This is a compilation a UK trader put together, highlighting the best matches from various WWE shows in 2004. The comp goes on to look at stuff from later in the year and into 2005 as well. This review is also from my 411 archive, and a proper new review will be posted tomorrow.

Match 1 (Velocity)
Nunzio vs Akio
Kind of a bizarre choice of match here as both of these men are heels. They did some good wrestling, but of course the crowd were dead because they had nobody to cheer, but they popped for some of the big spots. Akio took a lot of risks, with several high flying moves, while Nunzio tried to keep the match grounded with submissions. Akio won it with the Yang Time off the top- **3/4

Match 2 (Raw in Japan)
Submissions Match- Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho
JR brought up that these two wrestled ten years ago in the Super J Cup in Tokyo. And again, we have a bizarre choice of match with face vs face, but this works better than heel vs heel. The usual goodness from these two, although they have been watered down from the level they were at a few years before this, and there was a break right in the middle. An awesome spot saw Jericho go for the Lionsault, but Benoit got the knees, only for Jericho to spot this in mid-air, grab Benoit’s legs and put him in the Walls of Jericho. Jericho however had to tap to the Crippler Crossface eventually- ***1/4

Match 3 (Smackdown in Japan)
Cruiserweight Title Match- Funaki (c) vs Chavo Guerrero
Funaki is massively over in his home country. Solid enough action here, with a hot crowd. Mainly mat based wrestling here, with both men also exchanging some strikes and high impact moves, but there was little high flying for a cruiserweight bout. Chavo came close on a few occasions to a victory, but there was no way Funaki was jobbing in his home country, and he got three with a Tornado DDT- **1/2

Match 4 (Smackdown)
Kurt Angle vs Marty Jannetty
This is when Marty Jannetty was going through somewhat of a career revival, which lasted all of a few weeks despite showing some fairly good wrestling skill. The two exchanged holds and counter holds early on, with neither man generally gaining control. Jannetty then took control, busting out a few high flying moves before we went to a commercial. After the break, Angle had gained control, and worked on keeping Jannetty grounded to wear him down, and did this successfully outside of a few Jannetty fightbacks. He couldn’t keep Jannetty grounded forever though, and Jannetty busted out some more high risk moves that saw him come close to three. Angle managed to put Jannetty into the Anklelock to get the submission, and end a great match- ***1/2

Match 5 (Velocity)
Paul London and Funaki vs Chavo Guerrero and Akio
This match was a prelude to London and Akio’s series, and also continued the feud between Guerrero and London. Anyway, this was solid if formulatic tag team action, with good wrestling throughout. After some back and forth early on, London was isolated by Akio and Guerrero, but they could not keep him under control and he got the tag to Funaki. After a commercial break, it was Funaki’s turn to be worked over by Akio and Guerrero, being kept on the mat and having his back worked over. Funaki got the hot tag, and London cleaned house. He then got the 450 on Akio for three- **1/2

Match 6 (Smackdown)
Six Man Tag- Akio, Chavo Guerrero and Spike Dudley vs Funaki, Paul London and Shannon Moore
A decent six man tag, with lots of quick, high flying moves. The match was going along nicely, with the faces controlling things early, then the heels gaining control, working over Paul London. Then we had complete stupidity, as some divas came out advertising No Way Out, as if the match was completely pointless. When we got to the far less important match, London made a fightback by hitting a Double Dropkick on Spike and Akio, and he got the hot tag. After that everyone went for high risk moves, with London and Moore doing Topes over the top rope. Funaki got the win in the ring with a Superkick on Spike- **1/4

Match 7 (No Way Out)
Cruiserweight Title, Six Man Elimination Match- Paul London vs Chavo Guerrero vs Akio vs Shannon Moore vs Spike Dudley vs Funaki (c)
I believe the rules here are that two start in the ring, then when one is eliminated another comes in until we are down to one wrestler, who becomes the champion. Anyway, the match wasn’t all that long to be honest. Funaki was eliminated when Spike attacked him from the apron, and London rolled him up for three. Then Funaki got revenge on Spike behind the ref’s back, and London got three on him. London and Moore then had a quick exchange before London eliminated him as well with the 450. Akio entered next, and despite some early control, a Top Rope Neckbreaker saw Akio not make the ref’s ten count. It came down to London and Chavo, with Chavo working over him and keeping him on the mat, with the occasional fightback from London. Chavo stole a victory by using the ropes on a pinfall for three. Not very exciting- **1/4

