#52: Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero, WWE Smackdown (9/26/2002).
This is a No Disqualification Match.
There may be no two other people from this era who benefited from it than Edge and Eddie Guerrero. One was one of the best up and coming singles stars in the company, and the other was a man who had been working at his craft for a long time, and was on the cusp of a main event run. Present day, you can easily make a case for these two being among the best to ever do it.
These two had been feuding for a bit, having great matches at SummerSlam in August, and Unforgiven just four days before this. This is the blow off match for that feud. To make things definite, it is held under No DQ.
Fun fact: Depending on my mood, I prefer the Rob Zombie theme over the Alter Bridge theme for Edge.
The bell rings, and they lock immediately. Eddie is quick to strike, with repeated punches and a back elbow. Shoulder tackle by Eddie, and Edge monkey flips Eddie across the ring. Edge hammerlocks the arm and brings Eddie to the mat. Eddie gets back to his feet and sends Edge into the corner, driving his shoulders into the ribs. Eddie dives over the top and forces the face across the ropes. Edge responds with a high back body drop, followed by a dropkick.
Big powerslam, and an elbow to the sternum for 2. Edge hyperextends the arm next. Eddie with an enziguri to the back of the head. Several hard punches by Latino Heat follow, and a big suplex for a nearfall. Eddie locks in the dreaded rear chin lock. Edge fights his way back to his feet, and he punches his way out of it. Forearm by Eddie, and a high scoop slam by Edge. Edge goes to the top rope, and Eddie meets him up there. Big top rope superplex by Eddie.
Edge tries for a back body drop, and Eddie lands on the shoulders of Edge, who drops him throat first on the ropes. Eddie is on the outside, and Edge pulls a ladder out from underneath the ring. Edge goes to strike Eddie with the ladder, but he accidentally hits the referee. Eddie grabs a chair, and smashes Edge across the back. Back in the ring, Eddie with another chair shot to Edge, this time to the ribs. Eddie goes for the Frog Splash, and Edge avoids it at the last second.
After the commercial, Eddie is back on the offensive, striking the holy hell out of Edge in the corner. Eddie jumps onto Edge’s back and locks in a sleeper hold. Edge escapes and hits a Faceplant to Eddie for a 2 count. Edge goes to the middle rope, and Eddie is right back up. He meets him there, and hits a hurricanrana to the mat, and Edge somehow kicks out. Eddie grabs the hands, and starts strikes to the elbow of Edge. Very smart. Eddie, with the hand still locked, walks up the turnbuckle for a hurricanrana, and Edge counters into a sit out powerbomb.
Edge grabs the ladder from the outside, and brings it into the ring. Eddie dropkicks the ladder back into Edge. Eddie goes to the outside, and grabs another from underneath the ring. Eddie uppercuts Edge, causing him to fall onto one of the ladders. Eddie places the other on top of Edge, and he leap frogs into the ring from the apron onto the ladders, absolutely crushing Edge in between. Eddie sets the ladder up, and he climbs to the top. Edge is back up, and he climbs it as well. Eddie hits a huge Sunset Flip into a Powerbomb to Edge off the ladder! Wow. The fans are losing their minds. Eddie crawls into a cover, and Edge kicks out.
Eddie places the ladder against the corner, and lays Edge against it. He runs into Edge, who counters by back flipping Eddie into the ladder, and it is a nasty fall on Eddie’s neck.
Edge sets up the other ladder in the corner and begins the climb. Eddie is back up, and he strikes the kidney. He then climbs up, and both men are on the top. Edge smashes Eddie’s face against the ladder. He then hits a gnarly Edgecution off the ladder to Eddie, and that’s enough for the 3! What a fantastic TV match. These two always had amazing chemistry, and through my research, I found out that, aside from Royal Rumble matches, they only shared the ring together in 2002. That’s wild to think about.
They used the No DQ stipulation smartly here. Nothing was overdone, and when they did rely on high spots, they actually meant something. That is something modern wrestling can learn from. This was an amazing grudge match between two top level performers, and one of the best matches ever on free television.