(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle – WWE WrestleMania XX

WrestleMania XX is usually remembered for one of three things: 1) The Undertaker’s bone-chilling return as The Deadman; 2) Brock Lesnar and Goldberg having one of the biggest stinkers in modern WWE history; or 3) the main-event triple threat match between Triple H, Shawn Michaels and…a guy that some people are still debating whether he should be mentioned at all (Chris Benoit).

Because those three things were so much more memorable by comparison, everything else on WrestleMania XX’s card tends to be forgotten. This includes a big singles match between two of the best wrestlers the company had at the time which, after twenty years, still holds up incredibly well.

The Story

“Two men with nothing in common…except the desire to be champion” – Michael Cole with an astute observation.

This match came about while WWE was in panic mode in the lead-up to WrestleMania. Eddie won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at No Way Out in a great match with an even greater finish. But from there the company’s direction became a bit less clear. Lesnar was on his way out, as was his Mania opponent Goldberg. With Lesnar gone and the JBL character not even existing yet, SmackDown lacked top heels for Eddie to feud with. And since 2003 had been something of a less successful year for the company, they couldn’t risk having a singles match just on its own and without a story.

Thus to give this feud some meaning, Angle turned heel and attacked Eddie because he didn’t believe that “a former drug addict” was an appropriate role model for SmackDown. He attacked Eddie from behind, and when Eddie retaliated in kind, he was arrested at then-GM Paul Heyman’s behest. Angle then took the feud in a moralistic direction, using Eddie’s bad behavior and checkered past as a reason for people to be concerned. And Angle had all the proof he needed in the many pro-Eddie and pro-“lie, cheat, steal” signs that appeared on SmackDown at the time.

Angle called Eddie a disgrace and Paul Heyman added fuel to the fire by having Eddie face him with both hands handcuffed behind his back. Eddie was able to get the upper hand on Heyman, but then Angle came in and beat Eddie to a pulp. Angle went into WrestleMania confident thinking that the audience would “thank him later” for what he was doing to Eddie.

Backstage, though, a different picture was being painted. Angle’s neck issues were flaring up again while Eddie wasn’t drawing big house gates as top draw. I’m probably going to get some flak for this considering how much Eddie is idolized and lionized by both wrestlers and wrestling fans, but I don’t think he was a viable long-term champion. Not because of his skill and charisma or any lack thereof, but because he was better suited as the underdog challenger as opposed to the one defending his prize. His big feel-good moment at No Way Out was just that: a moment. But once things settled down and the emotional satisfaction wore off, fans weren’t all that interested in seeing him as the defending champion.

That’s why, perhaps, this match seems…off…from the very beginning. WrestleMania XX was an end-heavy show with this match taking place right after two forgettable house show-level matches and the aforementioned stinker. So it was up to Eddie and Angle to not only wake up the crowd, but give them something exciting to sink their teeth into.

The Match

This took place on March 14, 2004. It was rated **** by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is for Eddie’s WWE Championship. Angle gets a clean break in a corner to set the tone. A technical exchange gets some applause from the audience and on their next chain sequence Angle traps Eddie in a grounded headlock. Eddie escapes but the crowd’s too busy chanting for and against Angle as opposed to for Eddie. They continue grappling until Eddie sends Angle into the ropes and Angle answers with a shoulderblock. More chain wrestling ends with Eddie shoulderchecking Angle again. Eddie lands two more shoulderblocks which forces Angle to bail to ringside, leading to another stalemate.

After another stare-down the two wrestlers go to the mat once again with more impressive amateur grappling. Angle locks in a front chancery and almost lands a 2004 version of Bloody Sunday but Angle counters with an overhead suplex. Eddie follows with two armdrags and an armbar. Eddie switches to a kimura lock but Angle fights to his feet, shoots Eddie off, and lands a kneelift to the gut. Angle follows with a cobra twist but Eddie counters with a vertical suplex. He goes for Three Amigos but Angle counters with a German suplex. Eddie resists a second German so Angle tries to back suplex him out of the ring. Eddie lands on the apron and hops up to avoid a baseball slide dropkick, only for Angle to attempt a German from the apron to the floor. Eddie fights on for dear life and elbows Angle away and then hits a dropkick as Angle climbs back onto the apron. Then Eddie goes to the top rope and dives but Angle dodges, causing Eddie to hit the barricade sternum-first.

Angle shoves Eddie into the ring and covers for a two-count and then gets another near-fall off a rib-breaker. Angle follows with shoulder thrusts to Eddie’s midsection and then locks in a bodyscissor but Eddie fights out with a jawbreaker. Eddie charges but Angle flapjacks him into the top rope for another near-fall and then hits two overhead belly-to-belly suplexes for two once more. Angle applies a reverse bearhug but Eddie escapes by raking Angle’s eyes. Eddie charges but runs into another B2B. Angle only gets two so he places Eddie on the top rope. Eddie blocks a superplex with a head-butt, blocks a second with a push, and dives for a frog splash…only to eat canvas.

