[8.0] "This show took a while to get going, as the first hour featured a bland tag match, a Big Show squash of Shannon Moore, and Noble/Sakoda which was about the blind Nidia angle, while the first hour featured two really good matches and a solid Chavo/Shelton match. The Benoit/Brock match was especially good."

[10.0] "Besides that rough opening tag match, this was a great Smackdown episode in my opinion for the way it built further on Benoit and Cena as well as getting us closer to that inevitable Eddie Guerrero main event singles run. Lesnar is forced to finally defend his WWE title and the episode long story where Cena and Benoit having to wrestle each other to give Lesnar a huge advantage in the main event was excellent. Elsewhere we had Shannon Moore bumping like a mad man again losing to the Big Show as he continues to get punished for Matt Hardy leaving Smackdown. Jamie Noble turns heel again when he starts using his blind girlfriend to win off a distraction. It's a pretty dark turn, but I thought it was kinda funny. (I have a dark sense of humor sometimes). The Chavo vs Shelton match plays further into the Los Guerreros split with Chavo whining again and Eddie being a national treasure! The reason to watch this show though is Chris Benoit's fantastic double duty against Cena and then Lesnar. The main event is one of the matches of the year, but the Cena match is underrated too and plays into the storytelling with the main event very well! He wrestled over 30 minutes and had a true star making performance that night!"

[8.0] "After Brock's promo at the start, this show is kind of just there up until that very good Cena/Benoit match. After this show picks up greatly, and everything else on the show is good. The main event was awesome, and up there for one of the best WWE matches in 2003"

[10.0] "Great episode, every match and segment served a purpose and the whole build up to Benoit/Lesnar was great. The main event is a true MOTY contender."