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2004 was a year of massive change for WWE SmackDown. From Brock Lesnar's departure to the emergence of new superstars, we uncover the most significant moments, forgotten matches, and risky segments that defined the era.
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00:002004 could be described as the year of John Cena. He had gone from almost fired in 2002 to becoming
00:05the man two years later. And yes, as Cena has said, a huge reason for this was Brock Lesnar
00:09decided to leave the company. We had some holes to fill. You also get the return of the dead man
00:13and in many ways a very significant line being drawn between Raw and SmackDown. You want to
00:17talk about the B-Show? Well, I think Vince McMahon certainly made that call. So what can we learn
00:21from all the blue brand shows in 2004? I'm Simon Miller. Let's fight out.
00:25Number nine, the risk of all risks. November 4th, SmackDown. WWE was doing their on-the-show
00:30Tough Enough segments and basically bullying potential new recruits to see how they'd
00:34handle themselves. One of these has become super famous because it was when Kurt Angle challenged
00:38any of the contestants to get in the ring and basically scrap with him for real. Now, WWE
00:42thought they'd foolproof this as the Tough Enough guys had been run ragged or they'd been blown up
00:47so much. How could they possibly ever compete with Olympic gold medalist, even if Kurt Angle at the
00:51time was a little bit beaten up? Sadly for him, it was MMA trained Daniel Puder who accepted this
00:56war and man, he decided to go all in. I assume Kurt was never planning to go 100% so
01:00Puder took
01:01advantage of that and he actually got Angle in the Kimura lock. If he had sunk that in properly,
01:05who knows where we'd be and Kurt had to think fast. He sort of rolled Daniel onto his shoulders in
01:10the
01:10most devastating move in all of sports entertainment, the surprise roll-up as the referee thought,
01:13you know what, I'm going to do a quick one, two, three. This was a panic situation to save a
01:17lot
01:17of blushes and Angle erupted afterwards too. He felt like this rookie had gone into business for
01:22himself. The real silliness was WWE even thinking they should do this. You're a predetermined product,
01:28damn it, don't leave things to chance. Like all of us, all of a sudden forgot that brawl for all
01:32mess. It really would have been bad for Angle too because he was a legit shooter and the novices
01:36were presented exactly as that. Novices. I'm sure we would have figured it out, but let's just agree
01:40Kurt getting the pin was far better than the alternative, at least for Daniel Puder.
01:448. The Eddie Forgotten Frog Splash
01:47Today when somebody does something crazy, it's often criticised because the business moves on
01:51so fast it doesn't mean anything. We all stop talking about it. Well actually, that's nothing
01:54new because wrestlers were falling foul to this back in 2004. It was a great year for Eddie Guerrero
01:59because he broke out as one of WWE's biggest stars and his title win at No Way Out against
02:03Brock Lesnar is all time. If you want to feel warm and fuzzy in your tum tum, it's right here.
02:07Eddie's first port of call was to turn the newly dubbed JBL into a mega heel though,
02:11so as a true professional he got right on that. Some of their matches were
02:14absolute bloodbast you wouldn't believe today. On the 15th of July, WWE wanted them to end their
02:19feud so booked them in a cage match on SmackDown. I just feel like this isn't remembered enough
02:23anyway, but towards the end Guerrero does climb up to the top and yep, he ruins Bradshaw with a
02:28splash of the frogs. You can see Eddie takes that bump hard as well. It could be selling,
02:32but good grief he looks in pain. Kurt Angle would interfere to help JBL win and maybe that's why
02:36we don't speak of this bump enough. It's not as bonkers as say a Mick Foley, but it is still
02:40huge high-risk move that can always go wrong. So basically, this one deserves more praise and
02:44that's why I'm here. Make sure you throw it in as and when insane bumps get brought up for seven,
02:49the other ready matches. Honestly. Guerrero was so good throughout the 2004 period and I suppose
02:53in hindsight was the peak of his WWE career. Right after No Way Out as the WWE Champion,
02:58he wrestled nephew Chavo and quite clearly given their bond, they knew the deal. We need Eddie to
03:03feel like a beast and they wrestled their asses off. It's like watching WCW from 1997.
