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At the June 2004 Great American Bash PPV, Eddie Guerrero's first and only WWE Title reign came to an end when JBL defeated him in a Bullrope match.

WWE decided it was best for JBL, as the heel megalomaniac champion, to be chased for the title rather than having Eddie hold onto the title trying to stir up business.

Just to show how weak the Smackdown brand roster was in June 2004, the actual main event of the Bash PPV was the infamous Undertaker vs. Dudleys handicap match where Paul Bearer was killed in a cement truck and written off storylines.

Not exactly a bright moment in WWE history.

But, on the July 15, 2004 edition of Smackdown, Eddie faced JBL inside a steel cage and they produced an epic 22 minutes of TV including one of those memorable "from the top of the cage" spots where Eddie landed a frog splash instead of climbing out of the cage to win back the WWE Title.

"The frog splash off the top of the cage - I thought Eddie had paralyzed me as soon as he hit me," JBL says with a laugh on the Eddie DVD.

There was an expectancy for greatness, JBL says, and he felt they were able to deliver in each of their match-ups, not just the July 2004 cage match.

"I've wrestled nearly every Mexican superstar for the past 25 years and I think Eddie Guerrero is by far and above the greatest Mexican superstar and one of the best Superstars of all-time," JBL says.

Living up to that legacy was one of the factors that drove Eddie to succeed and perform at such a high level. He was one of the few legitimate stars who could wrestle a great match on the Smackdown brand, meaning he was still carrying the load despite not having possession of the title.

As a result, WWE put him back into a feud with Kurt Angle after their WrestleMania 20 match in March 2004, as Angle interfered at the end of the cage match to prevent Eddie from winning.

Angle was dressed in a luchador outfit, then when Eddie de-masked him, there was a noticeable legit glossed-over look in Angle's eyes. Having watched him on TNA programming for the past two years where he appears to be clear-headed (but perhaps logic-challenged), there was an instant moment of "Wow, Angle was pretty messed up" back in the WWE days.

Eddie was certainly stressing himself trying to carry the load on Smackdown, but it was fitting Angle and Eddie were matched up on Smackdown feuding again.

Eddie had been through the fire of addiction and drug abuse. Angle was going through the same thing at the time. Eddie finally found his redemption and was doing his best to live clean in 2004. Angle needed that change of scenery to TNA in 2006 to clean himself up.

The Eddie vs. JBL match on the DVD series is a stellar piece of footage for how to wrestle and work a cage match, but it was also like Eddie was looking into the mirror of the person he used to be when he stared down Kurt Angle after the match.

TOMORROW: Eddie vs. Angle in April 2005

Over the course of 25 days, I will be reviewing the "Viva La Raza" Eddie Guerrero DVD recently put out by WWE. I'll be looking at the significance of each of the 25 matches on the DVD as well as establishing the context of events that were occurring at the time of each match.

EDDIE GUERRERO DVD REVIEW ARTICLE LIST

-- Day 21 - Sickest Match Ever vs. JBL.
-- Day 20 - Eddie as True Champion; vs. Rey Mysterio.
-- Day 19 - Eddie's Greatest Moment as WWE champion.
-- Day 18 - Guerrero Family Rivalry.
-- Day 17 - John Cena learns wrestling psychology.
-- Day 16 - The life-saving bond with Chavo Guerrero
-- Day 15 - Must-See Match of the DVD vs. Edge.
-- Day 14 - Working with Jeff Hardy.
-- Day 13 - RVD match; Eddie overcomes personal pain.
-- Day 12 - Matt Hardy match; void in life unfulfilled.
-- Day 11 - WWE debut against Chris Jericho.
-- Day 10 - Personal tragedy with Vickie Guerrero's public commentary.
-- Day 9 - Battle with Juvi; personal issues bubbling below surface.
-- Day 8 - WCW front office issues and vs. Ultimo Dragon.
-- Day 7 - Eddie the in-ring Technician vs. Dean Malenko.
-- Day 6 - Rey Mysterio classic and character adjustment.
-- Day 5 - vs. Chris Jericho and no one cared.
-- Day 4 - Rubbing shoulders with Ric Flair.
-- Day 3 - Stealing the show at Starrcade '95.
-- Day 2 - Breakthrough in ECW - Eddie vs. Dean Malenko.
-- Day 1 - influence of Art Barr; Eddie vs. 2 Cold Scorpio.
-- Intro on DVD review series.

[Kurt Angle art by Grant Gould (c) PWTorch]

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