Angle gets up first and hits some strikes in a corner and mocks him with punches to the face. Eddie bumps around the ring but keeps fighting on. The crowd fires up as Eddie begins his comeback. He lands some short clotheslines but Angle reverses a corner whip. Eddie avoids a corner charge and lands a back suplex for two. Angle escapes another Three Amigos attempts and lands another German. Eddie counters a second German with a victory roll for two so Angle hits a big clothesline. Angle tries an Angle Slam but Eddie counters with an armdrag. Eddie hits a clothesline, ducks one of Angle’s, and lands a headscissor takedown. He lands two of the Three Amigos but Angle counters into an ankle lock. Eddie kicks him away before he can do too much damage and then lands a big dropkick. Then Eddie goes to the top rope but Angle cuts him off and lands an avalanche overhead suplex. One, two, Eddie kicks out.

Angle applies another ankle lock but Eddie counters with another victory roll for two. Angle regains control with another German suplex and goes for an Angle Slam but Eddie counters into a DDT. Eddie goes to the top rope and connects with the frog splash. One, two, and – Angle survives and Eddie looks flustered and worried. Before he can decide on his next move Angle counters back into the ankle lock. Eddie comes very close to tapping but then he rolls through and sends Angle to the floor.

As the referee checks on Angle Eddie begins untying one of his boots which Tazz expertly covers up with “his ankle may be swelling”. We actually see Eddie mouth “oh shit” as Angle rushes back into the ring. Angle reapplies his favorite hold and Eddie screams in pain. But then Eddie’s boot comes off. Angle rushes back. Eddie catches him in a small package and puts his foot against the ropes to keep Angle from rolling over. One, two, and three! Eddie beats Angle!

Winner and STILL WWE Champion after 21:30: Eddie Guerrero

Review

While it didn’t have the wildest crowd, the flashiest of moves, or the most nail-biting of drama, there was something smart and witty about this match. It wasn’t a spot-fest, a wild brawl, a hossfest, or even that emotional of a story. Instead, it was a one-off that had an interesting dynamic and a one-of-a-kind finish which played off pretty much everything that happened beforehand. It’s extremely hard to be well and truly innovative and unique in a medium as repetitive as pro-wrestling. This becomes even more challenging when one tries to balance being unique and creative with believability. But that’s where Eddie shined: so many of his peers have lauded him for being both creative and smart. And with Angle as his dancing partner, he was able to deliver one of the best matches of the year, at least in WWE.

The ending fit the story perfectly. Angle out-wrestled and out-countered Eddie at pretty much every turn. Even though Eddie had an answer for almost every move of Angle’s, it was still much harder for Eddie to hit anything on Angle whereas Angle had an easy time controlling Eddie. One by one each of Eddie’s biggest moves failed to get the job done. His signature and finishing moves only got two-counts so he was left to come up with something unique and on the spot that also fit both the story of the match and the story between him and Angle. His solution was to cheat – in keeping with his character – but not in a blatant or overly underhanded sort of way. He used Angle’s own finisher against him and when Angle rushed him out of frustration Eddie was able to land a perfect small package and win in a way that was surprising and decisive but not emphatic or too underhanded. Had he won by DQ, hit a low blow behind the ref’s back, or otherwise cheated more blatantly then the finish wouldn’t have been as satisfying.

As for the journey to that finish, it wasn’t all that bad either. The somewhat deflated crowd wasn’t all that much of a factor anyway so if you were to watch this match without volume then the lack of crowd heat/noise wouldn’t impact your viewing experience. The slower parts at the start were by design because Angle wanted to control Eddie and do things at his pace. Angle looked strong as a challenger and remained strong in defeat. They didn’t go overboard with unbelievable near-falls and instead built to a few that were believable. Both guys remained even with each other until the final moments while also making it obvious that Angle was the man to beat. And while it wasn’t as much of a pure competition as Angle’s WM19 match with Lesnar or his dream match with Michaels at WM21, it was still an impressive performance given Angle’s considerable limitations and the amount of pain he was in at the time.

Final Rating: ****3/4

I’ve seen countless so-called classic wrestling matches and many of them feature so many of the same repeated spots, sequences, moves, gimmicks, and ideas. For someone to be able to contribute something truly new to a medium that has only a finite amount of possibilities before believability gets thrown out the window is something worth admiring and remembering and Eddie Guerrero was such a person. And while Kurt Angle more than did his part to make this match into something special, it reached that upper level of greatness thanks to Eddie and not Angle, which is something Angle himself has recognized before.

“Eddie was in his prime in WCW and the reason I say that is because he got in a car accident. That car accident did two things for him. It really inhibited what he could do after that. He could still do a lot, but not like he used to. I used to watch him in WCW and be like, ‘wow, this kid’s incredible.’ But he almost couldn’t walk again after that accident. As good as he was in 2004, 2005, he had to be ten times better back then. That’s mind-blowing. Eddie had it all. He was so entertaining, but he also had all the technique. He was such a great wrestler and he got it. He got finishes. He knew how to structure them.” – Kurt Angle on Guerrero’s skills as a wrestler

Matches like this are why Eddie Guerrero is still remembered so fondly almost two decades after his untimely and premature death. His creativity was more important than his technical precision or his athleticism. Even though he was past his physical prime compared to the stuff he did in the 1990s he compensated for this with a slew of great ideas that made him so much more interesting. Even if he wasn’t putting on “bangers” on a weekly basis he still made almost every match of his must-see because there was no way of knowing whether his tricks would work or not.

At the end of the day pro-wrestlers are storytellers mixed with athletes. Some wrestlers put more stock into the athletic part while others put more weight onto being able to tell a story effectively. Eddie Guerrero was one of the rare few that exceled in both and looking back it’s so unfortunate that we never got more of him when he was at his creative peak.

Thanks for reading.