03:07Kurt Angle was a special guest referee because him and Guerrero were at odds and yet it's the
03:11forgotten match between these two that we also need to give more love. On the 2nd of September,
03:15they have a 2 out of 3 falls bout and it's so good. And I understand why we talk about
03:19Kurt
03:19versus Eddie from WrestleMania 20, but this one is also worthy of your eyes. They almost go 30 minutes
03:25before Angle wins 2 to 1 and I tell you, so many people don't even know this exists because it's
03:29another one that really gets talked about. It's basically a ghost. So let's change that.
03:33Check out both today. You will not be disappointed.
03:36Number 6, The Draft
03:37So we hinted at this during the intro and yes, for whatever reason, Vince McMahon went big on Raw
03:42and sort of sold SmackDown off as a joke. This is mostly due to the now long shared skit of
03:47Triple
03:47H being moved to the blue brand, reacting like he was offended before coming back to Raw before the
03:52evening was done. So yes, it was a troll. No disrespect to the following list either,
03:56but they just weren't major stars because WWE didn't treat them that way. Therefore,
04:00having Rene Dupree, Mark Jindraq and Spike Dudley as your big shift to SmackDown didn't work,
04:05the audience hadn't been programmed to care. Rob Van Dam and the Dudleys were way better,
04:09but they still weren't Triple H levels and the whole draft had been centered around the game.
04:13You could also see it on the show itself too. The wrestlers busted their asses,
04:16but the creator was always more focused on what was happening on Mondays. Wrestlers would fall out
04:20about this backstage too. Talked about it a lot. Number 5, The 14th of October Brawl.
04:25You will never recall this match just from the date. JBL was still the WWE champion and he took on
04:31Hardcore Holly. The world title was on the line too for some reason. I think mostly as this was
04:35recorded in Manchester, WWE wanted to give something to the UK crowd. It also could be
04:40why they beat the skin off each other because good grief. You'd think it was their last ever match
04:44they're so stiff and even the punches, they just hit each other. Why not, I suppose? If you need a
04:49comparison, think back to what Bradshaw did with Finlay at WrestleMania 24. It's war. You've got to
04:53give it to JBL because he sells this like he's in real trouble, which is the art of a good
04:56heel.
04:57And it could be Holly's best ever WWE appearance too. And even Bradshaw lackey Orlando Jordan at
05:02ringside works. Of course, he takes some shots. It's a fight. The share shot to Hardcore is most
05:06definitely not cool today, but it's a different world back then and allow JBL to win in controversial
05:11fashion. Still, if you're looking for a surprise find, you just found it. Number 4, John Cena earned
05:16his spot. I mean, it is really obvious. It's not like management just changed their mind and pushed
05:20John Cena. The man is just improving constantly throughout 2004 and he ain't even Super Cena yet.
05:25He's a dude fighting for his position, hence why the fans love him. They couldn't feel it.
05:29At WrestleMania 20, he does win the US title from the big show as well, so the audience could believe.
05:33And before long, he's basically the focal point of SmackDown. Thank goodness for that as well,
05:37because man, they needed it. John does few with Rene Dupree, which you don't need to go back to,
05:41but his best of five series with Booker T is actually very good. Felt like both guys needed each
05:45other. And you get that shock title loss to Carlito in October, which happens on TV.
05:50Men, it just keeps you guessing. Sadly, yes, that did then lead to that stabbing angle,
05:54courtesy of Jesus. But in 2004, WWE was still obsessed with pushing this envelope.
05:58And before long, you can smell it in the air. John Cena is on the path to the top.
