Well, this is going to be a difficult year to talk about. There will be a fair amount of discussion about Chris Benoit in this list because 2004 was the year of Chris Benoit. If that isn’t something you want to read, it won’t hurt my feelings.
That being said, there were a number of excellent pay-per-view matches in WWE in 2004. It shouldn’t be shocking, considering this was the year WWE used Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit on top.
WWE wasn’t as popular as it once was but great matches are still great matches.
These are the eleven best WWE pay-per-view matches of 2004.
11. Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle – SummerSlam
Everyone remembers the WWE Championship match Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle had at WrestleMania XX. However, it seems no one ever brings up their rematch at SummerSlam 2004.
It was a month after Guerrero had lost the WWE Championship but a match with one of his greatest rivals was a solid consolation prize. He did lose by submission, however.
Whereas Guerrero was able to escape Angle’s Ankle Lock at WrestleMania, he had no such luck here. SummerSlam 2004 doesn’t get brought up a lot by WWE for Benoit-related reasons but this was a really good match that should be revisited.
10. Chris Benoit vs. Triple H – Vengeance
Chris Benoit’s World Heavyweight Championship reign didn’t see him put in the spotlight as much as fans would have hoped at the time. Triple H was still the focus of Raw during the reign, feuding with Shawn Michaels in main events.
At Vengeance 2004, Benoit and Triple H met for the World title again. The work itself was very good as could be expected from these two but the handicaps kept it from being truly great.
Eugene was involved which is never a good start to any sentence. Eugene cost Triple H the match which is just a weird way to book a match where Benoit was your World Champion. If you ignore the finish it was a very good match, but that can be hard to do.
9. Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL – Judgment Day
Eddie Guerrero and JBL’s feud in 2004 remains infamous years later. JBL crossed many lines insulting Guerrero’s family and heritage but at Judgment Day we were treated to one of the bloodiest matches in WWE history.
JBL hit Guerrero with a chair and Guerrero began to bleed. And bleed. And Bleed. Guerrero got his shots in on JBL as well and by the end, both men had painted the mat scarlet with their blood.
The work was very heated and this was probably the best match JBL ever had. It is a shame that Guerrero’s one pay-per-view title defense after WrestleMania ended in a DQ but the match warranted it for the story.
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