15 MORE Incredible WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Moments Nobody Ever Talks About
7. A Saitama Super Match!
The 7 February 2005 Raw over in Japan was one of the most unique flagships ever. WWE had gone international with Raw before, but nothing came close to this effort. The less said about a 1997 jaunt to Germany, the better. That episode produced Owen Hart vs. The British Bulldog for the old European Title, at least, but it was a production nightmare.
'05 was a vast improvement.
Someone behind the scenes had the sense to book Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit in a submission bout on the card. They went over 12 minutes, which was roughly half of what the Canadians could’ve gone had management deemed it necessary. It was still a top effort, but has obviously been ignored since due to the Benoit tragedy.
WWE don't take the blame for that. They're well within their rights to ghost memories of Benoit after his shockingly awful demise. Some of the details included in VICE's 'Dark Side Of The Ring' show on that subject will make your toes curl. Thus, it's harder for some than others to sit through his matches. Fair enough if that's you.
If not, and you can somehow separate the art from the artist, then Benoit vs. Jericho in Japan is a love note to their earlier careers as workhorses with everything to prove. Benoit went Pegasus Kid and Jericho went Lion Heart/Lionheart for this match.
WWE will never re-air footage of this for understandable reasons, but it was one hell of a showdown between 2 true masters.