Heidenreich sucked. It was not for a lack of trying, but the New Orleans native was hardly an efficient, nor effective, pro wrestler. He a big guy with an impressive physique, he underwent a few character changes before settling into the role of "psychotic poem-reading heel." After his initial rivalry with The Undertaker wrapped up, though, there was nothing much left for him to do. Conversely, Booker T entered 2005 without any real direction, former contender to JBL's WWE Championship who has fallen into irrelevancy on the SmackDown brand. With no real prospects and nothing else better for him to do, Booker clashed with the aimless Heidenreich at No Way Out. The result was not pretty. Even Booker's years of experience could not overcome the general sucktitude of Heidenreich at that point. That he did not care and was seemingly going through the motions on that February night did not help matters. Worst of all was that the heel dominated the match, with Booker hardly putting up much of a fight. Allowing Heidenreich to control the pace was a bad idea and one that only served to further expose his weaknesses, of which there were many. Booker would become reinvigorated months later with the arrival of wife Sharmell as an on-screen character while Heidenreich would become very effective as one-half of a tag team with the legendary Road Warrior Animal, but they had a long road to recovery following their abysmal bout at the second pay-per-view extravaganza of 2005.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
