Eddie Guerrero vs Brock Lesnar (WWE - 2/15/2004)

YES. this is probably going to be on my list. I'd put this as Lesnar's best match in his initial run. The match tells a great story thats easy to follow and makes it easy to get behind Eddie.

To me this is the Ultimate Feel Good match in WWE history. In a promotion that built its success on heroes vanquishing villains of all shapes and sizes, is there a more uplifting story of Eddie vanquishing his personal demons for one night and breaking through the unspoken size limitations to become THE MAN of the WWE. That post-match celebration is the best of all time. I love Eddie and this is a crowning achievement. No one can ever take this away from him. Oh yeah, before I forget, Brock Lesnar is fucking awesome and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Just an absolute beast and one of the best heels ever.

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero - No Way Out 2004

The ultimate feel good moment in WWE History. I am so glad I was able to watch this live thanks to my Dad's cable box scrambler. Eddie Guerrero will always be one of my favorites. We all know the story, people like Eddie dont win the big one. He is just too small, but goddamn his personality is larger than life. His energy is infectious. His smile can light up an arena of 20,000 people. He is what a pro wrestler should be. Then on the other side of the ring, you got the Man! I love Brock! I am such a Brock mark. Shoot credentials, powerhouse with explosive quickness. It was all on display here. Two of the best ever just putting on a clinic that stayed true to their unique characters.

There was no shine. Brock was just a dominant champion. He was throwing Eddie around at will, treating him like a ragdoll. Every Eddie comeback was met with a kneelift and then a violent throw. I loved that high knee into the corner. He basically made Eddie take his full weight. The announcers put over that the match was over before it even started. So many times they want to feed us that power vs speed story but Tazz outright says it Brock Lesnar is faster than Eddie. I love the brutal honesty. Brock Lesnar is a cocky shoot fighter and he is toying with Eddie. So what strategy does have Eddie at his disposal, well he goes the Mutoh/Tanahashi route. Mutoh/Tanahashi constantly fight wrestlers that are better them in a kayfabe sense Hashimoto/Nagata/Nakamura, but they negate their natural advantage by targeting the knee. Injure a body part you take away weapons and give yourself an opening. So Eddie drags Brock's leg over to the ringpost. Want to know why Brock is one of the greatest of all time watch how much he struggles to avoid this. Eddie gets his way wrapping the knee around the ringpost, but Brock is still a beast and uses pure leg strength to slam Eddie into the ring post. Thats the middle part of the match. Eddie trying to make use of this new opening and Brock cutting him off at the pass. I love that it takes so much for Eddie to EARN his advantage. Brock is a monster it is going to take a lot to keep him down. Brock is taunting Eddie & the fans by marching around with him in a musclebuster or going for a military press, but pride comes before the fall. Eddie wriggles free and hits the dropkick to the knee, but Brock lunges at him with a monster lariat. Brock just keeps coming with those suplexes. This is the original suplex city match. Brock goes for another crazy high knee, but Eddie moves and Brock takes a nasty tumble over the top rope all the way to the floor. As always we should take a moment to appreciate Brock the Bumper because goddamn if he is not one of the greatest bumpers of all time. I love he takes two hurricanranas from Eddie no problem and makes them look great. Eddie hits a plancha. Brock comes up limping, but Eddie still cant win total control as Brock is still ferocious. It was only as Brock mounted Eddie and told him he was nuthin that Eddie finally looked like he had a chance. He applies a VICIOUS heel hook. That was some RINGS shit right there. Then he applies an STF to a TREMENDOUS POP! Damn, I would never think the STF would be so over. You could tell in that moment the Cow Palace realized Eddie might have a chance. The rest of the match becomes about Brock trying to survive all these Eddie submissions. Brock was using kneelifts and throws to set up holds. The idea being to use the holds to sap energy and regain his own, but his leg was in a bad way. He was not as in control anymore. However, Eddie had injured Brock's knee, but he had not yet hit a home run to garner a pinfall. He crashed and burned on a missile dropkick attempt and a Frogsplash. Brock had a bloody nose from turnbuckle shot was clearly frustrated and was yelling at Eddie to "just die" (not exactly great in retrospect). He was rolling him into bridged pins but seemed to be running out of gas. Michael Cole does a great job putting over the heart of Eddie Guerrero. I am such a sucker for that story because it means we all got a chance in this world. Doesnt matter if you are the strongest, smartest, best looking, but if you believe enough and work hard enough, you can do it. Thats why this match seems so much to me and all wrestling fans. Brock Lesnar hits the F-5 but wipes out the ref. It looks like doomsday for our hero until Goldberg spears the hell out of Brock. They give Eddie enough offense after this that it does not feel too cheap. Eddie hits the tornado DDT on the belt and then Frogsplash to a MASSIVE POP! Has there ever been a better post-match celebration? Woooooooooo! This match always puts a huge smile on my face. If you ever feel blue, this is the match to watch it will make you feel like anything is possible. ****3/4