW champion in his first match after "winning the title" was NOT plan A.

[Loss]

It was supposed to be a schmozz with "Will they get contracts?" as a hook for Monday night, with everything happening the same after that.

[cramerjason87]

Fun fast paced tv match. The structure made Benoit look good in his debut match. Getting the visual tap out made up for eating the pin.

 

I'm interested to watch how these HHH TV main events hold up because he looked decent here. When he is in control of the match he is very average but he is a good bumper and seller.

[GSR]

Jerry Lawler is a bit concerned for HHH because with DX having already defeated the Radicalz 2-0, in a situation like this Chris Benoit has got nothing to gain and nothing to lose. The two of them are nose to nose exchanging words before this one has even begun. They trade shoves, Benoit blocks a right and replies with one of his own which floors his opponent. Hunter rushes him and Benoit slaps on the crossface with ‘The Game’ wisely scrambling out and rolling to the outside. Knife edge chops by Benoit and a vicious looking elbow smash. Snap suplex and again HHH takes to the floor, but this time ‘the Crippler’ nails him with a baseball slide dropkick. He beats on him on the outside until a drop toehold sends Benoit head first into the ring steps. Triple H then whips him into the steps for good measure too. High knee for two and Lawler says how Benoit was the best the boys in Atlanta had as he was their champion and never lost the title either. Benoit starts to fire back and a clothesline drops ‘the Game’. Belly to back suplex for two. ‘The Cripper’ whips HHH chest first into the turnbuckles and three rolling belly to belly suplexes. He heads up top for the diving headbutt, but while Earl Hebner is checking on Hunter he then shoves him into the ropes causing Benoit to lose his balance. Superplex and Benoit kicks out at two. Benoit counters the pedigree with a double leg grab and then slingshots Hunter into the corner, only for Earl to be again in the way and he gets squashed by ‘the Game’. ‘Crippler crossface’, HHH taps but the referee is down. He goes to check on Hebner (who looks like he’s having a heart attack) and when Hunter comes for him he slaps the hold on a second time. This time though it’s too close to the ropes and HHH is able to force a break. Diving headbutt and Earl’s groggy again! Slow count and Triple H gets the shoulde up at the last second. Low blow, pedigree and it’s a clean sweep for DX.

 

Comfortably the best match of the three in this series tonight. A much more physical match than you would normally expect from Triple H too, almost as if he’s trying to prove he can hang with Benoit. If Benoit wasn’t ever going over here they did everything they can to make him look strong, especially with the visual tap to the crossface while the official was down. Talking of officials I’d forgot how much I hate those contrived Earl Hebner bumps and we get two of the bloody things here!

[TravJ1979]

Compared to Benoit's singles against Austin next year, this is dog shit.

[Childs]

Dog shit seems a little harsh. I really liked the beginning of this with the super-intense lock-up and the way HHH put over his panic at Benoit's quickness. Hunter's control section felt a little more paint-by-numbers, but ultimately, they did a good job setting Benoit up as a serious new player in town. His offense looked sensational as always. And the combination of HHH visually tapping and then having to cheat felt like the right finish.

[Tim Evans]

I think they did a good job making Benoit look about 20 times more of a star than the other 3 guys in the Radicalz here. HHH takes some chops and then the ref bump happens.I get that this was on the fly with the Eddy injury but they could have at least had Benoit win by DQ or something to lead to the heel turn on Monday.

[ohtani's jacket]

Triple H vs. Benoit was one of the better match-ups in 2000 but I thought Benoit got too much offense here which made the standard Triple H sequences look weak. I realize they were trying to put Benoit over strong but their work didn't really jell for me.