WWE SmackDown lost arguably its biggest attraction in 2004. Brock Lesnar left the promotion on a bitter note to pursue other interests. His exit left a major void on the main event scene that was already struggling to fill the gap left in the wake of The Rock and Steve Austin’s exit.
WWE SmackDown of the Ruthless Aggression Era had been built around Lesnar and his departure forced Vince McMahon to experiment with men of similar build. None, however, had the Beast’s aura or his athleticism that were integral to the blue brand’s success.
While the boss continued his search for the Next Big Thing, he made some solid booking decisions that resulted in several Match of the Year contenders for the blue brand. That being said, let’s take a look at some of the best WWE SmackDown matches of 2004 (in random order):
Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL (July 15)
Eddie Guerrero and JBL had one of the most gruesome feuds of the Ruthless Aggression and that’s saying a lot, given the graphic imagery that was on display every week. The pair bled buckets every time they crossed paths.
Bradshaw won the WWE Championship from Guerrero at The Great American Bash 2004 PPV event. He spent the following months in a series of matches with Latino Heat over the top title on WWE SmackDown.
They met inside a steel cage at the July 13 SmackDown taping. The match is noted for Guerrero’s daring frog splash from the top of the cage onto JBL. Thanks to Kurt Angle’s interference, the champion retained his title after a bloody war inside the cage.
Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T & Eddie Guerrero (December 30)
Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam had a short stint as tag team champions. The pair won the tag team titles on the December 9, 2004, episode of WWE SmackDown. The put the championship on the line against Eddie Guerrero and Booker T at the December 28 taping of the blue brand.
RVD and Rey worked like a well-oiled machine as they tried to keep Booker T down for the most part of the match. The tides turned after Eddie isolated Rey. Latino Heat tried to get the champion disqualified, but was caught by the referee.
The Undertaker vs. John Cena (June 24)
The Undertaker and John Cena had an underrated match at Vengeance 2003. They met again on WWE SmackDown in 2004. Taker was back to his Deadman gimmick, and Cena was starting to witness cheers from the fans.
While their Vengeance match focused on in-ring action, this was more storyline-focused ahead of their respective matches at The Great American Bash PPV. Taker displayed heel tactics as he used Cena’s steel chain to knock him out before putting him away with the Tombstone Piledriver.
Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero (September 2)
Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero’s feud carried WWE SmackDown for the better part of 2004. Both men had some excellent matches against each other on TV and PPV events. One of their better matches fell under the 2 out of 3 Falls stipulation.
The two all-time greats delivered PPV quality matches on free television for fans to enjoy. Angle demonstrated his technical brilliance, while Guerrero relied on his superb athleticism to tell a compelling story inside the ring.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio (March 18)
Eddie Guerrero retain his WWE Championship in a classic against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX. Latino Heat put his title on the line two nights later on the March 16, 2004, WWE SmackDown taping against one of his closest friends, Rey Mysterio.
Both men knew each other very well and had practically every counter to each other’s moves. This 20-minute match-up turned out to be one of the best of the year – and one of the better title defenses from Eddie Guerrero.
