Welcome back. I wanted to return with the match of the week and for this particular match, after my guy Doug dropped a great JBL article, I'm going to piggyback off it and choose one of his better ones.
With that, I chose John Cena vs JBL in their I Quit match for the WWE Championship from Judgment Day 2005.
Background:
JBL had become the top heel in wrestling while John Cena was simultaneously becoming the most popular face in WWE. It was only a matter of time before they would meet at Mania after a long build. Of course, Cena wins the very physical match and pretty much changed the tide of the WWE by becoming the new face. JBL was not one to stay down in defeat and he would wreck havoc until he won a match to become the number 1 contender. JBL didn't want an ordinary match either. JBL challenged Cena to an I Quit match (Editor's Note: Wow, that Never Give Up bullshit Cena does started 12 years ago. Yikes). Cena then accepted and we have only of the very few I Quit matches in PPV history on deck.
The Match:
The match itself surprisingly started off as a wrestling match. JBL would then get into the brawl that he loves as Cena would mount a little offense, but JBL would spill the champ’s blood (a whole lot of it) with a wicked chair shot. JBL would try to choke Cena out with a belt, then he would trash talk Cena while he beat on him and eventually the match spilled to JBL’s limo. JBL would then get ran into a TV, which busted him open and now the fight became a bloodbath (Editor's Note: Clearly, JBL loves to have bloody matches at Judgment Day PPVs).
The fight would continue onto the truck that Cena and his DJ would make their entrance on. JBL would attempt to hang John Cena by the neck, but Cena would counter and JBL falls through a table. After more brawling, Cena would finally get more of the upper hand and tore off a pipe from the truck. As he threatened to run JBL over, JBL would then utter I Quit. JBL thinking he got away slowly smiled until Cena ran him over anyway.
Phranchize Grade And Analysis:
-This was a GREAT match on what was a lackluster PPV. Of all the I Quit matches in WWE history, this ranks right up there with the best. Cena would see the roots of his Never Give Up mantra somewhat grow from this and these types of matches. The psychology of JBL in this match was astounding. From JBL pretending to forget that it was an I Quit match by reaching for the ropes while in a submission hold was good story telling. The announce team did their jobs well by selling the beating both men took as well as brought up the history of the last I Quit match, as well as other physical contests that similarly mimicked this match. Great match all around.
Rating: 9/10
-C. Yates
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