06:03His confidence grows too, starts taking some chances. The true flinging to the top of the
06:07card is when he did move to Raw in 2005, but 2004 is also his year. Without him,
06:12the blue brand would have been painfully thin. Number three, Kenzo Suzuki.
06:16Now, we don't need anything else in that title other than his name, because that sums it up.
06:20Kenzo Suzuki? I have no idea what WWE was thinking or what they wanted to do.
06:25But it could have started terribly, as WWE did pitch this horrendously offensive gimmick
06:29that you can read about. But even that was canned at the last minute. I mean,
06:32when Vince McMahon knows, it's bad. The issue there is they have no plan before Suzuki,
06:36so he debuts on SmackDown and does nothing. Less than nothing. He randomly gets put with Bully
06:41Gunn for no reason. And then he was tagging with Rene Dupree. Why? Don't know. He just wasn't
06:46right for WWE style, and they were never going to let him be how he was in Japan,
06:49because they got their playbook. Now, I do appreciate the creative team expanding the
06:53roster and keeping it fresh, but you have to have an idea. Can't just roll people into the ring,
06:57and nobody could have survived this either. If he'd been taken off the show,
07:01I don't think anybody would have noticed. I don't get it at all.
07:04Number two, the dead biker man. You really do have to give it to The Undertaker when it comes to
07:09gimmicks, because when he made his transition to the biker version, there were actually elements of the
07:12dead man when he did flip back, so he did it in reverse. Because at WrestleMania 20,
07:16he went full-on fiend arm as he took on Brother Kane, and man, I tell you, that was awesome.
07:20The teasing, the hints, the fans were excited. We timed this exactly right. However, on the 18th
07:25of March SmackDown, he was actually treading all of the boards, because even after dropping Paul
07:28Heyman with a tombstone, yes, he was still wearing the biker bandana. So sure, Paul Bearer was back
07:34by his side, but we weren't just forgetting the past. I think that's the best way to treat it,
07:38you merge it together. Heyman and Eddie sell that like magic too, so I suppose he has more
07:42power than we mortals realize. Or maybe it could be that the real-life Mark Calloway was still
07:46grabbing out his hair. It's one of the two. At the same time, The Undertaker would also wear the
07:50long trench coat when he was the biker and do the eye roll. So maybe there was always meant to
07:55be
07:55a wink and a nod. Number one, the rise of JBL. And how impressive it is. On this same 18th
08:01of March
08:02show, Bradshaw and Farouk lose to Rikishi and Scotty do Hottie when going for the tag titles.
08:06Beforehand, General Manager Paul Heyman had threatened to fire Ron Simmons if they were unsuccessful,
08:10and of course Ron was mad. When Bradshaw then decided he wanted to stay on the show,
08:14Simmons was even more upset so they did break up. That's a bit weird, especially because they had
08:19broken up before. By the 25th of March, Bradshaw had redesigned himself into JBL, and yes, went on
08:25about being a financial powerhouse in the world. It was quite jarring because clearly this was meant
08:29to get him to the top, and by May he was working with Eddie Guerrero for the WWE title. When
08:34you
08:34jump to June, he was the world champion, and while it took some time, gotta be honest here,
08:38it did work. He was one of the best heels in the company at the time, so look at that
08:42turnaround.
08:43Bradshaw took the pin in that tag team loss a few months prior, now he was at the tippity top.
08:48If I were to make a guess based on this, I don't think WWE actually planned it in,
08:52just took off like a bird. It's not like it started with a bang either, and instead JBL just figured
08:57it
08:57out, and then he put the time in. He had that belt for ages too, which nobody did back then,
09:02so it just goes to show, you never know, and that rhymes, so it must be true.
09:07Know of anything about 2004 that you would like to talk about in the comments? Then make sure you
09:10do drop us a note down there before you like the video, share the video, and subscribe. And also,
09:14if you'd like more knowledge about wrestling, click the video on the screen. Otherwise,
09:17my friends, thank you so much for joining me, I do appreciate it, and I will talk to you again
09:21soon.