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The opening contest is for the WWE World Tag Team Championships as MNM defend against the makeshift team of Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly. This is a solid opener - nothing special, but not bad at all. Haas looks very good here and has some really strong offense. I liked MNM's heel work too. I wasn't surprised to see on Cagematch that this match got some love from Meltzer in the Observer as it was above-average and entertaining from beginning to end, not overstaying its welcome and featuring hard work from everyone involved, including Holly. (3/5)
Carlito vs. Big Show was next. This goes under 5 minutes and isn't very strong. The "big moment" is when Matt Morgan, who looks like his hair and goatee have been painted using black shoe polish, hits an F-5 on Big Show towards the end to help Carlito win. At this time, many writers and fans believed this was done as a not-so-subtle jab at Brock Lesnar, but, looking back, I don't think it was about Lesnar as much as it was about trying to push the strength of Morgan (and the relative ease of the move aside from actually being able to lift Big Show). Unremarkable, but inoffensive. (1.5/5)
The Cruiserweight Champion, Paul London, defended his gold against Chavo Guerrero in the next contest. They get 10 minutes and they pack it with very good wrestling and, from London, some great dives and high-flying. The crowd isn't super into it, but that's to be expected as the WWE audience never really got behind this division or any other attempt the WWE ever made to showcase light-heavyweights. Solid action, but not really a "hidden gem." (2.5/5)
Booker T took on Kurt Angle in a grudge match next. The storyline leading up to this match was incredibly off-putting. Angle was obsessed with Booker's wife Sharmell and openly stated that he wanted to sleep with her/sexually assault her. Its really gross stuff that overshadows whatever might've been good or interesting to see from these guys in the ring together. Booker brings the intensity to the match, which makes sense considering the storyline, but the finish is a bit too "wrestling" and I'm not sure they shouldn't have just had Booker eventually snap and destory Angle with a weapon to get the DQ loss but the moral victory. The post-match allows Sharmell to get revenge on Angle by kicking him in the junk. Speaking of junk, this storyline was junk, was criticized widely at the time, and has only aged worse. The match is decent, though. (2.5/5)
Orlando Jordan defended his United States Championship against a babyface Heidenreich in the next match. Yup. This is about as terrible and WrestleCrappy as you might imagine. Heidenreich's babyface gimmick is all sorts of cringe as he seeks out a friend before the match and then recites some poetry. This is almost more offensive than Kurt Angle doing a rape storyline. The match lasts less than 5 minutes but with all the extra garbage, the segment feels like three times that. I guess there is some comedic value in seeing how awkward Heidenreich is here. (0.5/5)
Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero in a rematch from WrestleMania 21 follows. At Mania, Guerrero was still ostensibly a babyface, but he'd gone full heel by this point, viciously brainbustering Mysterio on the steel steps in the build for this match. As expected whenever these two are in the ring together, we get an incredible match with lots of lightning-quick sequences and high impact moves. So much good character work out of Eddie here and Rey's offense looks equally as devastating and purposeful at times. This is not Mysterio showing reluctance in battling his one-time friend and tag partner, this is Mysterio trying to hurt Guerrero just as much as Guerrero is trying to hurt him. The difference is that Guerrero will bend every rule to do it and, by the end, doesn't even care about getting the W in the history books - he just wants to cripple Rey. I've read some reviews that are super high on this match and some that are a little low (looking at you, Meltzer), but this is certainly in the "should-watch"/"must watch" category just because the crowd is electric for this, Guerrero and Mysterio are their usual excellent selves, and the finish, which could've been a total letdown, actually works at prolonging the feud. (4/5)
Main event time - JBL challenging John Cena in an "I Quit" Match for the WWE Championship match. Like the previous match, there are some great touches in this match that make it work. Their Mania match was not very good so they course-correct here and decide to just brawl it out after a little bit of requisite "wrestling" in the opening minutes. I love JBL bringing out the non-"spinner" championship because he still feels like he should be the recognized World Champion. Cena's entrance is great too and gives the match a major set piece to use later on. Cena gets busted open and is just pouring blood out of his head at one point, which is gnarly to watch. JBL takes a couple big bumps too, including a back body drop through a table that looks like it hurt like hell. They did some bumps on the hood of the limo, which popped the crowd. I liked JBL's face getting rammed through a TV despite how fake it looked. Lots of choking, which works because Cena - and JBL by the end - were both sporting crimson masks. Very vicious match unlike the much tamer "I Quit" matches that would follow as the WWE grew more and more "PG." I'm not a huge fan of the finish, which saw Cena threaten to impale JBL with part of the truck (the smokestack, or exhaust pipe), as I felt a little bit out-of-nowhere after JBL had withstood so much punishment. "I Quit" matches are always hard to end because you either have to do something with audio fuckery (Mankind vs. The Rock) or negate the stipulation by having the referee or someone else throw in the towel for one guy or you have to utilize submissions (which would be out of a place in a match like this, which was so much more of a weapons-and-set piece brawl). Still, a very good match and worth checking out if you're remotely curious about the early days of John Cena's run as the WWE's top guy. (4/5)
With a pair of great matches in Guerrero/Mysterio and the main event and some solid action in the opener and the Cruiserweight match, Judgment Day 2005 is a solid show that is hindered by a couple of matches that illustrate the weakness of the "brand-only PPV" concept. Orlando Jordan and Heidenreich were barely TV-worthy characters, so them competing on this show was always going to be nothing more than bathroom break fodder. Big Show/Carlito wasn't much of a match either, though, to be fair, it did further a storyline. Booker T/Kurt Angle might be the biggest disappointment, though, only because these two showed some good chemistry and willingness to get their hands dirty with a physical, violent contest. Unfortunately, the story that led to the match is so cringeworthy, it casts a shadow on what is an otherwise good match. With a Kwang Score of 2.57-out-of-5, I'm giving this a...
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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