10 Times WWE C-Shows Were AMAZING

4. Jamie Noble Vs. Rey Mysterio - Velocity, April 27, 2004

Daniel Bryan William Regal Superstars 2011
WWE

A devotee of Chris Benoit, himself a devotee of Dynamite Kid, it is tempting to write off Jamie Noble as a diluted imitation of two groundbreaking performers. He lacked the true brilliance to continue that lineage—possibly for the best, given their respective, grim fates—Jamie “by God” Noble nonetheless was a d*mn good performer who lit up the C-show circuit at a time when the A shows were…not very good at all.

Within minutes, Noble and an in-form Rey Mysterio built a tense and absorbing contest. Mysterio, the flier, ground Noble early. In another unexpected development, Noble, the technician, bamboozled Rey and dazzled the crowd with a gorgeous cartwheel escape into a crunching suplex transition. Rey responded immediately by teleporting onto Noble’s shoulders. The crowd responded with shrieks of admiration.

Seduced, Rey and Noble took their time to let the effects of the match register, in turn injecting a sense of emotion (and attendant heat) into what was nominally pitched as a throwaway athletic contest to unglue the crowd before SmackDown.

This was more than that.

Smashing both the remit and the sh*t out of one another, Noble steamrolled through Rey, who sold the onslaught with his underrated selling mastery. Inspiring the crowd by finding tiny pockets of space with which to escape that onslaught, Mysterio raised the volume with a series of well-earned near-fall kick-outs.

Mysterio won an awesome match that somehow wasn’t ruled a no-contest after smearing Noble’s face off with a sick corner dropkick.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!