11) Rey v. Eddie Guerrero (Halloween Havoc, 10/26/97; Mask v. Title Match)- 8
This match is 13 minutes and change. Take it and compare it to most any other 13 minute match and this one gets more out of the 13 minutes it goes than any other that you will find. There's high spots galore, there's hate, there's passion, there's an underdog story and there's a historic title change. It's brilliance on canvas. Eddie always seems to work better when he's using; it's a simple fact and I hate it but it's there. He is a crazy bump freak for Rey in this and Rey is doing things he's never attempted before here and hitting them like a master. Eddie senses he's on the short end of the stick and attempts to rip the mask off of Rey even if he loses which makes for a good bit of drama. This is never dull and will go down as one of the best juniorweight matches in the history of the business.
12) Rey v. Eddie Guerrero (World War 3, 11/23/97)- 6
This wasn't at all like the last match: Guerrero wasn't his usual aggressive self but the in ring work was still good. Rey was selling everything very well, like he was tiring out from the increase in damage throughout, getting slower and such. Guerrero was just on top of his game, controlling the pace and flow of the action. The finish didn't build at all; Eddie just hit the frog splash and pinned him.
13) Rey v. Chris Jericho (Souled Out, 01/15/98)- 7
This was a fun match mainly because it was Jericho's coming out party, so to speak, with the big finale of his heel turn. Rey's knee was injured coming into it so Jericho had a lot of nasty things to do with it, like throwing Rey into the stairs knee first, kicking it nonchanlantly and stuff. Rey's comebacks were few and far between but his selling was pretty good. The finish worked; Caught Rey in a Liontamer from the top buckle while trying a hurricanrana. Good stuff.
14) Rey v. Juventud Guerrera (WCW Thunder, 01/05/98)- 6
This was another very competitive match between these two. The cool thing is they are both so light, they can pull off power moves against each other and it looks good. Rey was hitting standing hurricanranas that were just breathtaking. They took a nasty tumble over the top rope at one point in a car crash spot; this was another title win for Rey. Plus they were at that gnarly old Thunder set with the mountain wall in the background.
15) Rey v. Psychosis (RoadWild, 08/08/98)- See RoadWild 1998 Review
16) Rey v. Blitzkrieg (WCW Monday Nitro, 02/09/99)- 5
Blitzkrieg was a crazy competitor; he looks like a PA indy worker in a goofy getup but the guy is quick and does some outrageous dives, even showing Rey up with a huge crossbody from the top buckle to the outside about halfway in. These guys matched up very well and put on a high flying clinic; would have liked to seen more time to work a decent match though.
17) Rey v. Chavo Guerrero (Smackdown, 07/25/02)- 4
These guys would have much, much better matches down the line. This was basically a forum for Rey to show off what he could do, but immediately you notice how much bigger he is; muscles, chest, he's just a larger man than he was during WCW. The "six-nineteen" as Tazz calls it looks impressive, especially if it's the first time he had used it, but there's little else going on here, besides some really bad Chavo stalling.
18) Rey v. Kurt Angle (Summerslam, 08/25/02)- 7
You could see the look on Angle's face when he was walking down the aisle he was about to work his ass off and he did. He was working at Rey's pace and it blew me away, like Jean Grey at the end of X2. Really awesome counters and transitions from technical to lucha spots to big bumps. This match really worked and was moving at a breakneck pace all the way up until the finish.
19) Rey v. Matt Hardy (Smackdown, 06/05/03)- 6
This had a big match feel, as much as you can do it with the Cruiserweight belt. Rey was injured (again) and Hardy was playing cocky heel too well(it's the reason i prefer him over Jeff; he has more range as a performer) along with his MF'ers Shannon Moore and Crash Holly at ringside to pull of devious sneak attacks. Hardy's offense and Rey's selling went like peanut butter and chocolate, smooth and worth the price. The finish was big and I only wish there wasn't so much ref involvement, like a ref bump, and fighting with Hardy's tag alongs.
20) Rey v. Tajiri (Smackdown, 01/01/04)- 6
This match was structured very much like the last one; this time we had Tajiri's Yakuza of Jimmy Yang and Keiji Sakoda at ringside interfering at will. Rey was healthy in this one and Tajiri was especially nasty with the kicks here. He bumps for Rey's offense quite well, but he's not the best seller. He always makes that strange face like he's snarling or something. But their chemistry was pretty stellar so this match was another treat.
21) Rey v. Chavo Guerrero (Great American Bash, 06/27/04)- See Great American Bash 2004 review
No comments:
Post a Comment