Match 8 (Velocity)
Paul London vs Akio
This is the first of a series of matches these two had on Velocity (and I believe they had one on Smackdown as well). This is also the infamous match where Akio flips London onto the ropes, his feet slip on them and he lands directly on the back of his neck, causing a “Holy Sh*t” by the announcers. I still wonder if that was a deliberate botch or an accident, as I don’t see what they were trying to do. Looking past that massive botch, the match was really good, with a lot of energy and great high flying action. They also exchanged some hard kicks that the announcers were quiet for to let us hear the impact. London got three with a sick Top Rope DDT- ***1/4

Match 9 (Velocity)
No 1 Cruiserweight Contenders Match- Paul London vs Akio
Chavo Guerrero is on commentary for this one, indicating he will likely interfere. More good wrestling from these two here, and this was a little more grounded than their first encounter (they were likely told to calm it down after London was nearly killed in the first match). The action went back and forth, and neither man really had a decisive advantage for longer than a couple of minutes before that break. Akio took control, and kept London grounded by working on his leg, then ripped the tassles off of London’s leg and beat him with it, thus proving how awesome he really is. London went for the 450, but Chavo distracted him, and this allowed Akio to get a Top Rope Hurracarana. However, London reversed the pinfall, and got three- ***

Match 10 (Smackdown)
Paul London vs Billy Kidman
Kidman is just back from injury apparently. This is also a battle of former partners and tag team champions. Decent match here, but nothing special. London was in control early with several high risk moves. However, a Dropkick out of nowhere saw Kidman take control, and he slowly worked over London, not being afraid to push the referee’s leniency. However, London made a fightback and got three with the 450- **

Match 11 (Velocity)
Paul London vs Spike Dudley
Maybe I should just change this review to Best of Paul London in WWE. London had early control, but couldn’t keep it as Spike soon got into the match. Spike cheated away, taking advantage of the ref at every opportunity. But he could not keep London down as he started firing up, stomping around that ring, and he started flying around the ring to try and get the win. Spike went for the Dudley Dog, but London reversed to a Dragon Suplex for three- **

Match 12 (Smackdown)
Paul London vs Spike Dudley vs Shannon Moore vs Funaki
This is a qualifier for the Royal Rumble. A good, energetic little four corners match, with lots of high flying but also some solid ground based offense, and I liked that it was all four at the same time rather that two on the outside and two in the ring. All four men had a chance to shine, and got in their signature moves, but the falls were broken up before any of them could get the three count. London got the 450 on Spike for three- **3/4

Match 13 (Smackdown in Japan)
No 1 Contenders Quarter Final Match- Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio w/619 Cam
I don’t know what the point of the 619 Cam is to be honest. Anyway, these two have had several great matches in the past, and this was no different: another strong match in a series that these two had together over the five years they were in WWE together. Angle tried to keep Mysterio grounded, forcing him to the mat with power and submissions. Mysterio meanwhile tried to keep the match at a fast pace, going for high flying moves as he knew he could not keep up with Angle on the mat. A commercial break hurt the flow of the match though, although despite this it was still a great, great match. Mysterio pushed Angle all the way, and came very close on several occasions to three, but Angle eventually managed to lock in the Anglelock, and that made Mysterio tap- ***3/4

Match 14 (Smackdown)
Royal Rumble Qualifier- Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero
Another really good match here. We saw some good, fast paced exchanges early on, as they exchanged counter wresting and high flying moves. Chavo took control, and slowly worked over Mysterio, using strikes, but he couldn’t keep Mysterio down, and he got frustrated. He managed to regain control, overpowering Mysterio and trying to keep him on the ground. Chavo made the mistake of going to the air, and Rey countered it, allowing him back into the match. They exchanged near falls, before Mysterio won it with a 619-Springboard Splash combo- ***1/2

Match 15
Shelton Benjamin vs Edge
Edge jumped Benjamin before the bell, attacking him on the ramp and brawling with him all around the ringside area for the opening minutes. It went into the ring, and the ref checked to ensure Benjamin could continue before beginning the match properly. And of course, that is the best time to go to a commercial. After the break, Edge was still in control, but he failed to keep Benjamin down for very long as he began to fight back with quickness and lots of strikes, and also showing lots of agility. Benjamin accidentally nails the ref, then Edge gets the Spear but the ref was out. Edge got a ladder our from under the ring, but Chris Jericho ran out and smashed it into his face, then Benjamin got a T-Bone Suplex for three- **3/4