100 Greatest WWE Matches Of All Time (Ranked)
50. Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL (Judgment Day 2004)
Admittedly, a hodgepodge DQ finish sullied how some folks felt about Judgment Day 2004's main event for a long time. Weirdly, select critics just didn't like it at the time because JBL was involved. If everyone's being honest, and after calming down from the Layfield hate train that followed his first forays into WWE main event life, they'd relent that he was a fine heel foe for fiery babyface Eddie Guerrero.
WWE's headline pack was thinner on the ground than it had been for a while by the time May '04 rolled in. The Rock was in Hollywood, Steve Austin had retired, and later recruits like Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg had decided to leave after WrestleMania XX. Thus, JBL was thrust to the top of the card, and he wound up being one of Guerrero's most inspired opponents.
Judgment Day is best-remembered for a whopping gusher of a blade job by Eddie. He genuinely looked like he'd been carved open by Bradshaw by the end, which won't be for everybody. If your stomach can handle the buckets of blood, then you'll find a fine main event brawl that sold the growing hatred both guys had for one another as complete polar opposites.
This was a star-making performance from Layfield, and it proved to be yet another example (in a long line of them) of Guerrero's peak excellence. He'd finally cracked into the upper tier, and it was great to see for those who'd adored him stretching back to the WCW days.
Again, whilst the finish won't satisfy some, the rest of the match and the dramatic story being told should.