In many ways, the rivalry between Triple H and Shawn Michaels epitomized the peaks and valleys of WWE's creative throughout the early 2000's. Shawn's triumphant return, plus a revitalized Hunter playing the dastardly heel, lead to a spectacular display in their SummerSlam 2002 clash, turning what was intended to be a wrestling cameo for Shawn into another full-time run in the business. But the mood would sour within months, as online naysayers began to express disgruntlement with how the saga following SummerSlam played out. Triple H spent an eternity in the world title scene, frequently putting viewers to sleep on Monday night with his long-winded promos and formulaic, drawn-out matches, while the still beloved Michaels was sent to the midcard, staying away from his supposed blood rival. Their match at Armageddon 2002 received a mixed reception, while their Last Man Standing bout at the 2004 Royal Rumble was significantly more exciting, but the draw finish was roundly ridiculed by both the live crowd and those watching at home. It was clearly long past the time to wrap this up, and after almost two years of staying in each other's orbit, Michaels and Triple H would work their seemingly endless hatred inside Hell in a Cell. Despite the divisive nature of their previous clashes, optimism was warranted this time around, as these two had each played their part in outstanding Cell matches in the past, and would surely pull out all the stops to make this a grandiose occasion.
- Bad Blood 2004 comes to you from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, previously seen on this blog for King of the Ring 2002. Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler are on the call.
- The Undercard: Edge and Chris Benoit teamed up to challenge La Resistance for the World Tag Team Championships, winning via DQ after Kane attacked Benoit; Chris Jericho continued his feud with Christian and Trish Stratus by defeating their lackey, Tyson Tomko; Randy Orton retained his Intercontinental Championship against Shelton Benjamin, hooking the tights after a Benjamin crossbody; Trish pinned Lita with a roll-up in a four-way match also involving Victoria and Gail Kim to win the Women's Championship; Eugene trounced Jonathan Coachman in a comedy squash; lastly, Chris Benoit escaped the challenge of Kane, pinning the monster's shoulders to the mat with a La Magistral Cradle to retain his World Heavyweight Championship.
- Thoughts and Analysis: This was a surprisingly entertaining lead-up to the main attraction. Edge and Benoit livened the crowd up by tossing around Sylvain Grenier and Robert Conway, with Kane's attack at the end setting the stage for the bruising battle over the world title, where Benoit chopped down the giant, delivering a gutsy win through his in-ring intellect, which is an excellent narrative to make him inherently likeable. Shelton's performance in the IC title match was inspiring, as though the action did take a while to pick up, he went on a wild run before the finish, with a crazy leap into a shoulder block and a big double splash to both Orton and Flair rallying the crowd to his side. It's clear that the WWE could push Shelton as a world championship contender immediately and the fans would be on-board, he's gotten crazy over. The Jericho-Tomko and women's title matches were nothing outstanding, though I thought Jericho put in an admirable shift trying to get the most out of Tomko. Eugene's performance was the biggest shock, as while the gimmick is definitely in poor taste, his antics and pure wrestling skill won me, and the masses in the live crowd, right over. WWE's sense of comedy is as hit-or-miss as it gets, but there were a number of moments that legitimately charmed me. Coach continuing to run the ropes for ages after Eugene bailed on a crisscross was the highlight, and you can tell that the fans are hooked when Garrison Cade tearing up Eugene's stuffed animal garnered tangible heat and loud boos, which turned into a sizeable pop for Eugene's Rock Bottom and People's Elbow that ended it. This match, and everything else on the undercard, had absolutely no reason to be this good, but the first two hours of the night were a blast.
- Main event time, as Triple H and Shawn Michaels enter Hell in a Cell. I'll say this right now, even the most caffeine-packed mug of coffee won't keep your eyes from dropping during this one, it was a difficult watch. It started out well enough, as the first half hour primarily focused on Triple H exploiting Shawn's bad back like the cunning a-hole he's so great at portraying. The sequence where Hunter started non-stop ramming Shawn's back off the ringpost and Cell wall was an excellent usage of the environment in building the psychology of a wrestling match, and everything Hunter does feels like it has a distinctive purpose. Shawn is aimless on offense, and gets spotty with his selling, as you can tell he's phoning this one in to some extent. Shawn's elbow drop off a ladder through a table was the best spot of the match, and it woke the crowd up. That really should've been the finish, but instead they drag on. The final 5-10 minutes are agonizing, with very little happening until Shawn kicks out of a Pedigree, which was at least the beginning of a spark. The crowd wanted a Shawn win so badly, but it's snatched away in cruel fashion, as Hunter kicks out of the Sweet Chin Music, and lands two straight Pedigrees to win clean. This was a complete waste of one of the greatest comebacks in the history of pro wrestling, ending in undisputed victory for the main villain, for some reason. It's a deflating and disheartening way to pay off two years of story-telling, and it felt unworthy of being in the Cell.
7/10
Despite how awful the final minutes of the main event were, Bad Blood greatly exceeded my expectations on the whole. Edge, Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, Eugene, and Chris Jericho all carried the action as beloved babyfaces, as it's clear that Raw is stacked on that side of the coin right now. I can't say any of the first six matches were an outright classic, but they were far more entertaining than the show's closer, which is easily skippable.
- Henry
Comments